When you ask your clients what they’re interested in passing on to their heirs, you probably expect them to discuss their financial assets. After all, in our industry we’ve been trained to believe that wealthy individuals are primarily...
Why most winners of the Nobel Prize in economics couldn’t do an advisor's job.
Some believe experts are made, not born. If that's true, what does it take to become an expert?
Knowledge is the blueprint for success, whether it’s retirement planning, income generation, or staying current on topics that impact your clients’ lives. Building Your Business offers timely and practical concepts and observations to connect useful perspectives from the financial marketplace to your practice and those you serve.
When you ask your clients what they’re interested in passing on to their heirs, you probably expect them to discuss their financial assets. After all, in our industry we’ve been trained to believe that wealthy individuals are primarily...
Why most winners of the Nobel Prize in economics couldn’t do an advisor's job.
Some believe experts are made, not born. If that's true, what does it take to become an expert?
Life transitions can often derail clients’ plans and frequently result in clients choosing a new advisor. Be sure you know how to respond.
Financial advisors and their clients often speak different languages when it comes to defining risk.
A growing body of research shows that financial advisors help investors make better decisions, which increases their investment returns.
We’re drowning in information. According to Scientific American, the amount of data that we produce doubles each year. In his book, The Behavioral Investor, Daniel Crosby made that idea tangible by adding that “in 2016, humankind...
Over the past eighty-seven years, dividends have accounted for over 40% of the total return for the S&P 500 Index. The importance of dividends has been an often overlooked part of investing, but will continue to come to the forefront as...
How do retirees avoid selling their hard-earned retirement assets at the wrong time? The all-important “buy low and sell high” discipline is out of reach when forced to sell in a bear market. A cash flow reserve ladder can provide the...
Every so often, a book linking spirituality to investing hits the market. While some of us consider any instance where we part with a sizeable chunk of change a spiritual experience, that isn’t the essence of spiritual investing. According to...
When you ask your clients what they’re interested in passing on to their heirs, you probably expect them to discuss their financial assets. After all, in our industry we’ve been trained to believe that wealthy individuals are primarily...
It’s hard to believe that 10 years have passed since the “Crash of 2008.” Being in this business back then wasn’t a requirement for understanding something was terribly wrong...
This is the time of year we call the “Dog Days of Summer.” It’s said that expression comes from the Romans who associated the hottest and most humid summer days with the brightest and hottest star, Sirius.
For years, 70% has been the often-quoted percentage of women in a traditional marriage who leave their financial advisors after divorce or the death of their spouse.
In this first segment of the All in the Family: Managing Legacy Wealth program, we will delve into how to address your practice gaps.
In this second segment of the All in the Family: Managing Legacy Wealth program, we will delve into the power of a vision.
In this third segment of the All in the Family: Managing Legacy Wealth program, we will delve into a new standard for you and your team.
In order to “close the gaps” that are preventing you from operating a true Legacy Wealth Management practice, you need a plan. The plan will be based on the goals you identified in your “Vision Worksheet” and will include tactics that are based on the gaps you identified in your “Gap Analysis.” It is important to prioritize the goals you want to achieve and the gaps you want to close. If you take on too much at once, it will seem overwhelming and may cause you to abandon the process.
An “Ethical Will” (or “Family Legacy Letter”) is the product of an ancient tradition in which individuals share their life story, personal values, beliefs, blessings, and advice with future generations. According to Dr. Barry K. Baines, the author of Ethical Wills, “legal wills bequeath valuables, ethical wills bequeath values.”
A checklist to help with the family meeting.
This program consists of four presentations with multiple worksheets, checklists, and brochures. It is designed to help advisors transform their businesses into legacy wealth practices and create organic growth by capturing more assets with existing clients, cultivating relationships with family members (thereby increasing retention upon wealth transfer), and generating new business.
The changing face of the financial services industry keeps advisors engaged with the challenge of navigating clients through volatile markets, and the ability to anticipate and adapt to change. Today's best business-building...
As an advisor who works with multiple generations of your clients’ families, you are in the position to help your clients start a tradition that guarantees future generations of their family will know about them, the life decisions they made, and the values that guided their lives. That tradition is called an ethical will.
This case study tells the story of one high net worth family foundation, its journey from an organization that began with a traditional funding approach to one that embraced strategic philanthropy and the resulting rewards.
A meeting that encourages families to work together to create a vision of how they will collectively govern and manage their wealth to benefit current and future generations.
In this year’s annual report, the Trustees of Social Security and Medicare informed us that for the first time since 1982 the amount the programs are paying out will exceed the revenue they're taking in.
If there were such a thing as a contest for the best advisory practice structure, teaming would be the winner. For the past 10 years more advisors have created or joined advisory teams than ever before.
Ask any colleague who has built a booming business and he or she will tell you that at some time or another, maybe more than once, they’ve had to reinvent their business. If you probe further, you’ll find that they made that decision for...
Although dividends have accounted for approximately 40% of the total return of the S&P 500 Index over the past 87 years, for some reason, their importance has been overlooked. But, as more investors think about longevity and look for high and growing investments that generate high and growing income, dividends will certainly gain favor.
The challenge for investors, who rely on their investment portfolios to supplement their other sources of income, is how to prevent selling their assets at the wrong time.
A spending plan can help retirees balance the desire to maintain a consistent lifestyle with the need to preserve assets for a retirement that could last 30 to 40 years. How should the spending amount change over time? A plan that...
The old adage, “From shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations”, describes the challenge of sustaining family wealth. While it makes sense to take adages with a grain of salt...
It probably isn't lost on you that you've chosen one of the most competitive careers around. And you have less time than ever to look for new clients . . .
One obstacle stands between our goal of educating our children and our ability to achieve it: money.
Robo advisers offer some advantages, but the most comprehensive financial guidance still requires human touch.
Beyond the candidates, we're seeing a spotlight on globalization and demographics—two forces sure to steer the economy for years to come.
Making your retirement savings last multiple decades may be financially daunting, but living to a ripe, old age can be well worth it for individuals, families and the economy.
For the best longevity planning outcomes, assume a long life, broaden the discussion, and
increase the number of chairs at the table.
Retiring the traditional retirement conversation and refocusing on the longevity journey doesn’t simplify life. It challenges us to broaden our perspective and increases the importance of the decisions we make relative to our health, our wealth, and how each of us uses our life’s wisdom to prepare for an abundant second half.
One of the most valuable doesn’t trade on
an exchange, can’t be sold at a Christie’s auction, it's called wisdom.
Today, increases in longevity and the decisions associated with longer life are demanding that you help your clients prepare for the future. This may mean developing a plan that integrates health care, financial management and life goals into a strategy that supports and enhances their second half of life.
