Financial planning

These days, it seems like all the media can talk about is whether or not Republicans and Democrats in Washington can come to an agreement over the so-called “fiscal cliff”. But what exactly is it?

Managing a team is an important part of an advisor’s growing practice. As an individual advisor’s practice becomes more successful and complex, eventually a team structure becomes necessary.

In part one of our two-part series on long term care planning, we looked at reasons behind long term care avoidance among Americans, according to Genworth’s “2012 State of Planning” survey. In part two, Pyschologist and Money Coach Dr. Barbara Nusbaum provides suggestions on how to put these difficult emotions of fear and anxiety to good use.

According to the 2012 State of Planning Survey commissioned by Genworth, Americans aged 35 and over have many excuses for why they don’t have a plan in place for their future long term care needs. In this first part of our two-part series on long term care planning, we look at reasons behind long term care avoidance among Americans.

Compliance is an issue every advisory firm has to deal with, but is your firm adequately prepared to execute effective compliance strategies?

As social media increasingly becomes the preferred medium of communication for clients, it is in the best interest of advisors to develop a successful blogging strategy to keep existing clients close (and prospective clients coming.)

While many finance firms have developed their own applications, technology expert Bill Winterberg analyzes and ranks at the top eight asset and investment manager apps for advisors.

What are the top financial planning schools nationally? Check out this list to see where the next generation of advisors are coming from (and who the next generation of clients may be working with).

Which banks shelled out the most for this election? Among the big name firms, here's a list of the top five donors based on data compiled by opensecrets.org, a nonprofit watchdog group that follows campaign donations. Click through to see where Wall Street's money has gone:

Sometimes, in order to lock in the $5 million estate planning tax exemption, clients gift away their “excess” assets. While gifting is good, and even better if you can avoid taxes by doing it, some clients give away too much, and are no longer able to maintain their standard of living in retirement.

While disasters like Hurricane Sandy take away so much and leave but a trail of havoc behind it, the resilience of the people across the nation refuse to be trampled. Within moments, resilient individuals would begin to offer aid to their less fortunate fellows. And yet during this time, it can also be quite confusing for planners to advise clients on the best places to donate money.

The legal challenges raised by clients who are beginning to lose their cognitive acuity or are suffering from dementia-related diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, can be significant for advisors. Here are some of the top tips for advisors working with clients with dementia.

Your website should tell prospective customers a number of things: services and philosophy, investment methodology, financial planning expertise ... and technological savvy.

Going into November with elections right around the corner, millionaire households listed what was worrying them most in planning for their financial futures.

A catalog of some of the nation's top planning schools is a resource for both planners-to-be and today's advisors

Drawing from the lessons of Robert Cialdini’s book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Todd Colbeck adds his own tips on how bank advisors can apply those lessons to form strong relationships with trust officers.

A 4-step back-up plan was key after being forced from her office and her home.

Financial advisors on the East Coast have solid reasons to be worried about Hurricane Sandy – and even those far from the wreckage should be concerned, too. Advisors’ and clients’ safety rank first, but advisors also have to be concerned about their offices and property, as well as those of their clients’ and their clients’ relatives. As vital as proper insurance coverage is, it often will not cover all losses, nor losses from the disruption of business. How prepared are you and your firm to deal with a major disaster, like Sandy? Far too many advisors have no disaster recovery plan to rely on for times like this. Here are 5 questions to consider regarding you, your firm and your clients after the worst of the hurricane strikes.

With October 15 behind us and April 15 still comfortably far away, it’s a good time to start boning up on ways to save your clients money once things start getting serious.

Marketing is not a one-shot thing. It is about finding a need and filling it over and over again to generate predictable results. Choose one of these action items and grow your business today.