Advisors

Tony Hsieh, former CEO of Zappos.com Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Former Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, who died last week from injuries sustained in a house fire, did not leave behind a will, according to published reports. Hsieh, who retired in August from the shoe and clothing online retailer, succumbed to complications from smoke

Joel Angel Juarez/Bloomberg via Getty Images Amid the season of giving — not to mention an ongoing pandemic — donating to charitable causes may be on your mind. While the need for assistance is tremendous, experts say, it’s important to be sure your money goes to legitimate organizations that will use your donation as you

PeopleImages | E+ | Getty Images Back in March, a couple who had recently sold their business called me to express concerns about their decision to sell and retire. With Covid-19 raging, the stock market quickly dropped in value and their retirement savings were in decline. They asked a straightforward question: Did they need to

PixelsEffect | E+ | Getty Images In between the small gatherings of close family this holiday season, there may be more quiet moments and time for reflection than usual. For financial advisors, this can be a time to pause and think about the lessons we have learned in 2020. As I started to think about

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) speaks as bipartisan members of the Senate and House gather to announce a framework for fresh coronavirus relief legislation at a news conference on Capitol Hill on Dec. 1, 2020. Kevin Lemarque | Reuters Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., quashed a new Covid-19 rescue bill hours after it was proposed

If you’re cashing in some of your Bitcoin this year, the IRS wants to know about it. On Monday, the cryptocurrency’s value hit new heights, surging beyond $19,800 for a unit of Bitcoin. The asset’s appreciation has skyrocketed this year, rising by 160% in 2020. Understand that if you want to take a few of

TommL | E+ | Getty Images With sustainable investing, you cannot only use your money to make the world a better place, you can also use your money’s voice. Such is the job of shareholder advocacy, a primary strategy under the umbrella of sustainable/socially responsible investing. A small, but dedicated number of financial advisors, along

VioletaStoimenova | E+ | Getty Images Occasionally, a financial advisor grabs national attention by swindling clients out of millions, evading arrest via a bizarre escape plan or, sometimes, both. Luckily, there are ways investors can guard against high-profile cons or more under-the-radar criminality, according to financial experts. “These guys are very convincing in a very

Vladimir Vladimirov | E+ | Getty Images The role of a financial advisor can encompass areas that many people might not expect. The truth is a financial advisor is not just someone who helps with investments. Quite often, the job is to assist with every aspect of a client’s financial life. Advisors use their expertise

Jose Luis Pelaez Inc | DigitalVision | Getty Images Don’t let the holidays distract you from last-minute opportunities to reduce your 2020 tax bill. There are about five weeks left in the year, which means the clock is ticking on tax-planning strategies. Some tactics are only in play for 2020, thanks to the federal CARES

South_agency | E+ | Getty Images The value of Bitcoin is skyrocketing. If you’re planning on selling now and pocketing the gains, Uncle Sam is going to want his share. This week, the cryptocurrency hit price it hasn’t seen since 2017, climbing toward $18,000 for one unit of Bitcoin. Over the course of 2020, it’s

Nitat Termmee | Moment | Getty Images The good news is that surging markets have boosted investor portfolios this year. Now for the bad news: Some of those people will be owing the taxman. That’s because mutual funds distribute capital gains to their shareholders near the end of the year. At this point, fund providers

Martin Barraud | OJO Images | Getty Images When introducing clients to the idea of sustainable, or socially responsible, investing, financial advisors’ questions often spark a revelation. “Our first question to any potential client is about values,” said certified financial planner Mitchell Kraus, co-founder of Capital Intelligence Associates in Santa Monica, California. “What do you

AJ_Watt | E+ | Getty Images Forget volatility. The thing that keeps certified financial planner Neil Waxman on edge is clients’ cybersecurity practices and the threat of identity fraud. “It’s not the markets that keep me up at night,” said Waxman, managing director of Capital Advisors in Shaker Heights, Ohio. “This is the thing that

Nes | E+ | Getty Images When the Covid-19 pandemic hit the U.S. in mid-March, there were three types of financial advisory firms: high-tech, low-tech late adopters and firms somewhere in between. The overnight shift to work-from-home was vastly different for each type. Low-tech firms transported printers and fax machines to their homes and scrambled

President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris at the transition team’s Covid-19 advisory board Nov. 9, 2020 meeting in Wilmington, Delaware. Joe Raedle | Getty Images Joe Biden may have won the presidency, but there’s no guarantee his tax plan will come to fruition intact. President-elect Biden campaigned on a series of sweeping changes

Eric Audras | ONOKY | Getty Images So you finished your estate plan. You finalized a will, made sure beneficiaries are named on financial accounts, signed all other pertinent documents and picked an executor to carry out your wishes when you die. You might have overlooked one consideration: whether you should share the details of

Lorado | E+ | Getty Images “It’s increasingly a computer-based global work environment,” Minott said. “People can travel from country to country or stay where they like.” The benefits are plentiful. You get to live in a vacation destination, improve your quality of life and possibly reduce your cost of living. Just make sure you

Peathegee Inc | Tetra images | Getty Images You have just a few weeks to tap the money you’ve been saving for medical needs — or risk losing it. Health-care flexible spending accounts, which your employer may offer, allow you to store pretax dollars in a special account. In 2020 and 2021, you can contribute

Clerkenwell | Vetta | Getty Images Socially responsible, or sustainable, investing — investing in ways to make the world a better place — continues to surge, driven by increasing consumer demand and the recognition that sustainable funds provide returns comparable to traditional funds in addition to lower risk. The first half of 2020 saw a