If you think too many baby boomers are blissfully ignorant of their own financial future, just turn your attention to Washington, D.C. Peter G. Peterson, author of Gray Dawn: How the Coming Age Wave Will Transform America and the World and Running...
Investor misfortune is a good thing at least for financial advisors trolling for new clients. The industry now sits on the cusp of perhaps the best illustration of that statement, as the mythical $41 trillion wealth transfer to baby boomers from...
Ric Edelman, who runs Fairfax, Va.-based financial advisory firm Edelman Financial Services, received a call a while ago from a prospective client, who wanted to set up an appointment to talk about planning for his retirement. Fine, Edelman said...
Q: Like many brokers, I switched firms three years ago, joining a wirehouse offering a seven-year forgivable loan as upfront payment. Since hiring on at the new firm, my production has nosedived. I may be fired or, because I'm so frustrated, leave...
The phrase helping people quit dredges up all manner of images, most of them having to do with substance-abuse therapy. For many advisors that's apt, because the process of easing a client into retirement can feel like an intervention at times...
But a lot had to happen before they could take their place in the driver's seat. For starters, the neophytes (who were in their 20s at the time) needed to demonstrate to their father they had the right stuff to handle such a lofty position...
The word conjures up all manner of restful images a man napping in a hammock, a woman playing bridge with her friends, a visored couple strolling towards a green on a sun-splashed golf course. But please note: the financial advisor does not figure...
It's an article of faith in the wealth management world that there are no cookie-cutter solutions for the affluent. Of course all clients, even those without high-net-worth money, are unique. But wealthy clients, because their needs are so complex...
According to a recent Securities Industry Association survey, only 10 percent of investors view the financial services industry in a favorable light, but that isn't necessarily bad news for financial advisors. In fact, for those who can convince...
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...