In a recent piece I wrote for the Financial Advice Association Australia, I argued that the intergenerational conversation in our profession shouldn’t be adversarial. It should be reciprocal. We need to be as open to what’s coming as we are respectful of what came before.
But there’s a harder question underneath that.
Are we actually open-minded to the next generation – or do we just believe we are?
The “Resilience” Narrative Deserves a Second Look
It’s become fairly common to characterise younger professionals as less resilient. Less loyal. Too quick to move on.
They leave employers who don’t prioritise health. They question cultures without clear vision. They weigh up wellbeing and community alongside salary.
That gets called fragility.
I don’t think it is.
I think it might be rational optimisation.
When I spoke with Dr. Patrick Aouad – neurologist, and Founder and CEO of CU Health – on Episode 79 of It’s Never About Money, he described something that reframed how I think about this. He called poor health a “silent tax” on productivity – one that shows up in reduced decision-making quality, higher cognitive fatigue, increased errors, and ultimately, higher turnover.
The largest operating cost in most advice businesses is payroll. Yet we rarely treat human energy as capital.
If a young advisor is screening for an employer who deliberately protects their health and cognitive capacity, they’re not avoiding hard work. They’re selecting for environments where their best work is actually possible.
That’s not indulgence. That’s long-term thinking.
What AI Actually Demands of Us
The arrival of AI sharpens this tension considerably.
As AI absorbs technical tasks – modelling, processing, increasingly complex analysis – what remains distinctly human is judgment, meaning, context, and values translation. The parts of advice that require a person who is present, clear-headed, and genuinely engaged.
As Patrick argues, investing in health isn’t a wellbeing initiative sitting separately from performance. It is the performance strategy.
If we believe the future of advice is relational and human – and I do – then we cannot simultaneously dismiss a generation that insists on protecting their humanity.
What Their Choices Are Actually Telling Us
Where people choose to work is data.
When young advisors gravitate toward employers who articulate clear vision, value community, and think beyond the next quarter, that signal deserves analysis. Not dismissal.
They are asking whether the business they join reflects the kind of life they want to build.
That question should give us pause. Because it suggests the advice profession of the future will be judged not only on technical competence, but on the sustainability of how it’s run internally.
Businesses Worth Inheriting
If we want the next generation to steward client relationships for decades to come, we need to build businesses worth inheriting. That means sustainable workloads. Deliberate culture. Alignment between what we say we value and how we actually operate.
The wisdom of previous generations doesn’t need to be discarded to get there. And the priorities of the next generation don’t need to be mocked.
The profession can be both disciplined and humane. Commercial and conscious. Built on experience, and open to what’s next.
As I wrote in my previous piece, open-mindedness isn’t a one-way street. And in a world increasingly shaped by automation, the sustainable advantage may belong to those who understand that protecting human energy isn’t a concession to softness.
It’s strategy.
If this kind of thinking shapes how you approach your own financial decisions and the future of your family’s wealth, I’d love to talk. Book a call with our team at Stephan Independent Advisory.
