Next Generation Planner: February 2023
WHO: Danielle Miura, CFP®
WHAT: Founder, Spark Financials
WHAT'S ON HER MIND: “There’s so much education and so much giving back in our industry. You’ve just got to find it and grab it.”
Danielle Miura demonstrated a sensible approach to life at a fairly early age. Despite not being exposed to much formal financial education, when faced with a sudden sum of money, she took a very conservative route when most 19-year-olds would have made decidedly different decisions.
“Growing up, my father would tell me, ‘Get a 401(k) and get the match,’ and that was pretty much my retirement planning and financial education. Then, unfortunately, my grandmother passed away and she gave me a little bit of money, so when I was 19, I thought, ‘I’ll just get a CD; that will be the best investment.’ I walked into a bank and got a CD for around 2 or 3 percent, which was nothing at that time. And that was my first official investment. I didn’t grow up with financial advisers around me or people who were financially educated.
“My husband’s Japanese, and I delivered our child in Japan. When our daughter turned 100 days old, we decided to move to the back to the United States. At the time, we didn’t know what a financial plan was. We just wanted to create a future for our family and put together our financials. And my husband also wanted to figure out what I wanted in my next career path. Since we were doing a bunch of research and discovering what we wanted for our future, my husband said, ‘Why don’t you just take the CFP® [exam] curriculum? Just take it for fun.’”
Fun, indeed. After starting the curriculum, Danielle realized that she did really enjoy it and ultimately became a financial coach and educator. Inspired by the movement toward fee transparency, she launched her firm, Spark Financials, with an aim to help young people with financial planning. Her focus shifted after her grandmother fell and started using a wheelchair full-time. Danielle became her caregiver, and she realized there was a lack of resources designed for people providing care for a family member.
“I searched for details about what is provided for family caregivers when it comes to financial education, and, unfortunately, the research is very slim. The blogs and content that are out there are mostly advertisement, or they’re redirecting you to another link that doesn’t really lead anywhere, or it’s a government link, and no one likes reading government links. That encouraged me to think, ‘This is really a niche that’s underserved by financial advisers, and that really needs help.’
“I originally thought that since caregivers are 20 percent of the U.S. population, probably every adviser works with caregivers. I thought it was just a general expectation that everybody should know how to take care of family caregivers. When I started really presenting myself as the adviser for caregivers, I soon realized that many advisers don’t know how to properly take care of family caregivers because they haven’t researched the complexity that’s involved. How do they get paid? What are the different stages of caregiving?”
Danielle focuses on serving the needs of the expected caregiver, and helping the loved one who will need care prepare for that change in their daily life. She warns that some people have a specific idea of what “caregiver” means and may not see themselves as a caregiver.
“Many people, when they think of family caregivers, think of a full-time caregiver. They’re not considering part-time or long-distance caregivers as well. And I think that’s also the trouble with the misconception of caregivers; probably a lot of your clients are caregivers, but you haven’t realized it because they’re only part-time caregivers or they’re long-distance caregivers. It may not have been something that’s been brought up in a conversation. . . . It’s like going into a job without a job description. If you don’t really know you’re a caregiver, that’s fine. You don’t have to announce that to people, but you’re going to have trouble when it comes to understanding what your role is and what conflicts and struggles you may experience. . . . There’s a lot of prep that needs to be involved with our financial planning process that I don’t think every adviser specializes in or focuses on. Do you have a when-I-die file? Do you have an emergency plan? Those are simple things anybody could do.”
Danielle says community support has been a major factor in launching her business. She participated in the FPA Externship and has worked with Hannah Moore through Amplified Planning. Talking to planners in the FPA Activate and XYPN Facebook groups, as well as a Discord group called Lonely Solo Advisers, has helped her see other planners’ financial planning process.
“I’ve seen what other advisers do to create financial plans, and that was really an eye opener to me. . . . I’m also the NexGen leader for our FPA chapter, so I’m pretty heavily involved with our local chapter group.”
She encourages new planners to build their own network of partners who can share their experiences and expertise and help show them their own way.
“I’ve been really grateful for the support I’ve received in my community because I’ve been just soaking up all the information that I can when it comes to creating a firm and compliance. A lot of people don’t think of those details. When they think about starting a firm, they just think, ‘Oh, I’m going to do financial plans and I’m going to get clients somehow,’ but they don’t really think about the note taking, the compliance, and how to even start a firm in the first place. I filed everything myself—which I don’t suggest everybody to do—but I filed everything myself and did that just based off of what I’ve learned and working with the state legislator to create a contract that was best suited for my clients.”
New planners who are looking to develop their skills should nurture relationships with experts in those areas.
“The main thing is surrounding yourself with people who have skills and strengths that are different than yours. As I said previously, I’ve been really grateful for the support that I’ve received. I’ve had people who looked at my website and gave me opinions. I’ve had advisers who have answered my questions regarding a client’s situation. Don’t be afraid to ask and surround yourself with people who can help you.
“There are ask-me-anything meetings. My first ask-me-anything meeting was with Danika Waddell, and I was so intimidated because she’s such a spectacular person. I learned so much from that experience. There’s so much education and so much giving back in our industry. You’ve just got to find it and grab it. Reach out to advisers and ask to set up a meeting with them. Take them out to coffee or Zoom meetings, find someone who can help you get a mentor, and use your local chapter as a resource.”