Reading some news articles, I came across this site today:  ThrasherFunds.com.  Basically, this is a new investment firm that is creating funds to market them to the Gen-Y population.  While the funds may or may not be more successful than funds offered by traditional investment firms, the important thing to note is that at least this company is trying.

That’s right — most investment firms are not really trying to get the investment money from Gen-Y.  Why is that?  It’s because we’re a generation with a couple of significant differences from older generations.  First, we generally acknowledge that retirement planning and financing is wholly on our shoulders — we can’t count on Social Security or pensions.  Second, we’re the first generation to come out of college with the burgeoning student loan debt of today.

So what does this mean?  It means that our generation can no longer simply get a job, save some money, and retire.  It means taht the first thing we have to do is reduce debt.  Credits cards, which anyone who had a pulse at some point in the last half-century can now get, have changed the financial landscape — teaching people poor habits when they’re not in a position to live up to the standards they want (i.e., most college students).

We are also at the forefront of the information age.  Gen-Y members aren’t content to simply write checks to a broker who then does all the investing, sending out a monthly or quarterly statement.  We want to be active in the management of our finances — for our generation, it’s one of the first major signs of adulthood.

For investment and financial management companies, this means a new paradigm.  We want education and counseling.  We want to be able to actively participate in our financial futures.

So what does this have to do with the perfect practice?  It’s simple — Gen-Y is the up-and-coming generation.  Soon we’ll take over the world (quite literally).  In the upcoming years, members of Gen-Y will become the executives at major corporations.  Members of Gen-Y will create new technologies.  Members of Gen-Y will start entering the political arenas.

What this means is the members of Gen-Y will be the new clients.  Our needs our the same, but our wants are different.  And when it comes down to it, the ability to provide for our wants, as well as our needs, will help determine choice of counsel.

So my point is, any marketing plan needs to distinguish between the needs and wants of different generations.  The financial companies aren’t focusing on Gen-Y because it will be several years before, on average, Gen-Y is able to simply invest instead of focusing on debt reduction.  Don’t be like these companies — when they are ready to focus on the needs of the new generation, they may find that newer, smaller and more dynamic firms have already snatched them up.  The same goes for future clients.  If you provide for them now, they’ll come back to you later.  If you ignore them now, then later, when they’re your target market, they may already be with attorneys attuned to their wants and needs.