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Enjoy the current installment of "weekend reading for financial planners" - this week's edition kicks off with the news that FINRA is beginning an exam sweep of Business Development Companies, raising questions of whether nontraded BDCs may have similar issues to nontraded REITs, which is concerning given how sales plummeted for nontraded REITs after regulators last year applied new rules requiring greater transparency and disclosure. Also in the news this week is a discussion of Andy Millard, a CFP certificant and Democrat from North Carolina who is running for the House of Representatives, who is a long shot running in a district that hasn't voted for a Democrat in the House since 1960, but could become the first CFP professional elected to Congress (which would be very important given the potential for additional regulatory scrutiny of financial advisors in the coming years).
From there, we have a few practice management articles, including: how profession-based niches may be too narrow for some, and whether life-stage-based niches that are a bit broader may be better; how the rise of independent advisor platforms and aggregators may have done much to accelerate the breakaway broker trend, but may be asking too much of a breakaway's revenue or profits to be sustainable; tips for attracting and retaining Millennial financial advisors; and the importance of understanding exactly how "Assets Under Management" is defined for regulatory purposes (and how just giving financial planning advice about a client's whole portfolio doesn't necessarily constitute Regulatory AUM).
We also have a several more technical articles, from a look at how traditional long-term care insurance sales continue to decline (now down a whopping 85% in policies sold since the year 2000) even as hybrid life/LTC policies are on the rise (though they have problems of their own), to an analysis of whether those claiming Social Security at age 62 are making a mistake (or if in reality early claimants are primarily those who have to claim early due to an unexpected employment or health shock), and a good primer on the various types of student loan forgiveness programs (for Millennials with student loan debts who are willing to work in the teaching, government, or non-profit sectors).
We wrap up with three interesting articles: the first looks at how willingness to delay financial gratification, even amongst seniors, is a good predictor of how effective they were at being savers and accumulating wealth (though it remains unclear whether such 'financial patience' is learned or genetic); the second provides a great reminder about how finding a job you love not only can make you happier and more satisfied, even if it pays less, but may be so motivating that it helps you to reinvest in your training and education and become an expert, which can lead to higher income as well; and the last looks at the research on why it's important to set not just goals that guide how you must incrementally change to improve, but to set Big Goals that force you to recognize the substantive changes you may need to make to achieve sustained and large improvements in your business (or personal life) over time.
Enjoy the "light" reading!