Financial planning

Many firm founders are deciding that their legacies don't need to be enshrined in their firms' names.

The American College has redesigned its Chartered Financial Consultant designation coursework to add a focus on real-world client issues like divorce, LGBT families, retirement income and behavioral finance.

We've talked with advisors and industry experts to compile a list of the top books you should be sure to read this summer. The return on your investment will be intangible, but substantial -- enjoy your vacation!

Are you paying too much for long-term care?; Retirement savings makes you healthy and wealthy; Talk to your spouse and stop blaming each other

Comprehensive planning is catching on with advisors -- and their clients. But it can be labor intensive, requiring that a practice add more resources and staff.

Wealth management is poised to benefit significantly from an aging global population and a substantial wealth transfer, a new study from Merrill Lynch shows. But some evidence suggests the industry is unprepared.

We reshuffled the deck from our Top 20 program Manangers to present the best of the list based strictly on increases in team production.

These instruments can be very powerful estate planning tools. Here are five situations in which a revocable trust might be helpful for clients.

Mixing your clients' charitable impulses with your own can have multiple benefits.

How to get "peace of mind" retirement income; Changing insurance plans can reduce premiums; Risks of spending retirement savings too early

Many independent advisors say they consider themselves fiduciaries, even if they aren’t legally obligated to adhere to that standard of care. So why are so many opposed to the DoL's expected proposal?

While equity market performance has helped, RIA firms are also demonstrating smarter company strategy, a recent Charles Schwab study finds.

The riskiest money-market mutual funds will have to let their share prices fluctuate and charge investors withdrawal fees during times of stress under tougher U.S. rules set for adoption this month.

Easy way to increase a nest egg; How divorced clients can boost retirement income; Why 'style drift' matters

Dalton Strategic Investment Services, a smaller broker-dealer firm with almost $1 billion in client assets, has joined Securities America as a super-OSJ.

Both parents and their adult children report they are more comfortable talking to a financial advisor than to one another about planning and wealth transfer issues. Use these 7 tips to boost your firm's offering.

When is it ok to borrow from your 401(k); Picking the best pension payout; Paying long-term care with HSA money

Roughly three in four advisors said they were likely to seek out additional support, content or tools related to Social Security in the next year.

Successful professional women often have specific concerns when it comes to their estates. Be sure you can help address them.

The deal with newly launched Global Retirement Partners is a "great opportunity to add scale," says LPL exec Bill Morrissey.