Martin Silfen's The Retirement Plan Distribution Book is a comprehensive source of complicated retirement plan information that is actually easy to use. The book clearly explains the options and intricacies of retirement accounts. It covers simple...
Got lots of clients with complicated stock option plans? Could you use a little assistance with calculating the tax ramifications? StockOpter, an Excel-based program, helps you evaluate employee stock option exercise and sell strategies. Several...
Total variable annuity assets now top the $1 trillion mark, and sales last year exceeded $120 billion. I got these eye-popping statistics from the National Association for Variable Annuities (NAVA) Marketing Conference in February. The variable...
In a tax case involving an unnamed brokerage firm, the IRS national office held that upfront bonuses paid to broker recruits were 100% taxable to the reps in the first year. The finding was made in a technical advisory memorandum (TAM) issued by...
It's well known that most small businesses fail. By some estimates, 95% bite the bullet. A big reason for this high failure rate is that most of these entrepreneurs aren't entrepreneurs at all. In the words of business consultant and author...
I JUST FINISHED READING the article in the January issue about First Union Securities rep Forrest Koenig befriending Mary Sweetman, the elderly woman misled by mail-order contests. Thank you for highlighting such a great young man. I am interested...
Go to any financial Web site and you'll find calculators and asset-allocation tools galore, including at the sites of major full-service brokerage firms. While these online planning tools and calculators may be the rage within tech-loving circles...
First Union is aggressively hunting for brokers to join its new independent subsidiary, First Union Securities Financial Network (FUSFN), created after the firm bought Boca Raton, Fla.-based JWGenesis last year. But brokers at First Union...
How do your values impact your ability to create a 21st century financial practice? Fellow consultant and researcher Dr. Chic Marshall and I had many lengthy discussions on the topic. In the end, we agreed that personal values are more complex...
