Donald Jay Korn

“Our report confirms the hypothesis that investment advisors need to engage in technology to attract and retain clients in this market segment,” said Al Chiaradonna, senior vice president of SEI’s Global Wealth Services.

Investors will continue to pour money into funds, especially into target date funds and ETFs, according to a report on mutual funds from Tiburon Strategic Advisors.

The annual gift tax exclusion, which has been $13,000 since 2009, will be $14,000 in 2013, the IRS has announced.

After six months of negative cash flows, non-qualified annuities turned positive in the third quarter.

Most Medicare enrollees will pay 5% more for Part B in 2013. Considering that the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment for next year will be 1.7%, advisors can see that seniors’ medical costs are rising faster than the overall inflation.

“After years of recommending tax deferral, I’m suggesting accelerating tax payments,” Dean Mioli, director of investment planning for the SEI Advisor Network, told Financial Planning. “I’m not advocating this for every taxpayer, but it can make sense in some cases.”

When it comes to talking about retirement, eldercare, and inheritance, parents may be from Mars while their grown children might as well be living on Neptune.

In fact, a couple age 65 might need $387,000 saved in order to be confident of covering their health care costs in retirement, not including outlays for long-term care.

“The financial advisor is critical, as he or she has the job of opening the estate and trust accounts," Peter Lang wrote in a white paper. "This can only be done once the will has been probated, the executor has been appointed, and a Tax Identification Number has been issued by the IRS.”

Just as the cobbler's children go without shoes, two-thirds of independent advisors ignore succession planning. Such advisors could fall into an “annuity trap,” watching the value of their business degrade as they near the exit from their practice.

56% said that it is “challenging” to “very challenging” to discuss such information.

The election results virtually guarantee that key portions of health care legislation passed in 2010 will go into effect next year, as scheduled. Thus, many clients will face a 3.8% surtax on investment income.

“Advisors have been told that it’s the name of the firm on the business card that’s important to clients,” he said, “so their clients won’t follow them if they go independent. We have found that it’s the advisor-client relationship that’s important, not necessarily the name of the firm.

From the start, three has been the magic number at Philadelphia-based Firstrust Financial Resources.

State securities regulators brought 399 enforcement actions against investment advisor firms in 2011, nearly double the total from 2010.

Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network has added four practices. With these advisors its independent brokerage arm, FiNet, has over 1,100 owners and advisors in more than 540 practices, with over $55.5 billion in assets under management.

The past decade been a daunting time for stock market investors, but judicious use of alternatives could have brightened clients’ spirits, according to a study by John Hancock Financial Services.

For a new RIA to be managing $520 million for some 3,000 investors within six years is noteworthy. When that RIA was founded by an estate planning attorney, there must be a surprising reason.

More seniors are concerned about Medicare than about any other financial issue, topping even those who are worried about having enough money to enjoy retirement, according to a survey by Allsup.

Total assets in registered alternative mutual funds and exchange-traded funds are projected to reach $330 billion by year-end 2012—nearly double the $169 billion of assets in 2007. If the industry can raise advisors’ and clients’ comfort level with liquid alternatives, that figure could virtually double again, to $650 billion in 2017, according to a new study by Financial Research Corporation (FRC).