Financial Planning

I took ChatGPT for a test drive by directing it to write an article summarizing important tax rule changes introduced by SECURE Act 2.0. The essay it produced was an epic failure.

Any of the variable spending strategies I analyzed will reduce sequence risk in retirement and allow for greater initial spending rates, potentially greater average spending amounts, and a generally more efficient spenddown of assets than the baseline constant inflation-adjusted spending rule.

Consumers want meaningful connections, authenticity, and value from credible sources, whether or not they have “celebrity” status.

As we begin 2023 and you think about how you want to market your financial advisory business, my number one tip is this…

Being flexible with spending matters. My analysis shows that variable spending strategies – including floor-and-ceiling, guardrail, actuarial and other methods – can dramatically increase sustainable retirement spending.

In the final analysis, Dan's confidence borne of providing good financial advice for 17 years proved meaningless.

President Joe Biden faces a formidable obstacle in his bid to slash the student debt of more than 40 million people: a US Supreme Court that has repeatedly thwarted his agenda.

If your clients still have jobs, this article will discuss what you can do to help them prepare for a possible layoff.

For those advisors working with foreign nationals on work visas, I’ll discuss a couple of things you can do to help your clients who are impacted.

What can we, as advisors, do to promote healthy finances?

Every financial plan, regardless of the way in which it was created, requires ongoing monitoring. Here is one way advisors can measure the “funded status” of a plan to determine if adjustments are necessary.

US household debt soared by the biggest amount in two decades in the fourth quarter, with younger borrowers in particular struggling to make loan payments amid high inflation and interest rates.

Let’s explore whether the CFP Board, the most powerful and prominent organization supporting the advisory profession, can do more to support the adoption of a full fiduciary standard. We’ll also ask whether the CFP Board actually owns the trademark for “certified financial planner,” as it claims.

Here are some places where the genuinely rich keep their money.

There are several ways to include philanthropic giving in your estate plan. Here are five common options.

Financial advisors don’t have to “cure” prospects who procrastinate. Instead, ask the right questions and listen to what they say.

In failing to hold all those who provide financial advice to a comprehensive fiduciary standard, the SEC enacted Reg BI to enforce a “best interest” standard. Do your clients understand what that means and its implications?

Like all trusts, a charitable trust is a legal entity that you create for the purpose of holding and managing assets. The trust is wholly separate from you. It owns any assets it holds, pays taxes and requires management just like any other legally recognized entity.

It is far easier to engage people and reach them at an emotional level with video than with any other medium.

Given that $26 billion will be spent this year on Valentine’s Day, imagine if RIAs spent a tiny fraction of that to explain fiduciary relationships to the public.

Transparency and honesty are not the same, though both are essential for establishing trust.

For RIAs, self-knowledge – which includes an understanding of the firm’s ideal client persona – is the first and most necessary step on the road to success and scalability.

Advisors aren’t trained to be integrated life/wealth coaches. The temptation may be to embrace the life coach label and volunteer advice outside these constraints.

If you can’t be bothered to dedicate significant time or money to marketing, let me teach you a step-by-step way to get new clients in fewer than two hours a month.

RIAs will be more financially successful, will retain and attract more investment assets, and will produce superior financial results for their retiree clients when they embrace new thinking that begins with the acknowledgment that, in practice, the safe withdrawal rate is a fiction.

Over the past couple of decades, I’ve told clients many very important things. Most of them are timeless, which is why I find myself saying the same things repeatedly. Here are the top 10, and I’ve saved my most important for last.

Donors were again very generous in their support of their favorite charities in 2022 despite inflation and poor performance across the financial markets.

Here’s an article to help clients better understand the tax benefits of charitable contributions.

No advisor would dream of engaging in the kind of behavior that occurred at Purdue University in early December.

If you are competing with the best of the best, how do you rise above the competition?

We turn fantastic conversations with clients into risk profiles, performance reports, and various financial documents that have little meaning to them and their values.

Word is out among hedge fund managers on how to get tax breaks for giving to charity - without actually handing over their money just yet. They can even keep it in their funds.

It’s big news that Envestnet is moving into the RIA custodial space and will soon be competing head-to-head with its biggest integration partners: an expanded Schwab platform, Fidelity and Pershing. I suspect that this is just the first of many so-called software “platforms” that will jump into the custody competition.

Ray Dalio, founder of the world’s largest hedge fund, has one.

The greatest financial risk for depleting retirement resources is an unexpected and lengthy stay in a long-term healthcare facility.

I learned a lot in 2022. Here were my biggest epiphanies.

Advisors must redesign their entire approach, starting from the client's point of view.

Let me share a story of an RIA who will be forced to mount a legal defense because of a lawsuit that is likely to be filed by two of his retired clients.

Morningstar’s latest research showed higher safe spending rates across all asset allocations over all time horizons. I don’t agree with those results.

Welcome to tax season, TikTok edition.

I've put together four steps to grow your client base – this month.

Can you believe these grifters hawking indexed universal life (IUL) insurance on TikTok? Here’s the actions I’m taking to put an end to this predatory nonsense.

Probability-based retirement income strategies are highly sensitive to the capital market assumptions used in Monte Carlo analysis. Seemingly small changes in those assumptions can mean the difference between projecting a comfortable lifestyle and financial ruin.

Tight monetary policy and rising government debt will drive a regime of high interest rates, depressing stock prices and destroying the wealth of clients, most severely those at or near retirement.

Build your ladder with multiple target-maturity ETFs representing different segments of the bond market, with different target years.

Even after a year in which the vast majority of the wealthiest Americans lost a chunk of their fortunes — and in some cases, lost big — in at least one way, they’re still coming out ahead.

I’ve learned a lot through my work consulting with advisors. Here are some marketing insights to help you plan for 2023.

I’m looking over my previous “trends” article, published at this time a year ago, and some of my ”fearless predictions” were outlandish then but now seem ordinary. That means I did something right.

As is our custom, we conclude the year by reflecting on the 10 most-read practice management articles over the past 12 months. Tomorrow, we will highlight the 10 best articles you probably missed.

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.

Here are nine tips that will help your family members stay healthy and financially secure as they age.

The research is clear: Americans are becoming less generous over the holidays. Not to sound too much like a Scrooge, but this is not necessarily a bad thing.

Allan Roth’s recent article, The 4% Rule Just Became a Whole Lot Easier, promises too much, makes inaccurate comparisons and blurs the notion of risk.

Here’s a breakdown of the pros and cons of trading in your traditional bank for a virtual banking experience.

I will use an example and an actuarial model to compare the efficiency of three strategies for strengthening a retired or near-retired client’s balance sheet under both a lower and a higher assumed future inflation scenario.

Confused about whether your student loans will be forgiven? Everyone is.

ChatGPT, the new AI chatbot, offers a short-term opportunity for savvy financial advisors. But it has long-term consequences for all advisors.

One thing to consider when opening a 529 plan is whether it should be a custodial or individual account. While both allow you to save for college costs and enjoy some tax breaks, they differ in terms of who has control of the account and the assets in it.

Here is a structure for the first meeting to make prospects feel understood.

“Verb sales” in retirement income, or in liability minimization, needs regulatory support immediately. By “verbs,” I mean selling services – such as financial planning – rather than “nouns” – such as investment products like annuities.

We’ve broken down nine of the best 529 plans.

More balanced risk strategies in PLIBs are likely to be optimal (e.g., 40-50% equities), although the ability to personalize the risk level is important based on the household situation and preferences.

Here are four questions independent financial advisors should ask before choosing a TAMP.

The following is a story about a company that’s become wildly successful by having an intense focus on consumers’ needs and behavior.

I explore some of the factors driving the superiority of PLIBs, in particular lapsation, mortality experience differences, accessing the equity risk premium, and the marginal role of annuities as part of a retirement strategy.

Let’s look at the powerful feature set an advisory firm could put together from a collection of the higher-rated, low-market-share programs and solutions that I’ve collected from past surveys, many of which you may not even be aware of.