Faith Liversedge: Let go of the coastal grandmother look

I’m amused to read that there’s a new ‘aesthetic’ in town, the coastal grandmother.

The ‘coastal grandmother’ has been identified as this year’s most aspirational lifestyle trend. 

The term, which came to prominence on TikTok and Instagram, refers to the understatedly wealthy summertime lifestyle of the elegant older woman. 

Think Diane Keaton and Jane Fonda in cream cashmere and high-end linen, strolling along a golden beach, wind in her hair, smiling at nothing, just happy to be rich, retired and still in possession of killer cheekbones. 

Occasionally she’s on a yacht, clutching an iPad, or enjoying a large glass of Sauvignon Blanc (or all three). But always smiling, always relaxed and always in loose, breathable fabrics.

I bet you’re itching to see an image by way of explanation. 

But luckily you don’t have to look very far, because – and you may have realised this already, the financial profession is ahead of the zeitgeist for once.

You’d be hard pressed to find a financial website that doesn’t feature a coastal grandmother because she’s in almost every stock photo of ‘wealthy older lady’ ever shot.  

Finance and the coastal grandmother

In fact, if you were to play a drinking game where you Googled ‘financial adviser websites’ and drank every time you saw an image like this, you’d be in A&E by the end of the evening. (Shall we do this?!).

And now she’s the toast of the town, with swathes of fashion-forward 20-somethings eager to create her look.

Just as many people in financial marketing are trying to get away from her.

Because as we know, in our world, the stock image of the coastal grandmother is a crime against authenticity. We cringe at this picture-perfect representation of retirement because it feels stereotypical, inauthentic, and unreal. 

And so we search for an alternative. Which is…?

Real women, real money

This is where we enter tricky territory because there’s a fine balance to be had between real and fake.

No one wants to be looking at picture of real retirees – with their wonky teeth and liver spots – your prospects won’t be excited by reminders of how they could really end up.

They want to see something aspirational, but relatable, so they can easily picture themselves as your client, and get excited about what you could do for them.

But let’s backtrack for another hot second, in order to really think about what we’re doing here.

We may be representing the wrong demographic altogether – and turning potential clients off as a result.

Goodbye Baby Boomer

We’re used to thinking of retirees as people in their 70s and 80s, and this is why we nod to them throughout websites and marketing material. But if you think about it, this is miles in the future if you think about the age of your ‘ideal’ audience – those in their 50s.

Today’s ideal audience member is a species very much more within touching distance. 

Because they were born in the 70s.

(Let me sit down while I get over the fact that that also includes me.)

As such, Gen-X will probably want something a lot different from retirement. For this generation it’s unlikely to be about pottering about with an iPad, it might be sitting on top of a camper van in Norway, kite flying in Barbados or working on something they want to do rather than have to.

Rethinking your marketing to represent these people more directly is just one thing you can do. But it won’t just help your audience to identify themselves. 

It will also help to show what financial planning is really all about. 

As we know, we still need to be a lot clearer about this. We need to show that it’s not just about making sure people have ‘enough’ in that far-away place we call retirement – although of course, that’s a big part of it. 

Little do clients know until they meet you, that it’s about a whole lot more.

It’s about enabling them to gain clarity about all sorts of things they haven’t been able to explore before, like what makes them truly happy, and what they really want out of life. 

It’s also about creating a life worth living now, bringing the future into the present so ‘retirement’ is no longer the only place they get to enjoy their hard-earned cash.

Take a sabbatical. Change your working pattern. Change your career entirely.

All these things apply to who they are now, not just at retirement, and this naturally makes the whole concept of financial planning so much more engaging.

Showing that you help people to enjoy their wealth earlier than the traditional cliff-edge of 65 might be all you need to get younger (ahem) people excited about doing something about their money now rather than later.

Whether that’s through your images, content or strategy.