Study after study shows that people’s attitudes towards money, investing, and financial planning differ by generation. So at R.A. Nuño Financial / Northwestern Mutual in Coral Gables, Florida, the team includes members of three generations – baby boomers, Generation Xers and millennials – and clients are often matched with an advisor of their generation.

“Generationally, baby boomers, Xers, and millennials all think differently,” said Robert Nuño, MAM, CTLC, and wealth management advisor for the firm. “When we engage the client, we want there to be an alignment of mindset, priorities and skillsets, and we want clients to be with an advisor who is in alignment with them.”

The firm offers two big advantages, Nuño noted. One is that the company is very strategic, providing holistic financial planning including retirement, business and estate planning, plus executive benefits.

The other advantage is what he calls “totally open architecture,” meaning the advisors have no biases for or against any financial product or strategy and are open to using whatever is the best choice for the client. All team members operate at the highest level of integrity and professionalism at every level, whether they are involved in business planning, personal planning, or estate planning.

Many of the firm’s clients are business owners, including professionals such as lawyers, doctors and accountants. While these clients are often brilliant in their own field, they aren’t experts in financial planning, so Nuño puts an emphasis on educating clients.

During their first meeting, he tells all clients, “there is one question you must always be comfortable asking me, and that’s ‘why’. If I recommend something that doesn’t make sense, ask me why, make sure we don’t miss an education point.”

“Everything we do is customized,” he adds, “beginning with the end the client has in mind. We create a blueprint for the client, a road for them to run on, and once that is crystallized, then we bring in the right strategies, solutions, and institutions. But in alignment with the plan, we do not make any recommendations that have not been substantiated with an in-depth analysis. And that is really important, because then the client can take emotional ownership that this is something that was made for them.”

In retirement preparation, Nuño seeks to maximize the amount of income derived per dollar of asset. However, as people progress through life, their needs change and their financial plan has to change with them. In fact, he’s writing a book that looks at this issue.

“People live life in a couple of phases. The contribution phase, the accumulation phase, the distribution phase, and the legacy phase after they’re gone. When you’re growing your money, ROI means return ON investment. But as you get closer to retirement, ROI becomes return OF investment. As they enter retirement, people suddenly become much more conservative and they want to make sure whatever they’ve done is going to be preserved, so you have to get into a wealth preservation mindset. However, once they are in retirement, ROI becomes reliability of income. Suddenly people don’t care as much about the rate of return as they look at ‘what income can I count on?’” he explained.

To ensure retirees have enough money for fixed expenses, he looks for guaranteed income sources to cover expenses that don’t disappear, like taxes, food and health care. He also finds assets to cover discretionary expenses. Most importantly, he assumes that every client will live to 95 or 100 to help make sure that they won’t outlive their money. Preparing for the high costs of disability is another “must” in Nuño’s process.

Nuño, who came to the U.S. from Cuba when he was a baby, is an Army veteran. During his time in the service, he specialized in nuclear, biological and chemical warfare and defense operations, learning to design plans starting with the desired end. He uses a similar mission-oriented mindset in working with clients. He begins by learning a client’s goals, then works from the goal to devise a plan of action that will meet the desired outcome.

“I always tell clients this is a collaborative relationship, because if you want to build wealth, how much am I responsible for and how much are you responsible for?”

As today’s technological world offers increasingly more online platforms to help people manage their money, Nuño believes that experienced professional advisors have three distinct advantages over these “robo-advisors.”

“One is time. You can’t just fill out a sheet and it’s done. It is much more complex than that. Two, you need knowledge, not just information. Knowledge is processed information, and we have the intellectual capital because we’ve gone through and processed the information. And finally, we offer leadership, helping clients make the difficult decisions.”

R.A. Nuño Financial has no specific investment minimum and instead looks at client service revenue, because in many cases the assets under management are only a small part of the relationship. The firm believes in Doing The Right Thing (D.T.R.T) at ALL times for every client – so there are times the firm acts to benefit the client even if doesn’t benefit the firm.

“As an industry, we need to get away from a selling attitude to a serving attitude. The people I mentor across the country who have made a change from selling to serving have had significant improvements in their client relationships, client retention, job satisfaction, and the depth of the client relationship. I think that’s really important,” Nuño said, adding that his focus on service over selling has resulted in high client retention and referrals for 32 years in the industry.

“I really care about clients. I take a personal interest in them, and it’s something that clients see. Many say they’ve chosen to work with me because I genuinely have an interest in them.”

For more information, visit: robertnuno.com

Robert A. Nuño uses R. A. Nuño Financial as a marketing name for doing business as representatives of Northwestern Mutual. R. A. Nuño Financial is not a registered investment adviser, broker-dealer, insurance agency or federal savings bank. Northwestern Mutual is the marketing name for The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Milwaukee, WI (NM) (life and disability insurance, annuities, and life insurance with long-term care benefits) and its subsidiaries. Robert A. Nuño is a Representative of Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company® (NMWMC), Milwaukee, WI (fiduciary and fee-based financial planning services), a subsidiary of NM and federal savings bank. All NMWMC products and services are offered only by properly credentialed Representatives who operate from agency offices of NMWMC. Representative is an Insurance Agent of NM, and Northwestern Long Term Care Insurance Company, Milwaukee, WI (long-term care insurance) a subsidiary of NM, and a Registered Representative of Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC (NMIS) (securities), a subsidiary of NM, broker-dealer, registered investment adviser and member FINRA (www.finra.org) and SIPC (www.sipc.org).