Advisors

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

Find yourself struggling to manage your health-care costs in retirement? You’re not alone. As the cost of health care continues climbing faster than the rate of inflation and an aging population is living longer, many financial advisors are focused on the line item in their retired clients’ budgets more than ever. “It’s a cost we

Geber86 | E+ | Getty Images Staying in equities and embracing their risk and potential return just might make sense for some retirees. Older investors with a combination of pension income, Social Security benefits and income annuities have a measure of safety in retirement. “If you have a big pension and Social Security, maybe you

A senior citizen holds a sign during a rally to protect federal health programs at the 8th Annual Healthy Living Festival on July 15, 2011 in Oakland, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images For most people, signing up for Medicare is a retirement rite of passage. But as they turn 65 and sort through their

Thomas Barwick | DigitalVision | Getty Images The process of recommending life insurance doesn’t have to be rife with conflicts of interest. Insurance has its place in a client’s comprehensive financial plan. For instance, term coverage can protect a young family in the event of a breadwinner’s early demise. Permanent life insurance — which can

A pedestrian passes in front of a Charles Schwab Corp. office building in New York. Gabriella Angotti-Jones | Bloomberg | Getty Images Charles Schwab’s proposed acquisition of TD Ameritrade is stirring up worry among financial advisors. Schwab on Monday announced it would acquire TD in a $26 billion all-stock transaction. Together, the firms will serve

Pedestrians pass in front of a Charles Schwab bank branch in downtown Chicago, Illinois. Christopher Dilts | Bloomberg | Getty Images Financial advisors who hold their clients’ assets at TD Ameritrade are about to face a shake-up. Charles Schwab is in talks to purchase TD Ameritrade for $25 billion, and a deal could be announced

Gorodenkoff | iStock | Getty Images Just in the past month, Scott Van Den Berg, president of Century Management Financial Advisors, has added cybersecurity to the firm’s insurance coverage. Now, in the event there is some kind of breach, the insurance company will help send a team to the office, have bitcoin accounts at the

Hero Images | Hero Images | Getty Images The registered investment advisor industry may be the perfect playground for private equity investors. It has good growth, high profit margins, consistent cash flow and low capital needs. With roughly 13,000 firms in the industry, it is also highly fragmented, ripe for roll-up, and begging for consolidation.