Archives Of Weekend Reading For Financial Planners

Enjoy the current installment of "weekend reading for financial planners" – this week's edition kicks off with a look from CFP-and-doctor Carolyn McClanahan about what financial advisors need to consider when it comes to the potential future of health insurance for clients under the American Health Care Act (AHCA), which could substantially impact clients with pre-existing health conditions, and "early" retirees trying to bridge the health insurance gap between the end of employment and the beginning of Medicare.

From there, we have several technology-related articles, from early looks at the new Orion Eclipse rebalancing software and the new RobustWealth rebalancing and client onboarding "robo" tools, to some of the recent FinTech startups in the Envestnet | Yodlee incubator platform that are building new solutions for financial advisors (leveraging Yodlee data), and a first glimpse at a new advisor business intelligence (and advisory firm valuation) tool called Truelytics.

We also have a number of practice management articles this week, including: the rising trend of advisory firm mergers (as an alternative to just selling and exiting the firm); the common crossroads that advisory firms hit at they grow (and how to overcome them); what advisors should do to overcome "succession planning paralysis"; and tips on how to find an ideal buyer for your advisory firm if you're looking to sell (and want to be certain you get the right fit).

We wrap up with three interesting articles, all around the theme of behavior change and improving savings behaviors for clients: the first is a series of recent research studies finding that most consumers actually prefer accounts that impose otherwise "unnecessary" restrictions and penalties on withdrawals (a form of "commitment device" that actually helps us to want to save, knowing the restrictions will help us follow through successfully!); the second is a fascinating look at how to help clients think about and change their spending behaviors by grouping spending into Owe, Grow, Live, and Give categories (where the trade-offs help us weigh decisions between freedom, comfort, purpose, and abundance); and the last is an overview of the research on behavior change that we as advisors can apply in working with our clients, to help them actually follow through on the recommendations that we give them!

And be certain to check out the brief video at the end... a recent new commercial from Schwab Intelligent Advisory, highlighting the financial planning services that Schwab is now offering directly to consumers, as the firm increasingly tries to compete with outside broker-dealers that may be impacted by the DoL fiduciary rule under the tagline "Intelligent Tech, Personal Advice"... but puts itself in a position to compete with the RIAs on its Institutional platform as well!

Enjoy the "light" reading!

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Enjoy the current installment of "weekend reading for financial planners" – this week's edition kicks off with the big news that TD Ameritrade has struck a deal with DFA that will cut transaction costs for DFA mutual funds by as much as 67% (down to $9.99/trade), potentially setting off a new pricing war with the other RIA custodians when it comes to asset managers that refuse to pay sub-TA and other revenue-sharing fees back to the platforms.

From there, we have several articles about marketing, including a look at what you should (and shouldn't) be measuring for success when engaging in social media, how a face-to-face request can be 34 times more effective than just sending an email (though with the ability to send a high volume of emails, the latter can still be more productive in certain situations!), and when it makes sense to try to publish a book as a financial advisor (hint: don't do it for the book sales, do it for the credibility it gives you to attract more clients, and get a ghost writer to help you put your thoughts down on paper if necessary).

We also have a number of practice management articles this week, focused around the theme of attracting and retaining next generation talent, including: how advisory firms are starting to formalize their career tracks as a way to compete for young talent, why having clearly written job descriptions (including criteria for advancement) are crucial to become an "employer of choice", why it matters that you formally write down your business' "core values" (and how to get started), why attracting and retaining next generation talent is essential to build an enduring business that has transferable value, and some tips for next generation advisors looking to buy into an advisory firm (and how to think about the risk of doing so).

We wrap up with three interesting articles, all around the theme of personal and professional change: the first is a look at how a key role of the financial planner is helping clients to change and adapt to an uncertain future, but our own role as financial planners is changing as the nature of money itself continues to change and evolve; the second is a look at a financial advisor who was struggling with a near-failing advisory firm, and ultimately went through a process of deep self-reflection to figure out what it would take to turn it around (including a hard look at whether he really wanted to be a business owner or not, and how much income he really wanted and needed to feel successful); and the last is a fascinating look at how the Great Depression was one of the nation's darkest and most stressful times, but also a period of tremendous productivity growth and invention, which helps to serve as a reminder that while it's not always fun to feel stressed, it's actually the stress that helps to drive us forward to achieve the things that ultimately help to bring financial success... and personal happiness, too. (So if you are wishing your life was less stressful... be careful what you wish for!)

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Enjoy the current installment of "weekend reading for financial planners" – this week's edition kicks off with a fascinating new report from Morningstar, finding that the industry's shift to adopt T shares and Clean shares under DoL fiduciary could improve mutual fund returns in the aggregate by as much as 0.50%/year, through a combination of cost savings and the anticipated pressure of advisors to adopt lower-cost fund choices (over comparable higher-cost ones). Also in the news this week was the announcement that front-end advisor software provider Oranj was purchasing portfolio rebalancing software provider TradeWarrior, and the blockbuster deal that private equity firms Stone Point and KKR were buying a 70% stake in Focus Financial valued at $2 billion (and helping to validate that the RIA aggregation/roll-up model is far from dead).

From there, we have a few articles about advisor technology this week, including a Joel Bruckenstein review of the new FinMason risk tolerance assessment tools, a head-to-head comparison of Redtail CRM versus Salesforce Financial Services Cloud, and a brief review of new advisor screensharing software app ScreenMeet.

We also have a number of marketing and sales related articles, including: why meetings with prospects should always include two people from the advisory firm, ideally with different and complementary sales styles (e.g., one "charmer" and one "analytic"); why the presentation of an advisor's physical office space really matters (and when it makes sense to invest into an interior designer to get help!); and how to handle the looming "marketing wars" that may soon emerge in the increasingly competitive advisory landscape.

We wrap up with three interesting articles, all on the theme of big data: the first is a look at how a number of tax prep services offered free tax preparation this year, from TurboTax to H&R Block and even Credit Karma, as the providers are realizing that not charging for tax preparation, and using tax filers' big data, has even more income potential, whether to recommend tax strategies, credit cards, or loan refinancing deals; the second looks at the recent launch of USAFacts, a new initiative from former Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer, that brings together Federal, state, and local government data to understand where tax dollars go, and the results they achieve, in a way that no one has been able to produce before; and the last is a discussion of behavioral economics professor Dan Ariely's new "Common Cents Lab", that is partnering with FinTech software providers to run behavioral finance "experiments" and harness the value of big data to understand what it takes to actually help consumers change their financial behaviors for the better!

And be certain to check out the video at the end - the start of a new video series being offered from journalist and financial consumer advocate Dan Solin, that provides simple 1-minute video tips for consumers, and can even be embedded by financial advisors directly onto their own websites for free (just be certain to include proper attribution back to Solin!).

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Enjoy the current installment of "weekend reading for financial planners" – this week's edition kicks off with the interesting announcement that TD Ameritrade is raising its revenue-sharing agreements for its advisor referral network, as the DoL fiduciary rule looms along with the assimilation of hundreds of Scottrade retail branches that could soon turbocharge the advisor referrals coming through the network... and both raising questions about whether this will kick off revenue-sharing increases at other custodians as the struggle for advisor growth becomes more widespread, and also raising concerns about how abruptly TD Ameritrade distributed the news and made the change (giving advisors barely two weeks to agree to a substantial change in terms or be kicked off the referral platform). Also in the news this week is an emerging trend that advisors are getting more political in their communication with clients - what was traditionally a third rail never to be touched in client meetings - and whether doing so is really bad for business, or might actually be good to help attract like-minded prospective clients with similar beliefs.

From there, we have a few articles about regulatory trends, including: a deeper look at how the DoL fiduciary delay until June 9th (and delay of the full Best Interests Contract Exemption until the end of the year) may still not be enough to really deter the fiduciary rule from taking effect; the trends in the 401(k) marketplace for more advisors offering 3(38) services instead of operating as just a 3(21) fiduciary; and an interesting list of other regulatory battles for financial advisors that may be looming (including a potential "fiduciary lite" proposal that could come from the SEC on the titles that advisors use when holding out to the public).

We also have a number of investment-related articles this week, from a look at the rise of "evidence-based" investing, to a theoretical exploration of why it is that stocks continue to persistently outperform bonds (even when we "know" they're going to outperform, which theoretically means an efficient market should bid up their prices until they don't outperform anymore), a fascinating new study that shows how incredibly skewed stock returns really are with the entire wealth creation of the US stock market actually coming from just 4% of all stocks (and half the wealth creation from just 0.3% of them!), and a retrospective look at how TIPS have done for the past 20 years since they were first introduced in 1997.

We wrap up with three interesting articles: the first is a look at how the recent United Airlines incident is an example where having "too many" rules to manage behavior actually caused a breakdown in the system (which has significant implications regarding how many fiduciary rules should or shouldn't be prescribed for advisors); the second is an important reminder that advisors should not market themselves as being "conflict-free" just because they're independent, because all advisory models still have at least some conflicts of interest; and the last is a good reminder of why at least some regulation is necessary in most industries, because otherwise it's just too easy for marketers to take advantage of low barriers to entry and communicate in a way that misrepresents their products (but lets them profit before anyone realizes the profit that has been caused), and thus why smart and ethical marketers (and financial advisors?) should recognize that some level of regulation is actually a positive (both for consumers, and in providing clear guardrails to practitioners).

Enjoy the "light" reading!

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Enjoy the current installment of "weekend reading for financial planners" – this week's edition kicks off with the big news that the DoL fiduciary rule was in fact delayed this week, not only with a 60-day delay to the applicability date itself, but also including a further delay until the end of the year for complying with the full-BIC, the need to acknowledge fiduciary duty to clients, and the application of the Best Interests Contract Exemption to annuities... though the debate is on as to whether this is still the beginning of the end of the DoL fiduciary rule, or if the extended delays for key provisions will actually make it harder to eliminate the rule now that the industry has been granted more time to accommodate! Also in the news this week is the launch of the CFP Board's new "I'm A CFP Pro" campaign to encourage more people to become CFP professionals (particularly amongst Millennials, women, and people of color, who are all currently under-represented amongst financial advisors), and a 'heads-up' from the SEC that it is increasingly scrutinizing RIAs who have 'independent' investment adviser representatives affiliating with them as 1099 contractors.

From there, we have a few articles about industry trends, including: a look at how regardless of the DoL fiduciary rule and its prospective delay, the biggest broker-dealers are in the process of reinventing themselves for a fiduciary-advice future; how advisors who are considering changing broker-dealers in this environment should scrutinize how the payouts really work, as some broker-dealers who offer 90%+ payouts also have higher costs (from trading charges to custody fees to compliance and technology fees) that may mean the advisor actually finishes with less on the bottom line; and a look at how a new "breakaway" trend is starting to emerge, not amongst the brokers who are breaking away to form RIAs, but amongst independent RIAs themselves, where advisor teams are breaking away to form their own new independent RIA firms.

We also have several more technical articles this week, from a new study by David Blanchett on the interplay between the amount of a retiree's guaranteed income and their ability to sustain a higher "safe" withdrawal rate from the portfolio that complements that guaranteed income (especially for retirees who have at least a little income flexibility), to discussion of another study that finds mutual funds holding ETFs tend to have inferior performance to those that hold stocks and bonds directly (whether due to bad market timing, or adding a layer of ETF fees while acting as a closet indexer), and an explanation of how conservation easements work and why they can be an appealing tax planning strategy for high-net-worth clients that have substantial positions in (undeveloped) land.

We wrap up with three interesting articles about personal development and learning: the first is an overview of the latest research on how we actually learn, and what we should do as adults to try to learn better; the second is a fascinating series of short interviews with prolific readers about how they read, and what strategies they engage in to get the most out of their reading material (hint: it's ok and normal to read for a while, then skim, then lose interest before getting to the end and picking up another book instead); and the last is a fascinating look at how the Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, comes about naturally, and why it is that you don't have to be twice as good to get twice the results... it's only necessary to be 1% better, and do so persistently over an extended period of time.

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Enjoy the current installment of "weekend reading for financial planners" – this week's edition kicks off with the latest news that the Department of Labor has submitted its official 60-day fiduciary rule delay, and sent it along to OMB for final approval... although fiduciary supporters are already raising the question of whether the delay might face a legal challenge, as it's not clear whether the DoL could have realistically read and thoroughly considered in just two weeks the over-1,100 comment letters that were submitted. Also in the news this week is a new FINRA Rule 2165, that would obligate financial firms (and their advisors) to make "reasonable efforts" to get contact information for a trusted third party (or even to stop disbursements from an account) if there is suspicion that a senior client may be getting financial exploited, while also providing a safe harbor against privacy breach or other legal consequences for endeavoring to do so.

From there, we have a few practice management articles, including a look at "what's next" in the world of financial advisor marketing (as we continue the evolution from cold-calling to seminar marketing to client appreciation events and now digital marketing), an important reminder that as financial advisors we use too much industry jargon (often without realizing it), and an interesting way to think about how the client relationship evolves over time from being "just" a customer, to a true client, to a friend, and finally to an advocate (which is food for thought about what you might do to evolve your own clients along that continuum!).

We also have several more technical articles this week, from a discussion by Wade Pfau of "time segmentation" (i.e., bucketing) strategies in retirement (as differentiated from systematic withdrawals from total return portfolios, or various essential-vs-discretionary income approaches), common estate planning mistakes that financial advisors can help their clients avoid, and a look at the recent Tax Court case of Ozimkoski, which provides several valuable reminders of what not to do when handling an inherited IRA!

Towards the end, we have three interesting articles on the theme of retirement, and whether it's all that it's cracked up to be, from a look at the global research on happiness and wellbeing that finds being employed is consistently associated with greater life satisfaction than being unemployed (with white-collar jobs consistently scoring better than blue-collar jobs as well), a look at the real-world challenges that early retirees face in transitioning to retirement when all of their peers are still working, and the results of a fascinating survey from the Wall Street Journal that asked new/recent retirees what they found to be most surprising in retirement, to which they said... almost everything.

We wrap up with the sad news that this week, financial planning visionary Dick Wagner passed away unexpectedly. Wagner has long been recognized as a thought leader in the profession (since long before the term was popular), and was both a former practitioner, former volunteer leader at the chapter and national level in various FPA-predecessor organizations, co-founder of the Nazrudin Project (from which much of the life planning movement emerged), and a tireless advocate of advancing financial planning into a true profession around a broader garden of knowledge that he dubbed the study of "finology". Fortunately, Wagner was able to publish his book, "Financial Planning 3.0", just a few months before he passed away, and in today's weekend reading, we highlight what many view as the seminal article on how financial planners must evolve to truly become a recognized profession... an article he first published in the Journal of Financial Planning in 1990, that we are all collectively still trying to live up to today. Rest in peace, Dick Wagner.

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Enjoy the current installment of "weekend reading for financial planners" – this week's edition kicks off with an interesting new consumer survey from J.D. Power (and a similar one from Spectrem) finding that the majority of consumers currently using commission-based investment accounts don't want to switch to a fee-based solution instead, even as studies also find that those who use fee-based accounts are more satisfied with what they pay... and reinforcing that while there may be some harm caused by inappropriate commission-based sales, there is a segment of consumers that don't want to pay ongoing fees and would prefer to just engage via commissions when they wish.

From there, we have a few practice management articles, from a look at how the biggest key to getting new clients may be "approachability" (which is far easier said than done!), to a discussion of what the real difference is between a TAMP and a "robo-for-advisors" solution (as the two increasingly converge towards each other), what to do (and not to do) when talking to the media as a financial advisor to get PR exposure, and what your website homepage must include in order to be appealing to prospects (even including the ones that were already referred to you, but are still checking you out online first!).

We also have several more technical articles this week, including: strategies for using bonds to meet retirement expenses; whether the rules limiting upside return projections on indexed universal life policies under Actuarial Guideline 49 went far enough; what to do when a retired couple applies for long-term care insurance but only one of them gets it (and the other gets declined); and an in-depth look at how the number of publicly listed stocks has dropped by almost 50% in just the past 20 years, as fewer and fewer companies choose to IPO in the public markets, even as M&A activity continues, resulting in a more-and-more concentrated number of publicly traded mega companies (and potentially less diversification even for the investor who buys a total market index fund).

We wrap up with three interesting articles about spending and saving behaviors: the first is a fascinating look at how a couple earning $500,000/year in a major metropolitan area can still spend "reasonably" (at least, relative to their income) yet find themselves living paycheck to paycheck; the second dives into how one Millennial blogger managed to accumulate $1M in investments in barely 5 years by converting his long-term savings goals into a daily savings effort (which so motivated him that as his income rose, he saved virtually all of it, accelerating his financial success); and the last looks at how anyone can get their financial life more streamlined and organized (which, notably, is something few financial advisors actually focus on directly, even though it could arguably be a complementary or even a separately paid service!).

Enjoy the "light" reading!

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Enjoy the current installment of "weekend reading for financial planners" – this week's edition kicks off with a "surprising" Field Assistance Bulletin issued last week by the Department of Labor on its looming fiduciary rule, noting that there's a real possibility that the rule will not be delayed by the April 10th applicability date, but then stating that if the delay (or even a non-delay outcome) comes shortly thereafter, the DoL won't enforce the fiduciary rule during the gap period (though notably, any damaged clients in the gap period could conceivably just sue directly).

Also in the news this week was the announcement trhat Schwab has officially pivoted away from its robo-advisor to a new hybrid offering dubbed Schwab Intelligent Advisory, which will provide advice directly from CFP professionals (in addition to automated portfolios); at the same time, T. Rowe Price announced the launch of its own pure robo solution, ActivePlus Portfolios, though the offering will be limited to providing an asset allocation of T. Rowe Price's own mutual funds (at no additional cost, beyond the mutual fund expense ratios themselves). Also in the news this week was the revelation that Morningstar is actually preparing to launch its own mutual funds for its Morningstar Managed Portfolios advisor platform, which they suggests will reduce costs on the platform by as much as 20%, but in the process, puts the firm in the conflicted position of being both a rater of mutual funds and a manager of some.

From there, we have a number of technical articles, including: the news that the Tax Data Retrieval Tool from the IRS that is used to facilitate income verification for the FAFSA (and income-based repayment plans for student loans) has been taken offline for several weeks due to potential criminal activity (identity thieves trying to steal taxpayer information); an analysis from Ed Slott of the prohibited transaction rules for IRAs that can potentially disqualify the entire account if non-traditional assets are not handled properly; and new research that suggests a slightly different approach to retirement income planning, where consumers don't simply diversify their portfolio assets, but instead try to diversify amongst the available "Retirement Income Generators" (RIGs) - which might include systematic portfolio withdrawals as one component - to effectively "pensionize" retirement.

We also have several practice management articles this week, from the challenge of figuring out the "right" valuation of your advisory firm (recognizing that outsider buyers often offer higher valuations than internal succession plans, but if key employees leave the outside deal could end out paying less in the long run after all), to the question of whether advisory firms should offer more flextime to employees (and how to structure it), and a look at the rise of Interactive Brokers as a new low-cost niche custodian for independent RIAs (especially those who trade actively and globally).

We wrap up with three interesting articles on the dynamics of managing advisory firms: the first reviews a major new research study of the industry, finding that there appears to be a substantial gender bias in advisory firms when it comes disciplining misconduct, with male advisors being 3x more likely to commit serious misconduct, with a 20% larger average damages settlement for consumers, yet it's female advisors with misconduct who end up being 20% more likely to get fired and 30% less likely to find another advisory job (though notably, the difference largely vanishes once there are females amongst the ownership or executive suite!); the second is a look at an advisor who decided to establish her RIA as a B Corporation, a new voluntary certification that businesses can obtain to affirm that they will operate not just to maximize profits, but the interests of all stakeholders (which aligns especially well to independent RIAs that serve as fiduciaries to clients in the first place!); and the last is a look at how businesses need to be cautious not just to espouse certain "noble values" that all employees aspire to, but actually include those values in their interview/hiring process, firing employees who fail to live up to them, and promoting those who espouse them best in practice – because otherwise, it doesn't matter what the firm says, if what it rewards is different, eventually all employees will migrate their behaviors to fit the values that are being rewarded, not the ones written in a corporate Core Values statement.

Enjoy the "light" reading!

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Enjoy the current installment of "weekend reading for financial planners" – this week's edition kicks off with a reminder that while most regulatory attention has been focused on the Department of Labor's fiduciary rule, the Treasury's FinCEN group is actively working on a new set of anti-money-launching (AML) rules that could impose new compliance burdens on RIAs (akin to what broker-dealers and banks already have to deal with for AML compliance). And in the DoL fiduciary news itself, the buzz this week is that with a potential 60-day delay on the table, asset managers have been slowing their development efforts on the new T-share class, at least until the dust clears.

From there, we have a number of articles this week about marketing and business development for financial advisors, including: how to think differently about crafting a (more unique) value proposition for clients; a structured process for trying to create and articulate your value proposition; some new research on why clients leave advisors (and how to start conducting exit interviews to understand for yourself why your ex-clients left, and what you might need to change); and an interesting article about whether in the world of digital marketing, it's better to stop thinking of potential new clients as "prospects" to sell at all, and instead think of them as an "audience" to engage instead.

We also have several articles specifically on how to create better engagement with clients and prospects, from how to create a "client persona" in your marketing to further refine your messaging and improve engagement with prospects, to the latest research about how people have different engagement styles, and the importance of adapting your own communication to match the client's style, and why it's so crucial to not just answer a prospect's questions but ask them questions and get them talking in a prospect meeting (as it better engages them and leads to deeper rapport).

We wrap up with three interesting articles that challenge conventional thinking in the industry: the first is an analysis by Wade Pfau, building on a prior article from this blog, about how the DALBAR behavior gap study is actually fundamentally flawed in the way it compares investor to market returns over 20-year time periods (as DALBAR compares investors to the returns of the market invested with a lump-sum all at once, even though most people didn't have all their wealth to invest 20 years ago); the second raises the question of whether the whole "passive revolution" is overstated, and whether the phenomenon is simply that investors (and advisors) are no longer stock-pickers and instead are "asset pickers" (for which index funds and ETFs are simply convenient active building blocks); and the last raises the question of whether, as robo-advisors continue to evolve, if eventually financial planning will be given away for free by robo-advisors... or whether the ongoing lead generation, engagement, and self-onboarding tools of financial planning software means eventually it will automate itself to the point that it doesn't need a financial advisor anyway (or at least, that the advisor has to provide a value proposition above and beyond just the software analysis itself!).

Enjoy the "light" reading!

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Enjoy the current installment of "weekend reading for financial planners" – this week's edition kicks off with the details of the latest proposal to delay the DoL fiduciary rule by 60 days... which is shorter than the prior rumors that there would be a 180-day delay, and notably, is still only a proposal, that has to go through a public comment period and could take another month to be affirmed (which means a prospective delay in the April 10th applicability date may truly come down to the wire!).

Also in the news this week were a number of additional big announcements, including: a pricing war that erupted between Fidelity, Schwab, and TD Ameritrade, with each firm "voluntarily" imposing upon itself a 29%+ price cut in the cost to execute stock and ETF trades (down to $4.95 - $6.95 per trade); new guidance from the SEC on Standing Letters of Authorization (SLOA) and when they do and do not trigger custody or surprise audit requirements; an indication from the SEC that it may get more aggressive on trying to roll back the Accredited Investor requirements for private placements (kicking off a debate about whether limiting access to private placements is "unfair" to less affluent consumers who want to take some investment risks, or whether the bar to determine "financial sophistication" to invest in such opportunities should actually be higher); and a look at how the IRS is shifting its audit resources to increasingly focus on those with ultra-high incomes (e.g., $1,000,000+), in addition to doing far more correspondence-mail-based "lite audits" to ask for proof substantiating questionable line-item credits or deductions.

From there, we have a few more technical articles on financial planning topics, from a look at using Funded Ratios to evaluate retirement readiness, to how today's low-return environment can drastically increase the amount of savings prospective retirees need (or how much accumulators must save to get there), the important differences between arithmetic and geometric means (and how to calculate them), and new IRS guidance to 401(k) plans on hardship withdrawals that some fear will make it even easier for people to take advantage of the rules by simply being able to "self-attest" that they really had a hardship (and gamble that they won't be audited later to prove otherwise).

We wrap up with three interesting articles about supporting the success of younger financial advisors, including: ways to grow the financial planning talent pool, given that even with its recent growth, only about 6% of all four-year degree-granting institutions have a CFP Board registered program; career path advice for young financial planners trying to figure out how to put the right foot forward and get ahead (even while still a student); and a look at how just as financial success entails making investments for your future, advancing your financial planning career involves making investments into yourself, from advancing your formal and informal education (from CFP studies to post-CFP designations to reading books and industry news) to being certain that your own financial house is in order (both to ensure that you "practice what you preach" as a financial advisor, and because your personal financial stability is important if you want the flexibility to make job changes or someday launch your own advisory firm!).

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