Life Events

Once clients’ taxes are filed, most assume the story is over for another year. For many, filing season ends with relief, frustration, or confusion — a refund that feels arbitrary, a payment that stings, or little clarity about what to do differently next time. That’s where you, as the advisor, can step in.

Scalable personalization means saving time while not sacrificing the “secret sauce” that is unique to your practice. Time savings can come from scaling portfolio construction via model portfolios or direct indexing, adding tools or talent to complement strengths, and using technology like AI.

Opening a 529 plan is a tax-advantaged way to set aside money for college. The money you contribute can grow tax-deferred and qualified withdrawals are tax-free.

Gen Z is coming of age in a world very different from that of their parents. Advisors who want to connect with this cohort need be conscious, not only of Gen Z’s biases and unique perspectives, but also of their own preconceptions and tendencies.

Affordability is a major problem that is finally getting the attention it needs. As important is directing that attention at the root cause of America’s cost-of-living crisis: inadequate wages.

Women consistently report that the quality of their relationship with an advisor is their number one driver of satisfaction. They are not just looking for investment expertise. They are looking for partnership and a sense that their advisor understands what matters most to them.

It’s no secret that college is expensive. And alongside mounting costs come almost as many strategies for mitigating them. When you need money to pay for college expenses, tapping your Roth IRA is one option you might consider.

The same forces that are straining the political marriage across the Atlantic are also creating a long‑term opportunity set in Europe. Advisors should position clients’ capital so that it benefits from that structural shift, while staying disciplined about quality, valuation, and risk.

Artificial intelligence might be the most transformative technology ever devised. Exactly how its effects will work through the economy is impossible to say, but serious disruption of one kind or another seems likely. Millions of jobs — in the end, maybe most jobs — could radically change, and many will disappear entirely.

Eli Lilly & Co. surprised Wall Street by raising its annual sales and profit forecast, as demand for obesity medications soared and thousands of patients started taking its new weight-loss pill before advertising for the drug had even begun.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of life insurance policies lapse or are surrendered for cash. The policyholders walk away with whatever the carrier offers. Their advisors sign off. Their attorneys see nothing. And nobody asks the obvious question. Could this policy have sold for more?

No one likes that heart-drop feeling of missing an important detail. And yet, this happens all too often when it comes to healthcare planning. Healthcare and health insurance are complex topics. Without an expert or the right resources, it can be very difficult for financial advisors to do on their own.

It’s tax season, and we’ve been reading a lot about taxes — and strategies for mitigating them. In this note, we’ll take a close look at one such strategy, known as leveraged long/short direct index tax-loss harvesting (LSDI), and explain how investors being pitched the strategy can assess whether it’s right for them.

The problem is not digitization itself. Many of these tools deliver real value, from better intake and modeling to clearer client visualization, and for straightforward situations, a DIY approach may be entirely appropriate. The risk arises when convenience begins to substitute for accountable legal judgment in matters that are anything but simple.

Every prospect is different. They have different interests, different decision timelines, and different levels of engagement. Treating them all the same because your CRM can't segment effectively is leaving money on the table.

The long-term care confidence gap is the difference between understanding the importance of a risk and consistently addressing it with clients. Advisors know, but they do not always say. The gap isn’t about intelligence or professionalism; it’s about the difference between technical knowledge and conversational leadership.

Early in my financial planning career, if a client told me they had a terminal diagnosis, every alarm in my head would go off. Before the meeting was over, I would have a to-do list that was three pages long.

Military households often possess uncommon balance-sheet advantages; however, those advantages do not create wealth on their own. They matter only when a family uses them deliberately, in the right order, and with a clear understanding of the trade-offs.

I came across a statistic the other day that goes against the intuition of practically everyone in the US who has a job: Americans are working less than they did in the 1950s and ’60s. How is this possible, when we all feel chained to our desks or our phones?

The leading cause of recurring tax-time friction is simple: HNW households rely on a roster of professionals who communicate inconsistently, if at all.

Shadow advisors don’t have to be a problem. If a family member has genuine knowledge or carries enough emotional weight to influence your decisions, it may be better to include them than to pretend they don’t exist. The key is transparency.

The idea that this would be enough for “new UMG” to almost double the current one’s valuation doesn’t add up at a time when artificial intelligence is creating doubts about the industry’s future. And it’s unlikely on its own to tempt dominant shareholders such as French tycoon Vincent Bollore. The proverbial fat lady has yet to sing.

While families have limited control over rising tuition, certain college tuition tax deductions may help ease the overall cost of higher education.

Breakeven real rates can inform us how much of a total return portfolio’s realized risk premium would be required merely to catch up to the benefits of delayed claiming, arguably an inefficient use of the equity risk premium.

The advisors who build systematic processes around employer dependence risk won't just retain these clients. They'll become the firm these clients refer their colleagues to.

A signed will does not guarantee a smooth transfer of wealth. Families can do everything “right” on paper and still hit a wall the moment someone dies because the assets they need to gather and transfer are behind logins, devices, and two-factor authentication.

Amid uncertain times in the job market one thing stands out — Americans in their 50s are working like never before.

Understanding how traditional RIA growth models have evolved is essential for advisors making deliberate decisions about the structure, scale, and long-term direction of their firms.

Individuals who haven’t yet taken the plunge into full-time entrepreneurial pursuits, are often surprised by the onslaught of new costs they’ll be responsible for when making the transition from W-2 salaried employee to self-employed, one advisor shares.

One of my most longstanding and controversial opinions is that the move from defined-benefit pensions to defined-contribution pensions was a success. It’s an especially unpopular view amid stories of retirees who fall through the cracks and a grim market that is pruning many retirement accounts, if not retirement dreams.

Americans will legally wager $3.3 billion on the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments this year, the American Gaming Association said.

Iran’s strategy in its war with the US and Israel is by now clear: Impose an intolerable economic cost on President Donald Trump, forcing him to abandon his “war of choice” as American gasoline prices surge. Is there any way the Islamic Republic’s blueprint for survival can fail?

Adding tax management services to your practice calls for more than an assessment of potential revenues and client interest. Tax management introduces new compliance demands and sometimes complex business management needs that might not be right for every firm.

This might be the artificial intelligence era, but AI’s greatest contribution to financial services isn’t replacing advisors — it’s making them more human. Advisors have an unprecedented opportunity to focus on what their clients truly value: empathy, understanding, and genuine presence.

The bulk of “Everybody Loses” sends the reader on a lurid journey through the sportsbook ecosystem. Funt is a talented investigative reporter with a velvet prose hand, but “Everybody Loses” features some key omissions. These oversights, however, are minor, and perhaps even necessary in such a tightly focused, powerful work.

Our team at The Collaborative lost one of our long-time coaches this week to cancer. Cathy Manning was not only an amazing coach, she was a dear friend of mine from the time we worked at John Hancock together in Investment Marketing decades ago. This column is dedicated to some of the Cathy-isms I learned over the years watching her adeptly coach our clients.

Advising clients through divorce requires both a deep dive into assets as well as a command of the softer skills — supporting them through the emotional ups and downs ahead and their financial plan post breakup.

An unintended consequence of the brutal bear market in Bitcoin has been to focus the blockchain industry’s attention where it is most needed: real-world assets.

Strategic succession planning executed well in advance can dramatically enhance your practice's worth while protecting both client relationships and your financial future. Let’s explore key moves for maximizing your valuation and ensuring a lasting legacy.