Wealth Planning

Some advisors say they feel unprepared and uncomfortable talking about charitable giving with clients. But those with experience say it’s both easy and rewarding.

Horton Foote's Dividing the Estate, a play about family interdependence, love, hate and estate planning, had a limited run, Sept. 27 to Oct. 28, to critical acclaim in New York City. The producers are hoping to bring it back in the spring. If it's...

The barriers to going independent are shrinking. Don’t believe it? Check out Mraz, Amerine & Hirschler & Associates, a new RIA in Modesto, Calif., a firm launched by three wirehouse advisors who left Morgan Stanley earlier this month with ...

How’s Billy’s 529-plan coming? More gloomy news for parents is good news for financial advisors: Tuition continues to rise at an inflation-topping rate, according to the annual survey by the non-profit organization College Board.

Many users of the popular tenant-in-common (TIC) investment vehicle in commercial real estate are hoping they have the stamina to withstand a double blow

If you run a registered investment advisory (or work for an RIA as an investment advisor representative) and haven’t been paid a visit by the SEC in a while, here is a fun fact to know and tell: Forty percent of RIAs examined in 2006...

The first of this month marked the four-year anniversary of the publication of the Goldman Sachs report that popularized BRIC, the acronym for emerging markets Brazil, Russia, India and China. That report, entitled ``Dreaming With BRICs: The Path...

The financial advisory business has run into a major talent crunch. There just aren’t enough good people to fill the seats available, according to Moss Adams’ 2007 annual report on compensation and staffing in the advisory industry.

Thanks to the Internal Revenue Service for its help to the estate-planning and charitable-giving community, by publishing sample charitable lead annuity trusts (CLATs). This is a welcome benefit for us, because unlike charitable remainder trusts ...