Life Shift

Grandparent

Meet Ruby & Erik

First time grandparents in life’s sweet spot

To engage your Grandparent clients, asking about their grandkids is a no-brainer. But our research has uncovered less obvious details to help you connect with the Grandparent at a deeper level. For example, the way grandma and grandpa see financial matters is strikingly different. “Ruby & Erik” are two research-based personas we built to help you provide more meaningful experiences for your Grandparent customers. Discover what makes them tick and get new ideas for better engagement below.1

1The "Ruby & Erik" personas are based on findings from a 2019 research project conducted by RTi Research, The Business of Aging, aha, AARP, and COLLABORATA in collaboration with Global Atlantic and other leading organizations.

Ruby & Erik’s profile

Like most of their peers in the “Grandparent” life shift, Ruby & Erik are married, working full-time, and have a higher mean income than most people their age. Here are some key stats for these first-time grandparents:

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Ruby's age

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Erik's age

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Employment: Both full-time

Their life shift details

Ruby and Erik live within 20 miles of their daughter and spend 12+ hours a week with their grandson. Like many grandparents, they say they don’t offer financial support to their grandkids. However:

  • Like most grandmothers, Ruby financially supports her grandson’s more immediate needs such as clothing and food items.
  • Like most grandfathers, Erik wants to financially support his grandson’s long-term needs including helping fund a college tuition program, life insurance, etc.

Ruby & Erik’s state

Similar to others in this life shift, Ruby and Erik don’t feel old enough to be grandparents. But they’re very excited by their new role and feel they’re living their best years now. They:

  • Don’t feel financially pressured by their life shift – their financial support for their grandson is voluntary
  • Are very satisfied with their emotional and social health, especially when compared to other groups
  • Feel the most in control of their physical health when compared to the other four life shifts
  • Have concerns over youth/future-focused issues like online safety and also want to teach their grandson, share new experiences, etc.

Here’s your playbook to help your Grandparent clients thrive.

Grandparents are probably the single happiest life shift group. But they wouldn’t be grandparents if they didn’t also have concerns about their grandchildren’s future. Here are some ideas to help you deepen your relationships with this demographic.

    Tips
    Tip #1

    Lead the conversation: ask about the grandkids! OK, this is a super obvious tip but kicking off a client meeting by asking about grandchildren may improve your level of engagement and open new sales opportunities as well.

    Tip #2

    Ask if they plan to financially support their grandkids – typically:

    • Grandfathers: Support college tuition programs, life insurance, etc.
    • Grandmothers: Help with items like clothes, food, etc.
    Tip #3

    Spotlight your Grandparent clients in a newsletter – potentially highlighting how you’ve helped them plan for their grandchildren’s future.

    Resources
    Resource #1

    The Ultimate Guide to Grandparent Names: Since so many grandparents don’t feel old enough to be grandparents, they may want their grandchildren to call them something other than “grandpa” or “grandma.” Share this fun site to help them explore alternatives like “Popsi” or “Mimma.”

    Resource #2

    Skillshare online training: Grandparents want to impart their experiences and wisdom to their grandchildren and sites like Skillshare may spark new ways for them to do that. Skillshare has thousands of courses on website design, writing, photography, video and more.

    Events
    Event idea #1

    Host events to help them pass on their stories: Help your grandparent clients pass on their experiences to their grandkids by hosting events led by writing coaches. And try hosting events on ways to use video and online technology to share their history, values, life lessons, recipes, etc.

    Event idea #2

    Build a forum: Look for ways to build in-person or online forums for your grandparent clients to share stories, inspire each other and to discover new solutions to help achieve their life shift goals.

    Event idea #3

    Host grandparent-focused educational/family events: Grandparents want to pass on their values to their grandchildren and help protect them as well. Think about hosting events (for them, their kids and their grandkids) focused on online safety, saving money for the future, goal setting, and more.

    Want more? Request a review

    Looking for more ways to create better experiences for your clients in any of the five major life shifts? Request a one-on-one practice review with a Global Atlantic Consulting Group team member today.

    Request review

    Additional Resources

    Here’s more on the other four life shifts, plus specific strategies below to help your Grandparent clients thrive.

    Meet Mercedes

    Caregiver

    Meet GeGe

    Aging Single

    Meet Paul

    Career encore

    Meet Renee & John

    Change in living situation
    ForeAccumulation II

    ForeAccumulation II

    Give your Grandparent clients growth opportunity with no down market losses plus a way to guarantee their legacy for their grandchildren with this fixed index annuity.

    View ForeAccumulation
    ForeIncome II

    ForeIncome II

    This fixed index annuity offers your Grandparent clients an opportunity to secure protected lifetime income.

    View ForeIncome
    SecureFore

    SecureFore

    In addition to using bonds to grow money for a grandchild’s education, these fixed annuities offer competitive, guaranteed growth for 3, 5 or 7 years.

    View SecureFore

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