SEC: U.K.-Based Father And Son, Two Others Ran Microcap Fraud Scheme

Allianz Life’s 2021 Retirement Risk Readiness Study identifies distinct differences among ethnicities regarding retirement risks as well as interest in getting help from a financial professional.

Americans have trillions in assets and advisors should have plenty of business in the years ahead, according to new projections of consumer wealth.

Not planning for inflation can be a financial sucker punch in the years when financial breathing room is needed most. By helping their clients build income streams that account for inflation, advisors will help them keep pace with the economic inevitable.

Nearly nine in 10 plan sponsors and participants (88%), respectively, agree that income in retirement is vital to financial security, according to the Nationwide Retirement Institute’s 2021 In-Plan Lifetime Income survey.

LinkedIn has evolved tremendously over the past decade. In the past few years, LinkedIn has become more like Facebook – very social and engaging. It is an incredibly powerful platform if you use it correctly. LinkedIn can transform the way you do business development if you’re willing to make the effort.

While hands-on experience working with families comes with time, it’s beneficial for advisors to prepare for whatever expectations families might have, especially as wealth is a highly personal subject matter.

Social Security was in trouble even before the pandemic, because the retirement of the baby-boom generation is expanding the number of beneficiaries much faster than the increase in the number of workers paying into the system, the trustees said.

The fourth quarter of the year begins soon. Investors are still on the edge of their seats concerned about potential tax law changes and any Federal Reserve policy that might spook the financial markets.

Investment giant BlackRock on Wednesday defended itself from criticism from billionaire financier George Soros, who took exception to its approach to investing in China.

According to a new survey from the New York Federal Reserve, 50.1% of respondents expect to keep working past the age of 62. That’s an almost 2% decline from the year before.

Robert Maron, 62, generated more than $1 million in profits by trading Illumina securities instruments based on non-public information ahead of the company’s financial report in October 2016, according to the SEC.

Indeed, as recently as July, 35% of Americans say they're saving more money than they were before the pandemic, according to a new survey from NerdWallet. The personal saving rate is a figure from the Bureau of Economic Analysis measuring what’s left over in household income after taxes and spending.

For most Americans a home mortgage is their most significant financial liability and paying it off is a high priority. Those fortunate enough to have savings or income beyond what is needed to pay living expenses should consider the financial and psychological benefits of paying the balance down early.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its August employment report this morning, revealing that the domestic economy added a disappointing 235,000 jobs during the month, falling well short of Bloomberg-surveyed economists’ median forecast for a gain of 733,000. This comes on the heels of a strong July during which payrolls climbed by an upwardly revised 1.053 million jobs. The unemployment rate fell to 5.2% in August, in line with expectations, and was paired with an unchanged labor force participation rate, which stayed at 61.7%.

Sometimes red flags are waving gently in front of us, but we are blind to their signals. Many of Bernie Madoff's clients failed to notice the warning signs that something wasn't quite right. Madoff was the infamous architect of an epic securities swindle that lost billions in clients' money.

Crafting your client base can be a daunting task, but simplifying it to a system that’s easy to digest will streamline your search process. The “ABC” system that I use is interlinked, as each component depends on, and thrives off one another.

Over the past year or so, consumer confidence has risen sharply, coming off the trough at the start of the pandemic, and was approaching pre-pandemic highs. Two leading surveys were saying the same thing. Then something started to change.

Whether you’re on the fence about using social media to accelerate your success or you’ve started to dip your toe into the water to see if it’s warm enough to dive in, you’d likely agree social media is a powerful platform that can be leveraged for your business success.

Credit card customers’ expectations for credit cards are revolving, and a new J.D. Power survey shows many card issuers are failing to keep up. The decrease in customer satisfaction was led by midsized card issuers who couldn’t keep up with the evolving needs of consumers during today’s volatile economy.

Corrections are a normal part of investing and the S&P 500 Index has yet to pull back even 5% so far this year, something that happens on average three times per year. However, we remain steadfastly bullish and this week want to explore five things that some bears believe that do not worry us.

In his latest Investment Outlook of 2021, Bill Gross writes about interest rates: “At 1.25% for the 10- year Treasury, they have nowhere to go but up.” He sees rates increasing by as much as 2% over the next year.

Technology has always been the driving force behind change. When combined with rapidly-changing consumer needs, it has the potential to transform industries.

The average American will pay more than $130,000 in interest fees over their lifetime, according to a new study from Self, a credit building company. The state where borrowers pay the highest interest fees is Hawaii, where Americans pay $272,326 over their lifetime, followed by California with $234,337.

Sixty-one percent of retirees wish they had done better at planning for the financial aspects of their retirement, according to an Edward Jones/Age Wave study titled “Retirement in the Time of Coronavirus: What a Difference a Year Makes.”

A Brooklyn man is facing federal charges related to an illegal check-cashing scheme that netted him more than $55 million over the past decade.

Most people I know look forward to retirement someday. They dream about travel, dining out, spending more time with family, etc. These are the things that people plan and save for. This vision of retirement is what we see in commercials.

The firm still ranks at the top of surveys by J.D. Power and others, yet complaints about Vanguard’s customer service are growing anecdotally, according to online reviews, financial advisers, and company loyalists.

The Department of Labor’s lifetime income illustration rule requiring pension and retirement plan providers to issue an annual projection for clients goes into effect in September but the department still has not produced a final rule.

A MetLife study using Chamber of Commerce data shows employees are worried about finances but employers are not sharpening their focus on their workers’ financial well-being.

Word is that the Social Security increase we see in January could be as much as 6.1%, the largest since 1983. For the average benefit recipient, currently receiving $1,543, that could amount to $94 per month.

It’s not an overstatement to say ours is a profession built on relationships. Understanding and truly connecting with our clients unlocks endless opportunity – for us to deliver better recommendations, make our clients happier and grow our businesses.

So, you have reviewed the client’s circumstances, discussed the options, developed a roadmap, excited the client about their plan and then it’s “Great! Let’s do some paperwork!” That frown you see on the client’s face is one of the costs of friction.

Financial planning for the LGBTQ+ community embodies a wide range of topics like marriage decisions, financial protection, family planning and legacy planning.

—Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Tuesday that the U.S. economy has been permanently changed by the COVID pandemic and it is important that the central bank adapt to those changes. “We're not simply going back to the economy that we had before the pandemic,” Powell said at a Fed virtual town hall.

2Q S&P 500 earnings growth did not surprise by quite as much as in the first quarter, but came pretty close—boosted by the biggest quarterly upside revenue surprise in at least 13 years. Here, we recap the strong numbers and raise our forecasts for earnings and for S&P 500 fair value at year-end.

MassMutual is pushing deeper into cryptocurrency with a planned investment fund for Bitcoin administered through a tech platform that the carrier has already invested in.

The SEC’s order finds that Pearson made misleading statements and omissions about the 2018 data breach involving the theft of student data and administrator log-in credentials of 13,000 school, district and university customer accounts.

The Nasdaq Composite gained 1.19 percent in July, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 1.34 percent. The S&P 500 led the way with a 2.38 percent gain during the month. As we continue to hit new highs, what are the risks going forward?

Authorities say Martin Ruiz misappropriated more than $8 million of client funds, transferring those funds through a series of entities Ruiz also controlled, and spent the vast majority of the funds on personal expenses.

If you’re looking to beef up your client’s retirement savings, then you’ll want to check out this Roth IRA loophole right now. Roth IRAs have been around since the introduction of the Taxpayer Relief act in 1997, and are considered to be a smart tool for retirement if used correctly.

The inflation story is more about isolated components, rather than general increases in prices, and even those components are showing signs of peaking. And this is even before we consider the one- and two-year differential in prices.

As you approach an intersection when driving, you have to be aware of a number of factors. Is there a traffic light or a stop sign ahead? Are pedestrians about to cross?

Retirement plan participants are worried about running out of money, losing income or not being able to afford medical expenses, according to an American Century survey.

On paper, Social Security's spousal benefits might seem simple enough to understand. So, what are those conditions and other aspects of Social Security's spousal benefits you need to know?

The data shows Americans saved more of their money during the pandemic, largely because they could not spend it. But studies are showing that Americans might be changing their identity from consumers to savers.

With a focus on planning for both the present and future, you can achieve a more efficient practice that provides a higher-quality level of service to clients. Here are three solutions to operating a more efficient practice.

Money management skills most likely were not taught when you were in school. In fact, Kentucky just recently started requiring a financial education course for high school graduation. The good news is that there are a lot of free tools and resources available to help your clients improve their overall financial wellbeing.

Workers are weathering a public health crisis and contending with fears about the virus and vaccinations, concerns for family and friends, employment impacts, and financial setbacks.

Retirement planning is not entirely financial. Your degree of happiness in your “second act” may depend on some factors that don’t come with an obvious price tag. Here are some non-monetary factors to consider as you plan your retirement.

Significant life events, such as changing employers or entering retirement, should prompt you to consider rolling your retirement assets into an IRA. A rollover may be a wise financial move depending on your current financial situation. When done correctly, it can set you up for long-term financial success.

There are many unknowns to consider.

How does a stock picker or a conscious consumer know what they are buying, given the complex and growing set of expectations on everything from reduction in pollution to racial and economic equity?

Retirement is more than a portfolio. It is not enough to just have assets; clients need a game plan to make sure the assets last and can access them efficiently.

Biases are well-known for pushing investors to make short-term decisions that endanger a secure retirement. But biases can be called on to help get people into plans and keep them there.

It's summertime in Michigan and people are hitting the highways. By now, Michiganders are aware that orange is the official color of summer as evidenced by our construction barrels. Our Federal Reserve is the entity entrusted to keep our economy moving forward and getting people into the job market.

According to the latest findings from Northwestern Mutual’s 2021 Planning & Progress Study, U.S. adults aged 18+ say financial advisors are the most trusted source for financial advice. This represents a reversal from 2020 findings when people said they trusted themselves most.

Unless you’re fresh out of school, the world you inhabit has changed dramatically from the one in which you began your career. Some time in this millennium or the last you set out on a career, had a family (or not), bought braces, houses, appliances, cars (or not), and signed up for retirement savings plans (or not).

Historically, it was a short period of three to five years in which a “worn-out” retiree could play golf, or fish, or sit on a beach. That quaint concept has been overtaken by today’s reality of longer life spans, more volatile career paths and a changing economy.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed an emergency action charging California resident Charlie Abujudeh with running microcap fraud schemes targeting retail investors.

In financial planning, as in swimming, it should go without saying that good technique and regular practice are required: budgeting, debt management, regular saving, investment diversification, buying the right kinds and amounts of insurance, etc.

By identifying your ideal client, thinking outside the box, and playing to your strengths, you’ll be working smarter, not harder, to build your business. The result: a client pool tailored to your preferences and strengths, allowing you to boost your portfolio long-term.

According to the Investment Company Institute, Americans had $12.6 trillion invested in IRAs at the end of the first quarter. In this, as in so many things, Peter Thiel was ahead of the curve.

Empower, a Great-West Life company, plans to consolidate the two companies’ retirement business on a platform the Empower built with the help of last year’s $1 billion acquisition of Personal Capital.

There have been no retroactive situations in the last 25 years where the Tax Act increased taxes and the effective date was prior to the date of enactment. Still, that does not mean it will continue with any tax increases this time.

With the country just emerging from lockdown, where’s the crash already? The original grave dancer, Sam Zell, has left the cemetery and is “following the pack and spending big on something safer,” Peter Grant wrote in the Wall Street Journal.

Last week provided investors with a fresh batch of data carrying the potential to heavily affect the inflation debate. Tuesday brought us the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for June, while Wednesday saw the release of the Producer Price Index (PPI) for June.

With the U.S. economy humming, corporate profits flowing and stock prices peaking, investors on Wall Street are beginning to pose an anxious question: Is it all downhill from here? Many of the U.S. government’s pandemic relief efforts are fading.

Being an advisor in 2021 has introduced us to countless new digital tools that allow us to optimize our client service. Although our focus on technology has grown, it’s important to remember that our most valuable tool for success remains the ability to connect.

Nationally, inflation rose at a 5.4% annual pace; in Los Angeles and Orange counties, it was 4%. The worst inflation picture since 2008 might nudge the Fed to ease its cheap money policies. Those efforts created an economic oddity — mortgage rates below inflation.

Now is the perfect time to check in with your clients and remind them what financial planning really is and begin to tie their investment reviews into their financial plan.

An estimated 3 million people nationwide have left their jobs earlier than expected since the pandemic began in March 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Despite lofty expectations, results exceeded expectations by one of the biggest margins ever in the first quarter. So what will companies do for an encore?

The Federal Reserve says its low interest rate policies are providing “powerful support” for the economy as it recovers from the coronavirus pandemic. The Fed has kept its benchmark interest rate near zero while continuing to buy $120 billion a month in Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities.

Global stock markets fell Thursday as fears grew over what strong inflation and a new wave of Covid-19 might mean. Europe’s top benchmarks closed with losses of more than 1.5 percent following some heavy drops in Asia. In New York, the Dow Jones index also slumped in midday exchanges.

—Federal Reserve officials started discussing at their meeting last month the timing and mechanics of reducing their huge monthly bond purchases, which are used to keep longer-term interest rates in check. The Fed is buying $120 billion a month in Treasury securities and mortgage-backed bonds.

Through the first six months of the year, the S&P 500 was up 14.4%, led by the same energy and financial stocks that limped through last year’s economic collapse. That ranks as the second-best performance for the first half of a year since 1998.

After being dealt a stunning setback by an appeals court, federal prosecutors in Delaware have declined to retry four former executives for the only financial institution to be criminally charged in connection with the federal bank bailout program in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.