It's Memorial Day once again, which means the busy spring conference season is coming to an end, and it's time for the annual summer slowdown for most advisory firms - as clients begin to go on summer vacations and it's harder to schedule them for meetings, advisors have some time to relax with family themselves... and catch up on the reading list.
As an avid reader myself, I'm always eager to hear suggestions of great books to read, whether it's something new that's just come out, or an "old classic" that I should go back and read (again or for the first time!). So in the spirit of sharing, a few years ago I launched my list of the "Top Books for Financial Advisors to Read", and it was so well received that in 2013 I also started sharing my annual "Summer Reading List" for financial advisors of the best books I'd read in the preceding year. It quickly became a perennial favorite on Nerd's Eye View, and so I've updated it every year, with a new list of books in 2014 and yet another fresh round of suggestions again in 2015.
And so continuing the trend, I'm now excited to share my latest 2016 Summer Reading list for financial advisors, with suggestions on books about everything from how to improve your personal and business focus, several books on advisor marketing and practice management, and a few more to challenge your thinking about the business world of the future (as more and more becomes either "free", or accessible at ever-lower costs thanks to a growing number of mega platform businesses... which may someday make their way into financial services as well!). As you might guess from the common theme of the books, I'm spending a lot of time thinking about the future of the financial advisory and where the best opportunities may be going forward from here!
So as we head into the summer season, I hope that you find this suggested list of the latest books to read to be helpful… and please do share your own suggestions in the comments at the end of the article about the best books you've read over the past year as well!