asset location - Part 12

Weekend Reading for Financial Planners (Jul 26-27)

July 25, 2014 02:11 pm 0 Comments CATEGORY: Weekend Reading

Enjoy the current installment of "weekend reading for financial planners" - this week's edition starts out with the news that another planner is threatening to sue the CFP Board over its compensation disclosure rules, after being told that the relationship between his "fee-only" advisory firm and commission-based family real estate firm meant that his advisory firm must describe itself as "commission and fee" instead. Also in the news this week was the latest study from the CFP Board that the public awareness campaign continues to have a material impact on consumer awareness of the CFP marks, and a decision from the SEC on new rules for money market funds that may introduce a floating-NAV to institutional funds and the potential for "gating" on redemptions and potential 2% exit fees on retail money market funds during times of financial distress.

From there, we have a few articles on technical planning issues this week, including a look at how sometimes Social Security beneficiaries should actually claim early to take advantage of dependents' benefits, an overview of the current landscape for annuities of all types (including which have been more popular lately, and which are declining), and some fresh analysis comparing systematic withdrawal strategies in retirement to partial annuitization approaches.

We also have several practice management articles, from a discussion of whether we need to start teaching personal finance in high schools not just for financial literacy but to encourage young people to aspire to become financial advisors when they go off to college, to a look at the recent failed effort by Savant Capital Management to launch an e-platform for their advisory firm and what they learned from the experience, to the highlights of the latest RIA industry study from Financial Advisor magazine.

We wrap up with three interesting articles: the first raises the interesting idea that perhaps we should focus less on "time management" and more on energy management like athletes, recognizing that one highly energized hour can be far more productive than several tired ones; the second article looks at some of the ongoing discussions about changing the accredited investor rules and the challenging reality that income- and wealth-based tests may simply not be the best measure of determining whether someone is "savvy" enough to select complex investments; and the last provides a valuable reminder that there are a lot of great questions we ask our clients about how they vision their retirement and their future that we might consider asking inwardly of ourselves sometime as well...

Enjoy the reading!

How The “Annuities Should NEVER Go In An IRA” Rule Has Become A Myth

July 16, 2014 07:01 am 12 Comments CATEGORY: Annuities

Similar to retirement accounts like IRAs and 401(k)s, Congress provides deferred annuities a tax preference, in the form of tax-deferred growth, to encourage their use. This tax treatment does not have any outright cost; instead, it’s simply a benefit that is otherwise granted to the owner of an annuity. Yet because of the similarities in tax treatment between retirement accounts and annuities – and the fact that for much of their history, deferred annuities really were used primarily or solely for their tax deferral treatment – there is a long-standing rule of thumb for how to coordinate between the two: similar to muni bonds in an IRA, the rule is “never purchase an annuity inside of an IRA, because you don’t need tax deferral in an already tax-deferred account!”

Yet the reality is that for more than a decade, this rule has actually been rendered moot by significant changes that have occurred in the annuity landscape. While once upon a time there were few reasons to purchase a deferred annuity besides the preferential tax-deferral treatment, since the early 2000s annuities has been increasingly popular for their guaranteed living benefit riders, along with enhanced death benefit, unique investment features (in the case of certain equity-indexed annuities), or outright superior fixed income yields (with some fixed annuities). As a result, by 2012 the majority of annuities were actually being purchased with funds sourced from a retirement account, because that’s where the available money was held to be invested for such features and guarantees!

While in some limited cases, deferred variable annuities actually are making a resurgence for pure tax deferral purposes – in which case, there’s once again little reason to purchase them with retirement assets – most annuities continue to be purchased for their guarantees and investment characteristics, not their tax preferences. Given these changes, it is perhaps time to abolish the “annuities should never go into an IRA” rule and recognize that it has become more a myth and remnant of old than proper advice in today’s environment.

Active, Passive, Strategic, Tactical – What’s Your Investment Management Style?

April 23, 2014 07:01 am 15 Comments CATEGORY: Investments

Historically, the active vs passive divide has been primarily a question of how to invest within an asset class. Is it better to utilize an active manager who will try to outperform an index (at the risk of underperforming it), or simply buy the index itself in the form of a fund that at worst should simply “underperform” by the margin of a very small fee. Either way, most investment managers will still implement a remarkably similar asset allocation – regardless of the active vs passive divide – based on the principles of Modern Portfolio Theory.

Yet a deeper look at MPT reveals that in reality, it may have never been intended as a model for strategic asset allocation in the first place. Markowitz himself advocated in his original research that MPT should not be implemented simply by looking at long-term historical averages, but instead by adjusting the statistical analysis of risk and return based on nuances not taken into account by formal computations alone.

The end point of this dynamic is that the active vs passive divide of investment management is actually split on two different dimensions: to be active or passive within asset classes, and whether to be strategic or tactical amongst them, leading to four quadrants of investment management styles depending on which combination(s) the advisor chooses.

Ultimately, this means that going forward investment managers must be more cognizant to frame their approach based on both dimensions, and recognize clearly where they can – or cannot – add value for clients. So what’s your investment management style? Tactical active, Strategic active, Tactical passive, or Strategic passive?

Are The Tax Deferral Benefits Of Low Turnover Investment Strategies Overstated?

March 5, 2014 07:01 am 15 Comments CATEGORY: Taxes

The basic benefit of tax deferral on investment growth is relatively straightforward: by not paying taxes, money that would have otherwise gone to the government instead can remain invested for future growth. To the extent the money will ever be spent, the taxes must eventually be paid, but as long as additional growth can be generated in the meantime, that is a value for the investor. As a result, investors often focus on deferring capital gains, and reducing the rate of portfolio turnover.

Yet a deeper look at the actual economic value of tax deferral reveals that most of the benefit is actually lost with even low levels of turnover. An investment that changes just once a decade actually forfeits more than half of the tax deferral benefits over the span of 30 years, and for a portfolio with dividends as well, a mere 10% turnover forfeits more than 2/3rds of the tax deferral value. In a lower return environment, the true tax deferral benefit of extending the average holding period of an investment from 2 years to 5 years - chopping the portfolio turnover rate from 50% down to 20% - is actually less than 5 basis points, which can be made up in the blink of an eye through a lower cost investment change or a mere day's worth of relative returns (not to mention weeks, months, or years)!

In turn, these results suggest that in the end, investors may be grossly underestimating the damage that's done by having any portfolio turnover, and grossly overestimating the value of trying to add several years to the average holding period of an investment. Of course, high turnover investing has other costs as well, and the results don't necessarily mean that rapid trading will be fruitful. Nonetheless, the limited value of tax deferral even for an investor with a decade-long average holding period suggests that investors should be highly cautious not to sacrifice prudent investment decisions upon the altar of low-turnover tax efficiency, and that it may even be time to reconsider asset location decisions and whether equities should be held in tax-deferred accounts instead.

How To Run A Financial Advisory Firm Like A Robo-Advisor

February 24, 2014 07:01 am 14 Comments CATEGORY: Technology & Advisor FinTech

Over the past year, the financial advisory world has witnessed the emerging rise of the "robo-advisor" - technology-driven investment advisory services that substitute "expensive" humans for low-cost highly-scalable software and algorithms that seek to deliver much of what advisors do with respect to portfolio construction today, but at a fraction of the cost.

Underlying the robo-advisor model, though, are insights that are relevant to any financial advisory firm. For instance, the core building blocks of robo-advisors - a systematized investment process, supported by programmed technology automation to implement the portfolio - is not actually unique to robo-advisors at all. Any advisor - human or robot - can use these tools, and they already exist!

In fact, it turns out that many financial advisors already deliver everything that robo-advisors do, and more; advisory firms have been increasingly shifting to model-based portfolios for years, and "intelligent" rebalancing software that replicates virtually everything a robo-advisor already does has been around for nearly a decade, as has been shown indirectly by Morningstar's "gamma" research. Which means in the end, robo-advisors may be less of a threat to traditional advisors, than simply an acknowledgement that inefficient advisors that don't systematize and utilize technology will be increasingly threatened by those who do - whether robot, or technology-augmented human.

Wealthfront Tax Loss Harvesting White Paper – A Case Study In How Not To Calculate Tax Alpha

February 5, 2014 07:01 am 25 Comments CATEGORY: Taxes

The benefits of reducing current tax liabilities through tax loss harvesting are widely acknowledged - so much, that the IRS developed the 30-day "wash sale" rules to prevent taxpayers from abusing the strategy. Yet less widely understood is that there's one crucial caveat to tax loss harvesting - that taking advantage of the loss also reduces the cost basis of the investment, potentially exposing the taxpayer to a gain in the future that can wipe out some, most, or all of the tax benefit, and in the extreme with today's four capital gains tax brackets actually drive up future tax rates and leave the investor worse off than having done nothing at all.

Notwithstanding these issues, many investors and advisors continue to overstate the benefits of tax loss harvesting, and now "robo-advisor" Wealthfront is doing so as well, with its "Tax-Loss Harvesting White Paper" that purports Wealthfront can increase an investor's wealth by an extra 1%/year, annualized, indefinitely, through its daily tax loss harvesting strategy. Unfortunately, though, the reality is that in a review of its strategy, Wealthfront - like so many others - is confusing tax savings with tax deferral, and in the process may be drastically overstating its benefits by a factor of 10:1, and for its typical investor the true annual benefit may be a mere 1/25th of what their "white paper" claims purport.

Again, this is not to say that tax-loss harvesting is useless, and in reality while many advisors have been automating tax-loss harvesting just like the robo-advisors for almost a decade, Wealthfront's particular tools to implement loss harvesting are unique, especially in how it is able to quasi-pool investor assets to drive the transaction costs down to nothing for its clients (facilitating tax loss harvesting at very small thresholds on a nearly continuous basis!). Nonetheless, the flaws of the Wealthfront tax-loss harvesting white paper also provide a clear example of the problems with trying to come up with a generalized algorithm for an individual's specific and unique tax circumstances, and overall provides an unfortunate case study in how not to calculate tax alpha and try to apply its benefits for a wide range of clientele.

How Technology Is Reshaping And Commoditizing The World Of Investment Advice

January 20, 2014 07:01 am 9 Comments CATEGORY: Investments

The ongoing march of technology and explosion of the internet over the past 20 years is slowly but steadily reshaping the world of investing advice. As more and more tools become accessible directly to consumers, many of the services once provided by financial advisors to analyze, review, and construct client portfolios can now be done at a dramatically lower cost, and without the advisor being involved at all.

In reality, this simply represents the next step in technology continuing to commoditize many of the core services that financial advisors provide their clients, from the days of implementing trades (i.e., actually being a "stockbroker") that's been demolished by online discount brokerage, to helping with the investment search-and-selection process (being replaced by online tools and analytics), to the construction of passive strategic diversified portfolios that can now be accomplished for 25 basis points or less by a number of "robo-advisor" solutions.

Ultimately, this doesn't mean that financial advisors will disappear altogether, as ultimately technology can augment the relationship but not replace it; nonetheless, it will force advisors to continue to evolve their client solutions to stay ahead of the technology commoditization curve, as clients will only pay "so much" for the relationship alone. Some advisors may choose to become more active and (attempt to) deliver a greater value-add with respect to the portfolio itself in the form of alpha, while others may choose to offer financial planning services as a value-add (as many have already begun), and still others may decide to abandon investment management as an offering altogether and focus solely on providing personal financial planning advice itself. Whatever the outcome, though, it seems those advisory firms who hang their hat today on providing little more than the construction of passive strategic diversified investment portfolio for a 1% AUM fee may be in serious trouble, as technology continues to commoditize their core business offering.

In The Press

Michael Kitces' writing, research, expertise, and opinions are regularly cited in the press.

2014 - 2020

Ezvid Wiki - May 25, 2020 - 5 Helpful Financial Planning Resources

Financial Advisor Magazine - February 7, 2020 - "Happy Accidents Or Planned, Advisors Enjoy Virtual Practices"

RIABiz - February 7, 2020 - "Schwab execs all but dash RIA hopes for TD Ameritrade VEO One survival by pitting the open-API platform against expediency and an admitted pro-Schwab bias"

Financial Planning - January 29. 2020 - "‘This can be done. Go do it.': XYPN hires 2, hits 56% women on leadership"

Money Marketing - January 23, 2020 - "What does the next generation of clients want?"

CNBC - January 23, 2020 - "This mistake around new IRA withdrawal rules could leave you with a bigger tax bill"

Money Marketing - January 14, 2020 - "Danby Bloch: ‘Til we e-meet again"

San Francisco Chronicle - December 25, 2019 - "More answers to questions on retirement plans and the Secure Act"

Barron's - December 17, 2019 - "For Financial Advisor Ads, a New Frontier"

Financial Planning - December 6, 2019 - "Schwab hires small RIA advocate ahead of TD Ameritrade acquisition"

AdvisorHub - December 6, 2019 - "Schwab Hires Ex-TD Ameritrade CEO Tom Bradley on Eve of Merger"

Financial Planning - December 1, 2019 - "The most transformative software for advisors?"

Investment News - November 18, 2019 - "RIA consolidation could put $2.4 trillion in play over next decade"

Financial Advisor - November 14, 2019 - "Kitces To Advisors: Differentiate Yourself Or Die"

RiaBiz - November 7, 2019 - "Goldman Sachs & Co. appoints Rachel Schnoll to yank off United Capital band-aid that Joe Duran didn't -- making FinLife work with non-UC applications"

ThinkAdvisor - November 7, 2019 - "Michael Kitces to Advisors: Differentiate or You're Doomed"

San Francisco Chronicle - November 2, 2019 - "Sell a house? Cash in an IRA? You may be hit with a surcharge on Medicare premiums"

Investment News - November 1, 2019 - "States considering rules for how advisers charge subscription fees"

Morningstar - October 24, 2019 - "Not OK"

Investment News - October 24, 2019 - "TD's Skip Schweiss says he'll do whatever it takes to avoid conflicts as president of FPA"

RiaBiz - October 15, 2019 - "Fidelity's Abby Johnson took eight days to succumb Chuck Schwab's commission torpedo but those days may have been put to good use. One big casualty of Fidelity Investments' buckle on zero-fee commissions may be the zero-fee RIA custody tailwind of three decades duration"

Fosters - October 6, 2019 - "When is 4% less than 4%? – after taxes"

New York Post - October 5, 2019 - "Be careful whom you trust with your money so they don’t Madoff with it"

Investment News - October 4, 2019 - "Price-pressure trend shines new light on RIA-custodian relationships"

Washington Post - October 4, 2019 - "Schwab’s Next Target? Your Financial Adviser"

Investment News - October 3, 2019 - "Schwab's next target? Financial advisers"

ETF Trends - October 2, 2019 - "E-Trade drops commissions on trades, joining Schwab, TD Ameritrade in brokerage fee war"

ThinkAdvisor - September 20, 2019 - "Kitces Addresses Concerns on XY Planning's Rapid Growth"

RiaBiz - September 16, 2019 - "How Michael Kitces' and Alan Moore's plan to sue the SEC on XY Planning's dime -- on behalf of all RIAs -- is a good business risk and a sign of possible FPA impotency"

Investment News - September 16, 2019 - "XY Planning Network firms wonder if group can support them long term"

Consumer Reports - September 2, 2019 - "Why Indexed Annuities May Promise More Than They Deliver"

Financial Advisor - September 1, 2019 - "When Subscription Fees Work"

Kiplinger - August 29, 2019 - "Live Well Without Running Out of Money in Retirement"

ThinkAdvisor - August 23, 2019 - "Why Wealthfront's Latest Deal Won't Impact Advisors"

New York Times - August 23, 2019 - "Your Long-Term Care Insurance Rate Spiked. Now What?"

Forbes - August 22, 2019 - "Triple Your FIRE Portfolio's Size By Using The 3.5% (Not 4%) Rule"

Wealth Management - August 22, 2019 - "Wealthfront Buying RIA, Facet Buying Clients"

RiaBiz - August 19, 2019 - "Abby Johnson set financial services on fire with a 1.91% 'cash' offer, drawing 'first blood' in an 'accelerating war of rates,' analyst says"

Financial Advisor - August 9, 2019 - "Do Men And Women Advisors Get Equal Pay For Equal Work?"

RiaBiz - August 8, 2019 - "Tim Hockey: 'As we all know, the environment that's facing our entire industry has gotten a little more interesting.'
Tim Hockey leaves baffled analysts (and everyone else) probing for answers to explain abrupt departure plan as TD Ameritrade CEO; It's about... nothing!"

AdvisorHub - August 7, 2019 - "Fidelity Stokes New-Account War, Offering 1.9% on Client Cash"

The Telegraph - August 5, 2019 - "Liz Weston: How to mess up a variable annuity"

RiaBiz - August 1, 2019 - "Charesse Hagan has agreed to be an on-call technology coach but not without the ability to pitch for paid gigs.
FPA keeps adding coaches to its pro-bono roster but quid pro quo makes the medicine go down as mom-and-pop consultants help mom-and-pop advisors"

Nasdaq - August 1, 2019 - "Building a Disruptive Innovation for Advisors"

Financial Planning - July 26, 2019 - "Considering subscription pricing? What you should know first"

Benefits Pro - July 12, 2019 - "Edelman Financial Engines lays first building block in bid to disrupt trillions in flows to IRAs"

RiaBiz - July 8, 2019 - "Vanguard hits back at Fidelity's loss-leader strategy by courting higher-margin businesses, like China and private equity, and axing low-margin ones like annuities--Wealth management franchises are next"

Kiplinger - July 3, 2019 - "States Step in to Boost 401(k) Savings"

Seeking Alpha - June 26, 2019 - "Retirees, Don't Say No When The Market Offers You A Nice Bonus"

Forbes - June 19, 2019 - "This One Easy Strategy Can Save Your Retirement From Disaster"

Financial Advisor - June 17, 2019 - "Kitces: Financial Planning Is No Longer Enough To Win Clients Over"

Investment News - June 17, 2019 - "Target-date fund design may be wrong for retirees"

City Wire - June 14, 2019 - "AUM fee model will survive, but there's a catch"

Financial Advisor - June 13, 2019 - "Strategies For Clients With Retirement Savings Shortfalls"

Investment News - June 13, 2019 - "4 strategies for Roth conversions"

Financial Advisor - June 13, 2019 - "Don't Like Annuities? You'll Like Them Even Less When Your Client Dies"

Barron's - June 7, 2019 - "A Road Map for More Retirement Income"

Investment News - June 4, 2019 - "Oranj and TradeWarrior battle moves beyond the courtroom"

Barron's - June 3, 2019 - "Worried You’re Going to Retire in a Bear Market? Here’s What to Do."

Investment News - May 28, 2019 - "SEC to tackle thorny topic: How much advice brokers can give without being an adviser"

Investment News - May 16, 2019 - "Michael Kitces says traditional retirement investment strategy is wrong"

Barron's - April 18, 2019 - "Michael Kitces: A Whirlwind in Advisor Land"

Financial Planning Magazine - April 17, 2019 - "FPA slows — and could halt — its chapter rollup initiative"

Professional Planner - April 17, 2019 - "Trust, confusion and disclosure: Kitces on US advice today"

City Wire - April 15, 2019 - "‘I was terrible at it’: Inside Michael Kitces’ journey from cold-calling flop to RIA guru"

RiaBiz - April 12, 2019 - "Commonwealth CEO Wayne Bloom brushes off rep pushback, spins off Advisor360 to sell formerly exclusive software and research to competitors"

RiaBiz - April 12, 2019 - "Schwab connected lawyer’s InvestmentNews column erupts like a sudden spring storm, roiling advisors, after firing a warning shot at RIAs without revealing connections"

Morningstar - April 9, 2019 - "Is There an Upside to Sequence of Return Risk?"

City Wire - April 9, 2019 - "Kitces: try charging a percentage of income for advice"

Bloomberg - April 8, 2019 - "Bigger 401(k) Contributions Are Easier for Empty Nesters"

401K Specialist - April 5, 2019 - "The NeverEnding Story—Reg BI and the Latest Fiduciary Folly"

Wall Street Journal - April 5, 2019 - "You Pay for Netflix and Spotify Monthly. What About Financial Planning?"

Investment News - March 29, 2019 - "Schwab moving to subscription fees could be watershed moment for advice industry"

ThinkAdvisor - March 28, 2019 - "Schwab Rolls Out Subscription-Based Financial Advice"

Advisor's Edge - March 25, 2019 - "Managing risk with the clock ticking"

RiaBiz - March 25, 2019 - "Josh Brown launches by-and-for RIA event, Wealth/Stack, in Arizona but can the super-blogger reform the bastion of intrusive sponsorship"

Wall Street Journal - March 21, 2019 - "WSJ Wealth Adviser Briefing: BlackRock Price Cuts, Green Real Estate, NYC Investor Club"

City Wire USA - March 20, 2019 - "Joe Duran and Michael Kitces team up for new 'unfiltered' podcast"

Barron's - March 19, 2019 - "Kitces: How Advisors Really Spend Their Time"

Investment News - March 14, 2019 - "Envestnet acquires MoneyGuide for $500 million"

The Globe and Mail - February 23, 2019 - "The new retirement challenge: What to do when things go right"

Money Management - February 21, 2019 - "Tech puts value of advice in question"

RiaBiz - February 4, 2019 - "Fidelity Investments takes another leap into the future, enlisting Amazon to turn advisors into virtual reality avatars, but some say it's pie-in-the-sky"

RiaBiz - January 26, 2019 - "Edelman and Carson mark end of era as 'last holdouts' to dump FINRA, but are they jumping from frying pan into fire of SEC scrutiny?"

Investment News - January 14, 2019 - "Factions emerge in OneFPA overhaul"

New York Times - January 7, 2019 - "How to Dodge a Market Dip That Threatens Your Retirement"

The Street - December 26, 2018 - "3 Pitfalls When Making Charity Donations From Your IRA"

Financial Advisor IQ - December 12, 2018 - "Five Big Trends Shaping the Industry"

San Francisco Chronicle - November 24, 2018 - "Here’s something most brokerage firms would rather you ignore"

RiaBiz - November 1, 2018 - "Schwab IMPACT hits speed bumps in its 27th year on the stage, in the kitchen, with long lines and in the hard questions RIAs asked"

Wealth Management - October 30, 2018 - "Free Financial Planning: Gimmick or Groundbreaking?"

Financial Advisor IQ - October 24, 2018 - "Kitces-Led Platform Bets on Regulatory Uncertainty for Fee-Only Advisors"

Financial Advisor IQ - October 23, 2018 - "Advisory Fees Could Be Under Fire From a Surprising Source"

Financial Advisor - October 17, 2018 - "Goals-Based Financial Planning Doesn’t Need to Be So Hard…Or Expensive"

Investment News - October 15, 2018 - "What Elon Musk can teach advisers about social media"

Morningstar - October 11, 2018 - "7 Smart Tax Maneuvers in a (Still-) Lofty Market"

MarketWatch - October 9, 2018 - "What is a ‘real interest rate’ and how does it affect retirees?"

Investment News - October 4, 2018 - "FPA welcomes conference attendees with #MeToo notice"

Wealth Management - October 4, 2018 - "Ten Essentials of Stellar Financial Advisor Websites"

RiaBiz - October 3, 2018 - "Michael Kitces reveals 'crazy goal' of on-boarding 10,000 advisors and, yes, it may cause 'culture' problems"

Wealth Management - October 1, 2018 - "Michael Kitces on the Biggest Opportunities, Oversold Ideas in Advice"

MarketWatch - September 19, 2018 - "Want a career change? Maybe you should become a certified financial planner"

The Street - September 15, 2018 - "How to Market Your Financial Firm on a Budget"

Investment News - September 15, 2018 - "SEC advice rule contains a huge hole"

Bankrate - September 12, 2018 - "Adding it up: Here’s how much Americans spend on financial vices"

RiaBiz - September 7, 2018 - "After dream of cloud-based PortfolioCenter falters, Schwab Advisor Services makes good by showering small RIAs and third-party software vendors with windfalls"

RiaBiz - September 6, 2018 - "As Principal takes RobustWealth reins, the looming question is whether it follows the Northwestern-LearnVest script, which had a depressing final scene"

Investment News - September 4, 2018 - "Apex will soon custody cryptocurrency assets"

RiaBiz - August 28, 2018 - "Twitter war pits Josh 'Downtown' Brown against Michael Kitces over hush-hush issue: Do RIA custodians face Merrill-Lynch style conflicts over advisor custody fees?"

MarketWatch - August 16, 2018 - "What you don’t know about sleep can save you money"

Morningstar - August 16, 2018 - "Could Your Long-Term Care Premiums Be Hiding in Plain Sight?"

ThinkAdvisor - August 16, 2018 - "At 34, and Top-Rated by Forbes, Merrill Advisor Forms His Own Wealth Firm"

MarketWatch - August 13, 2018 - "Give your money only to financial advisers who fit your needs, not theirs"

Investment News - August 9, 2018 - "Custodians ponder charging RIAs asset-based fees"

Financial Planning - August 6, 2018 - "When to show HNW clients the Roth IRA back door"

Kiplinger - August 1, 2018 - "Cutting the Tax Bill on Company Stock"

Financial Advisor - August 1, 2018 - "Kitces On Why The SEC's Best Interest Proposal Violates The '40 Act"

MarketWatch - July 31, 2018 - "Big changes to your 401(k) and IRA — and more retirement news"

Investment News - July 31, 2018 - "Climbing the digital mountain"

RiaBiz - July 31, 2018 - "The very millennial reason Shirl Penney snagged Merrill Lynch's 34 year-old Ayco-killer and his $1B team and why Focus Financial lost out"

Financial Planning - July 12, 2018 - "How outsourced investment strategies are reshaping wealth management"

Wall Street Journal - July 12, 2018 - "Behind on Retirement Savings? It’s Not Too Late to Catch Up"

RiaBiz - July 6, 2018 - "Taking the helm from famous founder, Jay Shah gets Personal Capital out of Vanguard's shadow with new shape, new deals and a 70% leap in assets"

Investment News - July 2, 2018 - "New digital Fidelity platform will let consulting firms bid for adviser projects"

CardRates - June 25, 2018 - "Things to Consider When Hiring a Financial Advisor — A Conversation with Financial Planning Expert Michael Kitces"

Financial Planning - June 19, 2018 - "LPL takes a shortcut to blockchain"

Financial Advisor - June 19, 2018 - "Please Pass The ‘Catch-Up’: Helping Your Clients Meet Their Retirement Goals"

PR Newswire - June 7, 2018 - "Investopedia Releases List of Most Influential US Financial Advisors"

USA Today - June 6, 2018 - "Social Security: Will I not get spousal benefits because of state retirement pension?"

US News - June 6, 2018 - "Why the 4 Percent Withdrawal Rate Is Obsolete"

Investment News - June 2, 2018 - "The legacy of the DOL fiduciary rule: Almost gone, but never forgotten"

Kiplinger - June 1, 2018 - "Follow QCD Rules to Make Your IRA Qualified Charitable Distributions Count"

RiaBiz - May 30, 2018 - "LPL Financial is latest to go the 'risk number' route by signing deal with LifeYield, which signed a Riskalyze deal in February"

PhillyNews - May 11, 2018 - "Vanguard's hybrid robo-advisor creates Amazon-like fear among competitors; Bogleheads say robo can be great training"

Mutual Fund Observer - May 9, 2018 - "Michael Kitces: 4 Ways To Mitigate The Impact Of RMDs"

MarketWatch - May 4, 2018 - "Don’t cheat yourself with the 4% rule"

Investment News - May 2, 2018 - "Advisers must align a client's portfolio with these 3 personal risk measures"

Financial Advisor - May 1, 2018 - "Emotion-Driven Planning Will Accelerate Soon"

ThinkAdvisor - May 1, 2018 - "2018 IA 25 RIA/Advisory Winners"

Morningstar - April 30, 2018 - "2 Ways to Upgrade Your 401(k) Without Leaving Your Job"

Wealth Management - April 27, 2018 - "Commentary: Fiduciary Duties Need to Include Non-Conflicted Investment Research"

LA Times - April 22, 2018 - "Don't run out of money in retirement: Here's how much to use per year, and why"

RiaBiz - April 9, 2018 - "What Tom Bradley's first post-TD Ameritrade gig says about him is interesting and his specific MaxMyInterest robo mission, more so"

Financial Advisor - April 6, 2018 - "Women Advisors Are Socially Savvier Than Men, But Report Gaining Less AUM"

Morningstar - April 6, 2018 - "Why Buy Annuities?"

Kiplinger - April 4, 2018 - "Find the Right Financial Advice at the Right Price"

Morningstar - April 1 2018 - "4 Reasons Roths Are Right for Younger Investors"

Investment News - March 31, 2018 - "Are annuities finally getting some respect?"

Financial Planning - March 28, 2018 - "What Wealthfront's reported valuation drop means for indie robo advisors"

Morningstar - March 27, 2018 - "Roth or Traditional: Keep the Decision Personal"

Wall Street Journal - March 25, 2018 - "Six Questions to Ask a Financial Adviser About Fees"

US News - March 20, 2018 - "A New Quagmire for Quarterly U.S. Taxpayers"

WRAL - March 19, 2018 - "Why reverse mortgages are a harder sell now"

CFA Institute - March 18, 2018 - "Time for Financial Professionals to Sharpen Their Saws"

Barron's - March 17, 2018 - "How to Curb the High Cost of Caregiving"

Wealth Management - March 9, 2018 - "The Markings of a True Destination RIA"

Professional Planner - February 28, 2018 - "Influential US adviser has praise, criticism for Australia"

Seeking Alpha - February 26, 2018 - "An Advisor's Advisor"

Wall Street Journal - February 22, 2018 - "Why Top-Earning Medicare Users Will Pay More Next Year"

Cuffelinks - February 22, 2018 - "Kitces Part 1: How robo misunderstood the advice model"

Morningstar - February 13, 2018 - "Should Your Clump Your Charitable Donations?"

RiaBiz - February 1, 2018 - "Tim Hockey goes to Florida with an RIA 'problem' that's not RIAs"

Think Advisor - February 1, 2018 - "CFPs Cry Foul Over Proposed 7-Step Planning Process"

RiaBiz - January 25, 2018 - "After PayPal demurs, Michael Kitces and Alan Moore launch online payments firm for RIAs"

Morningstar - January 22, 2018 - "How Empty-Nesters Can Play Retirement Catch-Up"

Investment News - January 17, 2018 - "TD Ameritrade finds momentum in its new model portfolio marketplace"

Think Advisor - January 16, 2018 - "Inside ETFs to Feature Mohamed El-Erian, Serena Williams"

Morningstar - January 9, 2018 - "Retirees: What You Should Watch in 2018"

RiaBiz - January 8, 2018 - "Vanguard's new CEO Tim Buckley hints the next move for his firm's RIA's 30-basis-point fee may be down, down, down"

Reverse Mortgage Daily - January 4, 2018 - "Two More Key Reverse Mortgage Tax Resources"

Think Advisor - January 2, 2018 - "The Ever-Evolving Financial Advisor"

Investment News - January 2, 2018 - "AdvisorEngine acquires Junxure CRM"

CNBC - January 1, 2018 - "8 books to help you become wealthier in 2018"

MarketWatch - December 22, 2017 - "I need a blockchain vacation’ — here’s what looks overhyped in fintech for 2018"

ETF - December 21, 2017 - "Kitces On Financial Advice’s Future"

Insurance News Net - December 19, 2017 - "Advisors Caution About Going Independent Under Tax Reform"

Morningstar - December 19, 2017 - "What the Tax Package Means for Your Financial Plan"

Barron's - December 19, 2017 - "Tax Bill is Sweet and Sour for Advisors"

New York Times - November 28, 2017 - "This Giving Tuesday, Here's How to Give"

Investment News - November 21, 2017 - "Wealth managers inundated with questions on Bitcoin"

ETF - November 17, 2017 - "How Advisors Can Compete With Vanguard"

Investment News - October 23, 2017 - "TD Ameritrade triples time before it charges fees on popular ETFs"

RiaBiz - October 9, 2017 - "The 2017 FPA conference lean heavily on a Michael Kitces, unimpressed with the group's 'silence' on the CFP Board"

Financial Planning - October 5, 2017 - "CFP Board rebuts criticism of fee increase"

Wealth Management - October 5, 2017 - "Editor's Letter: October 2017"

Financial Advisor - October 3, 2017 - "Voices Of Experience"

Money Magazine - September 21, 2017 - "How to Make Sure Your Money Lasts Through Your Retirement"

RiaBiz - September 18, 2017 - "Michael Kitces attacks CFP Board for jacking fees 17% in name of 'strategy' when the certificant is flush with $20 million in reserves"

Consumer Reports - August 31, 2017 - "Long-Term-Care Insurance Gets a Makeover"

Investment News - August 30, 2017 - "State-registered advisers face fee model inconsistencies"

The Hill - August 29, 2017 - "Our consumer financial watchdog misses the mark on Social Security"

MarketWatch - August 25, 2017 - "How to plan for health care in retirement without going broke"

Financial Observer - August 24, 2017 - "Advisers insourcing funds management"

Barron's - August 22, 2017 - "Fiduciary Fans Seek Clarity From CFP Board"

Investment News - August 11, 2017 - "How to fund a Social Security delay"

Barron's - August 11, 2017 - "How Much Are You Paying for Your Portfolio?"

Investopedia - July 10, 2017 - "The ETF 'Open Secret': They're a Tax Loophole"

Wall Street Journal - July 9, 2017 - "The ABCs (and T’s and Z’s) of the New Fiduciary Rule"

MarketWatch - June 29, 2017 - "These are the new standards that 75,000 Certified Financial Planners must follow"

Mic.com - June 29, 2017 - "9 smart things to buy as an investment in your future"

Wall Street Journal - June 28, 2017 - "How to Monitor Your Retirement Readiness"

Investment News - June 20, 2017 - "CFP Board's proposal to expand fiduciary duty draws praise, carries risks"

Wall Street Journal - June 16, 2017 - "Investment Blogs You Should be Reading"

Investment News - June 10, 2017 - "Finra CEO Robert Cook keeps low profile — for now"

Wall Street Journal - June 9, 2017 - "Beware of Winging Your Retirement"

MarketWatch - May 31, 2017 - "Opinion: One chart sums up how the timing of your stock-market returns changes your retirement nest egg"

Morningstar - May 11, 2017 - "What We Know for Sure About In-Retirement Withdrawal Rates"

The New York Times - May 8, 2017 - "Yes, Numbers Matter in Money Decisions, but So Do Emotions"

Reuters - May 4, 2017 - "Future of retirement planning belongs to the cyborgs"

LIMRA - May 4, 2017 - "LOMA Secure Retirement Institute"

Morningstar - May 4, 2017 - "How Much Cash Do You Really Need?"

RiaBiz - May 3, 2017 - "Jack Bogle's ICI grumbles and Kunal Kapoor's 'future' mode make Morningstar's 2017 conference sparkle with an uber relevance"

Morningstar - April 27, 2017 - "The Digital Age Changes Everything"

nextavenue - April 24, 2017 - "Why Boomers Shouldn’t Despair About Retirement"

Morningstar - April 23, 2017 - "Pulling Money From Your Roth IRA? Read This First"

Financial Planning - April 12, 2017 - "Personal Capital reverses course, raises account minimums to $100K again"

Barron's - April 4, 2017 - "Time to Bid 12b-1 Fees Adieu"

ASPPA News - March 30, 2017 - "Retirement Planning and the Hierarchy of Financial Priorities"

Los Angeles Times - March 26, 2017 - "The old magazine scam is alive and well. Here's how to fight back"

Money - March 6, 2017 - "Some People Have a Crazy Idea of What They Can Afford in Retirement"

Bloomberg - March 3, 2017 - "Think You’re Set for Retirement? Don’t Get Too Comfortable"

Wealth Management - February 21, 2017 - "Fiduciary Duty Can't Be Killed"

Barron's - February 21, 2017 - "Small RIA Custodians Work Their Niches"

MarketWatch - February 18, 2017 - "Plan for the inevitable: Why financial advisers need to think about succession"

Investment News - February 17, 2017 - "Small custodians compete for advisers with niche needs"

MarketWatch - February 8, 2017 - "After Trump’s fiduciary order, there’s concern — and some optimism"

RiaBiz - February 6, 2017 - "Rekindling old feud, Michael Kitces blasts Betterment, if civilly, for stealth price hike and other shortcomings"

The Washington Post - February 6, 2017 - "It’s too late for Trump to stop this financial rule"

San Francisco Chronicle - February 3, 2017 - "Trump’s fiduciary rule order could pose problem for investors"

Financial Planning - January 31, 2017 - "Betterment embraces hybrid robo advice"

Think Advisor - January 23, 2017 - "Kitces to Advisors: Don’t Fear Robos"

Star Tribune - January 21, 2017 - "You may not need as much money for retirement as you think"

Fortune - January 17, 2017 - "This Is the Real Reason Wall Street Should Fear the ‘Fiduciary Rule’"

USA Today - January 16, 2017 - "Investing apps can foil financial planning"

Investor's Business Daily - January 12, 2017 - "Some Financial Advisors' Pay Is About To Rise — Is Yours?"

Financial Advisor - December 28, 2016 - "Will Low Returns Destroy Retirement?"

ETF - December 28, 2016 - "What Are Advisors To Do About Robos?"

Squared Away - December 1, 2016 - "Retirees’ Tax Puzzle: Pay Now or Later?"

Wealth Management - November 28, 2016 - "The DOL’s Fiduciary Rule Brings More Surprises"

New York Times - November 10, 2016 - "What Money Experts Are Telling Clients After the Election"

ThinkAdvisor - November 9, 2016 - "Trump, GOP Could Torpedo DOL Rule, Dodd-Frank"

Bloomberg - November 9, 2016 - "Is Trump Going to Mess With Your Investments? Six Tips"

Morningstar - November 6, 2016 - "The One Portfolio Move To Make Before Year-End"

Forbes - November 1, 2016 - "Ratcheting Up Retirement Spending"

ebn - October 25, 2016 - "Views Roth 401(k), Pre-Tax 401(k) Or Both?

St. Louis Post Dispatch - October 21, 2016 - "Small Investors Catch A Break As Brokers Get Squeezed"

Morningstar - October 20, 2016 - "Tax-Gain Harvesting Can Be A Profitable Strategy"

Bloomberg - October 19, 2016 - "Blackrock, Schwab ETF War Alerts Retirement Advising"

New York Times - October 7, 2016 - "How to Improve Your Retirement Income if You Haven't Saved"

Money - October 6, 2016 - "Here's The Tipping Point When Health Replaces Money As Retirees Top Concern"

Market Watch - September 28, 2016 - "Is Your Tolerance For Risk Being Measured Correctly?"

Wealth Management - September 27, 2016 - "Betterment Adds Automated Asset Location Strategy"

Bloomberg - September 27, 2016 - "This Investing Robot Could Juice Your Returns By 15%"

Wealth Management - September 26, 2016 - "Are Reverse Mortgages On The Comeback Trail?"

Chicago Tribune - September 16, 2016 - "For Financial Advisers, Sussing Out Fear Moves To The Forefront"

CNBC - September 12, 2016 - "There's No Such Thing As Free Financial Advice"

Kiplinger - September 7, 2016 - "Ways Your Employer Can Help You Plan For Retirement"

Wall Street Journal - September 5, 2016 - "The Best Asset Mix Near Retirement"

Wealth Management - August 24, 2016 - "Why Is Betterment Partnering With Uber?

Nasdaq - August 19, 2016 - "So You've Got A Roth IRA...How Should You Invest It?"

Financial Planning - August 15, 2016 - "CFP Board Opens Up New Mandatory Arbitration To New Scrutiny"

ThinkAdvisor - August 12, 2016 - "CFP Board To Make Advisor Arbitration Results Public"

Bankrate - August 6, 2016 - "Early Retirement Age: Can You Retire At 62?"

Consumer Reports - July 28, 2016 - "How Robos Handle the "F" Word"

Investor's Business Daily - July 18, 2016 - "SEC's Proposed Rule On Continuity Plans Is Aimed At Protecting Investors"

Salon - July 18, 2016 - "Should You Save Enough To Live To 100?"

Star Tribune - July 18, 2016 - "Should You Save Enough To Live To 100?"

Forbes - July 14, 2016 - "Why Retirees Aren't Running Out Of Money"

Market Watch - July 13, 2016 - "How Saving Too Much Can Make Your Retirement Less Satisfying"

Newsmax Finance - July 12, 2016 - "Retirement Spending Plans Are As Important As Investment Growth"

Bloomberg - July 12, 2016 - "The Richest Generation in US History Just Keeps Getting Richer"

Wealth Management - July 7, 2016 - "Will Tech Ease the DoL Burden?"

Financial Planning - June 29, 2016 - "After Trading Halt, Betterment Suffers Its Own Brexit Shock"

Wealth Management - June 28, 2016 - "New SEC Proposal Will Force Advisors To Plan For Succession"

Financial Planning - June 28, 2016 - "When Tax-Loss Harvesting Isn't The Best Idea"

Bloomberg - June 24, 2016 - "Investors Scared of Brexit: This Is What To Do Now"

Nasdaq - June 24, 2016 - "Meet Your New Robo Advisor, Disguised As Your Old Money Manager"

Bloomberg - June 23, 2016 - "Do You Pass the Financial Stress Test?"

The Motley Fool - June 21, 2016 - "Simple Financial Advice for New Grads"

Bloomberg - June 20, 2016 - "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Investors"

Chicago Tribune - June 12, 2016 - "Your investment behavior could be costing you a fortune"

Financial Planning - June 8, 2016 - "Kitces: Tech Trend Will Lead Advisers Into Niche Practices"

Kiplinger - June 7, 2016 - "How To Build The Right Mix Of Investments In Retirement"

Vox Personal Finance - June 6, 2016 - "The Sneaky But Probably Legal Way Rich People Shield Retirement Savings From Taxes"

The News Tribune - June 5, 2016 - "How Much Do You Need For Retirement"

Morningstar - June 2, 2016 - "Investing a Lofty Cash Stake in a Lofty Market"

Morningstar - May 26, 2016 - "Fresh Approaches to Paying for Long-Term Care"

Investment News - May 24, 2016 - "CFP Board Halts Program to Tack Donation onto Certification Dues to Fund its New Center"

CNBC - May 23, 2016 - "5 Crucial Retirement Years For Your Money"

Philly.com - May 15, 2016 - "What Robo-Advisers Miss For Investors"

Wealth Management Today - May 10, 2016 - "3 Secrets of Portfolio Rebalancing by Michael Kitces"

USA Today - May 4, 2016 - "Commission vs Fee: How To Pick A Financial Adviser Right For You"

CNN Money - April 20, 2016 - "Should you follow the 4% retirement rule"

Forbes - April 19, 2016 - "The 4% Rule And The Search For A Safe Withdrawal Rate"

Investment News - April 18, 2016 - "Annually rebalancing client portfolios hurts performance: Pinnacle's Michael Kitces"

BenefitsPro - April 17, 2016 - "Robo-advisors: The coming wave in the financial industry"

Barron's - April 16, 2016 - "Why Your Advisor Doesn't Like The Fiduciary Rule"

ThinkAdvisor - April 13, 2016 - "LPL Going Robo With BlackRock's FutureAdvisor"

Marketwatch - April 11, 2016 - "Time's up: Millions of Americans are about to lose Social Security benefits"

Senior Housing News - April 11, 2016 - "Nontraded REITs Must Survive on 'Merit' Under Fiduciary Rule"

Investment News - April 5, 2016 - "Crawling Up The Wealth Management Pyramid"

RIABiz - April 4, 2016 - "What To Make Of Peter Mallouk's Sweeping Deal With Tony Robbins -- And Where The Unlikely Pairing Goes From Here"

Financial Times - March 30, 2016 - "How Social Media Helps Financial Advisors Woo Clients"

San Francisco Chronicle - March 16, 2016 - "Answers to questions on Social Security 'file and suspend'"

Bloomberg - March 14, 2016 - "Breaking Up Is Hell. Especially With Your Financial Adviser"

Morningstar - March 10, 2016 - "Last-Minute IRA Contributors: 10 Mistakes To Avoid"

Money - March 9, 2016 - "Digging Deaper Into the Best Retirement Withdrawal Strategies"

401(k)Specialist - March 1, 2016 - "Why 401(k) and Social Security Coordination Is Critically Important"

Seeking Alpha - February 25, 2016 - "Senate Report: Fiduciary Rule Puts Retirees, Advisors, and Broker-Dealers All On The Same Chopping Block"

Marketwatch - February 24, 2016 - "Planning For The Obama Administration's New And Not-So-New Retirement Plan Laws"

Morningstar - February 14, 2016 - "Are Changes to Retirement Plans Afoot?"

Forbes - February 10, 2016 - "Is The Self-Driving Car In Your 401(k) Setting Your Portfolio Up For A Crash?"

Wall Street Journal - February 10, 2016 - "Obama Budget Would Curb Some Popular Strategies"

International Business Times - February 10, 2016 - "Market Turmoil: Roth IRA Conversion Can Turn Portfolio Losses Into Tax Savings With This Strategy"

Financial Planning - February 9, 2016 - "Nearing Milestone, Network for Young Advisors Mines 'Untapped Market'"

Wealth Management - February 4, 2016 - "Why Less Is The New More"

BenefitsPro - February 3, 2016 - "The Roth Conversion Calculus For Retirees"

ThinkAdvisor - February 1, 2016 - "Wirehouses Gear Up On The Tech Frontier"

Morningstar - January 31, 2016 - "The Best Resources For Retirement Planning: Reader Favorites"

New York Times - January 29, 2016 - "Annuities as an Alternative to Shakey Markets? Not So Fast"

Financial Advisor - January 21, 2016 - "Adhering To Ethics Code No Longer Required For FPA Members"

Investment News - January 21, 2016 - "Longevity Annuities Better Deal Than Bonds, Immediate Annuities, But Lag Equities"

The Fiscal Times - January 21, 2016 - "Finally, A Reliable Path For Retirees To Donate To Charity"

Nerd Wallet - January 15, 2016 - "The High Cost Of Claiming Your Powerball Jackpot"

Wall Street Journal - January 7, 2016 - "529 Plans Open Doors To to Disabled From Any State"

Chicago Tribune - December 29, 2015 - "Your Birth Date Affects How Social Security Change Affects You"

Fox Business - December 24, 2015 - "Medicare Increases for 2016 - What Seniors Should Do"

Marketwatch - December 21, 2015 - "New Social Security Strategies For Couples"

Wall Street Journal - December 11, 2015 - "Robo Advisers Seen Exploding in Popularity"

Morningstar - December 7, 2015 - "Fighting Inflation in Retirement"

Fiscal Times - December 7, 2015 - "Five Apps to Organize Your Financial Life"

New York Times - December 4, 2015 - "The End of Social Security Loopholes: What Now?"

Wall Street Journal - December 2, 2015 - "Who Really Is A 'Fee-Only' Financial Advisor?"

Wealth Management - December 1, 2015 - "Old-Fashioned Exams"

Market Watch - November 24, 2015 - "Why Investors Should Approach Robo Advisers With Caution"

The Motley Fool - November 22, 2015 - "The Real Threat to Your Retirement Portfolio - It's Not What You Think!"

New York Times - November 16, 2015 - "AR Capital to Stop Creating Nontraded REITs"

Chicago Tribune - November 3, 2015 - "The Budget Bill's Impact on Social Security Benefits"

The Fiscal Times - November 2, 2015 - "Retirees Get Big Lessons On Loopholes From Budget Deal"

Next Avenue - November 2, 2015 - "You May Have Just Lost A Way To Max Social Security Benefits"

Forbes - November 2, 2015 - "Relief on Medicare Premiums, But You May Have Just Lost A Way To Max Social Security Benefits

San Francisco Chronicle - November 2, 2015 - "Budget Law Kills 'File And Suspend" Strategy For Singles, Too"

New York Times - October 30, 2015 - "Rarely Used Social Security Loopholes, Worth Thousands of Dollars, Closed"

Slate - October 30, 2015 - "The Budget Deal Closed a Social Security Loophole"

San Francisco Chronicle - October 29, 2015 - "Federal Budget Bill Would Kill Social Security Loopholes"

USA Today - October 29, 2015 - "Lawmakers Put Kibosh on Social Security Benefit-Boosting Strategies"

RiaBiz - October 29, 2015 - "Morningstar Report Suggests Jiu-Jitsu Tactic for Buying Annuities: Game Them Right Back By Waiting"

Wall Street Journal - October 28, 2015 - "Budget Deal Ends Key Social Security Claim Strategies"

San Francisco Chronicle - October 26, 2015 - "Congress Nearing Partial Fix For Medicare Part B Fee Increase"

CNBC - October 19, 2015 - "Is the Future For Robo-Advisors Bright...Or A Bust?"

USA Today - October 8, 2015 - "Medicare Part B Premiums Rise to Rise 52% For 72 Million Enrollees"

Kiplinger - October 1, 2015 - "A Trick to Saving For Retirement If You Earn Too Much"

Kiplinger - October 1, 2015 - "Make Your Money Last A Lifetime"

Marketwatch - September 29, 2015 - "What Retirees Should Be Asking About QLACs"

Financial Advisor - September 28, 2015 - "Michael Kitces Trades Jabs With Leading Robo-Advisor"

Chicago Tribune - September 16, 2015 - "Retirement: Investing For The Long Haul"

Chicago Tribune - September 1, 2015 - "Obscure Rule May Hike Medicare Premiums For Some"

ThinkAdvisor - August 31, 2015 - "Should Advisors Change How They Charge?"

Reuters - August 27, 2015 - "Young Workers In Target-Date Funds Hit Hard By Market Drop"

Wall Street Journal - August 26, 2015 - "Got Losses? A Tax Break Could Soothe the Pain"

401(k) Specialist - August 24, 2015 - "Why the Time is Right for Rollovers"

Professional Planner - August 21, 2015 - "Strategies to Reduce Retirement Income Uncertainty Amid Market Volatility"

Consumer Reports - August 20, 2015 - "4 Tax-Smart RMD Strategies: How to Save When Making Required Minimum Distributions From Retirement Accounts"

Financial Planning - August 19, 2015 - "In Wealth Management, Big Data Means Big Deals"

Financial Advisor - August 13, 2015 - "Kitces Goes from Paraplanner to Advice-Industry Spokesman"

San Francisco Chronicle - July 29, 2015 - "How to Find an Unbiased Financial Adviser"

Financial Planning - July 24, 2015 - "Dispelling Reverse Mortgage Myths"

Benefits Pro - July 24, 2015 - "RIA Sees Emerging Conflict of Interest For Fee-Only Advisors"

AARP - July 24, 2015 - "2016 Social Security COLA? Don't Bet On It"

Bloomberg Business - July 22, 2015 - "Millennials Have a Ton of Stock. They Just Don't Know It"

Bloomberg Business - July 8, 2015 - "Watch an Elite Financial Adviser Hack His Own Retirement"

NPR - July 8, 2015 - "Fact Check: 36 Percent Or Not? Inside Jeb Bush's Tax Math"

Kansas City Star - July 6, 2015 - "The Journey: Taking a Look at Longevity Annuities in Retirement"

The Motley Fool - June 21, 2015 - "Social Security: Why the 8% "Return" Myth Shouldn't Make You Wait To Retire"

Financial Planning - June 15, 2015 - "The Advisor With A "275M Firm and a Software Startup"

Financial Planning - June 9, 2015 - "It's Not About Timing: IRS on Backdoor Roth Conversions"

Wall Street Journal - June 9, 2015 - "Why a Big Raise Today Can Cause Problems Tomorrow"

Reuters - June 5, 2015 - "Reverse Mortgages Worth A Look, If Approached With Caution"

RiaBiz - June 4, 2015 - "Michael Kitces Attacks CNBC For Its Top-100 Fee-Only List Because So Many Listed RIAs Disclose Non-Fee Comp on Their ADVs"

Wall Street Journal - May 31, 2015 - "A Better Way to Tap Your Retirement Savings"

CheatSheet - May 19, 2015 - "5 Easy Ways to Save Enough Money For Retirement"

Bloomberg - May 18, 2015 - "Will You Be Able to Work in Retirement?"

Marketwatch - May 18, 2015 - "Here's the Advice You Get From Vanguard's New Robot-Human Hybrid"

New York Times - May 15, 2015 - "Why Stocks Belong in a Retirement Portfolio"

Marketwatch - May 8, 2015 - "Here's Another Sign That Rock-Star Fund Managers May Be An Endangered Species"

Marketwatch - May 7, 2015 - "How To Save For College In The Age Of Ultron"

Time Money - May 4, 2015 - "Do You Really Need A Long-Term Care Plan?"

Chicago Tribune - May 4, 2015 - "Is An Online Investment Advisory Service Right For You?"

Marketwatch - May 2, 2015 - "Can You Tell A Human Financial Adviser From A Robot?"

Kiplinger - May 1, 2015 - "4 Secrets To Buying Long-Term Care Insurance"

Financial Planning - April 29, 2015 - "Apple Watch Financial Apps: Too Soon?"

CNBC - April 17, 2015 - "Robo Firms Gaining Traction With Traditional Advisors"

New York Times - April 3, 2015 - "Why Paying For Financial Advice Makes Sense"

YahooFinance - April 2, 3015 - "The Battle of the Robo-Advisers Heats Up"

Kiplinger - April 1, 2015 - "Be Wary of "Senior" Experts"

Financial Advisor - April 1, 2015 - "The Long And Short Of It"

Time Money - March 31, 2015 - "Would You Trust Your Retirement To A Machine?"

Reuters - March 30, 2015 - "Three Tax Mistakes Even Smart People Make"

Wall Street Journal - March 27, 2015 - "The Investing Lesson of 1937: Hold Some Cash"

Investment News - March 26, 2015 - "Top 10 Adviser Marketing Myths"

US News - March 25, 2015 - "How Much Cash is Too Much Cash for Your Portfolio?"

Time Money - March 24, 2015 - "The Secrets to Making a $1 Million Retirement Stash Last"

Wall Street Journal - March 15, 2015 - "How to Fund a Roth IRA Through a Standard 401(k)"

Morningstar - March 11, 2015 - "Aftertax 401(k) Contributions Get More Attractive"

Morningstar - March 11, 2015 - "Retirement Planning in Overhauled Markets"

Bankrate - March 4, 2015 - "Take on the 52-Week Money Challenge"

Fiduciary News - March 3, 2015 - "The Best Way Plan Sponsors Should Pay Fees for 401k Fiduciary Advice"

CNBC - March 2, 2015 - "Robo-Advisors Have Yet To Prove Their Worth: Analysts"

RiaBiz - March 1, 2015 - "After Famous Twitter Feud, Jon Stein and Michael Kitces Make Up and Join Forces"

ThinkAdvisor - February 27, 2015 - "XY Planning Brings Betterment Institutional to Next-Gen Clients"

New York Times - February 27, 2015 - "Making Money Decisions When You Lose Your Job"

YahooFinance - February 25, 2015 - "Make Your Retirement Savings Last a Lifetime"

Investment News - February 24, 2015 - "Labor Department Rankles Advisers with Quick Video on Fiduciary"

Time Money - February 20, 2015 - "5 Ways to Invest Smarter at Any Age"

New York Times - February 19, 2015 - "Long-Term Care Insurance: Costs Are Up but Vary Widely"

Radical Personal Finance - February 17, 2015 - "The Massive Impact of Conferences on Personal Career and Income: Interview with Michael Kitces"

Wall Street Journal - February 17, 2015 - "Reaching Out to Clients' Children Worth the Effort?"

Think Advisor - February 17, 2015 - "Advisory Firms Enter Robo Race"

Fox Business - February 16, 2015 - "How to Avoid Running Out of Money in Retirement"

Wall Street Journal - February 15, 2015 - "Investors Snap Up Online Financial Advisers"

RiaBiz - February 11, 2015 - "What to Make of Fidelity Investments Paying $250 Million Out of the Blue For eMoney"

Wall Street Journal - February 1, 2015 - "Mini-Bonds: More Fun, More Risk"

Morningstar - February 1, 2015 - "Should You Make Aftertax Contributions to Your 401(k)?"

Wall Street Journal - February 1, 2015 - "Cash or Credit? Paying for Big Purchases"

Wall Street Journal - January 26, 2015 - "A Way to Fix Long-Term Care Insurance?"

Investment News - January 21, 2015 - "No More Face-to-Face Meetings"

Wall Street Journal - January 11, 2015 - "A New Savings Plan For The Disabled"

Think Advisor - December 31, 2014 - "6 Top Tax Changes for 2015"

Think Advisor - December 29, 2014 - "XY Planning Makes RIA Compliance Package Free for Members"

Knoxnews - December 27, 2014 - "Paul Fain: Advice From Around The Country for 2015"

CNBC - December 22, 2014 - "How Harvesting Losses Reaps Tax Savings"

Retirement Revised - December 19, 2014 - "Charitable IRA makes a last-minute comeback for 2014"

Bloomberg - December 17, 2014 - "Doing the Charitable Calculus: How to Give - and Get, Too"

ETF.com - December 17, 2014 - "How Investors Win By Being Just Average"

CNBC - December 4, 2014 - "Build An Investment Portfolio, One Dime At A Time"

LifeHealthPro - December 2, 2014 - "DIAs & QLACs: What the New Treasury Regulations Mean For Advisors"

Wall Street Journal - November 30, 2014 - "How To Think About Risk In Retirement"

Wall Street Journal - November 23, 2014 - "How Stocks Test Young Investors"

Yahoo! Finance - November 17, 2014 - "Should You Invest In More Risk As You Age?"

Investors.com - October 31, 2014 - "6 Steps to Help Financial Advisers Win Clients' Trust"

Wall Street Journal - October 27, 2014 - "How To Pump Up a Roth IRA"

US News & World Report - October 27, 2014 - "Financial Advisors vs. Robo-Advisors: Which Is Right For You?"

CNBC - October 27, 2014 - "Weighing the Pros and Cons of Annual Tax-Loss Harvesting"

Financial Planning - October 20, 2014 - "New Job Board for Independent Firms Launched"

Time Money - October 16, 2014 - "The Conventional Money Wisdom That Millennials Should Ignore"

Yahoo! Finance - October 14, 2014 - "When Switching to ETFs from Mutual Funds Make Sense"

The Globe & Mail - October 5, 2014 - "Playing Defense: Two Ways to Plan for Retirement"

Washington Post - September 29, 2014 - "How to Stay on Point with Target-Date Funds"

Wall Street Journal - September 26, 2014 - "The Roth-IRA Math for 50-Somethings"

Forbes - September 26, 2014 - "7 Steps to Stock Investing Without Too Much Risk"

CNBC - September 23, 2014 - "Focusing on Niches Adds Value, Fuels Returns"

Living On The Cheap - September 18, 2014 - "When To Claim Social Security"

Bankrate - September 17, 2014 - "File And Suspend Is Your Friend"

The Globe & Mail - September 9, 2014 - "Can You Live Better In Retirement Than Conventional Wisdom Suggests?"

Wall Street Journal - September 7, 2014 - "Beware Leaving a Roth for Heirs"

Dallas News - September 5, 2014 - "Human vs Machine: Which Financial Adviser To Choose?"

Bankrate - September 3, 2014 - "New IRA Rules That Close Up Some Loopholes"

Wall Street Journal - September 2, 2014 - "Can Your Financial Advisor Solve Your Retirement Puzzle?"

CNBC - September 2, 2014 - "Niche Knack: Looking To Grow, Advisors Start To Specialize"

Think Advisor - August 25, 2014 - "The Freewheeling Life of the Virtual Advisor"

Think Advisor - August 25, 2014 - "TD Ameritrade Fee Rebates: A Win or a Loss for Investors, Advisors?"

Wall Street Journal - August 23, 2014 - "Insurance Against Outliving Your Retirement Savings"

Professional Planner - August 20, 2014 - "Introducing Financial Planning 'Finology' - Where Investing Meets Investors"

Financial Standard - August 19, 2014 - "Licensees Must Be More Open To Social Media: AFA"

Wall Street Journal - August 16, 2014 - "Hate Earning No Interest? Here's Why Cash Isn't Trash"

The Globe & Mail - August 8, 2014 - "Three Retirement Strategies For A Low-Yield World"

US News & World Report - August 8, 2014 - "To Claim Or Not To Claim: When Should You Take Social Security?"

Bankrate - August 1, 2014 - "Turning On The Retirement Income Spigot"

Bankrate - July 23, 2014 - "Longevity Annuities for Retirees"

Morningstar - July 20, 2014 - "Should You Add Longevity Protection to Your Retirement Plan?"

Money Magazine - July 10, 2014 - "3 Ways to Make Your Money Last As Long As You Do"

Wall Street Journal - July 6, 2014 - "Essential Financial Steps for Young Workers"

Financial Advisor IQ - July 2, 2014 - "A Business Model Designed for Young Advisors"

Think Advisor - July 1, 2014 - "Kitces' NPR Announces First CFP Exam Scholarship Winners"

Financial Advisor IQ - June 26, 2014 - "Is Monthly Billing the Key to Young Clients' Hearts?"

Financial Advisor - June 24, 2014 - "NAPFA, XY Planning Network Team Up To Help Gen X And Y Advisors"

Investment News - June 23, 2014 - "40 Under 40 Profile"

Wealth Management - June 19, 2014 - "Where's the Real Money? In Delaying Social Security"

Financial Advisor IQ - June 17, 2014 - "Online Referral Services Under Microscope"

MarketWatch - June 17, 2014 - "Retirement: Is the 4% Solution Right For You?"

RIABiz - June 15, 2014 - "Thoughts on Robo-Advisors Served Cold"

Morningstar - June 11, 2014 - "Don't Let Your Standard of Living Outrun Your Savings"

Yahoo Finance - June 6, 2014 - "11 Best Financial Calculators for Millennials"

CNBC - June 3, 2014 - "Buffeted By Winds Of Change, Firms Rethink Strategies, Cast Wider Nets"

Yahoo Finance - June 2, 2014 - "Is It Smart To Sell Mutual Funds and Buy ETFs?"

CNBC - May 27, 2014 - "Technology to Spark Big Changes in Financial Services"

Investment News - May 14, 2014 - "What's an Alternative Investment, Anyway?"

New York Times - May 14, 2014 - "Playing Catch-Up While Retirement Remains Far Off"

Investment News - May 11, 2014 - "Delaying Social Security Can Outperform Investment Returns"

The Wall Street Journal - May 4, 2014 - "At Age 50, 'Senior' Benefits Begin for IRAs and 401(k)s for Retirement"

The Wall Street Journal - May 4, 2014 - "'Hybrid' Long-Term Care Policies: How to Tell If They're Right for You"

Morningstar - May 4, 2014 - "Why Adding To Stocks In Retirement Is A Good Idea"

Yahoo! Finance - May 2, 2014 - "Your Practice: Why financial advisers should choose a niche"

USA Today - May 2, 2014 - "Investing: When to take Social Security payments"

Bankrate - May 1, 2014 - "Should I Try A Digital Financial Adviser?"

Bottom Line Publications - May 1, 2014 - "Daring Strategy to Protect Your Nest Egg"

CNBC - April 30, 2014 - "Exit strategy: Why retirees need a withdrawal policy statement"

Research Magazine - April 28, 2014 - "Honing the Advisor's Tech Edge"

Investor Advisor Magazine - April 28, 2014 - "The IA 25 for 2014"

The Wall Street Journal - April 25, 2014 - "Does Switching to a Roth 401(k) Make Sense?"

Reuters - April 24, 2014 - "Why the IRS wants you to watch your IRA rollovers"

Financial Advisor - April 24, 2014 - "Five Easy-To-Use Tech Tools For Advisors"

AdvisorWebsites - April 23, 2014 - "Integrating Technology Into Your Advisory Firm"

CNN Money - April 23, 2014 - "Ready to start saving? Here's how to do it right"

Wall Street Journal - April 13, 2014 - "Mistakes to Avoid When Shopping for Long-Term Care Insurance"

New York Times - April 11, 2014 - "Financial Advice for People Who Aren't Rich"

Morningstar - April 5, 2014 - "Traditional or Roth IRA? 4 Things to Look At"

Wealth Management - April 4, 2014 - "XY Planning Network Opens for Young Advisors"

jeffbullas.com - April 2, 2014 - "The Social Media Marketing Secrets of Smart Savvy Bloggers"

Kiplinger - April 1, 2014 - "Boost Your After-Tax Investment Returns"

Investment Executive - April 1, 2014 - "Convention Wisdom"

American Association of Individual Investors - April 1, 2014 - "Reduce Stock Exposure in Retirement, or Gradually Increase It?"

CNBC.com - March 30, 2014 - "Are you a stock or a bond in life?"

Financial Planning - March 27, 2014 - "New Kitces Network to Target Planners for Gen X & Y"

Financial Times - March 25, 2014 - "Advisers Cautious About Social Media"

MSN Money - March 19, 2014 - "Where to save after maxing out your 401k and Roth IRA"

MSN Money - March 17, 2014 - "Do target-date funds have it backward?"

Morningstar - March 12, 2014 - "Key Factors in the IRA Debate"

Yahoo! Finance - March 7, 2014 - "Your Practice - The Rise and Rise of the Virtual Financial Adviser"

Financial Planning - March 1, 2014 - "Persuade Clients to Do the Right Thing"

CNN Money - February 28, 2014 - "Plan for the critical first decade of retirement"

The Street - February 28, 2014 - "Are Target-Date Retirement Funds Doing Things Backward?"

Detroit Free Press - February 22, 2014 - "Do you have 'financial advisor anxiety'? Get over it"

Dave Terpening Insurance Agency, Inc. - February 12, 2014 - "Nickels and Dimes: Budgeting for Healthcare"

The New York Times - February 10, 2014 - "Sites to Manage Personal Wealth Gaining Ground"

LA Times - February 9, 2014 - "Financial Pointers for the 99%"

The New York Times - February 7, 2014 - "Minimizing the Tax Drag on Your Investments"

Reuters - February 6, 2014 - "How Obamacare is creating new pathways to retirement"

Investment News - February 6, 2014 - "New CFP Board chairman stands firm on fee-only definition, sets goals for group's growth"

Investment News - February 6, 2014 - "Kitces, Wealthfront trade punches over online tax-loss-harvesting feature"

The Reverse Review - February 1, 2014 - "Spotlight: Breaking Down the Barriers"

The Wall Street Journal - February 2, 2014 - "More Answers to IRA Questions"

Bloomberg Personal Finance - January 29, 2014 - "There's Something About MyRA"

New York Magazine - January 29, 2014 - "Did President Obama's "MyRA" Proposal Just Solve Two Huge Problems With Retirement Saving?"

Asklizweston.com - January 28, 2014 - "Reverse Mortgages: No Longer A Last Resort?"

Financial Planning - January 27, 2014 - "Judge Rules Against CFP Board in Camardas Lawsuit"

Star Tribune - January 25, 2014 - "A Wealth of Options For Money Advice"

ThinkAdvisor.com - January 17, 2014 - "Did CFP Board Shorten Exams to Lure Certificants?"

RIABiz.com - January 14, 2014 - "The RIABiz top 10 Industry Blogs -- and which bloggers they recommend"

Betterment - January 14, 2014 - "Where Will You Get Your Financial Advice in the Future?"

Investment News - January 14, 2014 - "Robo-advisor Wealthfront grows, but is it mainstream or just a niche?"

The Wall Street Journal - January 12, 2014 - "What You Know About Retirement Investing Is Wrong"

The Wall Street Journal - January 9, 2014 - "Fund Investors, Don't Forget Embedded Gains (and Losses)

AARP - January 1, 2014 - "Securing Income for Life"

CNN.com - January 1, 2014 - "How Much Should You Hold In Stocks?"

ThinkAdvisor.com - January 1, 2014 - "Is Cash Value Life Insurance Disappearing?"

Journal of Financial Planning - January 1, 2014 - "Reducing Retirement Risk with a Rising Equity Glide Path"

Weekend Reading for Financial Planners (Dec 21-22)

December 20, 2013 03:01 pm 0 Comments CATEGORY: Weekend Reading

Enjoy the current installment of "weekend reading for financial planners" - this week's reading kicks off with some of the latest industry news, including a new filing from the CFP Board in its lawsuit with the Camardas asking the court to either throw out the lawsuit or at least narrow the scope of the Camardas' information requests as being a "fishing expedition" (if the court declines the motion, depositions of key CFP Board staff members will begin in the coming weeks); there's also an interesting announcement from Schwab that they will begin rebating the last quarter's worth of fees for any unhappy advisory clients (will other financial advisors feel compelled to match the offer for their own clientele?), and an interesting study from TIAA-CREF suggesting that Gen Y may actually be even more receptive to financial advice and willing to change their behavior than baby boomers.

From there, we have a number of "trends and predictions" articles that are so common towards the end of the year, including a white paper about "transformations" that broker-dealers must make to survive and be competitive as the differences between B/Ds and RIAs continue to blur with the movement towards AUM business models, a look at some of the big regulatory changes coming in 2014 (beyond just fiduciary and harmonization, look for increased focus on protecting clients from identity theft and business continuity plans for advisory firms), some of the biggest tech trends coming for advisors (big focus on the cloud and software integrations), and a broader look at four 4 trends that will impact advisors for many years to come (from demographics to technology and more).

We also have a few more technical articles this week, including a discussion from actuary Joe Tomlinson on some of the latest research debates on the best asset location strategies, an interesting (and high quality) analysis of some of the flaws in the Shiller P/E10 ratio and how to fix them, and a broad look at how estate planning is changing in a world of 'permanent' exemptions that have removed most clients from the reach of Federal estate taxes (shifting the focus to income tax planning, step-up in basis opportunities, and asset protection).

We wrap up with three interesting articles: the first discusses the recent acquisition of David Loeper's Wealthcare Capital and their Financeware financial planning software by a private equity firm, which is notable not just because they are investing into growing the company, but because they may also try to re-assert Loeper's patents related to financial planning (which some have gone so far as to call a risk to all financial advisors); the second is an article looking at the challenges that average Americans have with trying to save, and how it may be less a matter of their attention span or focus and more than the sheer urgency of spending interruptions prevents them from ever focusing on the less-urgent-but-still-important financial goals; and the last is an interview with indexing legend John Bogle, who suggests that the ETF industry has taken indexing "too far" and that he wouldn't advocate investing in almost 97% of today's ETFs! Enjoy the reading!

Weekend Reading for Financial Planners (Nov 30-Dec 1)

November 29, 2013 02:03 pm 5 Comments CATEGORY: Weekend Reading

Enjoy the current installment of "weekend reading for financial planners" - this week's reading kicks off with some interesting regulatory articles, including the big announcement late last week of an SEC panel encouraging the regulator to move forward with RIA user fees to fund better oversight and to adopt a uniform fiduciary standard for investment advisers and brokers, along with a discussion of whether the SEC's fiduciary rulemaking may ultimately result in two kinds of fiduciaries, and an interesting look at how recent regulatory recent in the UK that took effect at the beginning of the year has already resulted in a 20% drop in the number of advisors (but mostly concentrated in large institutions that may have been the most commission-centric in the first place).

From there, we have a long array of technical financial planning articles this week, including: a recent court case supporting the use of Medicaid-compliant annuities when trying to qualify one member of a couple for Medicaid; an overview of the recent research on more dynamic retirement income/withdrawal strategies; research looking at what the optimal timing for annuitization might be (hint: annuitizing a significant portion later is about as efficient as annuitizing at the start of retirement, especially when balanced amongst competing longevity/liquidity/bequest goals); a fresh look the so-called "annuity puzzle" (if annuities as so economically optimal, why don't more people buy them?); and a Journal of Financial Planning study suggesting that making asset location decisions should be done based on a client's "after-tax" asset allocation (which yields some different results than the 'traditional' approach!).

There are also a pair of practice management/industry articles this week: the first looks at how financial planning programs are struggling to mint quality new financial planners fast enough to meet the demand; and the second looks at how potential changes to Facebook business pages may be a dealbreaker for financial advisors trying to use the social media platform for business.

We wrap up with two interesting articles: the first looks at how the primary reason why prospective clients resist financial planning may have less to do with the trustworthiness and competence of the planner and more to do with the simple fact that people are hard-wired to behave consistently with their prior actions (even if that means sticking with a failing strategy); and the second looks at how smartphone-enabled savings tools may have the potential to help bridge the country's retirement crisis by making it as easy to save as it is to spend. Enjoy the reading!