Interview with AdviceTech.LIVE Speaker Steve Zuschin of LifeYield

Steve Zuschin
EVP, Advisor Success at LifeYield
AdvisorTech.LIVE Panel: Practice Multipliers

How did you get your start in financial services?

I started my career in financial services as a college intern under a large BD / Insurance company. I did really well and was offered a full-time job after graduation. I thought that all “Advisors” were the same and had a track set. In my head, it looked a lot like how an RIA operates today. I was good at selling insurance, and the better I got, the more our agency pushed me in that direction. Over the years I learned more and more about the industry and decided to make a move over to the WealthTech side.

What’s something that you know now that you wish you’d known when you started your career?

I wish I had a better understanding of how the different specialties of financial services worked. I could have optimized my education and licenses to actually work towards a career in wealth management and how to leverage the boom of technology that was coming down the pipe. The operational side of an Advisory practice has been upended and the early adopters of leveraging tech have truly stood out from the pack.

What excites you most about the financial advice profession right now?

The focus of our entire industry has narrowed in on improving the outcomes for investors. This is what attracted me to this industry in the first place, and in the last 20 years we have seen significant advances to ensure that investors’ best interests are at the heart of every recommendation made. I see technology making very sophisticated processes available to more and more people going downstream and helping more people have a secure retirement.

Is there something your company does that you don’t think advisors know about that they should be aware of?

At LifeYield, we are focused on creating technology that helps maximize retirement income. We have aimed at creating tools that give actionable steps to achieving better outcomes. I think what gets overlooked is that advisors often feel like if they can’t do everything, and the alternative is doing nothing. We have set up our software so that you can make incremental improvements and meet your client where they’re at.

This could be taking steps at optimizing their portfolio during accumulation, what investments to sell to meet spending needs, how and when to file for social security, and how all their assets including insurance and social security can be coordinated to meet their spending requirements. 

Any words of advice for advisors looking to update their tech stack?

There is a lot of talk about integration, I would advise anyone to go one level deeper about what “integrate” means to them and how it will help their practice. Integration also needs to be thought of around the advisors’ workflow. I might buy something that integrates with my custodian, but if that tool doesn’t fit in any workflows I have, it likely won’t be adopted. Look to your technology partners for help in this area, and consider all of us an extension of your team to help optimize your tech stack for function and adoption.

What are you looking forward to the most about attending AdviceTech.LIVE?

This question has two answers.

The first is that half the proceeds are going to a worthy cause, The Center for Financial Planning Diversity & Inclusion, who is working hard to bring more diversity to the financial services community. We couldn’t be more excited to contribute to this great cause.

Secondly, the speaker line-up is the best I’ve seen since the shift to virtual events. It’s a very strong group of executives with proven success in the WealthTech space. The entire day will be one to watch.