Over the past several years, a number of state law changes have caused the issue of trust modification/reformation1 to garner more and more attention from the Internal Revenue Service. First, many states and Washington, D.C. have adopted the...
A client's lack of sophistication and guidance regarding trust-owned life insurance (TOLI) can put estate-planning lawyers in the hot seat. Most states have now enacted the Uniform Prudent Investor Act (UPIA), which imposes a higher standard...
Financial advisors want to be heroes to their clients. Fantastic performance creates fantastic word of mouth, which leads to more clients and more assets under management. Scam artists know that you want to be a hero to your clients. That's why s...
After finishing Walter Isaacson's wonderful must-read biography, Steve Jobs, I reflected on my business heroes. Although Jobs was a genius whose vision and drive in many ways changed the world, I found myself thinking about Sam Walton.
As we ent...
I typically advise my clients to undertake a serious “cold review” of all previously cited problem areas and deficiencies when preparing for their next regulatory exam. Frankly, you'd think that's just common sense, right? After all, the first th...
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority continues its crackdown on the sale of troubled private placements, filing sanctions against eight firms and 10 individuals Tuesday and ordering them to pay restitution to investors. According to FINRA...
Over the last year or so, advisors have been struggling to get their clients out of cash, but how much cash are your clients really holding? Investors say they’re holding 27 percent of their investable assets in cash, according to an MFS...
