By Weld Royal

UBS financial advisor Molly Townsend not only serves her team's retail wealth management clients but also leads its 401(k) plan practice, advising companies on how to provide retirement plans for their employees. One of the reasons she developed this expertise is she became "passionate" about making sure that employees receive the education they need to properly save for retirement. "Most 401(k) plan participants are not necessarily getting regular education about investments," says Townsend, who is a member of UBS' Zelniker Dorfman Carr & Heritage Group, which has offices in New York and Gainesville and Sarasota, Fla.

On the latest The Way Forward: Next Generation podcast , Townsend explains how she got into the business, outlines her role advising companies and their workers, and discusses the generational wealth transfer.

From options trading to wealth management. Townsend grew up in a family of financial services professionals and knew she would follow in their footsteps. "I grew up talking about stocks at the dinner table," she recalls. Townsend started off in options trading in 2008, in the middle of the 2007-09 recession. "It was a very exciting time to be trading volatility, but I quickly learned that I did not want to be sitting behind a screen trading," she recalls. Realizing she wanted to work with people, she leveraged her experience in trading options to move into wealth management.

Serving employers and their employees. Townsend assists companies in setting up retirement plans, which help them to take advantage of tax benefits and incentivize employees to work hard and remain loyal. In that role, she also helps employees understand the power of compounding and life expectancies -- "that if you retire at 65 and live to 95 you're going to be living off of this money for 30 years. What's going to be there for you?" Inheritance and passing on a legacy. One of the most significant forces shaping wealth management today is the generational wealth transfer. This presents both an opportunity and a challenge for advisors, particularly when it comes to educating the next generation on how to handle inherited wealth.

"Generational planning has become a huge focus for us," Townsend explains. "Our clients are increasingly concerned about how to transfer their wealth in a way that preserves their legacy."

To address this, UBS has introduced programs to engage younger generations. Townsend helped organize one such event on the topic of raising financially responsible children. "It's about teaching them early how to manage money, how to save, and how to think long term," Townsend says.

Hear more on the podcast:

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 13, 2025 15:41 ET (19:41 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.