PLANADVISER: Where do you hope to take your career in the retirement industry in coming years?

Metz: I aim to take my career to new heights by focusing on two areas: professional development and participant education. Working with retirement plans allows me an opportunity to hone my craft within a specific niche in the advisory space. Professional development has been a big part of my career progression, allowing me to stay on top of evolving industry trends. While I have obtained several certifications, I look forward to continuing to sharpen my skill set. I am currently studying for the QKA [qualified 401(k) administrator] designation to learn more about the technical aspects of 401(k) plans.

Participant education is a critical and often overlooked component to retirement plan consulting. As the primary retirement plan educator at my firm, I have learned it’s important to develop an education strategy specific to the needs of each client. We are fortunate to have great relationships with our clients, which has allowed us to get involved within their employee resource groups and create targeted educational content on a personal level. As an example, we have hosted lunch and learns specific to women’s financial wealth, LGBTQ+ investing, and health and wellness. When dealing with a wide variety of clients and demographics, a “one-size-fits-all” approach doesn’t work.

PLANADVISER: How did you end up in the retirement advisory industry?

Metz: In 2016, I landed an internship with the Vanguard Group at their Scottsdale, Arizona, campus. Within three months, I obtained my Series 7 & 63 licenses and was up and running executing trades and providing investment consultation to retail investors. After a year working as a brokerage investment professional, I began exploring other opportunities and ultimately landed on their small business services team, where I helped small business owners explore their tax-advantaged retirement plan options. During this time, I consulted on multi-participant SEP-IRA, SIMPLE IRA and individual 401(k) accounts, as well as on pooled accounts, which included cash balance, money purchase pension and profit-sharing plans, etc. After a few years, I was approached by an internal recruiter for an industry-leading retirement plan advisory firm in Oregon and, over the following months, met with their retirement plan advisory team before receiving an offer to join this team. Since this change, I have really enjoyed the opportunity to advise clients, big and small, with their unique challenges and opportunities.

PLANADVISER: What steps do you think will help improve the retirement industry and participant outcomes in the future (particularly ways in which your firm can help with that progress)?

Metz: I see customized and targeted education as critical components to leveling up the retirement plan industry and positively influencing participant outcomes. Just last year, we created a suite of education geared toward “investing by age,” with the intention of demystifying investment jargon and providing real world applications to individuals across all age groups, and made it available to all participants in the plans on which we advise. For those just beginning their investing careers, we explained in detail the types of accounts they will see throughout their investment life, including those outside of their company 401(k), 403(b) or 457s. Through our conversations with mid-life individuals, we found that many were dealing with competing priorities, such as college planning or caring for an aging parent. This led to us sharing applicable information on college savings best practices, account automation and estate planning. The final topic covered in this series was “retirement redzone planning,” which was geared toward planning in the 10 years leading up to and 10 years after the start of retirement. We unpacked topics like sequence-of-returns risk, account consolidation and turning one’s nest egg into a stable income stream.