Financial planning

People who benefited from exceptional efforts by planners include moderate-income workers hoping to become homeowners and college-bound students. See how advisors made a difference.

A new version of Oranj aims to help advisors be more strategic in the ways they run their businesses.

A Vanguard model aiming to forecast the next decade’s returns offers some useful takeaways.

Is there a better model for retirement planning? Michael Falk, partner with Focus Consulting Group, explains why advisors should shift their focus from stockpiling assets to covering clients' expenses.

A Roth conversion that increases reported income might also decrease health insurance premium tax credit and thus bumping up the cost of the conversion.

Real estate investing and retirees in the same sentence scares many financial advisors. But one, who teaches such strategies, gives them a green light if clients follow a few of his cautions.

Guaranteed pensions still exist for some lucky retirees; financial planners need to know how help those clients make the best pre- and post-retirement planning decisions to effectively manage the steady income.

4 reasons not to panic about Social Security; The role of bonds in a portfolio; Education trumps retirement for single parents, and that's a cause for concern

Derek Bruton takes the top job at a firm with historical ties to an advisor that the SEC has barred from the industry.

In response to online rivals, Mark Cortazzo created a passively managed portfolio service and offered it on the Web.

Focus Financial Partners named Dan Sontag, a former president of Merrill Lynch's global wealth management unit, to its board of directors.

'I think an entry by Schwab may be more of a threat to established advisors by putting even more downward pressure on fees,' says Grant Easterbrook, Corporate Insight analyst.

A new study finds substantial savings and comfortable retirements when defined contribution plans are combined with Social Security income and lifestyle changes.

Multiple reasons for business owners to offer 401(k) plans; Rules for juicing up your retirement account; Retirement number, who cares

A pair of new studies released this week find that planners' biggest concerns now center on a potential equity market downturn.

Securities America picks up a team with $120 million in client assets while a Focus partner firm brings in a wealth manager with $150 million in AUM. Here's a roundup of some of the most recent moves among independent financial advisors.

Board pledges not to punish widely followed advisor while they try to resolve fee-only compensation issue; draws accusations of 'arbitrary' treatment.

Planners are facing another competitive attack. Previous threats made the profession stronger - will that happen this time?

Some are pushing investors to target intermediate maturities and others telling investors to adopt a barbell approach, a strategy where investors buy both short and long maturities.

Increased operating expenses and higher than anticipated regulatory costs and fines contributed to a 4.4% drop in second-quarter net income at LPL Financial.