Teaching Clients to Spend: How One Advisor Bridges Cultural Financial Gaps

In the world of financial planning, most advisors find themselves constantly encouraging clients to save more money, build emergency funds, and cut unnecessary expenses. However, Jaclyn Wu faces a uniquely different challenge in her practice—she often finds herself teaching clients how to spend money strategically rather than simply accumulating it in savings accounts.

Wu, who serves as director at Monic Financial, has developed this unconventional approach over a decade of experience working with clients, particularly within Vancouver’s substantial Chinese-Canadian community. Her experience has revealed that financial literacy needs can vary dramatically across different cultural backgrounds, requiring advisors to adapt their strategies and educational approaches accordingly.

Cultural Foundations Shape Financial Behavior

The foundation of Wu’s unique advisory approach stems from her deep understanding of Chinese cultural attitudes toward money and financial security. According to Wu, traditional Chinese culture places an extraordinary emphasis on saving money, often treating accumulation of cash as the primary financial goal. While this inclination toward saving provides a solid foundation for financial security, it can also create blind spots in other areas of financial planning.

“It’s about cultural differences. I can say that Chinese people love to save. Saving is usually the priority in their financial goals,” Wu explained. “I am actually teaching people how to spend, and that’s interesting because it’s different from the story that we usually hear.”

This cultural tendency toward saving, while admirable in many respects, often comes at the expense of understanding how to deploy capital effectively for growth and income generation. Wu has observed that many of her clients accumulate substantial cash reserves but struggle with concepts around investing those funds to generate returns or create passive income streams.

The challenge Wu faces is not convincing clients to be more financially responsible—they already demonstrate strong saving habits. Instead, she must help them understand that money sitting idle in low-yield savings accounts represents a missed opportunity for wealth building and financial security enhancement.

The Two-Portfolio Approach

During her financial literacy sessions, Wu has developed a framework that resonates particularly well with her client base. She divides portfolio strategy into two distinct concepts that help clients understand the different roles money can play in their financial lives.

“In the Asian culture, they love to save and don’t know how to spend money. So when you talk about a portfolio, I usually divide it into two money concepts,” Wu explained. “One is for growth, for your asset to grow, and then the other one is, is an asset for you to create passive income. When we talk about income, they basically don’t have that side of the knowledge or the view on how you spend the money.”

This bifurcated approach helps clients understand that not all money serves the same purpose. Growth-oriented investments focus on capital appreciation over time, while income-generating assets provide regular cash flow that can support ongoing expenses or be reinvested for compound growth.

The passive income component of Wu’s strategy has proven particularly important for her client base. Many of her clients come from entrepreneurial backgrounds or have experience with traditional employment where active work directly correlates with income. The concept of generating income without active involvement represents a significant shift in thinking that requires careful explanation and education.

Emphasizing Private Markets and Alternative Investments

Wu’s investment philosophy places significant emphasis on private market investments and alternative strategies, particularly as complements to traditional public market exposure. This approach has proven especially relevant during periods of market volatility and uncertainty, when public markets experience significant fluctuations.

According to Wu, the recent downturns in public markets have actually strengthened her conviction that traditional 60/40 portfolio models—which typically allocate 60% to stocks and 40% to bonds—no longer provide adequate diversification or risk management for today’s investment environment.

“They also need to learn how to create different sources of income from different investment in vehicles to give them protection. When market downturn and the public side is not working well, then the private side can actually give them another hedge on income,” Wu noted.

This emphasis on alternative investments serves multiple purposes within Wu’s client portfolios. Private market investments often exhibit lower correlation with public market movements, potentially providing more stable returns during periods of public market volatility. Additionally, many private market investments are structured to generate regular income distributions, which aligns well with Wu’s focus on passive income generation.

The education component becomes crucial here, as many clients lack familiarity with private market investment vehicles. Wu’s financial literacy sessions help demystify these investment options and explain how they can complement traditional investment strategies.

Real Estate Investment Trust Strategy

A cornerstone of Wu’s alternative investment approach involves Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), particularly private REITs that can provide steady income streams while avoiding some of the volatility associated with publicly traded real estate securities.

“Private REITs can provide very steady passive income,” Wu explained. “They have long track record, but then we focus mostly on first lender or second lender, we don’t touch any third lender or construction lending. It’s a strict criteria on how we generate passive income.”

Wu’s REIT strategy demonstrates a conservative approach to private market investing, focusing on established investment vehicles with proven track records rather than higher-risk development or construction projects. By concentrating on first and second lender positions, her clients gain exposure to real estate markets while maintaining relatively conservative risk profiles.

This selective approach to REIT investing reflects Wu’s broader philosophy of balancing growth potential with income generation and risk management. The steady income streams provided by these investments help address her clients’ need for passive income while avoiding the speculation associated with more aggressive real estate development projects.

Insurance and Estate Planning Integration

Beyond investment strategies, Wu also emphasizes the importance of insurance products and estate planning tools within her comprehensive financial planning approach. She particularly focuses on annuity products that can provide guaranteed income streams and estate planning benefits.

“And on the insurance side too, we will have annuity, all these guaranteed protections for estate planning purposes. So this is combination of different tools,” Wu noted.

The integration of insurance products serves multiple functions within Wu’s client relationships. Annuities can provide guaranteed income streams that complement the variable income from investment portfolios, while also offering estate planning advantages. This combination approach helps address multiple client needs simultaneously while providing additional diversification across product types.

Evolution of Financial Literacy Education

Wu’s commitment to financial education has evolved significantly over the past decade. Her journey began modestly, with her first financial literacy event attracting just ten attendees. However, this initial experience provided the foundation for an expanding educational platform that now includes multiple delivery methods and formats.

Over time, Wu has diversified her educational offerings to include radio programming, podcasts, and webinars, allowing her to reach broader audiences and accommodate different learning preferences. She provides both individual one-on-one sessions for personalized guidance and group courses that allow multiple clients to learn together.

Additionally, Wu supplements her formal educational programming with free online materials that clients can access for background knowledge and reference. This multi-faceted approach ensures that clients have multiple opportunities to engage with financial concepts and can revisit information as needed.

Client Response and Business Impact

The response to Wu’s educational initiatives has been overwhelmingly positive, with clients expressing enthusiasm for learning new financial strategies and concepts. According to Wu, many clients are excited to adopt novel approaches once they understand the rationale and potential benefits.

“The biggest feedback that I got from them is, ‘I should have known you earlier,'” Wu shared.

This positive client feedback extends beyond mere satisfaction with educational content. Wu has found that her comprehensive approach to financial literacy helps build stronger, more enduring client relationships. When clients understand the reasoning behind investment strategies and feel educated about their financial decisions, they develop greater confidence in their advisor and the recommended approach.

The educational component of Wu’s practice also serves as a powerful tool for attracting new clients. The breadth of financial literacy options and the comprehensive nature of her approach help differentiate her services in a competitive market. Moreover, satisfied clients who feel well-educated about their finances are more likely to refer friends and family members, creating a sustainable growth model for her practice.

Building Long-Term Relationships Through Education

Wu’s approach demonstrates how cultural sensitivity and educational focus can create sustainable competitive advantages in financial advisory services. By understanding the specific needs and cultural background of her client base, she has developed a service model that addresses gaps in traditional financial education.

“As long as your money concept strategy that you use is in compliance, driving for results and you’re, you’re maintaining service, you can deliver investors their needs – that’s the most important part. Then that will build a long term relationship, which will drive more referrals,” Wu concluded.

This philosophy underscores the importance of aligning advisory services with client needs rather than applying one-size-fits-all approaches. Wu’s success in working with the Chinese-Canadian community demonstrates how advisors can create value by addressing specific cultural and educational gaps in financial planning.

Her experience also highlights the broader importance of financial literacy in building successful advisory relationships. When clients understand not just what they should do with their money, but why specific strategies make sense for their situations, they become more committed partners in the wealth-building process rather than passive recipients of advice.