HackTalk: Online thieves are hard at work, trying to get into your online accounts. A simple security measure can thwart them: Two-factor authentication. Learn more about why two-factor authentication is important, and how to turn it on.
ChartTalk: Are Americans saving enough for retirement? The answer, for most people, is no. This chart shows by age group the average amounts Americans have socked away for their Golden Years. It’s not a pretty picture.
Horsesmouth Essential: Here are six proven methods for increasing your confidence and effectiveness when the media comes calling for your wisdom and insights.
Advisor TalkingPoints: Prepare for client interactions with our monthly review, which includes the latest from the Federal Reserve, inflation, corporate profits and various economic metrics.
Wharton Nano Tool: Collecting data is no good if you don’t know how to parse it. Asking the right questions is the key.
Horsesmouth Essential: You can waste a lot of money on “PR campaigns.” But when you learn how to capitalize on key opportunities in your community for optimal exposure, you’ll enjoy a steady flow of prospects. These mini case studies point the way.
We all have fears, and they can become impediments to our personal and business growth if we don’t address them. Use this process to identify the fears that get in your way and overcome them so that you can reach your 2024 goals.
ChartTalk: Inflation is not over. Our correspondent warns that the current wave of inflation is persistent and will last a long time due to the excessive growth in the U.S. money supply.
Horsesmouth Essential: You know you offer unique value, but how do you stand out in your prospects’ mind from the other advisors out there? Here’s how you can work the media to raise your profile and reputation.
The last couple of years have given us some lessons, including how to take advantage of tax-loss trading. It’s not too early in the year to do some tax-loss harvesting to offset taxes on market gains. Act now to help your clients cut their tax bills.
Wharton Nano Tool: Younger generations, and women in particular, consider work-life balance to be an essential element of their jobs. Increase what you offer to your team with these action steps.
Horsesmouth Essential: In order to find and impress the right number of “A” prospects each year, your marketing strategy needs the firepower of a public relations firm that understands your business. PR and advertising together will deliver the best results. But you must pick wisely to succeed.
You tell your clients all the time: Invest for the long run. But how long is the long run? Our correspondent dives into nearly a century of data to identify the elusive “long run,” revealing that 30- or 35-year investment horizons are more likely to achieve desired returns.
Advisor Funnies: The human experience. So much of it is so relatable. We recognize the commonality of the travails and silly situations we all find ourselves in. Here are some of those.
Horsesmouth Essential: Offering both tax-free contributions and distributions, the Health Savings Account may be the best retirement bet out there. We review various planning scenarios where HSAs can improve clients’ overall retirement picture.
AI for Advisors: A new AI-driven search engine means you’ll never again burn brain power scrolling and clicking through search results hunting for what you need. Once you’ve tried Perplexity.ai, you’ll begin to understand the power of generative AI tools.
The U.S. economy remains on a solid growth path. The initial first quarter GDP estimate was 1.6%, but follow-up estimates may increase that reading.
Horsesmouth Essential: Your executive client wants to leave his firm to start his own consulting company. He comes to you for help in deciding on health care coverage for his family, among other issues. How do you advise?
Video offers a good way for you to connect with clients and prospects. Video can demonstrate your personality and your expertise, and allow you to make connections with your viewers. Here are four things to keep in mind when you set out to make videos.
ChartTalk: The International Monetary Fund says demographic shifts, growing consumer classes, and rich natural resources will drive growth in some smaller nations at double the global average. The countries and their projected growth rates are illustrated in this chart.
Horsesmouth Essential: When markets decline, some clients get alarmed and impulsively want to flee to the safety of cash. These ideas and charts can help them see the wisdom of remaining invested—and build their trust in you. Plus see the new Horsesmouth client card that will help you calm clients, “Time in the Markets and the Power of Compounding.”
Explore the benefits of the New York advisor mindset. With years of experience in New York’s financial sector, the author shares key NYC-inspired strategies for communication, negotiation, and efficiency that all advisors can learn from.
Experts from Wharton and the “Magnificent Seven” tech companies debunk five misconceptions about generative AI that could stand in the way of implementation.
Horsesmouth Essential: Don’t wait until open enrollment begins. Help your clients find the best coverage for their money with this step-by-step checklist of health care items to review annually.
The chemical dopamine drives a lot of our behavior, including risky behavior. How might our taste for risk change as dopamine declines as we age? Our correspondent describes why we experience a “dopamine dip” and what it means for you and your clients.
ChartTalk: For the period from January through April, gold and commodities took the lead, while bonds and real estate declined.
Horsesmouth Essential: American health insurance is expensive and convoluted, especially when clients need to switch between employer insurance, individual insurance, Medicare, VA, or Medicaid. And few professionals are equipped to provide the good information clients need to make smart, cost-effective choices.
Planning for a secure retirement should include planning for a happy retirement. You can help your clients think about what will give them a sense of purpose after their work years. Here are four key questions to help guide that conversation.
Advisor Funnies: Hotels, too, are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get. Here are some of those surprises…and duds.
Horsesmouth Essential: Health care planning is a sensitive subject that often takes advisors—and clients—to places they don’t want to go. However, given rising expenses, no retirement plan is complete without some kind of provision for health care needs. Here are some guidelines and resources for estimating costs and discussing the issue with clients.
As in life, there’s more to retirement than having enough money. Your clients may appreciate some suggestions about meaningful ways to continue to devote their talents and energies in retirement. With this month’s client letter, share seven disciplines that can make a retirement with purpose.
ChartTalk: Inflation is sticky. Household debt is on the rise. But some people are able to save money each month. This chart shows who are the more likely savers among us.
Horsesmouth Essential: After the divorce is settled, it’s time for clients to pick up the pieces and begin the process of establishing their own budgets and financial accounts. Here are some pointers on where to start.
Your clients may be able to make tax-free donations this year of up to $105,000 from their IRAs. But your clients may need your help following the rules. Here are 10 of the rules to follow when making donations from IRAs.
Many retirees will do better if they keep their savings in their employers’ retirement plans instead of rolling over to IRAs, according to new research co-authored by Wharton’s Olivia S. Mitchell.
Horsesmouth Essential: Divorce planners often have a number of issues to manage in addition to counseling clients: fees, working with the divorce attorney, and developing an ongoing relationship with the client. Here’s an account, from a client and her advisor, of how they managed through a contentious divorce.
It’s the unknown, sometimes seemingly trivial, issues bothering a client that end up souring your relationship. Use these questions to identify what may be bothering your clients so that you can address them and keep them satisfied.
ChartTalk: When a prospect evaluates an advisor, they’re likely basing their decisions on emotional factors. Learn what drives prospects and seek to address those needs.
Horsesmouth Essential: Compassion opens the door for sound financial advice when dealing with women who are going through divorce.
The markets are shifting. Now is an opportune time to talk with your clients about ways to take advantage of the changes. Here are five themes to talk about.
ChartTalk: It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes we do get fired. Understanding why clients sometimes fire their advisors can help you focus on meeting your clients’ needs.
Horsesmouth Essential: Divorce is never easy. Help divorcing clients sort through the issues and gather the paperwork they need to move through this life transition as smoothly as possible. They’ll remember your support down the line.
The IRS has extended a waiver on RMD excise taxes that may benefit some of your clients. The extension applies only to some beneficiaries of inherited IRAs. We provide some answers to some of the questions around this change.
Advisor Funnies: We all have shared experiences. Some of them are head-scratchers. Some of them tickle our funny bones.
Horsesmouth Essential: What’s Working Now: When this advisor realized that she only needed to appeal to the type of clients she wanted to work with, she suddenly found her voice and saw her business soar, becoming a public speaker, hosting a podcast, and educating thousands while making a great living.
It’s a common refrain: Diversify, diversify, diversify. Our expert takes a deeper dive into data to demonstrate just how valuable diversification in retirement portfolios can be.
The labor market is still churning out new jobs, with the economy remaining on a solid growth path. Inflation remains sticky.
Horsesmouth Essential: What’s Working Now: This advisor shares how she took her personal challenge and turned it into a niche market, a fulfilling work life, and a thriving practice.
We’re all hoping that inflation is under control. But, what if it isn’t? Our expert lays out his case that the Fed is in a troublesome trap.
Firms with concentrated ownership fear stock price fragility and conserve cash at the expense of capital investments and R&D, a new study finds.
A webinar series featuring success stories, idea-sharing and knowledge exchange, exclusively for Master Members Next session: May 17
Savvy Tax Planning School for Advisors
With Debra Taylor, CPA/PFS, JD, CDFA
June 6–7, 2024, Chicago, IL
The Discovery Meeting Workshop: Transform Your Discovery Process
May 20–21, 2024