Financial Planning

Investment advice is not financial planning. This is an important distinction to understand when someone goes shopping for financial advice. Do they only need help with investment decisions, or do they need guidance on all aspects of their financial life?

By expanding its use of reverse repurchase agreements to nearly $1.6 trillion, the Fed has kept money market funds solvent and prevented a systemic failure.

Ask yourself these questions when seeking a trust partner who not only is committed to a partnership service model, but can also deliver.

I predicted that 2021 would be a transitional year for managing an advisory business, and I expect this transition to accelerate and become fully formed in 2022. These are the changes that I envision for the coming year and beyond.

Don’t pay big bucks to “branding experts,” using manipulative sales techniques, or rely on the questionable advice offered by “referral experts” or those who tell you to sell differently based on the personality type of the prospect.

Finding the right professional to manage your finances is challenging. Financial professionals have many different titles, certifications and qualifications, but which type is right for you?

We're sharing four areas of work female advisors should resolve to pay special attention to in 2022 –plus, how you can give those resolutions staying power.

Soon – within the next two years – the SEC will wake up and start holding financial advisors who use TAMPs to the same fiduciary standards they hold them to in selecting mutual funds, ETFs, and other investment products. When it does, many advisors will be in trouble.

A new study, which I co-authored, proves that a withdrawal strategy utilizing a reverse mortgage reduces market risk and increases portfolio growth.

First comes love and then comes ... a frank discussion about the realities of moving in together.

A Pittsburgh insurance broker and a Richmond, Virginia forensic accountant have developed an alternative rating system for measuring the ability of life/annuity companies to keep their promises even in market crises. They call it the transparency, surplus and riskier assets ratio, or “TSR” for short.

Great articles don’t always get the readership they deserve. We’ve already posted the most-widely read articles for the past year. Here are another 10 that you might have missed, but I believe merit reading.

As is our custom, we conclude the year by reflecting on the 10 most-read practice management articles over the past 12 months.

As is our custom, we conclude the year by reflecting on the 10 most-read investment and planning articles over the past 12 months. Tomorrow, we will highlight the 10 most-read practice management articles.

Capitalism’s death warrant was signed on March 19, 1968. That is when President Lyndon Johnson eliminated the requirement that the Federal Reserve back the U.S. dollar with gold reserves.

The value for clients is higher with larger portfolios than small ones. The fees should be higher too.

I haven’t written one of these rips in a while, so I thought as an end of the year celebration I’d bring the “six phrases” series back and the first roast will focus on my personal favorite: brokers.

New research shows that companies that engender high employee satisfaction are rewarded with higher stock prices and investor returns.

As advisors, it is up to us to help prospects and clients appreciate our full value.

From the first time prospects and clients hear your name, these ideas will create an “ideal client experience” framework.

Advisors breach their fiduciary duty when they fail to recommend guaranteed income products.

Clients struggle with making right the Social Security claiming decision. This article provides a six-step process to guide clients through the complexity of Social Security.

They’ve only just entered the workforce, but a significant swath of the newest crop of U.S. employees are already making plans for an early exit.

As you near the end of Q4 and gather your thoughts, goals, and priorities for 2022, we have one piece of advice: Streamline your business!

How can advisors help clients who lack sufficient savings for retirement – those who accept the need to take on risk to achieve capital growth, but insist on a minimum income to fund essential expenses?

Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) are quickly captivating the crypto community and reimagining the future of organizational models and hierarchies.

Is it possible that, as the planning profession matures, all planners will eventually follow the same path that every other profession has followed, and charge on an hourly basis for the advice they give – like lawyers, tax professionals and accountants?

The justification for the 4% rule was based upon historical investment performance from 1925 to 1995. But what is the value of relying on those results when today’s economy is so different?

Service offerings that were premium yesterday may be considered ho-hum today. To keep your clients loyal and attract new business, you need to continually create “delight” with strategic updates.

If your marketing stank this year, follow these simple instructions and make 2022 better.

Depending upon the decisions advisors make in the near term, their practices will either be setup for monumental growth or inevitable decline.

Here are three reasons marketing will get harder for financial advisors next year and beyond. Yet the situation isn’t hopeless. You can adopt strategies that make your marketing easier even with the changes on the horizon.

Behind every advisor’s success story is a well-laid and executed plan, which starts with effective goal setting. Let’s see how this works in action.

Before those celebrating Thanksgiving reach for a second slice of pecan pie, they should consider this: A 55-year-old woman with Type 2 diabetes will pay an average of $3,470 more a year in medical-related expenses, or close to $160,000 in total, than if she didn't have the disease.

We’re all salespeople in some sense, fiduciary financial advisors included.

There are ways to be different, but few advisors are willing to adopt them.

In this article, I share steps 2 and 3 of my three-step process for how I used surge meetings to turn my chaotic practice around and triple our revenue in three years.

I share my three-step process for how I used surge meetings to turn my chaotic practice around and triple our revenue in three years. Step 1 is in this article, and steps 2 and 3 will be published tomorrow.

Inflation is why the 4% rule never made any sense.

The majority of the wealth in the U.S. is controlled by baby boomers. However, two rising trends in this dominant demographic are creating complications, not only for boomers and their advisors, but also for the children of boomers who constitute an increasingly vital current and future client group.

The need for content and guidance in the past few years has been greater than ever before, as clients realize that establishing a charitable vehicle is only step one in achieving their charitable goals.

This is the time when you are preparing an end-of-year/holiday letter for your clients. Unfortunately, fewer than 1% of them are going to derive any meaning from it. Use this template to create a holiday letter with some pizzazz.

You can educate prospects and show them results. but they won’t act until they want to. This won’t happen until they envision a future that’s harder to stomach than their current, comfortable reality.

The idea that growth and success can be achieved at the expense of clients, diluting the value they receive rather than deepen it, is a myth. If you follow the 10 shifts in this article, you will deliver deep value to clients and run an excellent practice that allows you to enjoy the ride and the rewards.

If you’re struggling to attract new clients, it’s because prospects have a difficult time differentiating you. Prospective clients face four realities that will overwhelm their decision-making process.

Randy Dippell, a partner and advisor for AdvicePeriod in Chicago, describes how he uses Asset-Map to organize his clients’ financial affairs.

Just conducting a survey isn’t enough. You need to make sure the survey is effective. Here are my tips for creating an impactful client survey.

Here are nine things every female solo advisor should know about launching and growing a wealth management practice.

The benefits associated with exclusion-ratio taxation can be significant and should be considered when selecting the appropriate GLWB annuity for a non-qualified account.

While an individual is working, taxes are primarily determined by their salary with only minor control by an advisor. However, once they transition into retirement, their advisor becomes a tax conductor, orchestrating timing and sourcing of cash flows and disbursals to maximize their safe, post-tax spending.

Advisors are so worried about what to say to prospects, they run around spending all kinds of time and money and getting stressed about it. Forget all that.

Here is my interview with Eric Negron, an advisor, about how he uses the Asset-Map software.

How can we quantify the value of our advice across the board? We can quantify the value of investing, but our tools are not aligned with the shifting advisor value proposition.

If you’re wondering how President Joe Biden’s tax framework would affect rich Americans, here’s a rough scorecard.

One of the biggest conundrums of estate planning is considering how, or even if, you can give money or property to your heirs in a manner that will help them.

Democrats’ proposal for a tax on billionaires is already spurring questions about how the sweeping new levy would be implemented and how America’s wealthiest -- and their sophisticated advisers -- can get around it.