Financial Planning

Aligning a client’s values with their financial decisions is often touted as a best practice for financial advisors. It’s time to reexamine that premise.

The term “Complexity Curve” refers to the growing intricacies that come with managing the wealth of high-net-worth individuals. As their assets grow, so do the complexities of their financial portfolios. This includes everything from business ownership and large qualified plans to complex estate planning issues.

Christine Benz is Morningstar’s director of personal finance and retirement planning, but she’s written a book that evokes Viktor Frankl as much as Bill Sharpe, aiming to go well beyond the mathematics of saving for, and living in, retirement.

Here’s a quote attributed to P. J. O’Rourke, an American author, journalist and political satirist: “There is a simple rule here, a rule of legislation, a rule of business, a rule of life: beyond a certain point, complexity is fraud.”

Using infographics to illustrate your firm’s financial planning process is a great way to show the value you provide. Whether in your marketing materials, initial consultations, or new client onboarding, these visuals can help set the stage for a successful and growing relationship.

Successful advisors are persuasive. They understand persuasion is critical to converting prospects into clients and keeping them as clients.

You did everything by the book. Your prospect talked and you listened. But listening alone is not enough to build trust.

To understand the importance of involving both spouses in the discussion, we asked our very own Vicky Frye, Director of FinTech Innovation and Cybersecurity Strategies at WMGNA, for her comments on this topic.

As tough as financial advisors claim to be, we still get nervous about “firing” clients, too. When we say “graduate,” that is our delicate way of handling an uncomfortable situation. It’s a cheap, but effective way to massage the misgivings that we have about terminating client relationships.

Having the best referral in the world doesn’t convert a prospect. It’s your website that seals the deal, not only for referrals but for organic prospects as well.

Many financial advisors exhibit a risk-averse attitude, leading to missed opportunities for growth and innovation.

Given the inevitable ups and downs of the financial world, the joy of missing out on the frenzy might be a strong component of long-term financial and emotional wellbeing.

While high rates can make borrowing costlier and slow down housing markets, they also open favorable opportunities in financial products like annuities. In other words, annuities are back and stronger than ever before!

When dealing with millennials and often with more seasoned investors, it’s important to understand their barriers to acceptance of a boring approach to investing.

You don’t need a fortune to channel your giving through a DAF. These funds are designed for everyday people who want to make charitable donations in a way that offers tax efficiency, flexibility, and choices.

Financial advisors are increasingly turning to social media platforms to expand their client base. But in today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, the traditional marketing funnel model – comprising awareness, engagement, and conversion stages – often falls short when applied to these platforms.

Since carriers are still digesting and figuring out how they want to cover DA, investment advisors should focus on working with a broker who understands this space. What was true six months ago, can easily be different now and in further down the road.

Conflicts are everywhere in financial planning. They exist in all fee models, whether they be commissions, assets under management, fixed fee, or hourly. Any time money changes hands there are conflicts of interests.

Trust is a precious commodity and the importance of authenticity cannot be overstated. Whether in healthcare, education, or business, being genuine and transparent is essential for building strong, lasting relationships. However, nowhere is this truer than in the financial advisory industry.

AI and automation will revolutionize the financial advisory industry. These technologies enhance efficiency, improve client communication, and enable data-driven decision-making. By 2035, AI will be integral to most advisory firms.

As RIAs and broker-dealers consider how to allocate future spending, they would be wise to recognize how technology designed to support fee-for-service financial planning can help them meet their most immediate goals while also allowing them to grow and nurture next-generation wealth management clients.

Implementing the net wealth mindset in practice involves developing detailed financial plans that align with each client's needs and priorities, and crafting a client-centered service model.

For married couples, typically those who have a high net worth, a Spousal Limited Access Trust (SLAT) could be an efficient wealth-preserving strategy. These irrevocable trusts allow one spouse to transfer assets such as cash, marketable securities, real estate, and life insurance, to a trust that benefits the other spouse.

In this piece, I demonstrate that small-cap equities become increasingly attractive for investors with longer investment horizons.

No coach is going to be able to work well with your team unless you are very clear about expected outcomes. What will success look like in working with the coach?

The longer I spent working at a big firm, the more I came to understand that the advice I could offer was determined by decisions at the top. My input as an advisor was limited, which didn’t sit well with me, so I looked for a position that would allow me to offer unbiased financial advice.

I have long admired Jonathan Clements. His columns in The Wall Street Journal introduced me to index-based investing. I was deeply saddened to read his column in HumbleDollar, dated June 15, 2024, that, at age 61, he has been diagnosed with lung cancer that has metastasized to his brain and “a few other spots.”

Maximizing tax alpha for clients is not just a niche strategy but a vital component of comprehensive financial planning. It empowers advisors to capture their piece of the $600 billion opportunity and differentiate their practice, while providing unparalleled service and value to their clients.

When SEO is carefully managed during a merger, everyone wins: clients feel comfortable, associates are more confident, and vital branding and marketing assets are preserved.

Yes, differentiation is hard, which is why developing a niche target market has become so popular recently. It can dramatically reduce the number of competitors. But even advisors who focus on a niche have competition.

Why do people so consistently underestimate their lifespan? Their thinking is influenced by the money scripts, financial circumstances, stories, and emotions that drive a person’s cognitive biases, or mental shortcuts.

A planner using a fee-offset model sets an annual fixed fee for their services. Then any commissions earned from the sale of products, usually insurance products, are credited back to the client, offsetting and reducing the annual fee by the amount of the commission.

It is essential for financial professionals to include a variety of sources of guaranteed income to give clients the freedom to worry less, gain confidence about the future and enjoy life more.

What’s the best age to start taking Social Security? That is a frequently asked question for financial advisors. It’s also, as any financial advisor will admit, completely unanswerable without significantly more information. Social Security is too inherently complex for one-size-fits-most recommendations.

Of course, perfect or even near-perfect market forecasting is folly. But even if we can find a successful forecaster, odds are that they won’t add any value after taxes.

Will AI accelerate the consolidation trend, or could it be the great equalizer that allows smaller firms to remain competitive?

Here are the key things advisors don’t always know about exchange funds.

In an ever-evolving healthcare landscape, Medicare’s complexities present both a challenge and an opportunity for financial advisors. As clients approach retirement or face health-related decisions, they often turn to their trusted advisors for guidance on navigating the Medicare maze.

In this article, I provide a basic framework for understanding and developing a lifelong plan for a person with disabilities. I’ll introduce matters as they relate to establishing a well thought out and comprehensive plan that ties together life, public benefit, and resource planning as well as financial and legal planning.

When clients express a pragmatic approach to their terminal diagnosis, respect their perspective. Acknowledge their desire to avoid prolonged suffering and financial burden. Assure them you will work diligently to help achieve their goals and honor their wishes.

You might think that having an ADA-compliant website is only about adhering to legal requirements, but it can actually help your firm grow.

In the best-case scenario, subscription services are the heir apparent for the delivery of wealth management services because they bestow the greatest amount of flexibility on the advisor to help their clients achieve comprehensive and lasting financial security.