Explore Misty Lynch's journey in the Financial Planning & Advice Industry

I think that it does in a few ways. I personally identify with it because when I started my journey, I had no idea what I wanted to do nor where I was going to go. I just knew I wanted to be in a better place compared to what I experienced growing up. I loved that my family was self-employed but we had our ups and downs and struggled financially. It always felt like we were moving and had to pick up, sell things, change places. I knew I wanted to help people who felt the same way, who maybe had dreams and big ideas but didn’t have the confidence or the financial background to keep them going. So, that’s what I think when I hear ’rootless’. – Misty Lynch

So, I am from Connecticut originally. My father had a home inspection business which was really successful for about the first nine to ten years of my life. We had a big house, cars, boats, dogs and it was great. All of a sudden, when the recession hit in the 90s, we had to sell everything we had. We moved, I had to change schools, we had to sell our home, it seemed like everything was gone in a matter of months. I had always struggled to find my footing and I felt like if we just had money, everything would’ve been different and better. So, I became really focused on understanding money. I remember I did a project on the stock market when I was in the sixth grade. I thought I had all the answers. I wanted to get a job, make money, work in corporate but I always felt drawn to becoming self-employed and helping entrepreneurs. Maybe if my parents had met a financial advisor in the 80s, he/she might have guided them to put something away for the future, to prepare if business changes, to develop a structure, a business plan. My parents would get clients, work and spend money on repeat. I think a good advisor could have really changed our lives dramatically. My father had a good business and skills, he just didn’t invest in a way that the money was working for him. On the contrary, he was the one working for the money. – Misty Lynch

So, I knew what I wanted to do but wasn’t quite sure on how to do it. At that time, I was a substitute teacher and enrolled in an insurance licensing coach because you didn’t need to get a job to get your license. In order get a designation to work in securities, you need to have a job first and your company needs to sponsor you. I was in my 20s when I took the course. Everyone else in the course was older than me and they had to take the test because their bosses had forced them to. They were surprised to see someone at my age there. I had waitressing background, no skills but I really wanted to work in the industry. I ended up getting hired by somebody who was in that course and wanted to help me. That’s how it started and the company eventually sponsored the path to take some tests so I could actually work in securities. Then I finally sat for my financial planner designation in 2011 which was something I wanted to do to get that credential and keep developing the skillset that my clients were looking for. – Misty Lynch

So, I started out in Connecticut, there was a huge insurance industry. A lot of times there was like a default about where you would go to work because the big companies there are always hiring. I eventually met some people who were in that space because they wanted a steady career, stable income and job. Some other people I met were more entrepreneurial and saw the value of how they could help clients with certain financial products and services. So, a lot of the people I met and identified with had a goal to help people with their money. Usually, they either really understood it and always knew that was what they wanted to do or they struggled themselves too and knew there was a better way to figure out how to make money work. A lot of people can make $100,000 but to make $1million, your money has to be working for you. It’s really hard to grind your way there. I think a lot of financial advisors really just want to help people to in that space. Money can be really uncomfortable for some people and for others like me, it was always something that was talked about during my childhood, it was the elephant in the room so I got used to it. I think you have to be really patient, be able to listen and be understanding because a lot of times money can be a really tough topic for people to talk about. I think those are some of the characteristics that help when you want to become a financial advisor. You’re going to be talking about some really sensitive topics so you better be ready to deal with emotions and not be afraid to talk about those types of things. – Misty Lynch

A lot of times, the first thing people tell me is that they feel stupid because they should have found an advisor a long time ago and they shouldn’t feel that way. We’re wired to spend money, be generous. It’s not our default to want to hold on to money. You’re going to need to counteract some of the things your brain is trying to do and it’s not that intuitive. People feel like they should know everything but I studied this for a long time to figure it out and realized that not everybody’s going to know or come at it from the same space. Everyone will come to it with the issues they have about money that they may have inherited from parents, grandparents or people around them before they even realized that they were learning about money. There are many things they may have seen and absorbed growing up that really could be questioned because they might be really great with money if they give themselves an opportunity to look into it and figure it out. – Misty Lynch

It’s actually not. If you want to start in the industry, work in finance, insurance or investments, you need to pass certifications but most of them don’t require a college degree. You can be really great in sales and investments without one. If you want to be a certified financial planner, you’ll still need a bachelor’s degree but even that can change because it seems to be limiting the field for a lot of people. Only 14% women of them are women. It’s important to set less rigorous rules and have more people be able to study this and pursue it. For example, I have a Political Science degree which isn’t exactly a Finance or Economics degree but it was just enough. So, that could be changing in the future. Basically, not having a college degree not a ‘no’ if you really want to do it. You have to be 18, have a high school degree, have some sort of business savvy or have some background in that but the college degree is usually optional. Nowadays, some firms are hiring new financial advisors and they want to train you, teach you. They will put time and effort in getting you trained, getting you licensed, helping you figure out all the things you need to know in order to be successful but you have to put a lot of work. You should be able to naturally talk to people, pick up the phone, hear ‘no’ and be okay with it. Sometimes the most driven people can really do well in this career because if they know what they’re doing, can connect with people and help them. A lot of times that doesn’t require much formal education, it requires a lot of effort and natural abilities. – Misty Lynch

I actually write questions for this exam called “Securities Essentials Exam” and is now a prerequisite to any of the ones that would require a company to sponsor you. Anybody can take this and it’s really the basics in the securities industry. All you need to do to sit for this exam is to pay the fee and take the exam. You can get study materials from online websites. If you really want to see if it’s right for you, it can be a really good way to try it. You might really enjoy the study material. You can pass the test and add it to your resume. If you don’t have an extensive resume, it is a good way to show that you have some skills and that if you passed one test, you can do the same with other ones. I think that’s a great start. I believe they’re really trying to create more opportunities for people who want this as a career but have no idea how to start. – Misty Lynch

When I first started, I really struggled for a while to find clients. At first, I was advised to go to family members and see if they wanted investments, insurance and they didn’t. This feels like a slap in the face for a lot of people. In my early 20s my family knew me well but not as a financial expert. They didn’t have the money to actually invest anyway. So, I was trying to find clients the exact same way the guys at the firm were. They recommended I learned how to play golf, talk about one fund until people were so confused that I just I sounded smarter. I didn’t get a lot of clients because I wasn’t being myself. I couldn’t connect to people no matter how good I got at golf. They weren’t inviting me to go play and talk business on the golf course. So, I just ended up really liking a different sport but I never got to use it for clients. I ended up going to work in corporate for twelve years because I thought it wouldn’t work for me, that it was the wrong path. I decided to go back into trying to work with clients and shifted who I wanted to work with, how I wanted to work with them and made it completely on my terms. That has been the key to finding success in the field. You can see right through it; this is a trust relationship. Clients don’t want to work with somebody they feel is insecure. – Misty Lynch

I typically work with women who are career focused or entrepreneurial, have big dreams and ideas and maybe some fears and limiting beliefs around success and money. That is usually the person I can help because I love hearing how people are doing business; I want to help them. My only goal is figuring out how to help them succeed. I feel like it’s easier to talk about all the things that could have an impact. They want to work hard but maybe want to also retire, enjoy things, be a mother, have other goals aside from just working, buying a home, retiring and dying. There’s so much in between. I work with men too. I just like working people who are open minded to looking at all the goals, trying to figure out how everything can fit together. I appreciate someone who is willing to put in the work on their part and allows me to help them with the investments and anything that might come up. That’s my ideal client to work with. – Misty Lynch

There are a few ways of doing that. One way is to look at what they’re doing right now and figure out if something they’re doing is costing them money. A lot of times it’s hard to look at what they’re doing but with a financial plan I can talk to them about it. They might have a gym membership but never go and that’s costly. I tell them that they need to stop “donating” money and instead put it in some investments that would work for them and earn them money. I invest in different stock portfolios which means that we are putting our clients money into business we are seeing are either increasing their earnings or dividends and are using that money to grow which will give in return give my clients growth, returns and profits. So, business owners actually get it. They understand that a business needs to sell stock to raise capital for the new projects they’re doing and if the business gets bigger, all the investors win. So, we do actively invest in stocks. Another thing I do to help people build wealth is keeping them from doing what they are going to want to do. The normal bear market is 14 months and if an investor’s account value goes down, it’s going to be very hard for someone without a financial advisor or planner working with them to just watch it go. I will help them get through that because when the market recovers, they’re still in, nothing changes. If they consistency kept investing or didn’t touch it, usually they end up much better off compared to the person that takes it out and never goes back in because it’s scary. That’s going to be a normal reaction for people. It’s really hard to have a good stock and watch it go down. It’s also harder to watch it go up and not know when to sell it. I know how to do that but most people who don’t have access to research are not going to know when to do the right thing. – Misty Lynch

I love that there has never been more access to investing. It’s easier, you can start an account online. All these companies are making it easier for people to trade. It used to be very exclusive, limited only to elites who had access to somebody on the stock market floor. There are some risks involved though. I think that even if people just understand the basics and behavior, they shouldn’t start to feel greedy. They should know it’s not gambling. If you feel like you did really well, think you can cut your losses and treat it like gambling, there is a big chance you can lose your investment. Maybe you’ll learn some things along the way which will be helpful. I don’t think it’s too early to have a financial advisor even if you’re young. It’s good to have someone you can check in with even if they’re not managing your money for you. You can also do it on your own or decide to choose a fund and put money into it and you’ll still be better off compared to the person who never decided to get in. However, there are risks involved . – Misty Lynch

Most of the people I work with are typically in their 30s or 40s. I work with some people who are in retirement and it’s important to understand the client, how long is it going to be until they need the money and how they really feel about what’s their comfort level. Some clients might be aggressive, want to start businesses so they are comfortable with growth, risk and understand that there might be losses but rewards as well. It’s important to understand that. If somebody says they’re starting a business and have 6 months’ worth of savings to keep them afloat, I don’t want to put that in any risk at all. I want to make sure that stays right there, put it in high yield savings and we can treat the money that is left for the future a bit differently. I like to see how much it costs to be them and then kind of back into it to see how much we’ll actually need to be conservative with and what we can actually do that will build growth. – Misty Lynch

That is a great question. I am a pretty low cost as far as my marketing is concerned. I’ve had really great luck with my own network. In social media you can post about your services for free or comment or contribute in a group and you can build a network there. That’s been very helpful. Even just providing advice to people, making it easier for people to contact me by showing how they can reach me has been great. I haven’t done much paid marketing. I have a podcast and have people on the show I like working with that are kind of like my ideal clients. So, a lot of times people think you need to have expensive marketing, 100,000 followers and that isn’t necessarily true. Maybe you can have 50 people that know what you do really well, be out there and contact you if something comes up. Just make sure that those people close to you or that you really love in your community trust you and refer you to other people. That is a great place to start if you don’t have that marketing budget to go big. – Misty Lynch

I think it’s a combination of both. Let’s assume I have an investor who wants to put $100,000 or 1million$ into the portfolio. I get paid a percentage fee from the investment. If the investments do well, my clients do better and I do better. So, everybody is looking for that growth as far as the portfolio is concerned. The more I help my current clients, the more value I can continue to add for them, the better. Some advisors are just looking to get as many clients as possible while I’m more focused to make my clients as happy as possible so they stay. Acquiring new clients can be expensive, difficult, it’s a lot of work but keeping your current clients with you and happy can be a lifelong relationship. I think that’s one of the best investments to have even if it takes more time to have the perfect client come in the door. If they’re exactly who you want, you’re not going to lose them to somebody who’s offering a lower fee or promising a higher rate of return. – Misty Lynch

I think there are a lot of different ways to get things done. I work with a group here in Massachusetts. We split the fees depending on the services we offer. I’m allowed to work with the people I want to. I bring in clients, they offer some services like operations, customer support, etc. that contribute to the business’ growth. We kind of have a partnership there with resources and time. That’s really helpful. You can also be independent if you want to but you have to remember you’ll be doing everything on your own including the paperwork, operations, customer service. I think that can be a great thing because you have total control over everything but have less time to be out there meeting clients and selling. There are some companies where you are given leads. People may have a relationship with that bank or firm you’re working for and all you need to do is to maintain the relationships, open the accounts and might be paid a salary. So, there are a lot of different ways to operate as a financial advisor. It really depends towards what you gravitate more. I like being with clients, meeting people, don’t like to do the paperwork so much. I also want to have the unlimited potential on the growth side so this is really the best fit for me. However, some people want to have a salary. It can be a great job, pay well and you might benefit from some corporate benefits that are really nice to have. – Misty Lynch

So, it was tough in the beginning. Once I got a few clients, I realized I was managing $500,000, $1million worth of assets and it kept growing as I started getting more clients or had my current ones increase the investment value. Growth can be easily tracked by the assets that you manage. I have also found growth as far as the number of times someone has asked for a financial advisor and have seen people suggesting my name. I feel like that is really rewarding, having people know what you do. That can be really tough because you can have the best product or service but if no one knows who you are or what you’re doing, you’re not going to grow. That’s something I’ve noticed. You’ll notice that while you’re trying to grow, you’ll experience undermanagement, do more financial plans and see your progress. You might eventually get to a point where you will need help. – Misty Lynch

I think so. Old-school financial advisors kept everything secretive. You just handed the money to your guy and have that person handle it. People don’t want that anymore. They want to build relationships. Some of my clients can feel really scared or insecure; maybe they inherited money and have no idea what to do with it. I kind of look at them the same way I did my kids when they were learning how to walk. They were frustrated, would fall down, had concerns but I knew they were going to make it. I had 100% confidence in what would eventually be able to do. Sometimes, even just having somebody that has your back like that, can be really helpful especially when it comes to money and growth because I’ll listen to their plans and the process is exciting and I love it. I see so much potential especially when they try to improve their credit scores or learn about things they didn’t know before. Sometimes the people closest to you won’t support you so just having somebody guide and help you achieve your goals feels reassuring. The best financial advisors will be your biggest cheerleaders in business and in the future. – Misty Lynch

I think that there is a lot of information available. There are some really great personal finance blogs, people on social media who try to offer tips and guidance. There is a lot of bad advice there too but I think if you find some of the sources you really like or find credible, there’s going to be a ton of information out there for you if you want to learn. All of those questions you’re afraid to ask because you think you should already know; somebody has already written about them. Information has never been more accessible to people. There are associations which are helping people start businesses, do business plans. They are mostly volunteers who really like what they’re doing so I think if you dig around, start locally, you will find a lot of people in your own network that are willing to share advice and tips and there is a ton of it online if you find people you can really relate to. – Misty Lynch

Be yourself. If you want to help people in certain industries, go with it, lean into it. Become the expert in one type of service or business. That can spread like wildfire. A lot of times people are afraid to exclude people. I often say I work with women my husband tells me not to say that because I should not exclude half the population. However, if I can get to that female entrepreneur, she’ll know I will understand exactly what she wants and needs, what she’s thinking about and how she’s feeling because I can relate to her. Start like that, figure out who that ideal costumer is. Which of your current clients would you want to “clone”? Just go with that; don’t feel like you should be everything to everybody because if you’re too general, you might just get overlooked for somebody who seems to be exactly the person your clients are seeking. – Misty Lynch

I know some people that have been in this industry for a very long time who are content with the level they’re at and there are people who don’t know where they are. Many people are not involved with social media marketing because they have usually gotten referrals and they have been able to do well. I think that’s changing. Some people who are new in the scene can make a huge impact if they’re adding value, putting out information and getting potential clients. I think you can get up and run a lot faster compared to people who are studying business and sales textbooks from the 1970s. – Misty Lynch

I think that people are appreciating the trend. I have a lot of people come up and say to me that they see me everywhere. Most widows leave their spouse’s financial advisor because that person made no effort to form a relationship with them, help them or give them an education. So, I am sitting there waiting for those people because the advisor hasn’t worked hard to make that whole family happy. I think there is definitely something beneficial to giving value, give advice to people even if they’re just listening. A lot of people that have reached out to me had already been following me for months. You have to show up a lot of times before somebody might decide to work with you, call you. So, just putting out one thing and hoping it takes off is not going to work. You have to be really consistent and be open to share the secrets. People will wonder how much you can do for them personally if they’re getting value just from the advice they’re getting for free. – Misty Lynch

I do. My childhood experience contributed into my mindset. If things had stayed the way they were, if I never had to see my mum go to work and get different jobs, never had seen the lights turned off, I don’t think I would’ve had the perspective that we’re all closer to that than we might think. We don’t just need to have big ideas in business. You can work a 9 to 5 job too but if you’re not taking care of yourself, there is no parachute. A lot of people say that the government will take care of you but the reality is that you have to look out for yourself. I don’t think I would’ve had that drive and initiative if I hadn’t seen what it was actually like. I feel like I’m making progress every day. So, I write down my clients’ names when I just want to think about what I’m really grateful for. I get flexibility to be a mom, be a breadwinner, have a good relationship with my husband, focus on things in my life that aren’t just about business. I’m really grateful for a lot of that. I actually had a really happy life growing up, we just didn’t have a lot of money. I think that the fact that my father is 75 and is still in business is a testament to what it means to be a business owner. It’s over only when you say it’s over. It can help keep you interesting. So, I’m grateful for everything I’ve experienced. However, I also have bad days, just like everyone. – Misty Lynch

That’s a really good question. You have to plan to put in a little bit of work. It’s not necessarily a 2 day per week job but it can get to that point if you figure it out. If you work really hard you can control your time and schedule more so than in any other career I’ve ever seen. If you’re clients are up and running, they won’t need you every single day. They might need you if they want to buy a house or do something big but other than that, it can be a check-in relationship. They have to know you’ll be there if they need your help. I’m taking two weeks off next week and everybody’s fine with it. I think that’s a nice part of this job. You have to put an effort, it’s not going to be handed to you. If it is, those clients may leave. You’ll still have to work to nurture those relationships. However, once you have those established, you’ll form a pretty strong bond. – Misty Lynch

In this environment we all work together but I’m in control of getting my own clients. If I decide to leave, my clients have the option to leave with me. There is nothing obligatory holding anybody together. I also launched the coaching business which is 100% mine. That’s a side business for me outside of this firm and they were supportive of it because they understood it’s what I wanted to do but is not what everyone at the firm wanted to do. So, I think there are ways to be entrepreneurial in a group or with a team. It can be a nice balance between being 100% on your own and working for a company. I really recommend it for somebody who is just starting out or pursuing it because there can be a lot of times when it’s good to have people to bounce off ideas and there are a lot of ways to get things done. There are still times I reach out to other advisors and talk about how they would look at something or how far ahead they would plan for a certain scenario. If you start independently, find a network so you can at least have a group to collaborate with because there is a lot of work and you don’t want to miss anything. – Misty Lynch

I think that even if you do it for your own benefit, figuring out how to manage, invest and plan what you do with your money is one of the most empowering feeling. Being able to have that control and understand what you’re doing can keep you out of bad relationships, being stuck in a job that’s toxic. Knowing your money and using financial planning it in a way which you are totally in control of can be one of the best things you can do as a woman. In the 70s, my mum couldn’t even have a credit card without my father co-signing on it. That wasn’t long ago and you may not have the best female role models in your life of family but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen for you. You can’t avoid money, it’s like food. You either have to figure out how to have a relationship with it and you’re going to be using it, spending and making it so you might as well do it on your own terms. – Misty Lynch