Portfolio

After listening to advisors pitch their businesses, a panel of investors explained what works. Advisor and consultant Ron Carson shares the most important takeaways.

Stocks with significant yields can offer upside potential plus tax advantages at all ages and income levels.

The CFP Board is seeking to position itself as a guidepost to advance varied efforts to even out the gender gap in a profession in which men hold a substantial majority of positions and dramatically out-earn their female colleagues.

Student debt threatens safety net for elderly Americans; Accessing retirement income for small business owners; When stock and real estate bubbles collide

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren said brokerage regulation needs a “major re-examination” to prevent funding shortfalls during a crisis and that brokers should have higher capital requirements.

When and how your clients elect Medicare coverage can have a big effect on their overall budget.

A Merrill Lynch team managing $800 million in assets went over to HighTower, RBC recruited an advisor managing $245 million in assets and Wells Fargo scooped up advisors managing more than $700 million in assets. See the latest hires, moves and promotions among wirehouse advisors.

Advisors need to take a more active role in engaging with college and university programs to help bring more students into the workforce, said industry officials at the CFP Board's recent academic conference.

The pitches are persuasive. Workers who leave jobs with the federal government transferred $10 billion last year out of the Thrift Savings Plan.

Though it can often pay to wait, advisors should help clients determine when it makes sense to file earlier for spousal benefits.