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Making The Decision To Add A Partner (After Leaving A Partnership Yourself) While Approaching $500M AUM: #FASuccess Ep 476 With Kathy Longo

February 10, 2026 07:05 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Financial Advisor Success Podcast

Kathy Longo Podcast Preview Image FAS copy

Welcome everyone! Welcome to the 476th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast!

My guest on today's podcast is Kathy Longo. Kathy is the founder of Flourish Wealth Management, an RIA based in Edina, Minnesota, that oversees $455 million in assets under management for 163 client households.

What's unique about Kathy, though, is how she decided to add a partner despite leaving a previous partnership within a larger RIA to start a business that she could drive individually.

In this episode, we talk in-depth about how Kathy decided to offer an ownership stake to an advisor on her team to both get the ball rolling on a succession plan that will allow her firm to remain independent and to reward the advisor for his contributions and commitment to the business, why Kathy chose to issue a self-financed loan for her new partner’s buy-in for both tax planning purposes and to better manage debt she had taken on to finance an acquisition, and how Kathy benefited from using an external valuation service not only by receiving an accurate valuation for the firm for her new partner’s buy-in, but also by learning about the key drivers that would propel her firm’s value going forward.

We also talk about how Kathy has found success in the latest stage of her growth journey in part by working with external partners to better define her firm’s culture and values (and align them with its model and career paths), how Kathy has used a recruiting firm and different assessment tools to improve her hiring process and identify candidates that are more likely to fit her firm’s culture, and how Kathy has created better alignment throughout her firm as her team has grown by instituting the Entrepreneurial Operating System (with the support of an external implementer).

And be certain to listen to the end, where Kathy shares how she boosted her firm’s growth through an acquisition (and how she made the transition more manageable by acquiring the clients in tranches rather than all at once), how Kathy has found significant value from working with coaches who can serve as dedicated sources of advice and feedback on both strategic business planning and her own leadership skills, and how Kathy has successfully managed running a firm where her husband is a key employee (including by setting appropriate work/life boundaries).

So, whether you’re interested in learning about starting down the path of an internal succession by adding a partner, managing an acquisition by bringing clients over in tranches, or creating the operational and hiring systems needed to build a lasting firm, then we hope you enjoy this episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, with Kathy Longo.

Reclaim Your Time With A Fractional Admin Assistant: How To Evaluate The Right One For You

February 9, 2026 07:01 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Practice Management

Many financial advisors reach a critical juncture in their growth known as the "capacity crossroads," when personal bandwidth becomes strained by increasing client demands. At this stage, advisors often need to begin determining what to delegate – and to whom. Administrative responsibilities are often the first to go, as these tasks are often repetitive in nature and usually less fulfilling for advisors (according to Kitces research). However, advisors looking to delegate administrative work may find themselves overwhelmed by too many choices, a phenomenon known as overchoice, where an abundance of options leads to decision paralysis. What may start as a simple intention to "get help with some admin work" can quickly spiral into hours of research, comparison, and uncertainty about what type of support is truly needed.

Hiring a fractional admin assistant offers an elegant solution for advisors who need help but aren't ready – or willing – to commit to a full-time employee. Fractional professionals can fill half-time or even quarter-time roles, bridging the gap between solo practice and a fully staffed firm. These roles are especially useful when the workload doesn't yet justify a 40-hour position or when advisors are experimenting with the delegation process. In addition to flexibility, experienced fractional assistants often require less onboarding time and can bring immediate structure, systems, and operational insight.

In this article, Sydney Squires, Senior Financial Planning Nerd, discusses how to evaluate various administrative assistant options, make an informed hiring decision, and onboard the assistant as smoothly as possible. Because not all administrative assistants are created equal, and success often depends on defining the scope of the role clearly. Advisors need to consider whether they want a strategic partner – someone capable of process design, workflow refinement, and judgment-driven tasks like calendar coordination – or an assistant focused on routine checklist-style tasks. Both roles are valuable, but identifying the dominant need helps narrow the candidate pool. A time audit or even a quick calendar review can help advisors determine what's consuming their time, what's most draining, and what logically groups together into a defined role. From there, advisors can distinguish between must-haves and nice-to-haves, setting the foundation for either a job posting or a targeted search among third-party providers.

Evaluating candidates effectively – whether through job boards or outsourcing platforms – means focusing on alignment of experience, work style, and availability. Advisors should be clear about expected hours, responsibilities, and whether there's potential for the role to grow. Interviews can help uncover a candidates' software familiarity, ability to handle sensitive information, and communication preferences. Once hired, onboarding goes most smoothly when centered on clear expectations, feedback mechanisms, and regular check-ins. While repetitive tasks may be handed off within weeks, more nuanced responsibilities may require a longer ramp-up period.

Ultimately, hiring a fractional assistant isn't just about reducing workload – it's about building capacity with intention. Advisors who successfully define, delegate, and onboard administrative help not only create more time for client-facing work and business development, but also lay the groundwork for smoother, more scalable operations. Over time, these assistants can become trusted partners, offering fresh insights and helping improve firm systems in ways that benefit both the advisor and their clients. With a clear plan and the right fit, even a few hours a week of support can lead to meaningful improvements in advisor wellbeing, firm efficiency, and long-term sustainability!

Weekend Reading For Financial Planners (February 7–8)

February 6, 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 a survey from CFP Board finds that clients working with CFP professionals receive a wider range of detailed planning services and have greater trust with their advisors than those receiving financial advice from other financial advisors. Which could help those with the CFP marks stand out from the crowd when it comes to attracting new clients, though since these stronger numbers weren't universal across clients working with CFP professionals, it remains up to individual advisors to perform up to the standards set by their peer population.

Also in industry news this week:

Charles Schwab's CEO said recently that the company plans to ramp up its client lending options for RIAs on its platform, potentially giving these firms a greater ability to compete with wirehouses on securities-backed borrowing opportunities
Client referrals account for more than half of new clients at firms across industry channels, according to a survey from Cerulli, with referrals from Centers Of Influence (COIs) coming in second (suggesting that building these relationships could both result in prospect referrals and the ability for advisors to identify high-quality professionals for their own clients' tax and legal needs)

From there, we have several articles on retirement planning:

An analysis of different retirement income strategies identifies three that can help clients maximize their lifetime income in retirement (with advisors well-positioned to support clients in enacting these flexible spending strategies)
A study finds that unexpected expenses are quite common in retirement, with higher-income retirees being more likely to experience such an event in a given year and for these expenses to be higher
Why small-but-permanent adjustments to retirement spending can have a greater impact on a retirement income plan's sustainability compared to large-but-temporary adjustments

We also have a number of articles on practice management:

A formula to help advisory firms diagnose and predict their organic growth path shows the potential importance of prioritizing their value proposition for their ideal target clients
Why delivering an exceptional client experience isn't just about the specific tactics used, but also about having a unifying strategy to ensure consistency across advisors and clients within a firm
How firms can consider balancing the benefits of providing personalized service to clients with the efficiency gains available from greater systematization

We wrap up with three final articles, all about workplace trends:

Nine trends shaping the workplace in 2026 and beyond, from Artificial Intelligence's (AI's) impact on the hiring process to the imperative for companies (including advisory firms) of being aware of growing AI-enabled fraud capabilities
While many companies are asking their employees to work more days per week in the office, they are also balancing the tradeoffs (including employee retention and the costs of hosting more employees) that come with more in-office hours
How co-working spaces are experiencing a comeback following the pandemic, attracting not only remote workers and solopreneurs, but also larger firms seeking flexible workspaces

Enjoy the 'light' reading!

Should Advisors Provide Opinionated Advice Or Coach Clients To Choose Their Own Path?: Kitces & Carl 183

February 5, 2026 07:02 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Kitces & Carl Podcast

Kitces & Carl Ep Should Advisors Provide

There is a juxtaposition in giving great financial advice: often, there is an objective 'right' answer to many financial planning questions… at least from a mathematical perspective. Yet the decision that best aligns with the client's real values is often less clear-cut. For example, there is an objective 'right' answer to whether to pay off a low-interest mortgage early or invest in the stock market, yet a client may prioritize being debt-free over the 'optimal' decision. For financial planners, the challenge lies in recognizing when clients need guidance versus when they need space to clarify what matters most to them. Advisors balance being the authority with being a facilitator, respecting the client's autonomy while also protecting them from avoidable missteps.

In this 183rd episode of Kitces & Carl, Michael Kitces and client communication expert Carl Richards discuss how advisors can walk the line between the advisor's personal opinion, the 'objective' answer (when there is one), and the client's values – especially when a client wants to make an 'inoptimal' decision. A planner's values can unintentionally influence client decisions. Even the presence of an expert in the room biases what clients say and how they process options. For example, issues such as debt repayment, funding education, or discretionary spending often elicit strong emotions and financial judgments from planners. One advisor may bristle at a client wanting to pay off a low-interest mortgage, seeing it as inefficient, while another empathizes deeply, having celebrated mortgage payoff milestones themselves. Every financial decision intersects with personal values, making it difficult for planners to remain truly neutral.

Financial planning decisions often do not have one objectively 'correct' answer (regardless of what the spreadsheet says!). Trade-offs – such as those between short-term experiences and long-term security – must be framed in ways that honor the client's goals and values, not just the planner's analytical framework. This is where coaching and planning intersect. Advisors can bring technical clarity and model outcomes, but must also develop the emotional and relational skills to help clients make decisions they can own. When clients ask, "What should I do?" the invitation is not necessarily to command, but to co-create clarity – ideally after deep exploration of their motivations, fears, and hopes.

Ultimately, financial planning exists in a hybrid space between coaching and technical expertise. They are guides who can – and sometimes must – offer strong recommendations, but only after the client feels fully seen and heard. The deeper responsibility lies in helping clients make well-informed, value-aligned decisions, not just efficient ones. Asking follow-up questions, illustrating the outcomes of various decisions, and helping clients dive deeply into the trade-offs are all crucial to helping them sound out the true consequences of their decisions. This approach not only fosters better outcomes but also strengthens the client's sense of ownership and agency. Advisors who can recognize their own biases and stay curious about their client's worldview are better positioned to offer advice that resonates and endures!

Vibe Coding For Financial Advisors: How You – Yes, You – Can Build Custom Technology For Your Practice When You’re Not A Software Developer

February 4, 2026 07:02 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Technology & Advisor FinTech

Financial advisors who work with a particular client niche often face recurring planning questions that, in turn, require the same calculations or analyses for different clients each time they arise. It's often helpful to have software that can perform these analyses faster, more repeatably, and in the way the advisor wants; however, the economic reality of the technology industry is that it's only really viable to build, market, and sell a piece of software if it provides a solution that a lot of people are willing to pay for. Which means if the advisor is only one of a few people – or the only person – who needs that particular kind of software, they aren't likely to find that solution on the market unless they build it themselves.

Traditionally, many advisors have built custom spreadsheets to handle these types of analysis for which an out-of-the-box solution doesn't exist, but those spreadsheets are often cumbersome and time-consuming to build, maintain, and debug. And while custom-built web apps can perhaps do the job more reliably, they've historically required the advisor to either be an expert in programming languages such as Python or JavaScript, or to hire a developer to build it for them.

More recently, however, it's become possible to build custom software programs without coding expertise using certain types of AI tools – a process popularly known as "vibe coding". At a high level, using vibe coding tools like Replit, users can essentially tell an AI bot what type of tool they want to build. The AI then handles all the code and back-end infrastructure needed to develop a working product. The user can then test the program and iterate with the AI bot to resolve any issues until the final version is ready.

One advantage of vibe coding is that you can start small to build familiarity. Advisors can experiment with simple tools and calculators – which can often be created using the free tiers of vibe coding tools like Replit – while they get comfortable with the process of iterating back and forth with the AI bot to improve the software. Once they've reached a baseline level of comfort, they can upgrade to paid tiers that allow for more complex or comprehensive tools, while potentially adding steps like 'wireframing' (i.e., creating a basic visual guide to the software before building the full-blown version) to help plan out particularly advanced software in advance to avoid problems that would need to be worked out after the fact.

The key point is that although there is a learning curve to vibe coding, it's not nearly as steep or time-intensive as learning traditional programming languages. What matters most for advisors who vibe code is their own financial planning expertise and their ability to communicate, since those are the main skills needed to 'converse' with an AI bot that can handle the technical development capabilities. Ultimately, then, vibe coding has the potential to provide a lot of value for expert advisors in highly niche fields – since they already have the expertise to develop the tools they need, and will no longer be reliant on off-the-shelf software solutions to build the exact tools to help them serve their clients' needs!

Adding Deeper Tax Planning Capabilities (And Generating More Google Reviews In The Process) To Grow To $600M Of AUM: #FASuccess Ep 475 With Erik Brenner

February 3, 2026 07:02 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Financial Advisor Success Podcast

Welcome everyone! Welcome to the 475th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast!

My guest on today's podcast is Erik Brenner. Erik is the CEO of Hilltop Wealth and Tax Solutions, an RIA based in Mishawaka, Indiana, that oversees approximately $600 million in assets under management for 830 client households.

What's unique about Erik, though, is how he has doubled his AUM in the past three years in part by offering a deeper level of tax-related services, including preparing client tax returns through an associated business and by working with an external firm for expertise on more complicated client tax situations.

In this episode, we talk in-depth about how Erik decided to partner with a CPA, creating a separate tax business alongside his wealth management firm (with both under one brand umbrella), how Erik takes a three-pronged approach to tax planning by having advisors leverage tools such as Holistiplan and Income Lab on the wealth management side, using the CPAs from the tax business to review proposed planning strategies, and working with an outsourced provider for expertise on more complex tax planning issues, and how Erik offers tax return preparation not as a loss leader for his wealth management services but rather as a profitable line of business in its own right.

We also talk about how Erik's firm brings in almost half of its new clients through in-person dinner seminars where the team demonstrates its expertise in the key issues facing their ideal clients (such as reducing their tax bill in retirement), how Erik uses a service that sends sufficient mailings to ensure a full room at each seminar (saving his firm the time it would take to market these events as well), and how Erik generates new client revenue from these events that exceeds the cost of holding them in the clients' first year alone.

And be certain to listen to the end, where Erik shares how he takes a two-pronged approach to generating online reviews, using both Google Reviews (which helps with the firm's search engine optimization) and Amplify Reviews (which appear on the firm's website), how Erik invites all clients to leave reviews then uses email automation software ActiveCampaign to track responses to ensure clients aren't asked to do so after they've already left one, and how Erik has ultimately found success not only by offering a deeper level of tax planning for his clients, but also by developing his leadership skills to manage a growing firm and help his team grow their careers as well.

So, whether you're interested in learning about taking a multi-tiered approach to providing tax planning services to clients, partnering with a CPA to offer tax return preparation and a deeper level of tax planning, or how to boost the number of online reviews your firm receives, then we hope you enjoy this episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, with Erik Brenner.