On Dec. 17, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 (the Act). The Act significantly impacts the estate planning that advisors will recommend to their clients, as...
In my early years of practice (almost 30 years ago), I was fortunate to represent an outstanding young couple, Jack and Mary. When we first met, they had been married about seven years and had five young children. Jack was an unusually talented...
For those of us in the business of providing client services, success is heavily dependent on our ability to offer the most comprehensive, cutting-edge information available. No matter how good we may be individually, we can always be better by...
Leo Tolstoy begins Anna Karenina with the line: Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Much the same can be said for successful multi-generational family businesses as well as family businesses that are...
One of the most challenging conversations for a financial advisor to have is getting a married couple to agree on a financial plan. Husband and wife may have very different views on risk, as well as spending and saving priorities.
As Baby Boomers retire, and switch gears from asset accumulation to asset distribution, advisors are going to have to become more sophisticated and efficient in their delivery of financial advice.
Advisors who hopscotch across their territories visiting clients now have mobile access to client files and financials on their iPhones (Nasdaq: AAPL) — at least those who custody with Fidelity.
RIAs have long avoided variable annuities like they were bad breath. But LPL Financial (NASDAQ: LPLA), among others, is trying to change that with its new fee-based variable annuity platform. The insurance carriers on the new LPL platform (and...
