Business development corporations help build portfolio income.

Where does an advisor add the greatest value? Through knowledge of investing and financial markets? Through the ability to help clients reach their retirement savings goals? By bringing order and a roadmap for the future to otherwise unplanned chaos? Professional financial advice is useful in these and countless other ways, but the greatest contribution, at least for some clients, is actually “behavioral”—advisors protecting clients from their own worst instincts and bring rationality to the planning process.

The fall of the U.S. dollar could lead to higher inflation, so what's an investor to do?

The U.S. currency is seemingly in inexorable decline. Planners can use that knowledge to make smart choices for their clients.

“Is today's pain at the pump tomorrow's barrier to recovery?” asks J.P. Morgan Funds’ Market Strategist Andrew Goldberg. There is a precise quantitative relationship between changes in energy prices and economic growth, with high oil prices impacting GDP. The longer answer to the question is at this moment still uncertain. There are good arguments on both sides regarding the future direction of the price of oil, and hence the duration of pain at the pump and how it could affect the strength of continuing recovery of the US economy.

“ Does Europe need some ‘austerity austerity?’ ” observes J.P. Morgan Funds’ Market Strategist Andrew Goldberg. Goldberg’s question is economic but also political. The EU often seems focused on added austerity as the best route out of its continuing sovereign debt crisis, but this itself is a policy decision, and one increasingly contested in struggling peripheral countries.

Rethinking Equities and Retirement Income The asset allocation rule of thumb in financial planning holds that an individual’s portfolio should be allocated to equities according to the formula “100 minus his or her age.” For a retiring 65 year old, this would mean a 35% equity allocation. The logic behind the rule is simple: as people get older, they should dial down…

FYI, there's a dizzying array of planner names and designations - and no one title describes everything clients want.

Experts debate whether tax-Ioss selling adds value or postpones a growing tax bill.

You and your clients probably worry about inflation-but deflation, too, is a threat you need to understand.

Older but wiser? Don't count on it. New brain research shows exactly how much help sixtysomethings need with financial decisions, and it's a lot.