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Practice Management Features

  • Prudent Policy

    Financial planners who haven't reviewed clients' insurance coverage lately might suggest a year-end checkup.

  • Under My Rule of Thumb

    The rule of thumb says you can withdraw 4% of assets in the first year of retirement, but that's just a starting point.

  • Ten for 2010

    To position themselves for success, here are five steps advisors can take now, plus five more for the long term.

  • Can We Talk?

    Conversations with clients can be awkward, especially when they are emotional. here are ways to make discussions more fruitful.

  • Curing Tech Lethargy

    If all the new technology for advisors doesn't inspire you, just think back a few years.

  • 2009 Software and Technology Survey

    Our third annual survey has expanded to cover software, hardware, advisory platforms and more. See how your choices stack up against your peers'.

  • Think Different

    As investors begin to regain their confidence in the market, experts offer a few lessons for building a smarter portfolio. It's time to give the old rules some new twists.

  • The Soft Skills

    Cheryl Holland's focus on practice management has helped her to build a firm with $570 million in assets in just 11 years.

  • Clients First

    In the quarrels over regulation and fiduciary standards, don't forget who counts.

  • Disappearing Act

    Don't bother pumping up the equities in a retirement portfolio to make up for years of underfunding. that move could backfire.

  • Socially Adept

    Social media has become an essential marketing tool for connecting with clients, colleagues and centers of influence. Here's what you need to know.

  • Standing on Principle

    To provide a fiduciary standard of care, a lot of organizations will have to change their cultures.

  • Fiduciary Q and A

    A former SEC regulator explains what every advisor needs to know about the fiduciary standard.

  • When to Roth

    Keep your clients satisfied with up-to-date information this year means knowing whether they should convert to a Roth IRA.

  • A New Standard

    If your clients routinely itemize, this may be the year for them to take a second look at standard deductions.

  • Attitude Adjustment

    Many clients see the recent market drop as a temporary stumble, not a paradigm shift. But are they right?

  • Giving It Back

    The IRS has given taxpayers more time to roll over unwanted required minimum distributions from their IRAs.

  • Getting the Right Help

    To transition to a wealth management practice, you need support from your institutional partners. Make sure they're on the same page.

  • Now or Never

    With a sense of urgency, you can find opportunity in crisis and shut down the naysayers.

  • A Better World

    As you help clients recover from the market's traumas, keep sight of the positive changes the recession has brought to the planning profession.

  • Baby Steps

    There are deals out there in commercial real estate right now, but advisors—and their clients—are being cautious.

  • 4 Questions with Michael J. Silverstein

    Consumer behavioral expert Michael J. Silverstein discusses why women are so dissatisfied and how advisors can make amends.

  • Are Clients Aware?

    Capitalize on estate planning awareness week by bringing your clients into the office for a review of their planning strategies.

  • End of Year Review

    Through the turmoil and trauma of the past year, our business and our clients prospered. Here's how we did it.

  • Family Planning

    Mary Dennis Jones provides the highest level of service to her family-office clients, which is the key to her firm's fantastic growth.

  • A New Game Plan

    Advisors and clients both are shifting strategies. Here's how four top advisors upgraded their offerings.

  • Restoring Trust

    It's not just advisors who ought to hew to a fiduciary standard of care. So should everyone in the industry—including regulators.

  • Forgiveness, for Some

    New rules in the tax code offer a break for homeowners upside down on their mortgages. But the relief-only temporary-comes with stipulations.

  • Unwed and Planning

    Unmarried couples are a growing part of your client base. Estate planning for these clients—while complex—is extremely important.

  • The Tax Dance

    Year-end tax planning may be more complicated than ever now that there are reasons to take gains as well as losses.