Practice

A former Wells Fargo advisor allegedly stole nearly $89,000 from an aging woman who authorized him to pay her rent.

ATM company Diebold has put together a mini-branch prototype that features artificial intelligence, voice recognition and video tellers.

The pursuit of yield has driven both advisors and investors toward newer, more complex ETFs and closed-end funds — products that use leverage, employ derivatives, deal in options and futures, sell short and so on. When such funds are held in clients’ IRAs they can generate additional problems for advisors, creating tax headaches and raising questions about investor suitability.

Clients should start preparing emotionally, as well as financially, for retirement at least five years early; Plus, downsizing your home isn't always a good idea.

Using donor-advised funds can ease the pressure on clients to make hurried year-end giving decisions, while still allowing them to receive the tax benefits from their donation.

The ideal investing approach should control downside risk while also achieving a reasonable rate of growth. Here are a few suggestions.

The wirehouse recruited advisors from rivals Merrill Lynch and UBS.

Merrill's newest recruit managed more than $185 million in client assets while at UBS.

A financial advisor helped doctors who were facing increases in their health insurance premiums by better visualizing their full options; Plus, means testing and a higher retirement age are possible fixes for Social Security.

Margaret Towle was most recently a partner and managing director with HighTower Advisors. She's also editor-in-chief of The Journal of Investment Consulting.