WHEN YOUR FIRM BEGINS TO GROW, YOU HAVE TO HIRE MORE STAFF BUT THAT'S NOT ENOUGH. YOU HAVE TO DEVELOP SOLID PROCESSES TO HELP THEM WORK EFFICIENTLY AND EFFECTIVELY. Systems: John Vance knew he needed them and immediately. Three years ago, Vance, a...

Private Letter Ruling 200819006, issued May 9, 2008, reminds planners to be careful when using electing small business trusts (ESBTs) to hold S corporation stock. The taxpayer in this case was fortunate. But unless practitioners pay close...

Small-business owners are well aware of today's harsh economic realities. How could they not be? Some companies especially those in real estate and construction are already feeling the pinch of a slowing economy and rising energy and gas costs...

Now that the Baby Boomer generation is retiring in droves, fund companies are focusing on a thorny question: How can retirees obtain reliable income from their investments? Since September, half a dozen companies including Russell, DWS Scudder and...

Last month's column discussed why clients with college-bound children should not only permit themselves to borrow money to pay for education expenses, but should even be encouraged by you to do so. Since that time, dozens of education loan...

April's column discussed charitable lead trusts, and why the vehicles might be an optimal solution for wealthy clients who wish to give more money to charity in the near-term and family in the long-term, and less to Uncle Sam forever. But CLTs...

There was a time when the institutional side of a securities firm would walk with a swagger. After all, it was you, the retail financial advisor, who was stuck making presentations at a coffee table with mom-and-pops. Institutional brokers...

Many brokerage-industry watchers agree that mergers and acquisitions can be rather tiresome for clients, eroding their confidence in the firms and, often, in the reps, too. Considering the wave of deal-making in the brokerage industry of late, you...