Live life in color

Diana Yanez teaches people to link their finances to points of joy. By John Forcucci

Diana Yanez wants to see people live vibrantly instead of turning gray when they think about their finances. It’s one of the driving forces behind her company, All the Colors.

“All the Colors is a phrase a friend and I would say to each other,” she explained. “I went to visit her one weekend when she was going through a difficult time, and I told her she looked gray. After shopping, dancing, eating, talking, crying and laughing together for a few days, at the end, she was vibrant again — she had all her colors back!”

Yanez arrived at a career in the financial services industry after a 10-year journey. She worked in social services at a nonprofit, performed population projections at a government-contracted agency, and did business analysis at a manufacturing company before becoming a Certified Financial Planner. Her compassion, background as a Quaker, and urge to make the world a better place then influenced and altered her journey once more.

After working for three years as a registered investment advisor. Yanez realized that the business was structured primarily to serve those who had the means and not those — often minorities — who did not.

Somehow, that wasn’t enough for Yanez.

“I loved my clients,” she said, “but my bigger end goal was to help people who are not being served.” With that in mind, Diana took up the path of entrepreneur and founded All the Colors.

She said her target audience for All the Colors is “people who have anxiety about their finances, are not sure how to establish their own financial plan, and who may have tried — and failed — to get on the right financial track.” People who previously turned gray when they thought about monetary issues.

“I tell clients that all of their money ‘stuff’ is welcome when they’re at All the Colors — from their fear of never having enough to shame about feeling greedy, despair at capitalism’s extractive nature, joy at being able to care for themselves, generosity when sharing with others, surprise with bills or surprise income,” she said. “In short, all of their feelings and experiences with money are welcome. I also like that the name All the Colors is very inclusive.”

The organization offers a six-month financial empowerment program called

Bosque Money to help people who don’t fit the typical client model for a financial advisor. The program offers a “community to cultivate the skills, knowledge and practices you need for an empowered money life.”

Yanez is giving herself three years to get the program off the ground and make it self-supporting. In addition to being a CFP, Yanez is also a speaker and workshop facilitator and has a limited number of one-toone coaching engagements. “I also work 12 to 15 hours a week with Strategy Squad as a financial planner,” she said.

Creating a life her way

Born and raised in California, Yanez currently lives in Oaxaca, Mexico. “I moved to Mexico to give All the Colors financial space to flourish and because I love living in Latin America,” she said. “The time zone is perfect to continue working with U.S. clients. I’ve always wanted to travel the world, and now I have created a life where it’s possible for me to do so.”

Bosque Money provides group coaching over six months to help participants work toward their financial and life goals. By providing this service in a group setting, participants learn from other’s experiences in a supportive environment.

Many of those who would benefit from this group setting may have tried to improve their financial knowledge previously, but “they went through it alone and failed. Or they just know that they won’t do it alone,” she said.

“Teaching people one-on-one can be very helpful, and there is a place for that,” she said. “Community coaching creates a different environment. For a lot of people, money choices are really just habits. One of the easiest and fastest ways to upgrade your habits is to join a group of people who are also learning to do the thing you want to do.”

With the organization just getting off the ground, how Yanez will attract a steady stream of group participants for All the Colors is still under consideration.

“Client acquisition is really where I’m learning a lot right now,” she said. “I’ve been doing a lot of social media. I talk with other financial advisors. I let them know ‘Here’s the service that I provide. If someone doesn’t fit your categories, send them my way.’”

Yanez said that someone who is educated and comfortable with their finances after participating in her program “will be a better fit as a client for a financial advisor.”

She offered an example. “When you have a client who has a lot of anxiety, it can be really hard to give them advice because they’re not in a place where they’re ready to implement it,” she said. “Once you have gone through the program with me, you’re going to be more educated and able to understand what the financial advisor suggests.”

To refine her group process, Yanez started with a pilot group for her Bosque Money program. Bosque, she explained, means “forest” in Spanish. Among her teaching techniques, Yanez uses monetary archetypes based on trees.

“I created five different archetypes to represent how people interact with money, using different types of trees,” she said. “Trees are neutral and often associated with calm, positive feelings. Also, nature can inspire. Using these archetypes is one way to take the anxiety out of discussing financial topics.

“For example, one archetype is a saguaro cactus,” she said, “Saguaros grow up in an environment where it’s very dry. They tend to store a lot of water because you never know when it’s going to rain again.” The saguaro represents the type of person who may be good at saving but also can tend to overanalyze, she explained. “It can take a saguaro 70 years before it sprouts its first branch. That’s a long time before it tries out something new. I’m sure we all have clients who analyze something to the nth degree before making a decision.”

The pilot group has been a great learning process, said Yanez. The group will have 11 sessions that run over a six-month period.

The group experience is empowering, she said, because “when you see people around you who are also hesitant around money start to implement changes, that shows you that it’s possible.”

All the Colors groups are conducted via Zoom. While all Yanez’s clients are located in the U.S., her base of operations is

in Mexico. “I plan to be in Latin America for the foreseeable future,” she said. “All my clients are U.S.-based. It’s the system I know the best. It’s just where I feel most comfortable working, especially as a Certified Financial Planner.”

The ideal size of the working groups is between eight and 12 people, she said.

“With at least eight people, if I ask a question, not everyone has to respond. When it’s only three people, you can feel that you’re being put on the spot. If you have more than 12 people, it’s hard to build intimate or strong connections. Especially because we are talking about money. It’s one of the biggest taboos.”

BOSQUE MONEY ARCHETYPES

Through using stories, neutral third parties — money archetypes as trees — and a mixture of solo, pair and group work, All the Colors group participants can gain clarity on what is creating their anxieties about money and how to deal with those anxieties. The Bosque (Spanish for “forest”) archetypes as trees include:

• Heaven’s tree — They see what’s wrong with the world but have a tendency to blame, thus giving away their power. The transformation comes from acknowledging what’s wrong with the system, taking action on what they can, and leaning into their visionary gifts for a better system. • Coppice tree — They are giving and future-oriented, but they forget to care for themselves and can become controlling and resentful. The transformation comes from giving themselves care, trusting in others’ abilities to care for themselves, and seeing they are worthy now regardless of what they do. • Magnolia — They live intensely and enjoy their present but resent having to think of the future. The transformation comes from acknowledging what may not be working with their current system, becoming comfortable not satisfying every desire, and knowing they have nothing to prove. • Wisteria — They are visionaries who are bursting with ideas but do not set up support systems and often fail to grasp the technical aspects of money. The transformation comes from seeing the benefit of structures for them to lean on, getting support on the technical aspects, and giving themselves grace as they learn this new skill set. • Saguaro — They can make a feast out of crumbs and are always set in case of an emergency, but they do not enjoy their present and can be too anxious about the future. The transformation comes from thanking their savings and planning for their gifts and giving themselves more permission to enjoy the present. They need to become more willing to rely on others and give themselves permission to enjoy today.

Setting up a safe space

“As a facilitator, I probably only talk a third of the time,” Yanez said. “During the 90-minute session, my goal is to set up a safe space to share experiences and do different exercises. Then I send them off into breakout sessions to talk together.

“I introduce all of the areas they have to look at with their money, including risk management, what their values are, budgeting, their earnings,” she said. “From there, we look at what they need to have in place by the time the six-month program is over to know they’re on track financially.”

In her “Where Do I Start?” workshop, for example, participants learn how to measure their current financial health. To build more confidence in monetary decisions, participants learn how to plan for the future and to increase the time horizon for that plan. Having sufficient time to plan can help reduce anxiety, she said.

With a solid plan and time to implement it, “you are confident that you have systems in place to get to where you want to go,” she said. Other topics covered in the sessions include:

» Key investing concepts.

» Teaching your kids about money.

» Planning for retirement as an entrepreneur.

» Negotiating for a raise as an employee.

» Setting your pricing as an entrepreneur.

» Risk management, or how to make sure you and your loved ones are protected in case of an emergency.

The “Creating Peace With Cash Flow” workshop helps create systems that keep the individual on track, even when their income fluctuates.

“I separate out the more technical aspects of financial education from the group sessions,” she explained. “I provide that through evergreen content on an online platform. All the technical information is there when they need it.

“In the group sessions, what I really focus on is mindset,” Yanez said. “I focus a lot on their money history and on establishing resilience. I ask: ‘Where have you had difficult money situations or difficult life situations? What inner resources do you have to move through those difficult situations?’”

Points of joy

Yanez says previous bad experiences with finances may have colored participants’ concepts of money, so she tries to link finances to points of joy.

“Let’s say, for example, negotiating your salary is not a point of joy,” she said. “It feels really difficult to go and talk about how much you’re earning. On the other hand, being able to be generous is a source of joy. Given that, if your income is where it needs to be, you can be generous. Those are linked.”

One group participant, Yanez said, was anxious around money. “She just wanted nothing to do with it. She didn’t want to earn it. She didn’t want to spend it. It was completely her partner’s work.”

Several weeks into the group meetings, the participant had a conversation with her partner in preparation for filing taxes. “That was the first time, after a decade of their being together, that she didn’t walk away crying” after talking about money, Yanez said.

Yanez said she is giving herself three years to build All the Colors into a self-sustaining business. She would like to eventually build to having two or three concurrent groups running three or four times a year. She’s hoping that the group experience will also spur some participants to become trained as future group facilitators.

“My hope is that someone who’s gone through it will want to start teaching it,” she said. “I’m very much in the process of creating something that can be replicated without me.

“I’ll give it everything I have, and then we’ll see what happens next. When you plant something, you just have to trust that it’s sprouting.”

John Forcucci is InsuranceNewsNet editor-in-chief. He has had a long career in daily and weekly journalism. Contact him at John. Forcucci@innfeedback.com. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnF. 1 After completion of tele-interview or digital part 2. Features and availability may vary by state or by product. Life insurance products contain fees, such as mortality and expense charges (which may increase over time), and may contain restrictions, such as surrender periods. These materials are for informational and educational purposes only and are not designed, or intended, to be applicable to any person’s individual circumstances. It should not be considered investment advice, nor does it constitute a recommendation that anyone engage in (or refrain from) a particular course of action. Securian Financial Group, and its subsidiaries, have a financial interest in the sale of its products. Insurance products are issued by Minnesota Life Insurance Company in all states except New York. In New York, products are issued by Securian Life Insurance Company, a New York authorized insurer. Minnesota Life is not an authorized New York insurer and does not do insurance business in New York. Both companies are headquartered in St. Paul, MN. Product availability and features may vary by state. Each insurer is solely responsible for the financial obligations under the policies or contracts it issues. Securian Financial is the marketing name for Securian Financial Group, Inc., and its subsidiaries. Minnesota Life Insurance Company and Securian Life Insurance Company are subsidiaries of Securian Financial Group, Inc.

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Owners who need more coverage Nonowners who need coverage No need gap

Hispanic

11% 40% 49%

Life insurance Black Asian 14% 14% coverage lowest White 9% in US among Hispanics

34%

31%

28% 52%

55%

63%

Life insurance coverage among Hispanics is lower than that of any other race or ethnicity in the U.S., according to a 2022 study by Life Happens and LIMRA.

Of the 43.4 million Hispanic American adults, 40% are uninsured and say they need it, and 11 % are underinsured and say they need more, according to the 2022 Insurance Barometer Study by Life Happens and LIMRA, which examined the life insurance needs of U.S. consumers, including 1,400 Hispanic Americans. A total of 22.2 million have a life insurance need gap, the study found.

The potential for serving the Hispanic market is huge, said Faisa Stafford, president and CEO of Life Happens. Forty-one percent of Hispanic Americans own life insurance, the lowest figure among all races and ethnicities.

Hispanics overestimate the cost of life insurance at five times more than its actual cost, according to the research. Other reasons Hispanics are reluctant to buy include having other financial priorities, not knowing how much insurance they need or what type to buy, haven’t gotten around to buying it, do not believe they need coverage or do not like to think about death.

Ordinary life direct premium growth to retreat from 2021’s historic high

200 12

150 9

100 6

50 3

Renewal direct premiums and considerations ($B) First-year and single direct premiums and considerations ($B) Total direct premiums and considerations growth (%) 0

LIFE INSURANCE TO SIMMER DOWN

S&P expects the ordinary life direct premium growth will drop to 2.8% this year, down from 10.7% in 2021. Since 2003, the annual rate has only approached 5% twice.

Several factors coalesced in 2021 to allow the industry to defy history: heightened consumer awareness of the need for end-of-life financial planning amid the pandemic, relatively easy year-over-year comparisons to a 2020 in which production slowed during the spring and summer, and a favorable change to the U.S. Internal Revenue Code that made certain types of ordinary life policies more attractive as a is important, but fewer than half (47%) have done so, according to a survey from Ethos. More than half (58%) say life insurance is one of the most important end-of-life preparations one can make, but only 48% currently have a policy and most are unprepared for death.

wealth management tool.

The tax code change updated Section 7702 to allow policyholders to add premium without losing the tax advantage by becoming a modified endowment contract. This had a significant impact on whole life, which saw a policy count increase of nearly 6.3% in 2021 in the second-largest increase in more than two decades. Citing LIMRA data, although the policy count increased by more than 6%, the annualized premium on those contracts represented a 20% increase, reflecting the tax law change. While universal life had an impressive 15% increase in policy count, the associated premium increased 18%.

AMERICANS THINK ABOUT DEATH BUT WON’T PLAN FOR IT

When it comes to death, there’s a disconnect between what people say and think and what they do. More than two-thirds (68%) of Americans say discussing end-oflife preparations with family and loved ones

NOPE not

DID YOU KNOW ?

55% of millennials have no life insurance coverage.

QUOTABLE

Even before the pandemic we knew that about 5% of kids will lose a parent before the age of 15. If the loss is a breadwinning parent, most families will go bankrupt.

— Nichole Myers, chief underwriter at Ethos

The disconnect is most striking with millennials and Generation X. Sixty-five percent of millennials and 64% of Gen X said life insurance is one of the most important end-of-life preparations to make, but only 55% and 49%, respectively, own life insurance policies.

BANNER LIFE TO PAY $3.5M PENALTY TO NEW YORK

Banner Life will pay a $3.5 million penalty for violations of the New York Insurance Law in connection with the company’s pension risk transfer business.

The New York State Department of Financial Services claimed that Banner Life solicited and did insurance business in New York state without a license.

A PRT transaction typically involves a plan sponsor, usually an employer offering pension plan protection to its employees, that transfers some or all of the assets and liabilities of a defined benefit pension plan to a life insurance company. The company then issues a group annuity contract obligating itself to make benefit payments to either the plan sponsor or the plan participants. Between 2016 and 2019, Banner Life was an active participant in the pension risk industry. During that time, certain client-facing employees solicited insurance while in New York, resulting in violations of the New York Insurance Law, DFS said.