Who says people don’t have the attention span for long-form financial education?
Kevin Lum, a certified financial planner and founder of Foundry Financial, has built an audience of more than 220,000 YouTube subscribers by explaining retirement planning concepts. Several of his videos have surpassed a million views, while a 26-minute explanation of Social Security benefits has attracted roughly 600,000 views.
His success offers some unexpected lessons for retirement plan sponsors and providers looking for better ways to engage participants.
In a recent Pensions & Investments article, Mr. Lum describes how he built his Retirement Made Simple channel by making complicated financial topics understandable, relevant, and engaging. His audience consists largely of educated, financially sophisticated adults approaching retirement, many with substantial savings.
Rather than relying on flashy production or bite-sized financial tips, Mr. Lum uses storytelling to help viewers understand how financial decisions could affect their own retirement.
For example, instead of launching into a technical explanation of Medicare’s income-related monthly adjustment amount, Mr. Lum might introduce a retiree whose Medicare bill suddenly doubled. That immediately gives viewers a reason to care about the rules behind the surcharge and whether they could face a similar surprise.
The approach took some experimentation. Mr. Lum recalls filming his earliest videos in a poorly lit garage, producing what he jokingly described as “hostage proof of life videos.” During his first several months, some videos attracted only about 30 views.
Over time, he discovered that framing financial concepts around relatable situations improved audience retention.
His experience also challenges conventional thinking about video length. Apparently, shorter isn’t always better. Nearly half his viewers watch on smart televisions, suggesting they’re willing to spend meaningful time learning about retirement when the subject interests them.
But Mr. Lum’s audience wants more than engaging explanations. Many viewers already work with financial advisors yet struggle to get coordinated guidance on taxes, Roth conversions, investments, and retirement income.
For plan sponsors, that points to an opportunity to address questions participants may have as they approach retirement. While employees may understand the importance of contributing to their 401(k), they may be less confident about withdrawal strategies, Social Security, healthcare costs, and turning their savings into retirement income.
Mr. Lum’s devoted following suggests that participant education doesn’t necessarily need to be shorter to be more effective. Plan sponsors, advisors, and recordkeepers might instead consider how they present information, whether it addresses participants’ actual concerns, and how relatable examples and stories could make complicated topics easier to understand.
After all, if hundreds of thousands of people will voluntarily watch lengthy videos about Social Security and retirement income, perhaps the challenge isn’t getting their attention. It’s giving them something they genuinely want to learn about in a way they can relate to and easily understand.
