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Maintaining Good Work/Life Balance While Adding Advisors And 4X’ing The Firm To $315M: #FASuccess Ep 479 With Andy Panko

March 3, 2026 07:03 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Financial Advisor Success Podcast

Welcome everyone! Welcome to the 479th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast!

My guest on today's podcast is Andy Panko. Andy is the owner of Tenon Financial, an RIA based in Metuchen, New Jersey, that oversees $323 million in assets under management for 105 client households.

What's unique about Andy, though, is how he has been able to add additional advisors to his firm (quadrupling the assets he manages over the past few years) while maintaining the strong level of work/life balance that he desires.

In this episode, we talk in-depth about how Andy decided to bring on two new advisors (creating additional business management requirements for himself) despite running a highly profitable solo practice that met his lifestyle goals, why Andy sought out mid-career professionals when making his new hires (due in part to their established professionalism, ability to operate independently, and the likelihood they would stick around for the long haul), and how Andy decided to set a client capacity of 60 households for himself and for each of his advisors based in part on his firm's tax-focused planning and meeting calendar.

We also talk about how Andy charges his clients on a flat-fee basis (with one price for single clients and another for couples), which is enabled in part by having clients who fit a similar profile (those nearing and in retirement who want tax-informed decumulation and retirement planning advice), why Andy decided to pay his advisors a highly competitive base salary (rather than combine a base salary with incentive compensation) that reflects the client workload they take on (enabled in part by knowing exactly how much each new client will pay in fees), and how Andy thinks the flat-fee model is a plus both for his clients (who receive a high level of service at a price point that is often less than they would pay on an assets under management basis) and his firm (which can easily assess the time and revenue tradeoffs of bringing on new clients and advisors).

And be certain to listen to the end, where Andy shares how he attracts a steady flow of prospects by creating educational content on his retirement specialization (creating a separate brand that's an outside business activity on his ADV), how Andy has overcome the loneliness that can occur from having a solo (or now, remote multi-advisor) practice by engaging with the advisor community online and at in-person events, and how Andy has succeeded in achieving his lifestyle goals in part by adjusting his workload in line with his outside responsibilities (for example, by intentionally maintaining a solo practice while his kids were younger).

So, whether you're interested in learning about growing a firm while maintaining strong work/life balance, hiring mid-career professionals directly as advisors, or using educational content to attract a steady flow of good-fit prospects, then we hope you enjoy this episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, with Andy Panko.

Altruist’s Tax Tool Sparks Selloff Of Rival RIA Custodians (And More Of The Latest In Financial #AdvisorTech – March 2026)

March 2, 2026 07:03 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Technology & Advisor FinTech

Welcome to the March 2026 issue of the Latest News in Financial #AdvisorTech – where we look at the big news, announcements, and underlying trends and developments that are emerging in the world of technology solutions for financial advisors!

This month's edition kicks off with the news of Altruist's launch of a new AI-powered tax planning add-on to its Hazel AI notetaker, which triggered a big selloff in the stocks of established RIA custodians like Schwab, LPL, and Raymond James – but despite the media narrative that the volatility was a result of the threat of AI-driven disruption to the advisory industry as a whole, the real story (given that Altruist's tool was itself made for financial advisors) is about the threat that Altruist and its rapid technology innovation poses to other custodians, and how they might now see Altruist as a true competitor (even though they've been gaining momentum and market share on the back of their technology for years)

From there, the latest highlights also feature a number of other interesting advisor technology announcements, including:

Jump and Zocks, the respective #1 and #2 market leaders in the advisor AI notetaker category, each announced Series B fundraising rounds, widening the gap in scale and capital between themselves and the remaining standalone notetakers – and suggesting that rather than being threatened by CRMs rolling out their own internal notetakers, the AI notetakers could instead be a threat to the CRMs themselves as they build out their CRM-like capabilities faster than the CRMs can respond
FMG Suite has acquired Testimonial iQ, a tool that aimed to streamline the process of collecting and promoting client testimonials on Google Reviews – which in part highlights how advisor use of testimonial marketing has lagged in the years since the SEC revised its Marketing Rule to allow the solicitation and promotion of testimonials, making it hard for Testimonial iQ to persist as a standalone tool; but is also a story about how FMG Suite is aiming to cover virtually every part of the website-centered digital marketing funnel for advisors via its PE-funded acquisitions
After a number of years where Holistiplan was the dominant tax planning software on the market, a slew of new competitors have recently arisen from both existing platforms (like Wealth.com, Nitrogen, and Altruist) and new startups (like Hive AI Tax and april) featuring AI-powered document extraction and AI-generated recommendations – which on the one hand could be troublesome for Holistiplan's incumbent stature if AI has erased the technology advantage it once had, but on the other hand could turn out to reinforce why Holistiplan became so popular to begin with (because it allowed for advisors to build the tax planning strategies they want to build, rather than feeding them recommendations they may or may not be comfortable giving to clients)

Read the analysis about these announcements in this month's column, and a discussion of more trends in advisor technology, including:

The AI meeting support startup Contio (founded by Riskalyze founder Aaron Klein) has launched its new MeetingOS software, a three-part tool that generates meeting agendas, provides real-time talking points and client information during the meeting itself, and logs meeting notes and follow-up tasks after the meeting, all with the goal of improving client meetings themselves rather than just the work before and after – however, since the problem with client meetings is often too much (rather than too little) information and agenda topics, it's possible that a tool like MeetingOS could create an information overload that prevents the advisor from staying present in the client conversation (which undermines much of the purpose of meeting with the client to begin with)
Max (formerly MaxMyInterest) has launched a new private banking service for RIAs with ultra-high-net-worth clients, giving independent RIAs an option to offer access to the kinds of services provided in-house by private bank advisors (without the need to refer to a private bank who might subsequently pitch the client on their own wealth management services)

And be certain to read to the end, where we have provided an update to our popular "Financial AdvisorTech Solutions Map" (and also added the changes to our AdvisorTech Directory) as well!

*To submit a request for inclusion or updates on the Financial Advisor FinTech Solutions Map and AdvisorTech Directory, please share information on the solution at the AdvisorTech Map submission form.

Weekend Reading For Financial Planners (February 28–March 1)

February 27, 2026 01:58 pm 0 Comments CATEGORY: Weekend Reading

Enjoy the current installment of “Weekend Reading For Financial Planners” - this week’s edition kicks off with the news that a recent survey of financial advisors across industry channels finds that three-quarters of respondents are using Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology in some form in their practices, with automating administrative work and preparing for client meetings amongst the top use cases. Nonetheless, a number of advisors expressed ongoing concerns with the use of AI, including around compliance, accuracy, and client trust. The latter point appears to be well-founded, as a separate survey found that only 38% of affluent investors are at least somewhat comfortable with AI technology (with older respondents being significantly less likely to express comfort with it), suggesting that advisors who do incorporate in their practices could build trust with their clients by being clear about how AI is used and what their firm is doing to keep client data secure.

Also in industry news this week:

A recent survey suggests that while there are positive returns to be gained by engaging in legacy planning conversations with clients, some advisors and clients are unsure whether the other party is interested in discussing this planning topic
How a piece of legislation introduced in Congress could reduce mutual funds’ tax efficiency disadvantage (compared to ETFs) when it comes to capital gains distributions

From there, we have several articles on investment planning:

An analysis finds that accessing the returns of fixed income and other high-yielding assets without receiving taxable dividends and capital gains distributions (in taxable accounts) could be worth up to 1% or more annually for a typical high-income investor
While some clients might be attracted by the high yields of certain dividend-paying stocks and newer fund products, these can potentially lead to “traps” (in the case of the former) or underperformance compared to the underlying index (in the case of the latter)
How a “yield-split” approach to asset location could help clients get even greater tax efficiency from their index fund investments

We also have a number of articles on estate planning:

How advisors can help clients close the “Bank of Mom and Dad” when financial support for adult children is leading to dependency and/or are straining their finances
The potential benefits of lifetime giving for wealthy individuals, from giving money when it’s more impactful to the ability to witness the benefits of their generosity
How intra-family loans can be used as a planning tool for individuals to financially support family members while still earning a return and avoiding gift tax exposure

We wrap up with three final articles, all about AI and the job market:

Why previous hypotheses about why human financial advisors will remain in high demand amidst technological innovations might not hold up in the case of advanced AI capabilities
Why a desire for a “human touch” has led to continued employment for a range of occupations whose jobs could have been automated by available technology
How “vibe reporting” about AI (particularly when it comes to company layoff announcements) can lead to the mistaken impression that certain changes were caused by AI (rather than by other factors, such as previous over-hiring)

Enjoy the ‘light’ reading!Read More...

Reducing Retirement Income Volatility With The Modified RMD Safe Withdrawal Method

February 25, 2026 07:02 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Retirement Planning

One of the most pressing questions for individuals nearing retirement is how much they will be able to withdraw from their portfolio each year without exhausting their retirement savings. But the problem is that almost all the variables involved in making that calculation, from market returns to life expectancy to the client's spending needs, are uncertain. This conundrum has spawned an entire field of research into Safe Withdrawal Rates (SWRs), seeking methods to thread the needle between over- and under-withdrawing the portfolio that are also flexible enough to adapt to clients' life circumstances – all while being simple enough to explain and apply in practice.

Several types of withdrawal strategies have arisen out of this research, each with its own benefits and drawbacks. Some 'fixed' SWR strategies, like the "4% Rule" developed by Bill Bengen, are relatively simple to apply – but because they're premised on having the client's portfolio survive the worst-case market return scenario, the vast majority of the time they'll result in the client having significant unspent (and unenjoyed) portfolio assets at the end of their lives. Other 'dynamic' withdrawal strategies, like the Guyton-Klinger guardrail method, can more precisely match portfolio withdrawals to market conditions (and often allow for higher total withdrawals), but the withdrawals under these strategies can vary significantly from year to year, leading to uncertainty and anxiety for some clients who use them.

One strategy that can serve as a happy medium between fixed and dynamic withdrawals borrows from the IRS's method of calculating Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from retirement accounts. Under the RMD method, the client's total portfolio value as of the end of the previous year is divided by a factor based on the client's remaining life expectancy (provided by IRS tables for RMD calculations). As a result, each year the client withdraws only a certain percentage of their portfolio, preventing over-withdrawals – but because the withdrawal percentage increases each year incrementally, there's a lower likelihood of leaving significant funds behind. And because the IRS publishes RMD tables for all ages (since, for example, a child who inherits an IRA may be subject to RMDs), the RMD method can be applied regardless of when the client decides to retire.

Furthermore, the RMD approach can be modified to reduce the volatility of annual withdrawals (e.g., if market movements cause a temporary drop or spike in the portfolio's value at year-end). Under this modified approach, the annual withdrawal is calculated based not just on the previous year-end portfolio balance, but on the average of the past three years. This helps smooth out year-to-year variations in annual withdrawals and can help keep clients from focusing too much on market conditions that could affect their 'paycheck' the next year.

The key point is that because the IRS has already done the work of calculating withdrawal tables meant to gradually deplete a portfolio throughout retirement, the RMD method presents a relatively easy-to-understand strategy that doesn't require special software or decision trees to implement. And with a few simple modifications – e.g., using the three-year average portfolio value to reduce withdrawal volatility and carving out specific amounts to set aside for legacy and other goals – advisors can help their clients customize the RMD method to meet their own needs and ultimately reduce the uncertainty around drawing down their portfolio in retirement!Read More...

Fixing Advisory Firm Marketing Funnels So The Phone Actually Rings With Prospects: #FASuccess Ep 478 With Kendra Wright

February 24, 2026 07:04 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Financial Advisor Success Podcast

Kendra Wright Podcast Featured Image FAS

Welcome everyone! Welcome to the 478th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast!

My guest on today's podcast is Kendra Wright. Kendra is the owner of Rebel Media Agency, a marketing firm based in Austin, Texas, that helps RIAs establish and execute clear marketing strategies.

What's unique about Kendra, though, is how her experience working with a range of financial advisory firms has allowed her to identify four ways that advisor marketing funnels break and the solutions that can help firms establish more effective marketing practices.

In this episode, we talk in-depth about how Kendra finds that many advisors lack what she calls "ideal client clarity" and attempt to market themselves to a broad audience (making it harder for potential clients to understand whether the advisor can solve their particular pain points), why Kendra thinks that getting "ideal client clarity" doesn't necessarily require an advisor to adopt a single hyper-specific niche, but rather the ability to identify one (or more) profiles of the clients they most enjoy working with and who can afford to pay for the advisor's services, and how Kendra completed this exercise with her own firm, zeroing in on working with particular types of RIAs instead of a broader pool of potential advisor clients.

We also talk about how Kendra finds that advisors can improve their marketing funnels by engaging in what she calls "channel focus", identifying the marketing channels (for example, YouTube or in-person seminars) where their ideal clients are most likely to engage with the advisor's content (and why having multiple ideal client types might require focusing on separate channels for each), why Kendra thinks that "channel focus" is also a function of identifying a medium that reflects an advisor's strengths when it comes to content creation (for instance, advisors who are strong writers might choose to create a blog or long LinkedIn posts, while those who prefer verbal communication might start a podcast), and how Kendra finds that focusing on creating content tailored for a particular marketing channel can help advisors differentiate themselves from those who cast a wider net across channels (but not stand out in any particular one).

And be certain to listen to the end, where Kendra shares why she thinks the best advisor content talks about painful, urgent problems their ideal client is likely to face (rather than more general "helpful" content that could otherwise be found through a Google search or AI prompt), why Kendra thinks it's important for advisory firms to have effective calls to action in their marketing and on their websites that make it easy for prospective clients to take the next step (and to make it clear that the firm is currently accepting new clients in the first place), and how Kendra has ultimately found success not by growing her marketing agency as large as possible but rather by gaining flexibility (and greater satisfaction) by focusing on a smaller number of (profitable) clients she enjoys working with.

So, whether you're interested in learning about the different ways marketing funnels can "break", how to create "ideal client clarity" to get your marketing off on the right foot, or how to better move consumers from content to client, then we hope you enjoy this episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, with Kendra Wright.

How Prospects Choose A Financial Advisor: 3 Key Methods To Communicate Your Value

February 23, 2026 07:01 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Marketing, Research

Prospective clients face a complex and high-stakes decision when selecting a financial advisory firm. They're not only seeking credentials to trust, but also an individual they can genuinely trust to solve their specific financial challenges. However, the landscape of financial advice can be dense, and these decisions are high-stakes for prospects – a traditional advisor/client relationship involves nearly all of their life savings and can span years. For the prospect, this poses the challenge of how to determine who to trust, given their lack of understanding of the broader landscape of financial advice. For advisory firms, this poses a challenge of how to stand out to the (right) prospects and communicate their value effectively.

In this article, Sydney Squires, Senior Financial Planning Nerd, discusses how financial advisors can mold their existing marketing and value propositions to fit a prospect's emotional and practical decision-making process. Most decision-making processes are two-part: first, the divergent phase (gathering a wide array of qualified options), then the convergent phase (of narrowing down the list). This process often cycles multiple times as prospects refine their understanding of what they need and who can best provide it.

For prospects, the initial divergent phase involves looking for indicators of general trustworthiness and expertise. This typically includes checking an advisor's professional designations or seeking peer validation of the firm, such as asking for referrals or looking for online reviews. Referrals remain the most influential factor in how prospects find advisors… yet Wealthtender's research shows that 96% of prospects will conduct further online research before reaching out, typically visiting the advisor's website and evaluating credentials, pricing transparency, and communication style.

This highlights the importance of 'supporting tactics' such as SEO, social media, and newsletters – tactics that help reinforce the positive perception initiated by referrals. Even strong referrals can falter if a firm's website is outdated, difficult to navigate, or overly generic. Design, clarity, and messaging matter; poorly executed online experiences can erode trust, while effective ones help convert curiosity into inquiry. The challenge for advisors is to strike a balance between providing general signals of trust and competence to ensure visibility… while also providing specific evidence and information to withstand the convergent phases.

In the end, prospective clients are looking for two things: someone they can trust and someone who can solve their problem. And prospects generally look for that information in multiple steps. Financial advisors who recognize the nuances of the prospect decision-making process – and who intentionally align their marketing, online presence, and messaging to meet those needs – are better positioned to attract and convert right-fit clients. By layering in both general trust signals and information about the specific value they provide, advisors can effectively differentiate themselves in a crowded, often confusing marketplace, creating clarity and confidence for the people they are best suited to serve!

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Going Beyond The Risk Tolerance Sore: Questions To Understand Clients’ True Risk Profile

Presented by Meghaan Lurtz, Ph.D., FBS™, Head of Learning and Development at Shaping Wealth

Maintaining Good Work/Life Balance While Adding Advisors And 4X’ing The Firm To $315M: #FASuccess Ep 479 With Andy Panko

Altruist’s Tax Tool Sparks Selloff Of Rival RIA Custodians (And More Of The Latest In Financial #AdvisorTech – March 2026)

Weekend Reading For Financial Planners (February 28–March 1)

Want CE Credit for reading articles like this?

Reducing Retirement Income Volatility With The Modified RMD Safe Withdrawal Method

Fixing Advisory Firm Marketing Funnels So The Phone Actually Rings With Prospects: #FASuccess Ep 478 With Kendra Wright

How Prospects Choose A Financial Advisor: 3 Key Methods To Communicate Your Value

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Kitces Webinar

Going Beyond The Risk Tolerance Sore: Questions To Understand Clients’ True Risk Profile

Presented by Meghaan Lurtz, Ph.D., FBS™, Head of Learning and Development at Shaping Wealth

Want CE Credit for reading articles like this?

Nerd’s Eye View Praise

Showcase YOUR Expertise

Stay In Touch

Questions?