Practice management

President Barack Obama had a warning for John Boehner at a Dec. 13 White House meeting: Stop opposing higher tax rates for top earners, or the president would dedicate his second term to blaming Republicans for a global recession.

After a wild ride toward the fiscal cliff, many financial advisors now say the frenzy was worth it -- even if clients' worst fears failed to materialize.

Financial advisors in the bank channel often talk about “leveraging” their branch’s tellers and lenders to build their client books. But it’s the rare bank investment program that effectively ends up partnering with other bank units. Kim Burdick, senior vice president and group executive for community banking at Fremont Bank in Fremont, Calif., thinks he knows the reason. …

Asking the right questions from the start can ensure you discover the kind of clients you really want for your business.

The Internal Revenue Service released new income tax withholding tables for 2013 late Monday to reflect the expiration of the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts and the more recent payroll tax cuts of 2011 and 2012, but noted that the guidance would be modified if Congress acts.

The U.S. House passed a bill undoing income tax increases for more than 99 percent of households, giving a victory to President Barack Obama even as Republicans vowed to fight him in coming weeks for spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling.

Phone calls, email, staff and clients: How do you get everything done each day? Since adding more hours is probably off the table, advisors must be more productive in the time they do have.

The budget deal struck by the White House and Senate Republican leaders, if it becomes law, probably would slow the U.S. economic recovery without stopping it.

From bank tellers to senior management and bank owners, Fremont Bank's Susan Lyle and Adam Nieto make the elusive idea of cross-selling a reality.

Our legal expert explains how to keep a Series 7 license fresh after moving from a broker-dealer.

Deploy a strategy that runs itself and thrills your clients, allowing you to provide better service with less effort.

What advisors can still do to protect business owners' assets even though last year is gone.

Preparing your clients for the tax plan ultimately agreed upon in Washington.

A run-down of the stories in this issue, including a look at who will influence the wealth industry in 2013 and what the financial markets will hold.

Many firms have enlisted former military personnel to beef up their employee ranks.

A modest AUM tax could make financial planning available to all American families.

Successful planning organizations almost always take a collaborative team approach, building on the complementary skills of members.

The U.S. House of Representatives doesn’t plan any votes on the federal budget tonight, meaning that Congress for now will fail to avert $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts set to start at midnight.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said lawmakers in Congress are “very, very close” to a deal to avert $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts set to start at midnight.

Advisors naively believe that only 17% of their clients hold a direct account when in fact 74% do, according to a new report from Boston-based research firm Cerulli Associates.