Wealth Planning

What can a rep do about disagreements over the distribution of a client's wealth to family members?

No, not that kind of planning! A move to family financial planning has me working less and making more.

It is a world of harsh realities for reps. Interest rates are at historic lows; stocks, while showing signs of life, are still radioactive to many clients. Yet competition for high-net-worth investors is at an all-time high. Client referrals...

As previously discussed in this column, creating and funding a family limited partnership or limited liability company (both types are referred to herein as an ) may well result in substantial estate gift tax savings. Recent cases involving FLPs...

When President Bush first floated his tax-cut proposals, I penned a column about its implications, should the measures pass intact. Inevitably, several proposed provisions, including lifetime savings accounts, wound up on the cutting room floor...

The most important element in determining gift and estate liability is the value of the asset being transferred. To reduce that value, estate planners create family limited partnerships (FLPs) and family limited liability companies (LLCs). The...

James Gorman of Merrill Lynch and other brokerage execs are trying to reinvent the retail broker.

In your initial meetings with clients, an answer to one question will give you insight into their values, lives and dreams and create a healthy anxiety that will motivate them to enlist your services. As nonchalantly as possible, ask, When you die...

The longer you are in the business of providing financial advice, the more likely you will get this call: A favorite middle-aged client rings you up and notes that a large bond in his account is coming due, or that there is a burgeoning sum...