Wealth management

Despite common assumptions, child-free clients have plenty of planning complexity. Advisors shared their approach to planning for this demographic, from encouraging "no-kid dividends" to building care teams early.

A proposal is meant to ensure advisors can trade client assets on a discretionary basis without triggering onerous custody requirements, while also giving them a self-custody option for crypto.

Thirty-seven percent of those making more than $500,000 live paycheck to paycheck, Goldman Sachs found, making this a problem for more than just lower-income workers.

The second-largest asset custodian tilts its policies toward larger firms as commission-free trading continues to eat into its business safeguarding client assets.

Advisory practice sellers frequently wish they had taken more time for important strategic tasks before the deal, David Grau of Succession Resource Group says. He provided a list explaining why the timeline will take longer than many sellers may think.

The new platform looks to personalize both client and planner profiles to create better matches and relationships.

In addition to proposing broader access to private market investments for those who pass a test and for CFPs and other credential holders, the SEC also proposed expanding advisors' ability to charge performance-based fees.

As a significantly underrepresented group in the industry, Black planners and other wealth management professionals of all backgrounds have been tapping into the Quad-A network and professional development opportunities for decades.

Advisors may want to rethink one of the industry's retirement rules of thumb. Two researchers suggest swapping the traditional 4% withdrawal rate for a "flexible 3%" rule to lower failure rates for longer time horizons.

Advisors who fail to build relationships with adult children before they inherit risk mass defections later.

CD Valet has as many as 200,000 savers visiting its site every month looking for the best deals on certificates of deposit. It's betting they would make a perfect fit for advisors eager for new clients.

Amid political pushback around ESG, Climate Week panelists say firm leaders should focus less on the label and more on the risks that matter to clients.

The trends of big profits, consolidation and slow organic growth are creating a lot of contradictions with the pay of financial advisors and other RIA staff members, according to The Ensemble Practice's annual tracking study.

From shopping for better interest rates to tax strategy to cash flow, financial planners can play a vital role in helping clients prepare to take out a mortgage.

As regulators lower regulatory hurdles, many advisors are seeking greater access to private investments, while asset managers and fintechs are trying to eliminate technical barriers keeping regular investors out.

Private-placement life insurance can offer tax-free growth and alternative investments for ultrawealthy clients, but advisors warn it isn't right for everyone who can afford it.

Betterment Advisor Solutions, formerly Betterment for Advisors and Betterment Institutional, is changing its platform fees into a tiered rate that begins at 0.20% for advisory practices with less than $10 million in the business, Betterment CEO Sarah Levy says.

Earn credit toward industry certification while staying up to date on key financial planning topics and strategies.

As the U.N. renews its call for $1.3 trillion a year in climate finance, four leaders in climate finance say the biggest question for advisors is where that money goes.

As AI threatens firms' lucrative business managing uninvested cash, Schwab gives its RIA partners a new way to keep clients' cash holdings sticky.