2025 Top 5 Advisor Stories: From the ‘Age Wave’ to Gen Z angst

By Staff Reports

The recent surge of interest in the boomer retirement tsunami drove an interview with "Age Wave" retirement guru Ken Dychtwald to the most read advisor story for 2025.

The public business breakup of social media darlings Gary Brecka and Grant Cardone drove a series of stories to near the top of the readership list for the year. The dueling lawsuits between Grant Cardone and Gary Brecka in Florida have been resolved. Both sides settled their state and federal court disputes stemming from their business breakup and competing claims.

A study on Gen Z in the workplace, why the 4% rule may be outmoded, and the fate of the estate tax under a second Trump administration all climbed to the top of the list as well.

Here are the top 5 most read stories for 2025:

Is the ‘Age Wave’ a retirement tsunami? — With Ken Dychtwald

As people live longer, retirement is becoming much more challenging for financial advisors and their clients as they seek to optimize their “golden years,” enjoy continued good health and implement strategies to deal with the challenges of aging. That’s the main message of gerontologist, psychologist and lecturer Ken Dychtwald, co-founder of the Age Wave think tank.

Dychtwald has spent much of his five-decade career developing the concept of the “age wave,” a population and cultural shift caused by the converging global demographic forces of the baby boom, increasing life expectancy and declining fertility rates. Dychtwald and his wife, Maddy, founded Age Wave, a think tank and consultancy with a perspective on the social, business, health care and financial implications and opportunities of global aging and rising longevity.

Gary Brecka, Cardones file dueling lawsuits in battle of social media stars

A bitter fight between social media personalities in a fractured business partnership resulted in dueling holiday lawsuits between Gary Brecka and Grant Cardone.

Brecka and his wife Sage Workinger filed a $100 million defamation lawsuit in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida against Elena Cardone, wife of Grant Cardone. A second lawsuit alleges a breach of contract related to an employment dismissal.

Brecka and Workinger filed their lawsuits the day after Christmas. That same day, Grant Cardone filed a federal lawsuit against Brecka and Workinger. All involved are popular social media personalities who joined forces in 10X Health System, a wellness company that uses data-driven strategies to improve human health and longevity.

Cardone's lawsuit language left no doubt that the relationships are permanently soured.

Gen Z is not OK, MetLife workplace study says

Generation Z is the newest age cohort to enter the workforce, and they are poised to make up nearly half of the nation’s workers in the next five years. But although these young adults are emerging as the future of America’s workforce, their financial health is not good, and they need support from their employers.

Those were among the findings in the most recent MetLife Employee Benefit Trends Study, which was conducted in September and will be released in March.

“Gen Z is not necessarily doing well,” Todd Katz, MetLife executive vice president of group benefits, told InsuranceNewsNet. “Our study showed holistic health for all employee age groups is down a bit, but it’s down the most for Gen Z.”

Gen Z employees scored lower in their holistic health measurements than did similar age groups five years ago and earlier, Katz said.

Estate tax exemption likely to stay high (or disappear) under Trump II

Now that Donald Trump has won a return to the White House the future of the estate tax is a little clearer.

The estate tax, along with the rest of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, is slated to sunset at the end of 2025. If the estate tax exemption reverts to the pre-TCJA amount, it will represent the biggest estate tax increase in 85 years, said John Resnick of The Resnick Group.

Based in Naples, Fla., John and his wife Billie focus on estate planning, life insurance guidance, and business succession. They have been busy in recent months crafting estate plans for high-net-worth clients.

Clients who can breathe a little easier now that Trump will return to office. With Republicans set to control the Senate and likely the House of Representatives, the party will have broad power to extend the tax cuts.

Beyond that, it's hard to say for sure, said Billie Resnick.

Choosing the scenic route: Why diversification matters

Last summer, I took a road trip on Route 66. I could have chosen the interstate — a faster, more direct route; instead, I opted for the dusty, beaten-up “Old Route 66.” It wasn’t the quickest way to my destination, yet it was by far the most rewarding. Along Route 66, I discovered incredible attractions I would have missed on the highway: quirky roadside diners, historic landmarks and breathtaking views. The journey itself became as valuable as the destination.

Annuities remind me of that trip.

On the surface, annuities may seem like a straightforward, one-lane highway to reaching a financial goal such as retirement income or stability. But if you take a closer look, you’ll find opportunities to explore new paths through internal diversification. Allocating premium to model blends within a fixed index annuity is like choosing the scenic route on the financial journey — it opens up options that can improve the experience and help clients arrive at their goals sooner, potentially with more “gas” in the tank.