Practice

Want to upgrade your skills? This reading list helps planners stay sharp.

Three-quarters of economist surveyed by Bloomberg in August say the Fed will lift the upper bound of its target rate to 0.5 % at its Sept. 16-17 meeting.

Planners should emotionally prepare clients nearing retirement for the significant and abrupt changes that will occur after working full time for decades.

Advisors will soon have clients with negative net worth and clients worth seven-figures, and they'll need to have a command of both data sets, says Quovo CEO Lowell Putnam.

The firm suffered another arbitration loss this week to clients seeking damages related to the firm's closed-end funds of Puerto Rico municipal bonds.

Affluent clients have certain expectations of their advisors. Read on to understand where they are experiencing service gaps so you can meet their needs.

People have long been wary of buying long-term care insurance, thinking they wouldn’t live long enough to collect any benefits. But new products that address their worries and complaints may help them come around.

"Many expect to continue working in retirement,” says Catherine Collinson, president of the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies.

"Not all brokers put a lot of thought into it. I imagine because it's not where you're making your money," says Robert Gordon, president of Twenty-First Securities. "But they should, because it's part of the service to the client, and because it's the right thing to do."

As boomers start spending down their portfolios, planners need a new way to stand out.