Here are some rules and skills that are unique to the virtual sales platform. Growing your skills in these areas will make your practice very profitable in the coming years.

Meme stocks, cryptocurrencies, the broader stock market: All have tumbled with astonishing speed this year, and few strategists think the pain will end here.

Bitcoin miners are facing a crucial test in the wake of the token’s 50% plunge from an all-time high. While many mining operations made a handsome profit during Bitcoin’s runup last year, the recent decline could punish those with less efficient operations.

Investors have been taking refuge from the Chinese real estate debt crisis in pockets of the broader Asian credit market, and cite India among opportunities that are relatively insulated from the historic turmoil.

Insights into the economy can be found in surprising places. In a brothel, for instance, how services are priced and who ends up working there can reveal a lot about the state of the business cycle. It also reflects structural changes in our economy and society.

Large asset managers provide model portfolios for many purposes — as options in 401(k) plans, as blueprints for institutional clients and affiliated financial advisors, and as suggestions for unaffiliated investment advisors. These have the “lather, rinse, repeat” conflict of interest.

Oil prices rose on Tuesday following the biggest one-day tumble this year, with traders refocusing on the outlook for energy demand and shaking off broader weakness in financial markets.

The following seven phrases tell you that someone is lying over email, instant messaging, or text.

I offer my top 10 roster of realizable and important financial resolutions to start your year off on the right foot!

Recently one expert asked whether the letters I receive are authentic or perhaps I make them up. I’d like to use this column to address this and ask financial professionals to consider things we often don’t talk about in this industry.

“I’m opposed to financial planning,” said no one ever. Yet most of us avoid financial planning, despite the best efforts of the financial media to extol its virtues.

In today's digital-first world, a marketing funnel is how financial advisors attract ideal prospects, engage clients and COIs, and stimulate referrals.

I don’t buy the narrative that small firms will find it hard to add new clients simply because of larger RIAs. And here's why.

In my work with female clients in transition, some of the most difficult conversations are with those whose lives have been upended by the death of their spouses.

If you transition your practice to the RIA model, it is not a matter of whether you will outsource, but how much.

Surging markets spurred a buying frenzy for everything from stocks and cryptocurrencies to new homes over the last two years. Now, with inflation at a nearly 40-year high and at least three priced-in rate hikes, the hunt for investing safe havens is on.

U.S. wages are rising after decades of stagnation. And yet, by all indications, income inequality in the U.S. is the highest ever and growing, and tens of millions of full-time workers still fail to earn a living wage.

In what even the U.S. Treasury says will be a frustrating tax season, families claiming the child tax credit and newly self-employed Americans are among filers likely to see the biggest challenges this year.

With the S&P 500 extending its selloff from a recent record to more than 10%, trading is spiking across exchange-traded funds from leveraged strategies tracking technology shares to those betting on market volatility.

U.S. bank stocks are headed for their worst losing streak in a year, burning investors who bought shares on expectations that the Federal Reserve raising rates for the first time since 2018 would boost the sector.

The world’s largest digital asset is mired in its sixth straight day of declines, with the token down roughly 20% over the past seven days. It’s now 50% below its November peak and was trading as low as $32,970 on Monday, the lowest since July.

There are almost always ways to make things work financially between a couple. Sometimes a skilled financial planner has enough tools to accomplish this. Sometimes financial therapy is necessary. Fortunately, there are financial therapists that specialize in couples.

The Fed is walking a tightrope between instability and inflation. Can it successfully tame inflation without causing severe market dislocations?

To reap the potential tax benefits of MLP investing and to make sure the allocation is meeting an investor’s needs, it’s important to understand the nuances of MLP investing.

In 2012, an SEC director declared that conflicts kill objective investment advice. But this is no longer true, according to new guidance from the CFP Board.

Is the failure of the value factor over the last decade due to the inability of book value to incorporate so-called “intangible assets,” such as the intellectual property that has propelled companies like Amazon, Alphabet and Apple? New research provides the answer.

Laurence Kotlikoff is a world-class economist who can convince you to pay off your mortgage and make you snort out your nose laughing at the same time; Money Magic is his compendium of life hacks aimed at leaving the reader wealthier and happier.

A rapid one-two punch of interest-rate hikes and balance-sheet reduction from the Federal Reserve risks unsettling bond and stock markets that have already taken a beating.

The head of the Bank for International Settlements, Agustin Carstens, recently set out a dark vision for our financial future, quoting Goethe’s “Faust” and claiming that the “soul” of money was at stake.

The pass rate for the second level of the chartered financial analyst exam bounced back from historic lows set last year.

New U.S. home construction unexpectedly strengthened in December to the fastest pace in nine months, led by apartment projects and suggesting builders found some success navigating shortages of materials and labor.

If a recently widowed client hasn’t fired you, then you are among a lucky few. Here’s a thought experiment that illustrates the vulnerability advisors face when they don’t engage the female half of a couple.

Applications for U.S. state unemployment insurance surged last week to a three-month high, suggesting that the omicron variant is having a bigger impact on the labor market.

Exiting bankruptcy alone won’t bring Puerto Rico prosperity and vitality. But it’s a crucial first step.

There is no shortage of candidates for the title of the most dangerous business idea of the moment. Management-by-algorithm may remove what humanity there is left in the corporate world. The office-less future may dissolve workers into angst-ridden atoms. I want to suggest a less obvious contender for the title: “social purpose.”

The industry has been slammed by a combination of concerns about higher U.S. interest rates, a probable reduction in solar-system subsidies for California homeowners, the broader stock market rotation out of high-growth technology companies and the obstruction of President Joe Biden’s stalled “Build Back Better” agenda by 50 Republicans and two Democrats, Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema.

President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan is stalled, and the next steps are unclear. Some Democrats are talking about the need for new pandemic-relief measures, even as the White House is reportedly looking at a stripped-down version of the original proposal. Meanwhile, most analysts are giving short shrift to an issue that deserves more thought: how Build Back Better would make it harder to fight inflation.

Walk into a U.S. supermarket, and chances are you’ll see some empty shelves once more. It’s an unwelcome throwback to earlier stages of the pandemic.

A booming $4.9 trillion branch of the U.S. asset management industry is funneling investor cash into funds that are pricier and worse-performing than alternatives, new research claims.

Climate change concerns are growing among top executives at global firms, but they still struggle to implement solutions across their firms to address those worries.

We've made it to the middle of January, that time of year that is the graveyard for so many New Year's resolutions. Even if you abandon any other resolutions you may have made, please carry out a very important one: Make a will.

Our advisors are good at what they do, but a couple of our best performers are terrible communicators.

Since implementing new software, we’ve tripled our conversion rate with new prospects and dramatically shortened our sales cycle.

Imagine if universities started crafting their coach’s compensation plans the way broker/dealers draft plans for their advisors.

Sending quick video messages is an effective way to stay top of mind and regularly remind your connections that you are a resource they can count on and trust.

I asked a prospect what legacy she wanted to be remembered for at her company. She paused and then said, “I want my employees to know how much I cared about them and appreciated their contributions to our success.”

Treasuries slid and yield-curve premiums shrank to the lowest in almost two years amid increased speculation the Federal Reserve will deliver more than a quarter-percentage point rate hike in March.

When people debate whether to forgive some or all of the $1.75 trillion in student debt weighing on millions of American families, opponents often argue that it would be wasteful and unfair: Too many relatively well-off, well-educated people would benefit at the expense of all taxpayers, many of whom never had the desire or opportunity to attend college.

Many of us fantasize about quitting our jobs. In 2021, more people than ever turned that dream into reality. The latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that 4.53 million Americans voluntarily left their jobs last November. This was both a new monthly record and the eighth successive reading above the pre-pandemic high.

Markets are weird right now. The value of risk-free assets has gone all out of whack, and if that doesn't seem scary, keep reading.