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?
For the average, middle-class American, an emergency fund should contain between three and six months’ worth of expenses. Americans in two-income households can more safely err toward three months’, though the risk is still higher with that arrangement.
When the pandemic hit in early 2020 and the entire economy hunkered down, demand collapsed. We were not driving to work, going to restaurants, or taking vacations and business trips. Suddenly, there was gasoline at the gas stations with no takers, perishables that restaurants were not buying, and theme parks and malls shut down.
When investors think about income, or yield, they would normally think bonds first. Next they might think about getting extra yield from their stock portfolios, maybe with a dividend strategy that might be heavy on real estate investment trusts (REITs) and utilities.
The Securities and Exchange Commission released the first proposed changes in the rules affecting advisor advertising in 40 years. But what did they change?
January was a month of transition. Markets took a break, with small gains or declines. The presidential inauguration handed the reins from the Trump administration to the Biden administration. What will February and March bring?
The resilience of the US economy continues to exceed our expectations. With encouraging progress toward ending the pandemic, and massive fiscal stimulus in place—and more likely coming soon, our prior economic growth forecasts may prove overly conservative.
Could narcissistic leadership have roots in childhood? The answer from science might surprise you but just like with adults, little narcissists are not necessarily better leaders.
According to estimates from recordkeepers and employee benefit research organizations, the average retired couple will spend over a quarter million dollars for healthcare and medical expenses in retirement.
You did your due diligence, asked the right questions during the interview, and took the job. However, now that you are in the role, something seems wrong, and you are trying to pinpoint the problem. Have you ever experienced this or know someone who has?
The S&P 500 Index historically has gained 6.8% per year during the first year of the four-year presidential cycle, but stocks have done better when the president was re-elected than when someone new occupied the White House.
The incredible action from some of the most heavily shorted names has investors everywhere wondering what it all means? GameStop (GME) specifically has taken the country’s imagination by storm, as the stock started the year under $20 per share.
Are you truly committed to serving your clients for the long run? You may care deeply about your clients and their financial interests, but if you don’t have a great relationship with their spouses or adult children, how can you assure their financial interests will survive well into the future?
Estimates for the fourth quarter have risen by about 2.3% since October 1, 2020, which signals companies will be able to deliver at least the typical several percentage points of upside. Estimates typically decline by about 4% during a quarter.
The economic news has continued to soften in recent days. December saw layoffs go up and the number of jobs decline, and, this morning, the retail sales numbers dropped. Consumer confidence has gone down. Clearly, the economic headwinds from the pandemic are getting worse.
In track and field, the success of a long jumper depends on several factors: speed, conviction, height. But perhaps most important is the second-to-last, or penultimate, step they take before launching into the actual jump. This step can prepare jumpers for excellent results, or it can dash their hopes.
There will be more regulation and a more active anti-business approach, especially around the big tech companies. This shift could certainly affect sentiment and, with it, the markets. We need to keep an eye on both tax and regulatory policy going forward, and we will be talking about that here as things unfold.
2020 was a year characterized in part by the outbreak of a global pandemic, which captivated the world and shocked the global economy and financial markets. As we turn the page to 2021, it can be helpful to reflect on the lessons learned from such a historic year.
Stocks and bonds posted strong returns in 2020 despite a tumultuous year, although that may be surprising only for bonds. We believe we’re in the early stages of a new bull market for stocks, but the opportunities for bond investors may require more patience.
As we consider what may happen in 2021, it’s useful to reflect on how we ended 2020—both the good and the bad. For the good, the election is behind us. Vaccines look to be more effective than anyone expected. Jobs and confidence are holding up surprisingly well as the economy adapts. In many ways, things are much better than we thought.
