Practice

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.

WASHINGTON — The Financial Stability Oversight Council will meet Nov. 13 to consider reform to money market mutual funds, the Treasury Department said Thursday.

President Obama said Friday he is asking the bipartisan leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives to come to the White House next week to begin negotiations to avert a set of tax increases and spending cuts that will automatically take effect in January if Congress fails to act.

It may be some time before Congress and the Obama administration decide what to do about the tax rates for next year, so it’s a good idea to plan for various alternative scenarios just in case.

The election results, while no surprise, have pretty much left us where we were in terms of tax policy, according to Roger Harris, president of Padgett Business Services.

With the election over, when members of Congress return to Washington next week, the task awaiting them will be to hammer out what has been an elusive compromise on taxes and expenditures to avert the so-called fiscal cliff, a combination of tax increases and deep spending cuts set to take effect in January should lawmakers fail to act.

“Advisors talk about Black Swan events and tail risk – you didn’t hear retail planners talking about tail risk 10 years ago, or if you did it was the top 1% of the group. Now, it’s the new nomenclature,” said Jeff Montgomery, head of AFAM/Innealta Capital.

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

Among investors aged 21 to 50, 72% report that saving for retirement is their top financial goal, a priority applauded by T. Rowe Price’s resident retirement guru, senior financial planner Christine Fahlund, but most investors are unwilling to take on the necessary risk to improve their retirement savings.

PIEtech, Inc., maker of the popular planning software product MoneyGuidePro, has settled a patent infringement lawsuit brought against it and UBS Financial Services by its competitor, Wealthcare Capital Management.