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Weekend Reading For Financial Planners (October 10–11)

October 9, 2026 02:08 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 Fidelity is planning to raise its minimum asset threshold for RIAs on its platform to $100 million, with affected firms having until June 30, 2027 to reach this minimum or start the process of finding a new custodial home. While this move is already leading to competition amongst other RIA custodians to serve the (few hundred) affected firms, more broadly it demonstrates the consequences of the current RIA custodial model (where neither RIAs nor their clients pay a direct fee to the custodian but rather 'pay' through the services clients use [e.g., relatively low-rate cash sweep accounts and lending products]) and suggests that an approach with more explicit fees could potentially serve custodians, RIAs, and individual clients alike.

Also in industry news this week:

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this week released a new examination handbook that offers fresh insights into how it determines which RIAs to examine each year
The SEC also released a proposed framework for advisor custody of clients' cryptoassets, which could provide greater assurance for advisors interested in doing so

From there, we have several articles on Health Savings Accounts (HSAs):

Why having an HSA 'succession plan' can help avoid the loss of attractive tax benefits associated with these accounts
While the types of services and products eligible for reimbursement using an HSA might be broader than many clients expect, pushing the boundaries could lead to undesired penalties
How families can execute an HSA "deathbed drawdown" to get assets out of an account in a hurry and avoid negative tax repercussions when an HSA is inherited by a non-spouse individual

We also have a number of articles on the elevated interest rate environment:

Strategies for families to support children or grandchildren with the purchase of a home amidst elevated home prices and interest rates, including intra-family loans and disclaimers
A recent study finds that a significant portion of homebuyers are ending up with higher rates and mortgage costs by not shopping around (with those with higher income and credit scores particularly prone to do so)
An in-depth look into how financial advisors can support clients deciding whether to pay points to receive a lower interest rate on their mortgage

We wrap up with three final articles, all about wealth:

Recent data indicate that the wealth of the top 0.1% of households has diverged from that of those in the next wealth bracket, creating a subgroup of astronomically wealthy households
While the wealthiest households in the United States have seen their net worth soar during the past decade, those further down the wealth spectrum (including those in younger generations) have seen gains as well (perhaps opening new opportunities for financial advisors)
How the difference between absolute and relative wealth (and the relationship between income and wellbeing) can be instructive at a time when certain individuals have seen their wealth explode

Enjoy the 'light' reading!

7 Charts For Client Conversations In Q4 2026: Interest Rates, The Fed, AI, And More

October 7, 2026 07:04 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Investments

The third quarter of 2026 saw a historic climb in interest rates, a new Federal Reserve rate hike cycle, and oil prices surging back above $100 a barrel. Given this combination of developments, many investors might have assumed that equity markets would struggle heading into year-end. Yet the S&P 500 notched its 27th record high of the year amidst continued strong corporate earnings, rewarding those who have been able to look past the headlines and remain invested.

In this article, James Liu, CEO of Clearnomics, walks through seven charts to help advisors put the quarter's headlines into context for clients, from the historic climb in bond yields, to what resurgent AI-related spending means for corporate earnings and productivity.

Interest rates have been the biggest story of the quarter, with the 10-year Treasury yield touching 5.30% in September, a level not seen since 2002, while the 30-year reached 5.64%. Unlike 2022, when rates climbed largely due to runaway inflation (hurting stocks and bonds at the same time), today's increases are being driven primarily by rising real (inflation-adjusted) yields – reflecting economic growth and heavy AI-related capital.

Inflation remains part of the picture as well, with headline CPI at 3.4% year-over-year and core CPI at 2.4%, both still driven largely by oil prices. This gave the Fed room to raise its target rate to a range of 3.75% to 4.00% in September – its first hike in three years – though new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh has also signaled a preference for stepping back from the central bank's traditional practice of forward guidance.

Corporate earnings, meanwhile, have been equally strong this quarter. S&P 500 earnings grew approximately 29% year-over-year, a third consecutive quarter of growth above 25% and well ahead of the historical average of around 8%, with all 11 S&P 500 sectors posting gains rather than returns being concentrated in a handful of mega-cap technology names.

Oil and copper were also in focus this quarter, with Brent crude climbing back above $100 a barrel amidst continued disruptions near the Strait of Hormuz, and copper rallying to all-time highs on surging demand tied to AI data centers.

With the midterm elections approaching in November, clients may naturally wonder whether a shift in Congressional control could affect their portfolios. History, though, suggests that markets have advanced under virtually every combination of political leadership over the past century, and that corporate earnings, interest rates, and other long-term trends are a far stronger indicator of market performance than one party or the other having political control.

Anticipated public offerings from AI leaders such as OpenAI and Anthropic have kept investors focused on a familiar question: whether today's level of AI infrastructure spending will eventually be matched by real productivity gains. And although equity market breadth has declined in recent months, a wide range of asset classes are positive year-to-date – an opportunity for advisors to demonstrate the value of a well-diversified portfolio throughout an eventful year.

Ultimately, the key point is that underlying fundamentals, such as real economic growth and broad-based earnings strength, are what typically drive long-run returns, even amidst headlines about rates, the Fed, and oil.

And if you want to go deeper on this topic, hear directly from the author on the Financial Advisor Technician podcast.

Creating Effective Discovery Meetings To Convert 100% Of (High-Value) Prospects Into Clients: #FASuccess Ep 510 With Michael Yoder

October 6, 2026 07:06 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Financial Advisor Success Podcast

Michael Yoder Podcast Featured Image FAS

Welcome everyone! Welcome to the 510th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast!

My guest on today's podcast is Michael Yoder. Michael is the founder of Yoder Wealth Management, an RIA based in Walnut Creek, California, that oversees approximately $400 million in assets under management for 64 client households.

What's unique about Michael, though, is how he has implemented a discovery meeting process that has converted all prospects who go through it into clients over the past 10 years and allowed him to maintain a tailored practice that meets his lifestyle goals.

In this episode, we talk in-depth about how Michael starts his discovery process with an intro call that helps him determine whether a prospect would be a good fit for him and to introduce the personal questions that he will ask in the next meeting, how Michael uses a "deep discovery" meeting to help prospects explore their values around money and unearth goals they might not have previously considered, and how Michael finishes this process with an "initial findings" meeting where he presents preliminary planning recommendations (demonstrating the value they could receive from working with his firm without getting too specific about the actions required to implement chosen strategies).

We also talk about how Michael transitioned his firm from a generalist practice serving 177 client households (which came at a significant personal cost of time and stress) into a lifestyle practice serving 64 clients (including the challenge of finding new homes for clients and staff members), how Michael narrowed his focus to providing advanced retirement income services before later transitioning to working with clients on equity compensation issues, and how Michael has regularly received referrals from CPAs by demonstrating his expertise in specific topic areas relevant to their clients (for example, knowing the ins and outs of qualified small business stock).

And be certain to listen to the end, where Michael shares how using "precise language" without veering into industry jargon demonstrates credibility to clients and centers of influence alike, why Michael doesn’t shy away from fee conversations with prospects (as they have already seen the depth of value that his firm can provide), and how Michael has ultimately found that transitioning into a more focused (yet still highly profitable) practice has allowed him to better balance his professional, family, and personal goals.

So, whether you’re interested in learning about how narrowing his expertise helped him build relationships with CPAs and generate referrals, why specialized knowledge in areas such as retirement income and equity compensation can create new opportunities, and how precise language can build credibility without relying on industry jargon, then we hope you enjoy this episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, with Michael Yoder.

Claude For Financial Advisors Debuts To Tie Together The Advisor Tech Stack – But Will Tech Providers Play Along? (And More Of The Latest In Financial #AdvisorTech – October 2026)

October 5, 2026 07:03 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Technology & Advisor FinTech

Welcome to the October 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 that Anthropic has announced the launch of Claude for Financial Advisors, an industry-specific plugin for its popular AI chatbot, which connects to a number of different existing advisor technology tools and moves data in and out to execute functions like creating a pre-meeting summary

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

Two new announcements in the financial planning space – the launch of Hazel's new AI Financial Planning Agent and Conquest's AI planning platform being released to individual (non-enterprise) advisors – show how AI-enabled financial planning startups are aiming to disrupt the incumbent "Big 3" of eMoney, RightCapital, and MoneyGuidePro – but with the slow pace at which advisors adopt new financial planning software, it could take years to know whether that 'disruption' is actually happening
Savvy has announced the launch of a new custody platform – open to all advisors regardless of whether they're affiliated with Savvy's RIA – suggesting a potential shift in strategy towards technology and custody (and possible competition with Altruist in both categories) which could better allow for the tech-style growth and valuation that Savvy is seeking?
The estate planning software Luminary has announced a recent $22M fundraising round, showing how despite a hard year for specialized planning tools – which have been pressured both by the potential of having their features co-opted by comprehensive planning software and by the ability for advisors to build their own low-cost tools using AI – there is still a path for success for software that can get into deeper and more complex planning than generalized financial planning software or homebuilt options are able to go

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

The M&A and transition consulting firm FP Transitions has released a new valuation benchmarking tool, which is part of a new crop of business benchmarking software that can help advisory firm leaders go into greater detail and specificity than traditional benchmarking studies allow when comparing the details of their business operations (and overall firm value) with their peers
The SEC is reportedly probing into how advisory firms train and supervise their employees on their use of AI tools, which has implications for firms whose employees build tools or automations using personal (i.e., non-enterprise) versions of tools like ChatGPT or Claude (that could inadvertently expose client data to parties outside the firm) and underscores the importance of having an AI policy in place – because just as the SEC fined numerous firms for off-channel communications by their employees, RIAs could soon find themselves disciplined for unsanctioned AI use by their 'amateur developer' employees!

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 (October 3–4)

October 2, 2026 02:00 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 the IRS issued guidance and a revenue ruling drawing boundaries around what it perceives to be legitimate uses of the increasingly popular 351 exchange strategy. While the strategy as a whole remains a viable way to manage securities with large embedded capital gains, the agency warned against certain tactics within ETFs leveraging it, including the rapid turnover of contributed securities, seed baskets that don't match the ETF's stated strategy, and transactions that appear pre-arranged. Which suggests that advisors can support clients not only in considering this strategy when appropriate but also in evaluating funds to ensure they will stay on the right side of IRS guidelines (and avoid a potential negative tax surprise for their clients in the process).

Also in industry news this week:

The Treasury Department announced this week that it auto-enrolled more than 60 million children in the "Trump Accounts" program (though parents still need to claim the accounts to access available government and philanthropic contributions to them)
A recent survey suggests a valuable role for financial advisors in helping hesitant clients (with the means to do so) spend more in retirement

From there, we have several articles on tax planning:

Four mistakes related to IRAs that can't be undone (and how advisors can help clients avoid them), with indirect rollovers being a major culprit
Why October 15th represents a key deadline for several transactions related to IRA contributions
While the Federal government is in the midst of modernizing the IRA rollover process, advisors continue to have a valuable role to play in ensuring rollovers of workplace retirement plan assets are completed correctly (avoiding negative tax consequences in the process)

We also have a number of articles on marketing:

The content, activity, and strategies that help advisors connect with prospective clients on LinkedIn
A "3-2-1 Method" for consistent (but not necessarily time-intensive) engagement on social media
How financial advisors can scale their social media marketing by leveraging evergreen content

We wrap up with three final articles, all about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and thinking:

How thinking (and writing) for oneself can help professionals stand out at a time of increasing use of AI for these activities
Why "cognitive delegation" in the workplace could make it harder to attribute original work to up-and-coming employees
Seven principles for writing with (and without) AI, including the importance of maintaining an original voice

Enjoy the 'light' reading!

Articulating The Evolving Value Of Financial Planning To Prospects: Kitces & Carl 200

October 1, 2026 07:06 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Kitces & Carl Podcast

Given that financial advice is usually, to say the least, not inexpensive, financial advisors often need to be prepared to explain their fee in the context of the value that is offered. This conversation includes how advisors charge for their advice and what they are charging for, especially as the fundamental value proposition of financial advice has evolved significantly over the last decade, transforming from product sales to investment management to goal-focused life planning. Yet as the financial planning process has become more holistic, it has also become more intangible in some ways. For example, the value of a product or investment management may feel immediately related to a client’s problem… but the value of goal-based spending and behavioral finance may be more challenging to articulate, in the moment, to prospects and clients.

In this 200th (💙!) episode of Kitces & Carl, Michael Kitces and client communication expert Carl Richards discuss how the value of advice has changed over time… and how to explain it to clients. Given how abstract life planning can be, when a client first engages an advisor, it is often best to start with the ‘presenting problem’ that first brought a client into the office – such as college planning, an impending retirement, or a sudden inheritance. Advisors can take that first issue as an opportunity to build trust with the client, then can slowly dig deeper from there. Opportunities to go deeper with clients often present in cash flow conversations, where an advisor can help clients explore which spending decisions will ‘actually’ make a difference in the long term.

Another component of the value of advice is related to client implementation. Many clients will acknowledge that they intended to follow through on different action items, such as estate planning or transferring accounts, but life, inevitably, got in the way. While the advice itself may be helpful, ensuring the agreed-upon actions are implemented may be invaluable for some clients. And if/when clients don’t act, that can provide another signal for a deeper conversation to see what (if anything) may be ‘missing’ from the financial planning recommendations.

When great advice is combined with implementation support, it can create an incredibly valuable experience for the client. While marketing "peace of mind" may be cliché, the reality is that it is immensely powerful to have one’s financial affairs in order (and continually updated so that they stay in order!). Ultimately, the key point is that while some components of advice shift with technology and markets, the fundamental value today’s advisors can offer is not just expertise, but a listening ear. When advisors can combine both elements, clients may be surprised not just at how much gets done, but at how aligned their financial capital is with what matters most!