Q&A: Walter White

Allianz Life regularly conducts consumer research studies to get a better understanding of how Americans view the challenges surrounding financial and retirement planning. We spoke with Walter White, CEO of Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America, about the findings.

What are some of the issues facing your customers and the aging population?

We noted, as did everyone, the growth of the baby boomer retirement population; you'll hear stats like 10,000 people a day turning age 65. We tried to understand as much as possible how the generations were evolving, what their attitudes were, and how they view retirement. Some of our research findings suggested a fundamental shift in mind-sets since the last big market crash; baby boomers suddenly realized they were getting older, they had taken a significant hit to their savings, and they were so close to retirement there wasn't the time to make that up, so there is more focus on downside protection and reliable sources of income in retirement. More recently we started to think about the problems that people would have as they get older — financial fraud, elder financial abuse. The classic perpetrator was always projected to be the rogue financial adviser, but as we started to understand the issue better we realized that it was far more likely to be someone close to the victim, often a family member or a caregiver. So that was a fundamentally different proposition. We saw the opportunity for the financial adviser to be part of the solution.

What other initiatives do you have planned for preventing financial elder abuse?

The research we're planning for this year is geared more toward caregivers. The best way to prevent elder financial abuse is to talk about it. We know people aren't having those conversations. Parents aren't sitting down with their children talking about their financial situation. Children aren't asking their parents about it. So in our 2016 research, we want to understand what are the barriers to having that conversation? You may be talking to your parents about end-of-life care, so you also need to talk to them to make sure they can protect their money and protect themselves. Why is that conversation hard and what can make it easier? The other thing we've suggested is that bringing more than one person into your circle is an important protection strategy.

When it comes to retirement, do you think some of the baby boomer generation are in denial?

People have become more cynical about government programs, the ability of Social Security to fill the retirement income gap, which means the so-called retirement crisis was brought about by awareness, not a lack of awareness. For a fair number of people their only source of income will be Social Security. If you ask people what their plan is, some say, "I expect to keep working," but we know from research that isn't likely — most people don't work until 70. So that's not really a plan — it's a little bit of the denial that you mention. But any retirement planning that you're doing will be undermined if you're the victim of fraud, and we found that the losses were pretty significant. The average loss in our study was $30,000, but 10 percent were $100,000 or more, so if your retirement savings are not adequate to start with, taking that kind of loss would be devastating. The best protection is awareness, so we do think we have an obligation in that regard. So some of the work we did, for example with the Better Business Bureau, was exactly that — it was all about generating awareness, getting people out in the community talking to seniors about protecting themselves from elder financial abuse.

The next generation of retirees is coming up behind the baby boomers. How do you see their situation right now, and how are you engaging those people to make sensible decisions early?

I do think the education of that generation. the Gen Xers, has improved, because there has been so much written on this topic — the inadequacy of Social Security, the change in the pension system — so I think that generation is more aware that there is a financial gap. The good news for them is that they have time that those on the cusp of retirement don't have. When it comes to broader issues of aging and demographic change, some of our research has really been geared toward trying to build the body of knowledge about Americans' attitudes toward retirement. We also have a partnership with the Stanford Center on Longevity; their mission is to get more out in the public domain, to increase awareness, so we support efforts like that as well.

What strategy are you using to reach out to millennials?

Of course we have access to a fair number of millennials in our own workforce, so we have focused a lot on financial well-being among our employees, which we think is the right thing for them but has also given us an insight into what we need to do for this generation more broadly. On the issue of talking to your parents about their finances, though, it probably has not improved. For my parents, talking with them about their finances just was not going to happen, right up until it became a dire situation. I'm much closer to my kids, we have a different relationship, but I've never had a conversation about our family finances with them, either, nor do I see any plan on the horizon to have that conversation, other than I know it should happen. With technology, it's much more possible to equip more people to oversee their parents' financial situation, but you have to take the first step of having the conversation. You've got to get over that natural reluctance to sit down and talk to your parents about these issues.

Interview by Paul Duncan