Wade Pfau on Friday explained why the 4% “safe” withdrawal rate being relied on by many of the nation’s top financial planning professionals may not really be so safe for retirees....

If the long-term average real return from the stock market is 7%, does that mean one can safely use a 7% withdrawal rate from a 100% stocks portfolio without worrying about running out of wealth...

Economists are known for describing the annuity puzzle. The puzzle is: why do people not purchase income annuities (exchange a lump sum payment for a guaranteed lifetime income stream) to the extent...

FINRA plays a significant role in alerting the SEC to insider trading infractions. As an industry watchdog, the regulatory group gathers information on firms even beyond their broker-dealer scope...

Fiduciaries have a duty to monitor and evaluate their target date funds’ (TDF) performance, but what's the right benchmark?

When news broke last Wednesday about the reintroduction of legislation that would make FINRA the regulator of RIAs, all of the advisor trade publications covered the story. Financial Planning even...

Former NAPFA chairman Mark Spangler was indicted by a Seattle grand jury Thursday, charged criminally with diverting $41.7 million from investors into risky start-up ventures in which he had an...

Harold Evensky, long a leading voice in the movement to make the financial advice business a profession, is joining the board of governance for the Retirement Management Analyst (RMA) designation....

Setting up a succession plan to segue your business to junior partners sounds like a great idea. But it may be a difficult one to implement. Issues segueing advisors face include how much...

If you disagree with Michael Kitces prediction that technology companies and virtual platforms will become stiff competition for you, you’re not alone. Plenty of advisors doubt that investors...

The Investment Company Institute (ICI) says that investors are even less in love with equities last week than they were the week before. New data shows that investors pulled another $2.41 billion...

The Fed is getting prepared for whatever the economy may hand it in terms of what it will take to keep the recovery going. Instead of doing another quantitative easing, which would be QE3, the Fed...

Developing a successful team may seem to be as simple as finding people with complementary skills. Yet, that simple formula has the potential to work against you and to create a group of people who...

As I write this article, I’m feeling pretty good from a cash flow standpoint.  After all, the market was cooperative last quarter and my bank account is grateful.  I, like most of...

Whether you're a rookie or 20-year-plus veteran, at some point you’ve probably experienced an inability to make contact with enough prospects to keep your sales pipeline full. 

Advisors incorporating social media into their marketing are overlooking a vital link to success. The failure to translate social media involvement to the bottom line of a business is not an uncommon...

  A recent video blog post demonstrates why target marketing is so important.

A recent white paper highlights the role of broker-dealers in helping advisors stay on top of their game in what it takes to acquire affluent clients.The industry is changing not only from an...

Lists of apps abound, but this one happens to be unusual. It includes an app to turn your Android into a metal detector, send a text to your phone after you've misplaced to change from your ring from...

MIT media lab-developed has developed an open-source software application essentially facilitates cross-application and cross-device data exchange through swipe gestures.

I haven’t followed the developing field of augmented reality but a post about Nokia City Lens going to beta test caught my eye. It’s further evidence that Microsoft is on the comeback...

Economic cyber crime may not be the topic of popular crime shows but it has the #2 spot on financial services firms’ radar. Misappropriation is the first concern with 78% of firms falling...

If you are not paying A4A’s $60 a year fee, please do. I’ve been slowly going about the droll business of getting sponsors. This is not how I want to spend my time. But we do need...

At dinner last night here at the FPA Business Solutions in San Francisco, an advisor who manages a successful practice told a story about how he came to buy his practice from its former owner....

Scott Martin just posted a little ditty about a story in Financial Advisor magazine featuring a couple of advisors who have built successful firms in these challenging times. It's a great story....

When advisors face a complex tax-planning situation, they’re often quick to refer the client to outside help. A better result would be to understand the basics of these advanced strategies...