Nerd's Eye View blog

Weekend Reading For Financial Planners (February 15–16)

February 14, 2025 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 of a recent survey indicating that while overall client satisfaction with their financial advisors remains high at 95%, potential threats to client retention lurk beneath the surface, particularly amongst clients who experience a major windfall or a life transition. Which suggests firms that can meet clients' evolving needs as they advance up the wealth spectrum (e.g., advanced tax and estate planning) and ensure that both members of client couples remain engaged in the planning process (to encourage a surviving partner to stay with the firm in case of a death of their spouse) could have more durable client satisfaction and, ultimately, higher client retention rates.

Also in industry news this week:

The financial advice industry is facing a potential shortage of 100,000 advisors in the coming decade, according to a recent study, though this is due in part to (the good news) of greater consumer demand for human-provided financial advice
Charles Schwab is planning to raise the fees on its custodial referral program, indicating continued interest in this lead generation tactic despite its steep price for firms

From there, we have several articles on IRA planning:

20 potential mistakes prospects and clients might make with regard to their IRAs, and how advisors can help fix them (or avoid them in the first place)
The potential financial and psychological benefits of spousal IRAs for married couples
How advisors can help clients and their tax preparers correct 'misleading' reporting regarding IRA distributions on IRS Form 1099-R

We also have a number of articles on practice management:

A blueprint for how firms can create employee career paths that encourage staff to grow and advance within the firm, promoting retention and a more consistent client experience in the process
How firms can establish and operate a successful internship program to create a solid pipeline of next-gen talent
The value of hands-on training for newer advisors in giving them more confidence in applying their technical knowledge to actual client interactions

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

How companies that integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools while promoting collaboration among employees could see greater success in the years ahead
Why employee engagement (on a national level) has sunk to a multi-year low and how building a strong firm culture and making a commitment to management training could help reverse this trend
American workers are becoming more productive, according to recent data, creating new opportunities for employees and firms alike

Enjoy the 'light' reading!

“How Much More Will I Get?”: Calculating The Impact Of WEP And GPO’s Repeal On Social Security Benefits

February 12, 2025 07:03 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Retirement Planning

When the Social Security Fairness Act was signed into law on January 5, 2025, it came as a relief to many recipients of state or local government pensions whose Social Security benefits had been, up until now, reduced by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) for individuals claiming retirement benefits under their own name, or the Government Pension Offset (GPO) for those claiming spousal or survivor benefits under a current or former spouse's name. The new law repeals both the WEP and GPO, restoring full Social Security benefits to affected individuals, retroactive to January 2024.

The caveat, however, is that although the law is set to take effect immediately (and apply retroactively to more than a year's worth of prior benefits), the Social Security Administration (SSA) has indicated that it could take a year or more to fully restore benefits due to the complexity of recalculating payments for millions of affected retirees.

While it may take a while for the adjustments to take place, advisors can still help their clients plan for the effect of WEP and GPO's repeal by estimating how much the client will be receiving in Social Security benefits once the new law is implemented. But the challenge in making such an estimate is the fact that SSA doesn't clearly show many individuals what their full benefits would be without the reduction for WEP or GPO. While future retirees can find nonreduced benefit estimates on their Social Security statements or online accounts, those already receiving benefits don't have access to this information – making it necessary to find a different way to predict how much their payments will increase once the law is fully implemented.

For individuals eager to know how much they'll be receiving once their full benefits are restored, the best approach is to use their history of Social Security-covered earnings (or their spouse's history, for spousal and survivor benefits) and apply the actual formulas that SSA uses to calculate benefits. However, not everyone will have access to their full earnings history, and individuals who find the Social Security website and identity verification processes to be too onerous to navigate won't necessarily be able to download their history. In these cases, it's still possible to 'back out' an estimate of unreduced benefits using their current reduced benefit – provided they know key details like the age at which they elected benefits.

Notably, estimating benefits in this way isn't a simple 'back-of-the-envelope' calculation, given the complexity of the rules determining the calculation of Social Security retirement, spousal, and survivor benefits. To help with this, we've developed a downloadable calculator that simplifies the process of estimating an individual's unreduced Social Security benefits, whether or not a full earnings history is available.

The key point is that the question of "How much will I be getting?" will be top of mind for clients affected by the WEP and GPO. And given that the reduction can amount to hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month, having a reliable estimate of the impact of WEP and GPO's repeal can help advisors proactively plan for the impact the new law will have on their clients' retirement strategies. While there's still uncertainty about the actual timing of the law's implementation, advisors can still add value today by helping clients understand how the repeal will shape their financial future!

#FASuccess Ep 424: Executing A Successful Internal Succession Plan In The Private Equity Era Of Advisor M&A, With David Grau Jr.

February 11, 2025 07:01 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Financial Advisor Success Podcast

Welcome everyone! Welcome to the 424th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast!

My guest on today's podcast is David Grau, Jr. David is the President of Succession Resource Group, an advisory consulting and valuation business based in Portland, Oregon that serves independent financial advisors with RIAs and broker-dealers.

What's unique about David, though, is how his two decades of experience supporting financial advisory firms has helped him uncover best practices for founders and successors looking to execute internal succession plans, even as those succession plans have become more challenging at a time when founders so regularly field a steady flow of inbound inquiries from Private Equity-backed acquirers (often headlining high valuation multiples).

In this episode, we talk in-depth about the best practices David recommends to firms to start preparing in advance for an internal succession (including creating defined career tracks and compensation structures as well as getting the firm’s business metrics in order and receiving a third-party valuation), how David advocates for breaking up an internal succession plan into gradual tranches (for example, starting out by initially selling an internal successor a 1-5% ownership stake and ramping this percentage up with each subsequent tranche purchase over time) in order to make the financial commitment of doing so more palatable and financially feasible to successors, and why David recommends that firm founders start early when it comes to internal succession planning to get the ball rolling on these key actions and milestones, as if it takes at least 5 years to develop a potential successor and 10 more years to execute the transaction in a series of tranches, an advisor who plans to retire in their early 60s should ideally already be laying the succession groundwork by their late 40s!

We also talk about why David thinks that internal successions do remain viable at a time when Private Equity-backed aggregator firms are willing to buy smaller firms quickly and at a loftier headline valuation (in part because those high multiples often come with less attractive terms buried in the fine print of these deals), how David further finds that the publicly announced valuation of a PE acquisition is often misleading because the media only talks about the multiple of revenue or earnings and not the ‘adjustments’ that the buyer made to the firm’s projected earnings before striking the deal, and why David suggests that some firms who sell to PE-backed buyers might found it hard to meet the annual growth targets (often at least 15-20% and sometimes much higher) needed to receive the full compensation as outlined in the deal terms.

And be certain to listen to the end, where David shares why advisors might consider doing a partial sale of their no-longer-as-profitable clients to give them lifestyle flexibility while monetizing at least part of their business (and then continue to serve the smaller group of remaining high-value clients with better profitability and fewer working hours), how David suggests that preparing a firm for an internal succession (for instance by investing in staff to build a tenured advisor cadre) can end up benefiting a founder even if they do decide to do an external sale (in the form of a premium valuation for having a well-established team to handle the clients when the buyer comes in), and why David believes that while internal successions can involve more work than an external sale, they can often end up being more satisfying for the founder by allowing them to leave a well-defined legacy through their firm.

So, whether you’re interested in learning about best practices for preparing for an internal succession, the importance for selling firms of considering both a firm’s valuation and the deal terms when comparing offers, or the value of preparing for succession early (whether or not an internal succession is planned), then we hope you enjoy this episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, with David Grau Jr.

How To Determine The ‘Best’ CFP Education Program (For You): 2025 Update

February 10, 2025 07:02 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Planning Profession

To earn the CFP marks, candidates must fulfill four key requirements: Education (holding a bachelor's degree and completing the required coursework through a CFP Board registered program), Exam (passing the 170-question CFP exam), Experience (gaining hands-on experience providing financial advice to the public), and Ethics (acting as a fiduciary). Among these, the Education component offers the greatest flexibility in how it can be completed. And while the rise of virtual learning during the pandemic has made it easier than ever to find and take courses from the comfort of home, having so many options to choose from can make the selection process feel overwhelming.

Five primary factors can guide candidates in narrowing down their options when selecting a program. First, location – whether in-person, online, or hybrid – serves as an effective initial filter, as in-person and hybrid options are often limited to major cities. Second, delivery format – synchronous (live classes) or asynchronous (self-paced) – is another key consideration. While synchronous classes provide structure and more direct access to instructors (which can help some students stay on track), asynchronous classes offer greater flexibility (which can be ideal for students with unpredictable schedules). Third, additional resources offered with the program – such as exam prep or tutoring access – can add significant value for some learners. Fourth, cost, including the total 'all-in' price of materials, is another critical factor, with synchronous courses generally being more expensive than asynchronous ones. Finally, familiarity with financial planning topics can influence decisions; while those with less experience (e.g., career changers) may benefit more from the live support offered by synchronous programs, individuals with substantial industry knowledge might prefer self-paced formats. Ranking these five factors from most to least significant can provide clarity and simplify the decision-making process.

Once candidates identify their priorities, the next step is to evaluate specific programs that align with their preferences. For example, those seeking synchronous in-person options can use CFP Board's "Find An Education Program" search tool to filter results by city and explore available offerings (if any) in their area. Online learners can explore virtual providers – including the 'big five' (Dalton, Brett Danko, American College, Kaplan [College for Financial Planning], and Bryant Virtual Classroom) – which offer a variety of self-study and live class formats to accommodate different needs and schedules.

Ultimately, the key point is that aspiring CFP professionals have access to a wide range of education programs and can take a systematic approach to find one that aligns with their goals and resources. By carefully evaluating their needs and preferences, individuals can select the best program to fulfill their education requirements and take the next step on their journey to earning the CFP marks!

Weekend Reading For Financial Planners (February 8–9)

February 7, 2025 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 CFP Board CEO Kevin Keller this week announced his plans to retire and step down from his position at the end of April next year. During his nearly two-decade tenure, Keller oversaw a near-doubling of the number of CFP professionals, the establishment of a new 501(c)(6) professional organization to promote the benefits of financial advice and planning careers, and updates to the CFP Board's investigation and disciplinary processes, among many other changes.

Also in industry news this week:

Financial Planning Association CEO Patrick Mahoney died this week after a battle with cancer, leaving behind a legacy that includes rejuvenating the relationship between FPA National and its chapters
A group of advisory trade groups and broker-dealers have sent a letter to Congressional committees requesting that the IRC Section 199A deduction (more commonly known as the Qualified Business Income, or QBI, deduction) be extended and expanded to remove the "specified service trades or business" designation that limits the deduction for financial advisors (and clients in certain professions) with income over designated thresholds

From there, we have several articles on retirement planning:

How advisors can incorporate a client's Social Security benefits into their broader retirement income strategy to match client preferences for lifetime income and/or legacy interests
Why a TIPS-based strategy could be an attractive way to meet clients' 'core' spending needs while protecting against future increases in inflation
Why RMDs can potentially affect safe withdrawal rates and how advisors can help clients minimize any potential negative effects

We also have a number of articles on advisor technology:

How using a "core and satellite" approach can help advisory firms build their tech stacks in a cost-effective manner
The potential value for firms in auditing how they use their CRM software, as well as ways they can maximize its effectiveness
One expert makes his selections for the 'ultimate' advisory firm tech stack, covering a broad range of AdvisorTech categories

We wrap up with three final articles, all about maximizing vacation days:

Why "unlimited PTO" policies can sometimes backfire and how firms can ensure that their PTO policies reflect their goals and allow employees to take sufficient time away from the office
How linking PTO days to holidays and weekends can turn 15 days off into more than 50 days of vacation
Why research into vacations and happiness suggests that incorporating novelty into (longer) vacations can make them more enjoyable

Enjoy the 'light' reading!

(Michael's Note: It is with a heavy heart this week that we pay our respects and bid farewell to Patrick Mahoney, the CEO of the Financial Planning Association, who passed away this week after a long battle with cancer. Patrick and his leadership was a breath of fresh air for the FPA, as he worked proactively to repair the national organization's relationships with both its internal chapters and external allies, refocus the organization's staff on supporting its chapters and its core (CFP certificant) member, and stabilize its membership after prior years of declines. It is a tragic loss for the FPA that Patrick's ongoing work was cut short, and he will be greatly missed. Farewell, Patrick.)

Kitces & Carl Ep 157: Reducing The Fears Of Prospective Clients By Communicating Clear Expectations Before The First Meeting

February 6, 2025 07:03 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Kitces & Carl Podcast

The introductory meeting is a high-stakes moment for both advisors and prospects, often nerve-wracking for both sides. Advisors must decide how to present themselves, respond to questions, explain complex issues in an engaging way, and propose and explain their long-term proposition. And at the same time, prospects are likely to feel vulnerable and equally nervous with their own set of concerns – how to present themselves to the advisor, what questions to ask, and how to explain their issues while still feeling competent. For many, this may be their first-ever meeting with a financial advisor, adding another layer of uncertainty (and potential anxiety) beyond simply evaluating fit.

In the 157th episode of Kitces & Carl, Michael Kitces and client communication expert Carl Richards discuss how advisors can alleviate a prospect's anxiety by setting clear expectations for the introductory meeting – both in terms of logistics and emotional preparedness. They highlight how even small details – such as providing directions, clarifying meeting logistics, or outlining the purpose of the conversation – can help prospects feel more in control, making the experience smoother and more productive for both parties.

For most prospects, showing up comfortably and feeling their very best can be challenging when they don't know what to expect – whether it's where to park, how formal the meeting will be, or whether they need to bring any financial documents. While these details might seem minor, they can create unnecessary stress in the lead-up to the meeting. Even prospects who have met with advisors before may find that every firm runs a slightly different introductory meeting. By taking a moment to provide clarity, advisors can make a meaningful difference in setting the right tone and allowing prospects to engage with confidence.

One effective way to alleviate some of the nervousness is to give prospects a clear outline of the call in advance of the meeting. This roadmap can be as simple as a brief email (or similar document) covering basic logistics and setting clear expectations. The email may discuss practical details like directions, parking, and dress code, and include a brief meeting agenda with potential next steps. It may also include a list of which documents to review, bring, or – perhaps just as crucially – not bring. These small but thoughtful details can offer reassurance to prospects, helping to reduce pre-meeting anxiety and allowing them to focus on the conversation itself.

Ultimately, the key point is that small, intentional efforts to reduce uncertainty can go a long way in helping a firm stand out. As while prospects are often bracing themselves for a high-pressure sales pitch, a well-crafted pre-meeting email immediately signals a different experience – one that prioritizes comfort, clarity, and meaningful dialogue. By eliminating distractions and providing a clear roadmap that outlines expectations in advance, advisors can help settle a prospect's nerves the day of the meeting – which, in turn, can lead to more productive conversations and stronger client relationships!

Why Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) Aren’t Always Worth The ‘Triple Tax Savings’ Advantage

February 5, 2025 07:02 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Taxes

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) have become an increasingly popular tool for financial advisors and their clients due in part to the 'triple tax savings' they offer: tax-deductible contributions, tax-free growth, and non-taxable distributions for qualifying expenses. However, HSAs require individuals to be covered by a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP), which has tradeoffs compared to traditional health insurance plans. Which means that financial advisors, with their knowledge of clients' personal and financial circumstances, are uniquely positioned to evaluate these tradeoffs and help clients balance healthcare costs and savings to align with their financial plans.

While HDHPs are often expected to come with higher deductibles than traditional plans, these deductibles may be higher than they appear. For instance, HDHP deductibles and out-of-pocket limits apply only to in-network coverage, with out-of-network care subject to higher maximums. Additionally, HDHPs typically apply deductibles to nearly all medical services (except preventative care), unlike traditional health plans that often feature fixed copays for prescriptions, specialist visits, and emergency room care. Many HDHPs also use aggregate deductibles, requiring the entire family deductible to be met before coverage begins for any individual – which can lead to higher out-of-pocket costs, particularly when one family member incurs most of the expenses.

Traditional health plans, on the other hand, often provide features that make them more attractive for individuals with moderate or predictable medical costs. For example, traditional plans often come with separate out-of-pocket maximums for prescription drugs and other medical services (while HDHPs typically have a unified maximum) or offer tiered health networks that provide discounts for specific in-network providers. Furthermore, because HSA eligibility requires coverage exclusively under an HDHP, clients nearing Medicare age or those with other disqualifying coverage may need to weigh the benefits of HSA contributions against other health plan options.

While the 'triple tax savings' of HSAs is one of their most attractive features, those with traditional health plans can also benefit from tax-free premiums, which may result in greater tax savings compared to HDHPs with lower premiums. Clients with traditional plans can also take advantage of Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), which allow for tax-free contributions and reimbursements (though, unlike HSAs, any unused funds remaining in the FSA are forfeited at the end of the plan year). Combined with the potential cost savings from lower deductibles and total out-of-pocket costs – which could be invested in taxable accounts – clients with higher medical expenses and in lower tax brackets may find that traditional health plans offer a better balance of savings and healthcare coverage.

Ultimately, while HSAs offer significant tax advantages, advisors can play a key role in helping clients weigh these benefits against the potentially higher costs of HDHPs. By aligning healthcare and financial planning, advisors can demonstrate their ongoing value to their clients by helping them choose the plan that best supports their goals – and their peace of mind – while maximizing both annual and long-term cost savings!

#FASuccess Ep 423: Expanding Across The Household By Helping (Affluent) Sandwich Generation Kids With Their Parents’ Financial Needs, With Cristina Livadary

February 4, 2025 07:02 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Financial Advisor Success Podcast

Welcome everyone! Welcome to the 423rd episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast!

My guest on today's podcast is Cristina Livadary. Cristina is the CEO of Mana Financial Life Design, an RIA based in Los Angeles, California (but works virtually with clients nationwide), that oversees approximately $70 million in assets under management for 119 client households.

What's unique about Cristina, though, is how her firm supports clients in the so-called "sandwich generation" by both creating a financial plan for the clients' personal financial needs and goals, and by addressing (often with a separately paid add-on financial planning engagement) the financial issues facing their aging (and frequently less financially secure) parents who they may someday need to support.

In this episode, we talk in-depth about how Cristina's personal experience dealing with challenging issues with her own aging parents while simultaneously caring for her young children helped her recognize the challenges those in the "sandwich generation" face, how Cristina leveraged the research she did for her personal situation (including finding appropriate care for her mother after she was diagnosed with dementia) to create blog and newsletter content that resonated with both prospects and her current clients, and how this focus evolved into Cristina now providing planning services for both her working-age clients as well as their parents (either as an add-on service to their child's engagement or, for those who can afford her firm's fees, as a separate client household).

We also talk about how Cristina started Mana Financial Life Design from scratch after working as an investment wholesaler earlier in her career (teaming up with her best friend who brings complementary skills to the business), how Cristina used a convertible note to raise money from her friends and family to get her business off the ground (and how she was ultimately able to pay off the note with interest before it converted into equity), and how Cristina successfully transitioned from charging clients a $2,400 annual planning fee to a complexity-based fee (with a $10,000 annual minimum) by linking the fees she charges to the specific service needs of each client (and the amount of time it takes to do so).

And be certain to listen to the end, where Cristina shares how she uses 20-minute "fit" meetings to determine whether prospective clients will be a good match for her firm's service offering and fee model (thereby minimizing the number of bad-fit clients her firm takes on), the key lessons Cristina learned from earlier hiring mistakes (particularly the importance of determining a defined role for each new hire in advance of putting out a job posting), and how Cristina leverages the artificial-intelligence-powered notetaking software tool Fathom AI not only to turn around meeting notes and follow-up tasks faster, but also so that she and her team can be more present during client meetings (without having the burden of simultaneously taking notes while trying to stay focused on what the client is saying).

So, whether you're interested in learning about serving clients in the "sandwich generation" (and their parents), building a firm from scratch alongside a trusted business partner, or how to hold effective "fit" meetings to ensure a solid match with prospective clients, then we hope you enjoy this episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, with Cristina Livadary.

Holistiplan’s Fee Increase Sparks Competition From FP Alpha And RightCapital (And More Of The Latest In Financial #AdvisorTech – February 2025)

February 3, 2025 07:01 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Technology & Advisor FinTech

Welcome to the February 2025 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 FP Alpha has released its tax return extraction and analysis module as a standalone product, while RightCapital has separately launched its own tax return extraction tool bundled within its platform – with both announcements coming on the heels of Holistiplan implementing a significant price increase, suggesting that Holistiplan's decision to raise prices may have inadvertently opened the door for more competition within the tax planning technology category (which it had previously had all to itself)

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

Move Health, a service that provides guidance on and implementation of health insurance solutions for financial advisors, has acquired Caribou, a software tool for analyzing and comparing different health insurance plans, creating a single end-to-end platform for healthcare cost analysis and implementation of health insurance – although the question remains how deeply advisors are willing to get into health insurance implementation with their clients when they tend not to be health insurance experts themselves
Advisor Credit Exchange, a marketplace solution connecting advisors with lending solutions for their clients, announced that it plans to shut down – which raises questions for Envestnet (which had an equity stake in Advisor Credit Exchange and featured it on its platform) and if it will further step back from its "marketplace of marketplaces" model as it pertains to non-investment-based solutions under its new ownership; as well as about the outlook for other lending marketplace platforms and whether liability management is too far outside of advisors' core offerings to gain much traction?
Wealthtender, a lead generation and advisor review gathering platform, has launched a new Testimonial Marketing Studio to help advisors better promote their client testimonials in social media and email campaigns, reflecting the reality that advisors have generally been slow to adopt testimonial marketing since the release of the SEC's Marketing Rule in 2021, and that platforms like Wealthtender have needed to offer tools like Testimonial Marketing Studio to encourage advisors to solicit and promote client reviews in order for those platforms to gain traction

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

Mili, one of the most recent AI-powered notetaking solutions on the AdvisorTech Map, has announced a recent $2M seed funding round – although Mili's choice to position itself as the "most secure" notetaker reflects the reality that technology solutions often misunderstand what advisors want to see highlighted in technology (e.g., they expect all the different AI notetaker solutions to have a baseline level of data security, but beyond that they care about which one does the best job of solving their problems than they do about which one is the "most" secure)
Advisor360 has announced its acquisition of the AI meeting notes platform Parrot AI, representing the first existing advisor technology platform to integrate AI notetaking into its own solution – which could be an ominous sign for the many standalone AI notetaker tools on the market, because if the trend to bring AI notetaking in-house picks up speed among existing advisor platforms, the market for standalone tools could shrink very quickly if advisors decide they would rather have AI notetaking as a feature within the tools they already use

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!

*And for #AdvisorTech companies who want to submit their tech announcements for consideration in future issues, please submit to [email protected]!

Weekend Reading For Financial Planners (February 1–2)

January 31, 2025 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 following the change of administration (and a new incoming chair of the SEC), the Investment Adviser Association is seeking to find ways to help RIAs (particularly smaller firms) manage the compliance responsibilities they face. Which could include measures such as additional time to comply with rules that have been adopted but not yet enforced and perhaps, more broadly, an approach from the SEC that focuses more on whether a firm has robust program controls and a strong fiduciary culture rather than seeking out specific, (sometimes minor) missteps and producing enforcement actions.

Also in industry news this week:

While RIA M&A deal flow hit record levels in 2024 (both in terms of volume and the speed of completing them), firm valuations saw relatively modest gains
In its latest annual regulatory oversight report, FINRA joined the SEC in flagging the potential risks to firm and client data from the use of third-party vendors and products, specifically highlighting risks associated with generative AI tools

From there, we have several articles on retirement planning:

A recent analysis considers 46 factors in determining the 'best' states for retirees, revealing potential locations clients might not have otherwise considered when thinking about a move
The pros and cons for retirees of living near their children (and grandchildren) and how advisors can help them consider the range of financial and emotional implications associated with this decision
Why moving to a state with relatively low (or no) income taxes doesn't always result in lower state taxes on deferred income (and how advisors can help clients avoid this issue)

We also have a number of articles on advisor marketing:

How advisors can identify the four types of prospects and tailor their communication to match their preferences
A simple graph that advisors can sketch during a discovery meeting to demonstrate the value they offer
How using infographics to explain a firm's planning process can leave a stronger impression on prospects than verbal explanations alone

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

Why attention has become one of the most valuable commodities in the 21st century
How a weekend "digital intermittent fast" could lead to fewer distractions and more enjoyable, meaningful time away from work
The value of truly listening to others and how to avoid common conversational pitfalls

Enjoy the 'light' reading!