WP&BC Portland Chapter Recorded Webinar 

5 Ways Technology Will Change How You Age

Ryan Sullivan
Managing Director, Hartford Funds

Recorded on July 27, 2021

For the next generation of retirees, one question will trump all others: How do you add life to longer lives? As people live longer, and spend more time in retirement, the challenge will be to get more out of those years. How do you find a rewarding second career? How do you stay close with friends and family? How do you maintain independence and mobility? How do you embrace new experiences? The answer: technology. With the advent of smartphones and constant connectedness, a new peer-to-peer, on-demand economy has emerged. With a simple swipe or tap of an app, information and services are available at our fingertips. 

This new economy of connections is what will enable us to live fuller lives as we age, and it touches five important aspects of our lives:

Advisors will learn why renting, not owning, assets in the on-demand and sharing economies will translate into a need for more cash on hand than retirees currently need and less stashed away in illiquid assets such as real estate. Attendees will consider the costs of these new devices and services,

the need to put more emphasis on income that may be needed to pay for on-demand services, and understand the impact that a shift towards income could have on asset growth.

Objectives:

Ryan Sullivan is a managing director of applied insights for Hartford Funds. He travels extensively, leading communication workshops around the country and speaking on a variety of financial topics—with a focus on retirement research from the MIT AgeLab. Ryan’s been an invited speaker nationwide, providing insights to audiences in 46 states and Puerto Rico. He has a passion for helping to improve the communication between financial professionals and their clients. 

Ryan originally joined Hartford Funds in 1996, holding various roles of increasing responsibility. He left the company in 2012 as a vice president of advanced markets. Prior to rejoining Hartford Funds, he founded a business to coach professionals on public speaking and the improvisational mindset, working with attorneys, accountants, engineers, financial professionals, and physicians, among others. He also was named vice president and head of investor education at Envestnet MoneyGuide, a leading financial-planning software platform for financial professionals. 

In addition to his role at Hartford Funds, Ryan volunteers his time and communication expertise to help others. Since 2012, he’s led communication workshops at UNC Charlotte’s Center for Leadership and Community Engagement. He’s also a certified facilitator for TimeSlips™, a program through which he leads interactive storytelling sessions for people living with Alzheimer’s and dementia. In addition, he leads communication workshops through Charlotte Family Housing to help empower working families experiencing homelessness to achieve self-sufficiency. 

Ryan is a registered representative of Hartford Funds Distributors, LLC, and is FINRA Series 7 and 63 registered. He holds his Life, Health, and Variable Products licenses and has earned the Certified Financial Planner (CFP®), Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU®), Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC®), Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC®), and Chartered Mutual Fund Counselor (CMFC®) designations. He’s also a Fellow of LOMA’s® Life Management Institute. 

Originally from Hartford, Connecticut, Ryan attended Bucknell University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He currently lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his wife, Katie.