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Life Health > Running Your Business

How Financial Literacy Month Can Help You, Too

By Kevin Luebbers

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What You Need to Know

  • April is a time to burnish skills.
  • You could try new digital tools.
  • You could also get a new income planning designation.

For the past two decades, many in the financial services industry have marked April by observing Financial Literacy Month.

The month is dedicated to helping Americans gain knowledge and skills to manage their personal finances effectively and build generational wealth.

This April, as financial professionals discuss educational resources with their clients, it is also the perfect time for those same financial professionals to brush up on their own skills, which has the following benefits:

1. Staying informed drives business growth.

Financial literacy is a critical component of building a successful relationship between financial professionals and their clients.

For financial professionals who incorporate education as part of their check-ins, helping raise their clients’ knowledge and self-assurance around managing money can result in more committed and meaningful relationships.

From advancements in technology impacting how business is conducted to the importance of staying on top of the latest regulatory and continuing education certifications, it’s never been more critical for financial professionals to stay informed.

Technology is not only impacting the tools and strategies financial professionals use daily but also re-creating their relationships with their clients.

According to Finance 2025: Digital Transformation in Finance, a report by Deloitte, from the way financial advice is delivered to how investment strategies are developed and executed, technology plays a pivotal role in redefining these interactions.

Among these are touchless transactions, operational automation, real-time reporting, self-service and overall digital transformation.

With digital services, financial professionals can attract and retain customers by streamlining operations, reducing manual work and lowering costs.

With these improvements, financial professionals can spend more time understanding and helping achieve their clients’ financial goals.

Along with technology, continuing education can assist financial professionals in building their practices.

For example, the National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA) is offering a new certification that advances skills in evaluating, explaining and implementing retirement income solutions for 401(k) plan clients.

The Retirement Income for 401(k) Plans Certificate — abbreviated as “Ri(k)” — is designed to help financial professionals transform their roles so they can embrace a more holistic approach that includes participant outcomes on the decumulation side.

The certificate program is free to NAPA members and allows participants to complete courses at their own pace.

Additionally, the College for Financial Planning recently released the results of their “2024 Survey of Trends in the Financial Planning Industry,”. The survey helped highlight the ways financial education can lead to increases in confidence, technical knowledge and soft skills — all of which are necessary for better serving clients and helping them attain their goals.

Seven in 10 graduates of the College for Financial Planning saw an increase in their client base after earning their most recent financial credentials, and 80% of professionals report having greater confidence in speaking with clients after earning their most recent financial credentials.

A College of Financial Planning report, a 2024 Survey of Trends in the Financial Planning Industry, found that 60% of respondents agree they had seen a higher level of interest from clients in financial literacy programs focused on earlier education about managing personal finances.

2. Sharing your own knowledge has an impact.

I’m grateful to work for an organization that values the importance of giving back and supports nonprofits that provide financial education in the locations where our employees live and work.

Through our partnership with Junior Achievement of Mid Michigan (JA), our investment allowed JA to reach more than 3,200 students and our employees volunteered nearly 600 hours in 2023.

Additionally, Jackson has invested $250,000 in Financial Empowerment Centers in both Lansing and Nashville over the past two years, offering one-on-one financial counseling as a free public service.

These funds helped to provide more than 680 coaching sessions with 332 clients, resulting in clients reducing non-mortgage debt by nearly $750,000 and seeing a more than $33,900 increase in savings.

Other companies in the industry also try to reach out to their communities at this time.

This Financial Literacy Month, I encourage you to begin a journey of education, for yourself and your clients, helping pave the way for a future of financial stability and success.

Kevin Luebbers is senior vice president and national sales manager at Jackson National Life Distributors, the marketing and distribution business of Jackson...

Credit: Shutterstock

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