Time to go beast mode.
Internet personality Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson and Beast Industries announced this week their acquisition of Step, a banking and investing fintech platform designed for teens and young adults. The deal highlights how today’s young people are saving and investing earlier than previous generations, but significant financial literacy gaps remain. Many don’t know where to start, and that’s creating an opportunity for financial advisors to extend their value toward the next generation.
“We have one kid, whose great-grandfather was a client of mine,” said Clark Randall, a CFP with Creekmur Wealth Advisors. “He’s got a small, $4,000 Roth IRA, and he’s treated just like his mother, who has hundreds of thousands in assets, or his grandmother, who has millions.” His firm has always viewed the entire family as the client. “You’re developing the next generation that will eventually inherit the money,” he said. “It makes good business sense.”
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Apps are one of the primary ways teens and young adults engage with financial information, and fintech firms have rushed to meet them where they are:
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Many platforms are built around prepaid debit cards that parents monitor, with added features like budgeting tools, educational content, chore tracking and limited investing options.
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Platforms such as Greenlight and GoHenry, the latter of which was acquired by Acorns in 2023, now serve millions of parents and children.
But the specific app matters less than the habits being formed, said Michael Lofley, a CFP with HBKS Wealth Advisors. He tells clients to focus on instilling work ethic and disciplined saving in their kids rather than obsessing over early investment performance. “Choose something simple and diversified,” he told Advisor Upside. “Over the long run, improving your career potential and maintaining disciplined savings habits will go much further than finding the perfect app or investment vehicle.”
Let’s Rap. Even when advisors aren’t ready to formally onboard a client’s child, some offer basic financial planning sessions on an hourly basis. Lawrence Pon, founder of Pon & Associates, said he avoids discussing specific products and instead centers conversations around goals and behaviors.
“Unfortunately, many of these children pick up bad habits from their parents,” he told Advisor Upside. “I’ve seen kids with constant tax trouble or overextended debt, mirroring what they grew up with.” He often recommends these sessions as pre-wedding gifts, noting they can even prevent future marital conflict caused by financial incompatibility.
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