Redefining Financial Planning for the Next Generation With Dennis Moore

Dennis J. Moore is the CEO of the Financial Planning Association (FPA), the leading membership organization and trade association for CFP professionals and others involved in the financial planning process. Under his leadership, FPA helps financial planners grow through practice support, education, advocacy, and professional networking while advancing the profession. Dennis brings more than two decades of service to the FPA, including roles as Chief Operating Officer, Interim CEO, National President, and local chapter leader. A CFP professional and former wealth management executive, he has gained recognition in publications such as InvestmentNews 40 Under 40 and FA Magazine’s 10 Young Advisors to Watch.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• [2:17] Dennis Moore discusses supporting financial planners through FPA’s PLAN framework of practice support, learning, advocacy, and networking

• [6:54] Delivering value to members through tools, resources, and media visibility

• [10:37] How to balance member support with promoting financial planning to the broader public

• [12:27] Elevating the profession by emphasizing purpose, values, and the human side of financial planning

• [15:29] Tips for combating financial misinformation, improving financial literacy, and attracting future planners

• [19:55] How to grow the next generation of financial planners through student engagement and community

• [27:12] Dennis talks about AI as a tool to strengthen—not replace—the advisor-client relationship

• [28:20] Educating consumers on the true value of comprehensive financial planning
  

In this episode…

Financial planning continues to be widely misunderstood as little more than investment management. Meanwhile, financial professionals are navigating increasing disruption from artificial intelligence, social media, and evolving client expectations. To remain relevant and competitive, the profession must attract and develop a new generation of advisors while clearly demonstrating the enduring value of trusted, human-centered relationships. How can financial planning continue to evolve while keeping trust and personal connection at its core?

Dennis Moore, a certified financial planner and association executive, explains that strengthening the profession begins with supporting advisors through education, advocacy, networking, and practical business resources. He encourages firms to focus on behavioral skills alongside technical expertise, embrace AI as a tool to improve efficiency rather than replace advisors, promote financial literacy, and create stronger pathways for students and career changers to enter the profession. Dennis also emphasizes staying disciplined around organizational priorities, building meaningful professional communities, and continually reinforcing the human value financial planners bring to clients.

In this episode of The Customer Wins, Richard Walker interviews Dennis J. Moore, CEO of the Financial Planning Association, about strengthening the financial planning profession through leadership, education, and human connection. Dennis discusses attracting the next generation of financial planners, using AI to enhance advisor-client relationships, and maintaining strategic focus while growing a mission-driven organization.

Resources Mentioned in this episode

• Quik!

• Richard Walker on LinkedIn

• Dennis Moore on LinkedIn

• Financial Planning Association

• "Building Trust-Driven Tech Partnerships With Brian Hyman" on The Customer Wins

• "[Governance Series] Transforming Wealth Management Compliance With David Reeve" on The Customer Wins

• "[Emerging Tech] Compounding Institutional Knowledge for Growth With Ian Karnell" on The Customer Wins

  
  

Quotable Moments:

• “We need more financial planners being highlighted in the media, highlighting what financial planning is and just showing the impact that it has every day.”

• “It’s about the goals and it’s about values, and it’s about helping the client align those.”

• “We live in a complicated world that just seems to be getting even more complicated.”

• “It actually just gives you the opportunity to be more human, which is what we were kind of talking about earlier.”

• “If everything’s a priority, nothing’s a priority, right? You’ve got to have what you’re focused on.”

  
  

Action Steps:

1. Invest in professional development across technical and behavioral skills: Building expertise in communication, leadership, and technical knowledge enables professionals to serve clients more effectively, build lasting trust, and adapt to changing client expectations and industry trends.

2. Use AI to enhance—not replace—human relationships: Leveraging AI for routine tasks frees up more time for meaningful client conversations and personalized advice while improving efficiency without sacrificing the empathy and trust that clients value most.

3. Promote financial literacy in your community: Educating people about personal finance empowers them to make more informed decisions throughout their lives while increasing awareness of the value professional financial planning can provide.

4. Stay disciplined by focusing on your core mission: Concentrating resources on your organization's highest priorities leads to better execution and stronger long-term results by avoiding distractions and delivering greater value to those you serve.

5. Build and engage with strong professional communities: Participating in industry networks creates opportunities for mentorship, collaboration, and career growth while encouraging the exchange of ideas that helps both individuals and the profession continue to evolve.

   
   

Sponsor for this episode...

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Episode Transcript:

Intro: 00:02 

Welcome to The Customer Wins podcast, where business leaders discuss their secrets and techniques for helping their customers succeed and in turn, grow their business.

Richard Walker: 00:16 

Hi, I'm Rich Walker, the host of The Customer Wins, where I talk to business leaders about how they help their customers win, and how their focus on customer experience leads to growth. Some of my past guests have included Brian Hyman of High Meadow Solutions, David Reeve of InvestorCom, and Ian Karnell of VastAdvisor. Today, I got to speak with Dennis J. Moore, the CEO of Financial Planning Association, better known as FPA. And today's episode is brought to you by Quik!, the leader in enterprise forms processing.

When your business relies upon processing forms, don't waste your team's valuable time manually reviewing the forms. Instead, get Quik! using Quik!. You'll be able to generate completed forms and get back clean, context rich data that reduces manual reviews to only one out of 1000 submissions. Visit Quickforms.com to get started. All right, I've been looking forward to talking to this guest.

Let me give them a proper introduction. Dennis J. Moore is an MBA and certified financial planner, is the CEO of Financial Planning Association, the leading membership organization and trade association for certified financial planner professionals and those who support the financial planning process. Moore is a financial planning and business professional dedicated to advocating for the financial planning profession, and has held various roles throughout his career as Moore is a certified financial Planner with a bachelor's degree in personal Financial Planning and an MBA from Texas Tech University. He's currently pursuing a PhD in Personal Financial Planning at Texas Tech.

Dennis, welcome to The Customer Wins.

Dennis Moore: 01:51 

Thanks, Rich. Great to be here. Thanks for inviting me.

Richard Walker: 01:54 

Yeah, I'd love to hear your perspective today. So for those who haven't heard this podcast before, I love to talk to business leaders about what they're doing that helps their customers win, how they built and deliver a great customer experience, and the challenges to growing their own company. And in Dennis's case, the organization. So Dennis, let's understand what you guys are doing over there at FPA a lot better. How does your organization help people?

Dennis Moore: 02:17 

Absolutely. Well, thanks again for having me. Yeah. Here at the Financial Planning Association at FPA. So we're, as you mentioned, a membership association for certified financial planners and those involved in the financial planning process.

And so financial planning in and of itself is a helping business, right? The work that our members and financial planners do every day impacts society, impacts individuals, impacts families. And so to be in this role, I'm certainly blessed to be part of this and be in the CEO role, to be able to support our members, to do what they do. And so we provide financial support to our FPA members through what we call our plan framework PLAN. Practice support, learning, advocacy and networking.

Because our goal is to be our members' partner in planning throughout their entire career, regardless of what stage they are in their career, what role they're currently in, FPA is there to help them and help them thrive and have the career that they want to have.

Richard Walker: 03:15 

No. That's awesome. And honestly, when I started as a financial planner back in 2000, FPA was the first thing I did. My mentor was the president of our chapter. And so he was like, Rich, you got to come join.

Of course I joined. I ended up serving on the board with that local chapter. And the truth is, it's where I launched Quik! When we first brought Quik! to the market, our first experience bringing it to the market was at an FPA technology show in Los Angeles. So okay, Dennis, thanks to your organization for helping me launch what we're doing.

Dennis Moore: 03:46 

I love that. Yeah, no, I love that. And I'll also say, so I've been part of FPA too since college. You know, as you mentioned, I, my undergrad in financial planning. And so I've been a member of FPA since before I graduated college and then spent the majority of my career in financial planning.

And along the way have been a part of two different chapters, you know, was able to, to be on the boards of those chapters, become president and then national president of the FPA. And so, you know, I tell everybody, I mean, IFEA has been part of my life, has been part of my career. I don't think that I would be able to do what I've done without FPA. It's just it's taught me so much. Again, the connections, the community, you know, that's what I tell a lot of people about when they ask me, what is f a, you know, FAS community, right?

It's a professional home. It's where I feel at home. It's where I really kind of gained steam throughout my profession and learned how to navigate this profession. Right? So I love hearing stories like that because I hear it all the time.

Like I got, you know, everybody gets introduced to somebody when they connect with an F, P a leads to jobs, leads to opportunities, leads to new businesses and all across the board. So I love that.

Richard Walker: 04:53 

Oh yeah. In fact, I hired somebody quickly because I met her through FP. Right. It's such an amazing community for that reason, and I wish I was still part of it. We're not exactly because we're more fintech and we're serving others.

But look, I want to talk about something else. It's really interesting to me that you're a certified financial planner. You were obviously doing planning and now you're the CEO of the FPA itself. Are you still planning? You still have a book of business?

Dennis Moore: 05:21 

No, I'm not, so I am full time at FPA now. So while I was in, in the profession, in financial planning, you know, I had transitioned more into, I became the COO of the firm I was with. And so I had kind of started transitioning out of working with clients directly while I was still in financial planning, but still working in the profession, right? Like, so I never really felt that I left, you know, because it was still it, you know, financial planning is just so big and the impact that it has. And so, I say all of that.

So even now, even though, you know, I'm not with a financial planning firm, but being part of FPA and just the work that we do every day, I still feel I still feel part of it. You know, we're still part of the profession, still having impact and, and, and serving others. So, so yeah, so no, no book of business anymore or anything like that, but still very much ingrained into the profession that is financial planning.

Richard Walker: 06:18 

Well, I'm glad that you said it this way because I didn't really look at all the background steps you took to become the CEO of FPA. But I really wanted to ask this because you are part of an organization that represents a group of professionals, and that means you have a different customer base than that set of professionals do. I mean, obviously they care about their customers. You care about their end customer. But in this show, we talk a lot about customer experience and how we help our customers win.

So now let's go back to that point, how, you know, you were a COO, which meant you were serving advisors. How is this customer experience built? How do you serve advisors best?

Dennis Moore: 06:54 

Yeah. And I'll also say that. So at FPA we are our business model agnostic compensation neutral right. So many different ways to do financial planning. You know, we do believe in, you know, obviously financial planning under a fiduciary standard of care.

But beyond that, like whatever business model or compensation structure that you're in, you know, as long as it's under fiduciary standard of care, you know, FDA supports that. So I always like to say that to, just to just to know, I mean, because again, we are the, the, the home for financial planners. And so we want to be welcoming and inclusive of everybody within the profession. And doing so again, we need to provide value. We need to provide value for that membership.

And we do that through a variety of ways. I mentioned the PLAN framework earlier practice support, learning, advocacy and networking. And so that's really how we are our four value lines, right? So we've got initiatives under each of those to help our members, You know, do what they do and help our chapters. We also have 75 chapters across the country, so provide them the tools and resources for their programming and their member engagement.

But you know, one thing that I'll highlight real quick, you know, on practice support under the p, the PLAN1 thing that we've updated and just relaunched last year is FPA media source. And so what that does and what that tool is, is a way to connect our CFP professional members with journalists directly. And we get tons of hits throughout the day, you know, and it's a, it's a seamless way for journalists to submit basically queries out to our membership and then our members can respond or not. And anyway, a great way to build your brand, show your subject matter expertise and really, really shine a bright light on financial planning, right? Because that's what we need.

We need more financial planners being highlighted in the media, highlighting what financial planning is and just showing the impact that it has every day.

Richard Walker: 08:51 

You know, I always think about this experience, like how they interact with you, but you're actually helping them interact with the world and you're helping create a brand, maybe even a brand promise as to what you get if you work with a certified financial planner, right?

Dennis Moore: 09:05 

That's right. Yeah. That's what we try to try to highlight, right? That show not only highlights what our members do, but what is financial planning, right? Our primary aim is to elevate the profession that transforms lives through the power of financial planning.

And we believe that wholeheartedly. So everything we do from, again, those, those practice support tools to learning initiatives to the advocacy piece and to networking. And networking is our conferences and community. It's all about the profession of financial planning and about that community. And a big piece of that too.

And, you know, a lot of times I'll highlight a little bit on the advocacy piece real quick. A lot of times when people hear advocacy, they think of legislative or regulatory, which is true. That's a big piece of it. But for us, that also means pro bono financial planning. Financial literacy and really helping our members continue to have impact even beyond their books of business and their businesses.

But the impact of society in general. And so that's a huge, huge initiative that we do in our chapters. Again, I mentioned 75 chapters across the country. They do great work every day as well. You know, with local initiatives and different things like that.

So really, really impactful work that our members are doing across the country.

Richard Walker: 10:17 

Yeah, I love it. So, Dennis, how much of your organization's effort, like percentage wise, if you can even split it this way, is focused on internal to help the current members stay focused and understand the mission, etc., versus external to drive the message out to the world so they see the value of financial planners.

Dennis Moore: 10:37 

Yeah, that's a great question. And that's where, you know, it's a balance of both, right? Like, so we're trying to support our existing members and, and giving them the tools that I've been talking about for them to do. And at the same time, like telling people, this is what financial planning is, this is what financial planners do. And here's how FDA, you know what role we play in that.

And so that's one of the things that I've been really trying to focus on, you know, in my early tenure here as CEO at FDA is to be more visible within the profession, to be able to show others within, you know, the financial services landscape and beyond, like what financial planners do, what FDA represents. So it is, it is a, it's a balance of both. And that's where I think some of the, the initiatives that we're working on and doing gives us great talking points to show, to showcase, you know, like FDA provides all these benefits, but here's how it directly impacts you and your business and in turn, how it directly impacts your work with your clients. And so again, really connecting those dots and showing that, but, but yeah, so we spent, it's a good amount on, on each side promoting it and also providing the tools internally.

Richard Walker: 11:45 

Yeah. Okay. Look, I know prior to the show, I said it wasn't super hard questions, but I came up with one, and I kind of want to ask it. All right. You know, I often don't get to talk about the negative side of customer experience.

You know, I love it when people share examples of bad experiences we can all learn from. I think we've all had bad experiences, but I thought of something specific. In your case, you're this advocate for the whole industry. And by and large, I love this industry because everybody cares. But come on, there is that one person out there, right?

They created the black eye, they did the wrong thing. They created the Ponzi scheme. Whatever. How does FP play a role in handling bad news out there and bad image? Maybe it's not such a hard question, but I just want to use it that way.

Dennis Moore: 12:27 

Well, no, and I love your points because I was as you started to ask, I was one of the, the comments or the point I was going to make is and again, being in business model agnostic, compensation neutral, like we're looking at the profession as a whole. There's a lot of opinions, a lot of opinions on the how, how do you do it and everything. And so we love having those conversations. I love having those conversations, right? Because again, I grew up in financial planning.

I grew up in our chapter system. I was a national board member. So I'm, I'm one of them. Like, I'm a member of FPI. Right?

So I love having those conversations. And the thing that I always come back to is the passion that everybody has for the profession and the ultimate, the why, you know, what, why, why are we doing it? What are we trying to achieve? You know, the how gets a little. I was interested in some conversations there.

But again, you can't question the passion and the drive for creating the financial planning profession. So on one hand, I love that it's, it's fun to be around that energy. And you're right, we get, you know, you know, some of them, the black eyes, like you mentioned and things like that. I think some of that, how, how we look at it, you know, we continue to try to shine a light on what is financial planning, really that human connection that that, you know, that piece, right? And showing what the difference is between maybe what gets highlighted in the media as negative or, or different things like that, and to really, what is financial planning and how you do that?

Because again, what gets portrayed again, even even, you know, people ask me what I do and they still think that, you know, it's just, you know, I'm picking stocks and things like that. And again, not that, that there's nothing wrong with that. We need investment managers. We need that, that is part of financial planning. But there's so much more to it.

And so that's the story that we're trying to get out there to what really is financial planning. Yes, rates of return are important. That's a part of it. But really it's about the goals and it's about values, and it's about helping the client to align those and align the resources to achieve their life goals, right? Like it's about the person, it's about that connection.

And so that's what at FDA, that's what we're really trying to highlight and not worry so much about the negative that's out there and really just focus and shine the bright light on the positive that is financial planning.

Richard Walker: 14:38 

And I appreciate that, man, I do my own company as executives, we have said, let's not focus on the negative. When negative things like that are going to be behind us, we're going to only focus on what we can do going forward. Hey, you brought up a funny term, like you're a stock picker. And I just immediately went back in the 90s, I was an intern for a painewebber stockbroker. So I know exactly what stock picking is.

I lived it, breathed it. It was super fun. It was amazing. But I'm wondering how much of that perception still lingers that financial advisors are stock pickers, because that's an 80s and 90s kind of feeling to me. Yeah.

Especially with the younger generation and how they're experiencing financial planning for the first time and the needs that they're finding, they're getting in their 30s and early 40s and saying, oh my gosh, I've got to do something. So what's your perception of the world right now? How do people see us?

Dennis Moore: 15:29 

Yeah, well, there's a lot of noise out there right now. I think it's part of it too, especially with the social media, all the influencers and things like that, that all these, you know, the experts, you know, quote, experts on their giving advice over social media who are not CFP professionals, who are not RIAs, who are not brokers, like they're not registered or have any oversight. They're just out there. But that's how people are starting to consume that information today. And so that's something else that we're trying to do again.

Again, focus on what we can focus on and the positive and what is financial planning, but show what that differential is. What can a CFP professional do for you when you engage with a financial planner? And so that's something else too, other than just that. So that perception is out there too, is, is, is what's being perceived on social media. But yeah, sorry.

Go ahead.

Richard Walker: 16:21 

No, I mean, do you think the younger generation has this perception that it's stock picking versus it's voodoo magic versus I don't know what term it should be. Yeah.

Dennis Moore: 16:32 

I think some of it too. Maybe not that term anymore. Yeah. Maybe that term is a little dated. So kind of showing dating ourselves here.

But I, So I will say this to the CFP board. Give them a lot of credit. They've done a great job on their marketing campaigns and like getting the awareness out there of what a CFP professional is and what it does. And so I do think the recognition of certified financial planner and financial planning is much higher than it was. And, and that's something that FCA focuses on too.

And like really trying to get out there again, this is financial planning, this is financial. These are financial planners. And so it is better. But I think when you still look broadly, I think there is still confusion in the marketplace. And again, I think some of it too is just how people are consuming that information.

And what's just, you know, constantly in front of everybody every day. That being said, I also think again, and you kind of made the point, you know, the younger generation and things like that, like we, we live in a complicated world that just seems to be getting even more complicated, even with all the technology that, you know, supposed to make things easier. It's almost just adding some additional complexities, and people are then potentially relying on AI to give them the answer, right? And so that's something else that we're trying to show. AI is a great tool, but you still have to have that financial planner that person to help you navigate through all of this.

And another thing that I'm seeing is, is and not just me, but just it's, it's out there like the need for more financial literacy, which on will handle a couple different things, but one, like people coming out of high school, coming out of college or whatever, like at that stage in their lives are being asked to make decisions that impact the rest of their lives. You know, whether student loans or buying a house or insurance or not, all of that, and not all of them are equipped to make like they have. They don't have that financial literacy piece. And so that's another big piece I mentioned earlier on our advocacy front is push for more financial education, financial literacy requirements and things like that. And we've been really successful in getting and advocating for that and the different states across the country.

But that will also help, I think, not only equip this younger generation with some better personal finance knowledge, but also show them this profession that is financial planning, which again, I think will also open up a couple different paths. One, to show that there are financial planners out there that can help them navigate this and actually show them what a financial planner is. And the other byproduct, I feel, is to show them that there's actually a career path within financial planning, because we need more financial planners coming in. We've got, you know, we're at this, this point in time to where, you know, all the projections are showing this big, you know, financial planning or financial planners retiring over the next ten years, like so we need more people coming into the profession. So anyway, so long winded answer to that younger generation piece.

But I think it's just, it's very layered, right. And I think financial education and literacy will help kind of answer a lot of those and kind of get things on a good track there.

Richard Walker: 19:41 

Well, and you're starting to answer a question I also had in the back of my head about how do we attract the younger generation to this profession? And I'm sure you guys are very focused on that. How much of your outreach is about that, and what are you doing to try to make it palatable?

Dennis Moore: 19:55 

Yeah. And that's so we have a, within our FP ecosystem, we have a community. I talk about community. We have different communities. Chapters are one of them, the local in-person chapters.

But we also have just national communities across, including knowledge circles, which are kind of online groups and different areas of study. But we have one our next gen community, and that is the new to the profession, whether out of college, career change or whatever it may be. But, you know, no hard and fast timeline, but generally within about ten years of entering the profession is kind of, of what, you know, people identify their as the next gen community, and that community is growing. That community is aspiring and student student memberships again. So the ones in college and getting right out of college, we've actually seen some really good growth there.

We've actually got some over the last couple years, a 25% increase in membership. And that student and aspiring financial planner categories, which is super exciting because we are, you know, trying to engage with that, that next generation of, of not only members for FDA, but financial planners for the profession. And the thing is, it's, it's, it's impactful. So what they're seeing is not only is this a rewarding career for the person individually, but it's rewarding because you're having an impact on other people, the impact that you have on other people's lives and, and just throughout the world is just tremendous. So we're seeing a lot of that and it's just the excitement that comes up.

And so I would also say we, one of our four main national conferences every year. The one that we have in late summer is an FPA gathering. And that's where that next gen community is. And so it sells out early. The energy is contagious.

And so as I look at that, I see the passion. I see that the next generation is going to take this baton and run with it. And at the same time, we still have to get the word out to college campuses, to people coming out of high school that, hey, this is this is a profession. This is a profession that has impact. And it's, that speaks to a lot of people.

We just have to continue to promote that message.

Richard Walker: 22:10 

You know, I, I don't know why I hadn't thought of this before, but you saying the impact made me realize I talk a lot about fulfillment in life. And I even told you that my first question about how your company or organization helps people is about how we gain fulfillment. But you just added the other part of the equation. Fulfillment actually comes from serving and seeing the impact that you're having on people?

Dennis Moore: 22:33 

Absolutely.

Richard Walker: 22:34 

It's one of my favorite parts of quicksilver is I see immediate impact when someone's like, oh, I don't have to fill out forms anymore, or you just saved my life, I don't. It's so much easier. Yeah. I mean, it's amazing. So I mean, this must have such an amazing impact on you being able to run this organization.

Dennis Moore: 22:50 

It does. I mean, it means the world to me. I mean, and again, you keep talking about service and that means a lot to me too, you know, as we're talking. First Peter 410. You know, to use our gifts to serve others for the betterment of others.

And so that's something that I've tried to always live my life by, and try to give back as much as I can. And so that's where, you know, whether before now volunteering and other community organizations and things like that. But now to be in this seat and being able to help move this forward and navigate it forward, it is impactful. And again, I think, I think the other thing too is it's like, you know, financial well-being is just as important as, you know, mental health, physical health, all of that. It's just nobody wants to talk about finances, right?

Like, so that's the other thing too, that that people are having to, you know, it's that behavioral side, you know, and one of so I know I'm saying a few things here, but kind of circling back around like, so obviously the technical piece of financial planning is, is a given. You have to have that, you have to be technically proficient and you need to have the behavioral side of it. You need to know how to communicate with your clients. You need to know how to, how to, how to lead, how to lead a team and those types of things. And so, that's the other thing that I think with some of these technological advances, because I mentioned AI earlier, AI is going to be a great tool.

It is already here. It is a great tool, obviously used correctly, but it's not going to replace that human connection. But what it can do is help you to become more efficient, more effective to where you can actually spend more time on the human side, right? And really, really connect with the clients. And that's where I see a lot more effort going and those types of things.

And. And that's one reason why. Last year, the FDA launched what we call our FDA competency model. And so what this is, it outlines six different competencies, more on the behavioral side to basically do a self-assessment. So our members can go on there, do a self-assessment, you know, so it's not graded, it's not timed.

It's just it's basically it's, it's a self improvement type of a deal. You take an assessment on leadership, right? And it gives you feedback as to where you are. And then, but it's, but it's more than just that. It then gives you an action plan for how you can, you know, improve on those skills.

So whether it's articles from our Journal of financial Planning, an upcoming conference, a webinar we're about to have, but basically gives you an action plan to build those behavioral competencies that you then can then apply to your business. Because I think one thing that gets a lot of attention is the behavioral side of the client. The other side of the equation is the planner. The planner comes with his or her own money, scripts and background and first memories of money and all of that. And that plays a factor on how they navigate relationships as well.

So anyway, again, just going back to impact, I mean, and that's just, that's just the thing. Money can be a scary conversation for a lot of people. But then once you get past that, because again, it's about life's goals and how, how can those resources align to achieve that? You know, that's where you really kind of start to see that impact and the people, the clients and everybody just start to relax a little bit because they know that they have a trusted financial planner helping them on this journey.

Richard Walker: 26:14 

Yeah. You know, in my show since I started it, actually, I've asked everybody about AI, and especially when I talk to people who are in financial planning, either they're planners or they run firms that have planners, the answer always comes back the same AI is never going to replace the person you imagine AI sitting with, your person who lost their spouse and trying to comfort them. I mean, that's not possible, right? So I want to share with you, and I haven't said this on my podcast before because this is a recent revelation to me. My prediction of what real, what AI really is going to become and what it is, it is software that makes judgment.

It has the software that contains the AI to use it for the creative moments, the judgmental moments, the the decision making moments that we could outsource to an AI, but therefore it's still software. And while you might replace tasks or skills or parts of jobs, you're not replacing people. It's just not feasible to replace the people in that regard.

Dennis Moore: 27:12 

Yeah, I agree completely. And, I was seeing I was at one of our FBA chapter events and Carl Richards was speaking and he was talking about AI and very much along those lines. And he liked to say that, you know, he goes ahead and uses the full phrase artificial intelligence, just to remind everybody that it is artificial intelligence, right? It's not an intelligent being there. But he also makes the point that it actually just gives you the opportunity to be more human, which is what we were kind of talking about earlier.

And what you're saying there, like, you know, AI is not going to pass the tissue across the table to a grieving spouse, right? Or whatever it may be. So a great tool, but not a replacement for that human connection.

Richard Walker: 27:56 

No. Okay. There's one other question I've been wanting to ask you. And it's I know FDA has a lot of views of the world in terms of different problems you're trying to solve. You see the industry as a whole, you're seeing this evolution of AI and how it's taking root, etc..

Is there any one thing that's really standing out to you as the biggest challenge or the hardest challenge for this industry right now?

Dennis Moore: 28:20 

I think it's, it's, you know, not to, not to repeat kind of what we've already talked about. But I think it's just getting the information out there as to what financial planning is and how that is different from other aspects within the broader financial services industry. And again, and we need every piece of those, right? Like, so there's not a good or bad or right or wrong. Like we need all of those working together to actually make all of this work.

But I think for us, and as we're looking at financial planning and what our members do and that we like to really to really highlight and again, shine that light on that unique approach and that unique skill set that they are bringing to the table and working with clients throughout their lives. Again, a financial plan is not just a one time encounter on a piece of paper, right? It's a process. It's a journey. It's, it's, it can be so much more.

So I think that to me one of the bigger challenges is just helping the consumer understand what that is and what that benefit and that value add can be. And then the other piece is also telling that same story to the next generation, the pipeline, how to get more people into this profession. Seeing that this is different. This is unique within the broader landscape. So those are kind of the big ones right now.

Richard Walker: 29:41 

Yeah, no that's good. Do you guys at FPA ever get challenged with, hey, we should build this because we could help so many people. And it's not really your core competency. It's not what you should be doing. Is that an internal challenge ever?

Dennis Moore: 29:54 

It is. It is. And we see that a lot, especially in advocacy, right? I mean, there's, there's so many things across all the states and nationally and, and everything that that we could get involved in. And we get, you know, asked a lot to kind of step into some of those.

But again, with, with just, you know, staying focused on what our main, what our main focus is, is really, you know, it takes discipline because they're all good causes. Yeah. And like, you know, we have a member like, you know, why can't we do this? Can we do this? It's not that it's a bad idea, but to really just stay disciplined and stay focused on what we can provide, where we're at today, where we want to be is, you know, it does take discipline, as I've mentioned.

But yeah, there's always lots of lots of opportunities out there, but really finding where your lane is and excelling there is, is where we're focused.

Richard Walker: 30:46 

Oh, well put. I, and I hope everybody hears that because my company didn't start growing really until we said we only do two things, nothing else, because we were saying yes to everything. Right? And then you're so distracted and you're like, I can't really serve anybody. So knowing what your lane is and sticking to it is such a hard thing to do, that is true discipline.

Dennis Moore: 31:06 

Yeah. And I think even and I, and I say this a lot internally, like whenever we're doing our strategic planning and different things like this, and I've said, this has been one of my go to's even before joining FPA. But like, as I, you know, do strategic planning or different business projections and things like that. You know, as you look out, you know, I do you know, I want to hear everything and anything, right? Ideas because they can spawn other ideas.

But then once you really start to narrow it down, you know, if everything's a priority, nothing's a priority, right? Like you've got to have what you're focused on and just be locked in on that. And it's not like, yeah, narrowed it down to two and then you started to grow, right? Like, so it's almost kind of counterintuitive. If you narrow the scope, it actually helps you achieve what you're trying to achieve and grow.

So that's what we're working on.

Richard Walker: 31:55 

Yeah. Well, and you stated at the beginning PLAN that's your roadmap. That's how you guys focus. It's amazing actually. You know, I know I'm having a good show when time runs out and I'm like, that's it.

We're out of time because that's where we're at. I've really been enjoying talking to you. Before I get to my last question, Dennis, I have to ask you, what is the best way for people to find and connect with you? And of course, FBA.

Dennis Moore: 32:18 

Yeah, absolutely. So our website financial planning association.org, please go on there. Check it out. Check out the competency model. It's under L for learning.

I didn't mention it yet, but we've talked a lot about AI. We just launched AI authority. That's under the practice management piece. So take a look at that. Both of those are actually right now open to even non-members.

It's not behind the paywall yet. So if you're out there, you're listening to this, check it out. I think you'll enjoy what you see and, and, and hopefully check out for a little bit more. I'd love to connect with you as well. I can be found on, on LinkedIn.

Dennis J Moore, love to connect with you there or via email more@1.org. But yeah, that's why I love it, I love hearing from members. I love hearing from prospective members and anybody and everybody. I love talking about financial planning and, and, and what we can do together.

Richard Walker: 33:12 

Yeah. And if you're listening to this show and you're not even in this space, go check them out. Maybe there's a career calling for you. You just don't know. That's right.

My mentor joined after being with IBM for 40 years and he retired as like, I love money so much in terms of managing it, growing it, building wealth. He's like, I'm going to become a financial advisor. I mean, a great time to do it. I had all this knowledge and expertise. All right.

So let me give it my last question. Who has had the biggest impact on your leadership style and how you approach your role today?

Dennis Moore: 33:42 

Yeah. Great question. You know, I think it's been for me, it's a collection of a lot, right? Like, so I observe how people navigate what they do and different things like that. And then you kind of take it and make it your own.

But the two, those two that kind of come to mind, is one is a blessing. So she was with Quest Capital Management, which was the firm that I was with out of college. I actually did my internship at Quest. And then that's where I became the CEO before coming on here at FPA. But just her approach to how she, her care with her clients, her care with the team at quest, just just her care how she did that and navigated.

And it was just so approachable and, and willing to, to, to mentor and guide. And so yeah, so she's there now with Mercer advisors doing great things. So, you know, I've known since college and so really, really mean a lot. She means a lot to me. Another one that comes to mind, I served on the board with this gentleman right when I joined the FCA board several, several years ago.

But Skip Schweiss really appreciated his approach to things and just how he navigated. He was very thoughtful, you know, always, you know, when he spoke, you listened, you know, and so it's one of those things. So for me, I know it's sometimes that people always, whenever I say this, people will rarely believe me, but I'm naturally an introvert, right? Like, so I'm not, you know, just how I, you know, grew up in this profession and navigated and, and just how to, how to do that as an introvert, you know, and I, I took a lot from Skip not saying that skips an introvert, but just kind of how he approached things really helped me to kind of internalize how to do it, how to engage with people, how to, how to navigate the profession. So Calida and Skip have been role models of mine for many, many years.

Richard Walker: 35:48 

I love that. It's proof that communication is a skill. You can be an introvert and still come across as an extrovert because you built the skill set. Absolutely. Amazing.

Dennis Moore: 35:57 

Absolutely. And I'll say FDA helped me with that too, like going through the chapter system and building up, like I said at the beginning of the show, would not be where I am without FDA all along the way, giving me opportunities to lead, opportunities to be on a committee, opportunities to learn from others all across the country. I mean, just the network and the perspectives that are out there are unbelievable.

Richard Walker: 36:20 

That is awesome. Totally awesome. Okay, I'm going to give a huge thank you to Dennis J. Moore, the Chief Executive Officer of Financial Planning Association, for being on this episode of The Customer Wins. Go check out their website at financialplanningassociation.org.

And don't forget, don't forget to check out Quik! at quickforms.com where we make processing forms easier. I hope you enjoyed this discussion. We'll click the like button, share this with someone, and subscribe to our channel for the future episodes of The Customer Wins. Dennis, thank you so much for joining me today.

Dennis Moore: 36:52 

Thank you Rich. I enjoyed the conversation. Thanks for having me.

Outro: 36:56 

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