Wealth Think

The uncertainty has vanished with the re-election of Barack Obama as president. But the incumbent who won a second term last night still has a number of problems that he continues to face – from a sluggish economic recovery, a huge deficit, a stubbornly high unemployment rate and of course, the fiscal cliff.

Successful advisors chose their third-party partners wisely so that they can best use their extra time to make a greater impact on the individuals and families they serve.

Ninety percent of women report feeling insecure when it came to personal finance and 48% of women agree with the statement, “Investing is scary for me.” These statistics highlight the need for financial advisors working with women to foster financial confidence in their clients as part of the client engagement.

Ed Slott, Your IRA Expert, examine minimum distributions, 457(b) plans, and using an IRA as a shelter when filing for a bankruptcy.

Research tells us that 90% of heirs will reject their parents’ advisors, and 70% of widows will change advisors after their husband’s death. Can you afford that level of loss?

All wealth management firms have generally the same commission structure: bigger producers keep more—and it works. Yet, this is the opposite of our tax structure.

Financial Planning talked with ING Financial Partners president, Karl Lindberg, about why a solid understanding of retirement income planning is so important for advisors and their practices.

Times have changed, of course, and advisors and their clients interact with each other and with financial data in more dynamic ways. Clients have easy access to abundant consumer-oriented financial data and sophisticated investment analytical tools. They also expect their advisors to produce answers whenever they want them, no matter where the advisor might be at the time the question arises.

The process of raising standards for the profession continues to be a work in progress. At the CFP Board, we believe that we are raising the bar

How to utilize social sites effectively is on everyone’s mind these days, and most advisors can readily understand how to use a site like LinkedIn for business contacts. But what about Facebook? Does a site that traditionally features family pictures and silly contests really help you promote yourself and your services?