When you increase your communication with clients, offer innovative ideas for connecting, and bring more transparency to the advising process, your clients will value your dedication and want to establish successful, long-term relationships.
A fee-based model can help you focus on creating and maintaining client relationships, all while bolstering trust and adding value to your financial advice with a new level of objectivity.
Hispanics are the most likely demographic group (26%) to say they feel “motivated” when thinking about financial planning in the current environment, according to a survey by Lincoln Financial Group.
Communication is the most important skill most people don’t develop. Most people believe they’re communicating effectively, while the reality is they’re not.
My career as a financial planner was shaped in my annual tax meetings with my CPA. One year I mentioned to her I really liked taxes, but specifically how a person could be strategic in their finances with tax planning.
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.
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.
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%.
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.
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.
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.
Financial planning for the LGBTQ+ community embodies a wide range of topics like marriage decisions, financial protection, family planning and legacy planning.
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.
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?
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.
The SEC today announced that Poloniex LLC has agreed to pay more than $10 million to settle charges for operating an unregistered online digital asset exchange in connection with its operation of a trading platform that facilitated buying and selling of digital asset securities.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
There’s a long way to go, but it has been a great year for stock bulls, a historically bad year for bonds, and a great year for the economy. We recently found these four charts that we think all investors need to see as we head into July.
Many stocks have stagnated over recent months. While we remain overweight on stocks relative to bonds, this week we explore three things that worry us—and could make the market more susceptible to a pullback as we enter the second half of 2021.
The human brain has six functions, three of which are defense mechanisms that prevent people from accepting potential risks and moving to protect their future finances. All six are worth keeping in mind when approaching the topic of risk management with clients.
Secure Retirement Institute research estimates that IRA rollovers represented approximately $565 billion in 2019, and jumped to $623 billion in 2020 as pandemic-related disruption led to an increase in the number of people leaving their employers.
Advisors and their clients frequently want to know how to generate guaranteed income from a retirement portfolio. This objective has been on the rise, particularly after the market crash of 2008.
Asking good questions is an essential skill to building trust with the people you serve and advise. Here are seven questions to help you establish a personal connection with clients.
While primarily thought of as equity-oriented, sustainable investing is becoming more mainstream in fixed income markets—and companies that fail to acknowledge changing dynamics may potentially face financially material impacts.
Not sure how exactly you’d overcome some of your challenges? We’ve all been there. Consider connecting with a more experienced advisor, joining a financial services association such as the Million Dollar Round Table.
College cannot possibly teach you all there is to know about financial planning. The education must continue after the degree is in hand. Here are four resources to help develop a deeper knowledge-base of the financial planning profession.
As Baby Boomer advisors age, business continuity and succession planning are on everyone’s radar. The average age of financial advisors in the United States exceeds 50, and, according to Cerulli and Associates, less than 12% of advisors are under the age of 35.
Competition is stiff and consumers are demanding, but the opportunities for insurance sales are still significant with one-third of consumers still looking to increase their insurance investments in the immediate future.
If we have learned anything during this last year its how to keep connections thriving and growing in a virtual experience. The NexGen community’s No. 1 goal is to constantly be building new & lasting connections for its members.
Most retired clients or those who are working towards retirement have only one question: How much money can they generate to last the rest of their lives?
It’s embarrassing to admit this but in our earnings season preview on April 12, when the consensus estimate reflected a nearly 24% increase, we wrote that S&P 500 Index earnings growth for the first quarter could potentially exceed 30%.
As a planner, have you taken a moment to ponder the question, “Who do you serve?” If not, please do. A few probing questions that helped guide me were: What lights my fire? Working with which type of clients would excite me? Is there a type of client that does not bring me joy?
Sell in May and go away refers to the seasonal stock market pattern in which the six months from May through October are historically weak for stocks, with many investors believing that it’s better to avoid the market altogether by selling in May.
Comprehensive financial planning involves working with, and potentially overhauling, every aspect of a client’s financial life. In Part 2, we will explore the remaining two parts of the “4+1” model, retirement and legacy/philanthropy, along with how to make changes to comprehensive financial plans already in place.
President Biden’s 100th day in office is tomorrow, on April 29. Hard to believe it has been 100 days already, but overall the economy continues to improve and stocks have done very well under our new President.
Based on the most commonly used valuation metrics such as the price-to-earnings ratio (P/E), stock market valuations are elevated. But how elevated?
Summer is often a missed opportunity for many students. While many peers will use the summer break as an opportunity to take a road trip or visit family, the summer is an important period for serious students to get ahead on their studies and qualifications for financial planning work.
Comprehensive financial planning can seem like a massive undertaking, as it addresses every aspect of our client’s lives. But, where to start? Over the years, I have learned that by breaking the process down into five key components – the “4+1” –unlocks and discovers what is in a client’s heart and head.
The outstanding fourth-quarter earnings season we had in 2020 is a tough act to follow, but 2021’s first quarter has the makings of another potentially great earnings season.
The first quarter looks to be the turning point, both for the pandemic here in the U.S. and for the economic damage it has caused. While risks still remain, especially in the short term, the significant progress we made in the first two months of the year started coming to fruition in March, signaling that we are through the worst of it.
Your preferred financial news source is always talking about the next wave sweeping over the financial advisory profession. That’s with good reason, technology has made access to different ways of doing business much more possible in the 2010s and 2020s than they ever were before.
The U.S. economy’s recovery from the pandemic continues to surpass our expectations, aided by the accelerating vaccine distribution, massive stimulus, and America’s desire to resume some semblance of normal daily life.
But by rising to the challenge of the worst global pandemic in 100 years, advisors who went above and beyond served as successful examples of how to navigate emergency situations while bolstering client loyalty.
What more can we say other than few months have been kinder to stocks lately than the month of April. In fact, it was last year that saw the S&P 500 Index gain an incredible 12.7%, for one of the greatest one-month gains in history.
Generally speaking, when inflation fears increase, bond prices decrease and rates rise, which is what we’ve seen in the bond markets recently. In fact, the primary reason we’ve seen falling bond prices/higher interest rates since bottoming in March 2020 and again in August of last year, has been growing fear of inflation.
The realization that most Americans aren’t ready for retirement has caused many states across our country to take initiative to help increase retirement plan access and savings by implementing state-run programs.
By adopting best practices now and having an open mind to the future, advisors can ensure that their post-COVID work policies contribute to a productive, fair and growth-oriented office culture.
With the NCAA college basketball tournament getting underway this week, LPL Research is getting in the spirit with its own version of March Madness. Here we share our “Final Four Factors” for the stock market in 2021: Vaccines, Policy, Profits, and Rates.
Having good rapport with prospective clients is often deemed more important than educating them. A lot of bright and talented young people I meet and speak with today are passionate about serving clients. Many of them also worry that being introverted or quiet will disqualify them from fulfilling that mission.
Every American knows how critical video meeting platforms like Zoom have been holding our families and workplaces together in the past year. For many financial advisors, learning how to use such programs was the push they needed to catch up with a key technological trend.
Planners spend their days meeting with clients, working on plans, educating themselves, keeping up with responses to calls and emails, marketing, and trying to find moments to gather their thoughts. The to-do list can feel overwhelming and unapproachable. But, it is possible to organize these tasks and take back control of your time.
Despite the turmoil the world has experienced since the outbreak of the pandemic, the S&P 500 marched forward to set new all-time highs less than 6 months later on August 18 and hasn’t looked back. So after such a wild year since the market peaked on this day in 2020, what have we learned?
