Advisors

Siriluck Srikumbang / EyeEm Perhaps you are approaching retirement and getting a bit nervous from these wild market swings. It has, after all, been an emotional ride lately, and there are no signs of it letting up soon. You may be thinking: Is it time to “de-risk” your portfolio by dumping stocks and seeking the

AleksandarNakic Our nation is facing unprecedented times, and financial advisors are facing upheaval when their clients need them the most. More than 40 million people have applied for unemployment benefits since early March, while the economic outlook remains grim. The Atlanta Federal Reserve projects that the nation’s gross domestic product during the second quarter will

Johannes Eisele/Getty Images The country is in a recession and it’s certainly unclear how long this downturn could last. Chances are that you or someone you know has taken a financial hit because of the sudden downturn. Now, the National Bureau of Economic Research has determined that the U.S. entered into a recession in February.

Carlina Teteris This summer, it may become more difficult for investors to determine whether a financial advisor indeed has their best interests at heart. Starting June 30, financial advisors who are affiliated with broker-dealers legally will be required to place clients’ interests first when they give financial advice. This rule, which was handed down by the

Martin Seay, president of the Financial Planning Association and chair of the Personal Financial Planning Program at Kansas State University. Financial Planning Association The coronavirus pandemic has forced businesses of all kinds to rethink how they work and interact with customers. Financial planning is no different.  Martin Seay, president of the Financial Planning Association, perhaps

For the second time in 12 years, the U.S. economy and financial markets are facing an unexpected crisis of uncertain proportions. While the 2008 financial crisis and the current coronavirus pandemic are very different in character, both have produced extraordinary volatility in financial markets. Both downturns have also presented major challenges for financial advisors as they

Ariel Skelley Like everybody else in the country, David Yeske is getting a bit stir crazy. For the last eight weeks, the founder of registered investment advisor Yeske Buie has been managing his advisory practice and serving his roughly 500 clients from his home in San Francisco as the coronavirus has spread across the country.

Xavier Bonghi In today’s environment, it’s just about unimaginable that someone would turn down a $40,000 forgivable loan. Benjamin Brandt, a certified financial planner and president of Capital City Wealth Management in Bismarck, North Dakota, did just that. He initially applied for the Paycheck Protection Program — a forgivable loan program that’s overseen by Treasury

For decades, financial advisors have counseled clients that they should be able to safely withdraw 4% of their assets each year as a means of providing income, while maintaining an account balance large enough to keep income flowing through retirement. While some of the underlying thinking behind the so-called 4% rule was prudent, it was

Adam Hester America is a resilient nation. Americans are optimistic, innovative, forward-looking and compassionate. And when a crisis occurs, America’s best qualities shine through and burn brightly. We are in the midst of an unprecedented health crisis that has caused a momentous disruption to our nation’s and the world’s economy as businesses have been ordered

Chad Springer It’s obvious we are living in highly uncertain times. Markets are extremely volatile, and monetary and fiscal policies change from day to day. Most clients are extremely anxious, unsure of how the market is going to move and how those moves will impact their portfolios. While financial advisors must continue being proactive –

Our brains are wired to look for danger and react quickly to an approaching attack; however, this most recent threat is invisible, but no less distressing to our primitive brains. Plummeting stock prices are sending some investors over the edge, leading to irrational behavior that has dire long-term financial repercussions. In his book, “Your Money

For anyone who became accustomed to watching their 401(k) account balance climb higher for years on end, the market’s recent drop and continued volatility may be unnerving if not downright scary. Nevertheless, you shouldn’t let fear cause you do something that could hurt your long-term retirement planning, advisors say.  “The coronavirus is certainly creating a

Photo by Ariel Skelley via Getty Images Markets have been a roller coaster ride in the weeks since the coronavirus pandemic reached the U.S. Most of the country’s financial advisors think we haven’t hit bottom yet, a survey finds. Despite periodic rallies — like Monday’s more than 7% rise of both the Dow Jones and

JohnnyGreig | E+ | Getty Images We are in a challenging time, facing rapidly evolving information about the coronavirus and the effects on how we work and live. Markets continue to function and are reflecting this constant change, which means greater volatility. Those circumstances don’t make it easy for investors to stay in their seats.

Sophia Bera, CEO and founder of Gen Y Planning. When financial advisor Sophia Bera founded her Austin, Texas-based practice in 2013, she decided to work primarily with millennial clients. Bera, then 29, wanted to help her peers navigate their early careers and the thorny financial issues, such as managing student debt and buying a first

eclipse_images | E+ | Getty Images If you can’t beat the crypto crowd, it might be time to join them, experts say. Virtual currency and its underlying technology, blockchain, are here to stay – and that means both will play some role in investors’ lives. “It’s actually very hard to decouple blockchain and bitcoin,” said

Finding the right advisor to help with your financial needs and goals can be complicated. There are so many factors to assess. Many advisors will use a high asset under management as a selling point metric when marketing themselves to potential investors. However, AUM isn’t the whole story when a potential client is determining which

Ariel Skelley | DigitalVision | Getty Images For some financial advisors, the person behind the assets is the key to providing the best investment advice possible. That is, awareness of the nuanced differences that distinguish clients helps those advisors construct investment portfolios based on more than, say, a person’s age and how long until they

Jordan Siemens | Getty Images When Tara Unverzagt started her own financial planning firm, South Bay Financial Partners, in 2014, she already had a head start. That’s because Unverzagt’s mother, Janet Tussing — one of the first female certified financial planners — was retiring and passed along her book of business. Those clients ranged from