Wealth Think

Leona Helmsley, widely regarded as the “Queen of Mean” before she died at age 87 in 2007, left behind a fortune valued by some to be worth $40 to $80 billion. She earmarked twelve million dollars to take care of her dog, Trouble, until the Judge reduced it to a paltry $2 million.

Fidelity fielded a study that found 75% of the broker-dealer and registered investment advisory firms are planning to hire up to 30% more employees over the next 12 months.

Some ideas are transcendent. Humankind’s inability to learn from past mistakes—often reappearing in cumulatively more costly iterations as memories of yesterday’s blunders fade—is an oft-repeated theme. Scholars confirm what historical anecdotes reveal.

In the May issue of Financial Planning magazine, I discussed how client perceptions may have changed over the past three years. I use the term Client 2.0 to describe this more-cautious and aware buyer, and offered thoughts on how you can better connect using an evolved Client Communications 2.0 plan. I spoke with several smart, accomplished advisors and industry consultants such as Ed Jacobson, Steve Saenz, Carol Anderson and Amy Mullen to hear their comments.…

Hubspot’s latest study shows that the number of companies that blog has grown from 48% in 2009 to 65% this year. Indeed, it appears that non-bloggers are fast becoming the minority, and it’s not hard to see why: companies that blog have 55% more visitors, 97% more inbound links, and 434% more indexed pages, compared to those that do not.

I've put on my annual to-do list that sometime this year I'll create a Facebook page, and Lord help me, I may even start twittering before long. This means I'm about to stick my toe into the dreaded Social Media world.

$7.5 Million. According to a recent survey by Fidelity Investments that’s the number it would take to make the average American millionaire feel wealthy. Considering less than 2% of the population has even $1 million in assets, how can we help our clients feel secure when they fall short of their own expectations? The answer may be in helping them first achieve financial maturity.

The advisory profession needs to create a repeatable and transparent experience that is client-centric, similar to what iTunes did for music lovers and Starbucks did for coffee aficionados.

While Whitney Houston was recently admitted to rehab, she has one other big concern that she still has to face - her no-holds-barred court fight with her late father’s widow.

Nine Tips to help you build relationships using new media and good old fashioned communicationma