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2015 Highlights – The Top 20 Nerd’s Eye View Blog Posts You Might Have Missed

December 28, 2015 07:01 am 1 Comment CATEGORY: Nerd's Eye View

As we come to the end of 2015, I am once again so very thankful to all of you, the growing number of readers who continue to regularly visit this Nerd's Eye View blog, and have been kind enough to share the content with your friends and colleagues as well (which I greatly appreciate!). Over the past year, the cumulative readership of the blog has grown yet another 60%, and is now averaging over 120,000 unique readers every month. The continued growth has allowed me to continue to reinvest into this site - as many of you noticed the re-design that rolled out last month - and you will see more new additions and features to the site in 2016 as well!

Yet notwithstanding how many of you have made reading the Nerd's Eye View a weekly habit, I'm cognizant that the sheer volume of content can be overwhelming, and it's not always easy to keep up with it all. And blog articles, once published, are usually quite quickly left in the dust by the next new article that comes along.

Accordingly, just as I did last year, I've compiled for you this Highlights list of the top 20 articles this year that you might have missed. So whether you're new to the blog and haven't searched through the Archives yet, or simply haven't had the time to keep up with everything, I hope that some of these will (still) be useful for you! And as always, I hope you'll take a moment to share articles of interest with your friends and colleagues as well!

In the meantime, I hope you're having a safe and happy holiday season. Thanks again for an amazing 2015, and I'm looking forward to doing even more to be of service for all of you in 2016!

Weekend Reading for Financial Planners (Dec 26-27)

December 25, 2015 02:01 pm 3 Comments CATEGORY: Weekend Reading

Enjoy the current installment of "weekend reading for financial planners" - this week's edition kicks off with a newly proposed SEC rule to curtail the use of derivatives in mutual funds and ETFs... which could potentially impact a wide range of funds, from those using derivatives to hedge risk to those using derivatives to 'leverage' and amplify risk (e.g., 3X index funds). Also in the news this week is a discussion that the recent surge of broker-dealers for sale may just be the onset of an even bigger wave of selling for broker-dealers unprepared for the looming Department of Labor fiduciary rule and the ways it may reshape the world of financial advice.

From there, we have a few technical financial planning articles this week, from a look of how advisors can work with clients to "plan" for black swan events, to a discussion of whether retirement planning is akin to chaos theory (which implies our models aren't nearly as accurate as our probabilities suggest), to a recent study finding that the investment performance of those with defined contribution plans is actually remarkably close to defined benefits plans after all (where the primary difference is just that DC plans tend to be smaller and have higher costs), and another new study finding that giving Social Security beneficiaries their delayed retirement credits as a(n actually fair) lump sum may be a better incentive to encourage them to continue working (as opposed to just giving higher retirement benefits for waiting).

We also have a couple of practice management articles this week, including: a template on how to create content for your advisor blog by talking (constructively and anonymously) about the mistakes your clients make (which should give an endless supply of ideas to write about!); a review of the new (to the US) financial planning software platform Figlo (from Advicent, the company that also makes Financial Profiles and NaviPlan); and the last is a profile of physician-turned-financial-planner Carolyn McClanahan, and the success of her retainer-based financial planning practice that serves at the intersection of clients' financial and health-care-planning issues.

We wrap up with three interesting articles: the first is a Journal of Financial Planning contribution looking at the convergence between the research on Positive Psychology, and the evolution of financial planning, suggesting that ultimately the financial planning ideal may be the intersection between the two (the world of "positive financial planning" that aims to help clients use money as a tool to improve their psychological well-being); the second discusses a coming new book called "Radical Candor" that looks at how managers and business owners can help their businesses excel by giving the right kind of guidance to employees (and encouraging an environment where they can give that constructive feedback to each other as well); and the last is a look at how the accelerating pace of regulatory change, from the DoL fiduciary rule to the possibility the SEC will take up its own fiduciary rule in the coming years, and the CFP Board's own newly announced Commission to update its Standards of Professional Conduct, suggests that financial planning may finally be on the cusp of emerging as a true profession!

Enjoy the reading!

How Portfolio Rebalancing Usually Reduces Long-Term Returns (But Is Good Risk Management Anyway)

December 23, 2015 07:01 am 11 Comments CATEGORY: Investments

The conventional view of portfolio rebalancing is that it is a strategy to enhance long-term returns by periodically selling the investments that are up (and overweighted) to buy those that are down (and underweighted), in the process of realigning the portfolio to its original target allocation.

Yet the reality is that because most investments go up far more often than they go down, systematic rebalancing is actually more likely to just consistently liquidate the best-performing investments to buy ones with lower returns instead – especially when rebalancing across investments that have very significant return differences in the first place (e.g., rebalancing from stocks into bonds).

As a result, rebalancing may be helpful as a risk management strategy – otherwise higher-returning stocks would compound to the point that they are significantly overweighted relative to lower-returning bonds – but it’s only when rebalancing amongst investments with similar returns in the first place that rebalancing provides a return-enhancement potential.

Ultimately, the fact that rebalancing may actually reduce long-term returns isn’t a reason to avoid it (even if returns are lower, risk-adjusted returns may be improved if the risk is reduced by even more), and sometimes returns really can be enhanced (when rebalancing across similar-return investments, such as amongst sub-categories of equities). Nonetheless, it’s crucial to recognize the role that rebalancing really does – and does not – play in a long-term portfolio!

Standing Desks, Walk-And-Talks, And Getting Healthier As A Financial Planner

December 21, 2015 07:01 am 30 Comments CATEGORY: Personal/Career Development

It’s an inevitable reality in the job of being a financial planner that there will be a lot of sitting. It may be at a desk doing financial plans on a computer, writing emails to or having phone calls with clients, or just outright sitting across from clients meeting with them. The problem: research finds that sitting for 8+ hours/day can increase the risk for everything from cardiovascular disease to type 2 diabetes (and an overall 24% increase in mortality rate!).

Of course, a financial planner can’t exactly avoid this by shirking their job duties. But it is possible to be productive in different ways, that don’t involve extensive sitting.

For instance, over the past year I’ve been ‘experimenting’ with everything from a standing desk (which I now use for all of my writing and office work) to doing conference calls with a headset while walking outside. You may find that meetings with colleagues or even some clients can be done while taking a walk together as well (at least if there isn’t any paperwork to go over!).

The end result, at least for me – the change in habits have helped me to lose over 40 pounds this year, accompanied by a material decrease of what was previously borderline high blood pressure, and my cardiovascular health has improved enough to drop my resting heart rate by nearly 10%! Of course, not everyone’s body may react quite the same way, but the fundamental point: it really is possible to get healthier, and remain productive, too!

Weekend Reading for Financial Planners (Dec 19-20)

December 18, 2015 02:48 pm 2 Comments CATEGORY: Weekend Reading

Enjoy the current installment of "weekend reading for financial planners" - this week's edition kicks off with the big news of this week's "Tax Extenders" legislation that not only reinstated popular provisions like Qualified Charitable Distributions from IRAs but makes most of them permanent so advisors and their clients won't be in tax-extender-limbo in the future.

Also in the news this week was the announcement from the CFP Board that it is beginning a process of updating its Standards of Professional Conduct, including both public forums and a public comment period scheduled in 2016, to address both any appropriate updates given the changing regulatory environment, and also perhaps its controversial "fee-only" compensation definitions. And given the outcome of this week's legislation - which did not include a debated provision to limit the Department of Labor's fiduciary rule next year - there's a discussion of what the final rule will likely include, as it is expected to be released in early 2016.

From there, we have a number of technical financial planning articles, including: a discussion of whether the Barclays Aggregate Bond Index is "broken" as a bond benchmark; a critique of a recent Wade Pfau study suggesting that whole life might actually be a better retirement accumulation vehicle than buying term and investing the rest; a look at how "positive feedback loops" (that amplify negative outcomes) can occur in retirement, especially for those who lack spending flexibility; tips for financial aid filings, from FAFSA to CSS/PROFILE, as the annual financial aid process gets into full swing; reminders of common IRA distribution and RMD-related mistakes to avoid; and a discussion of how for most clients still working, their most valuable asset to "manage" is not their retirement portfolio or their real estate, but their own individual earnings ability (which means their best path to greater wealth is not through earning better investment returns but getting an increase in their salary/income from working!).

We wrap up with three interesting articles: the first is an Investment News feature on the financial advisory industry's ongoing diversity problem (where only 20% of financial advisors are African-American, Hispanic/Latino, or Asian, while even financial analysts and CPAs have a 27% minority representation); the second is a Harvard Business Review article about disruptive innovation and what it really is (and is not), and why Uber is not actually true disruption at all (but robo-advisors might be); and the last is a fascinating look at the ongoing demographics "problem" emerging in both the U.S. and developed nations around the world, that may explain everything from sluggish U.S. growth to low interest rates, and why the dynamic may not change anytime soon.

And be certain to check out Bill Winterberg's "Bits & Bytes" video on the latest in advisor tech news at the end, featuring his 6th annual take on the "Best Technology Of 2015" in the categories of Best Back-Office Technology, Best Clint-Facing Technology, and the Best Overall Innovation of the Year!

Enjoy the reading!

Congress Approves (Mostly Permanent) 2015 Tax Extenders Legislation For QCDs And More!

December 16, 2015 11:15 am 19 Comments CATEGORY: Taxes

Late last night, the House Ways and Means committee came to an agreement for key legislation to renew the so-called “Tax Extenders”, a series of tax provisions that have lapsed and been reinstated (i.e., “extended”) repeatedly over the past decade. The new legislation, entitled the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act of 2015, will once again retroactively reinstate for 2015 the tax extenders that were renewed for and then expired at the end of 2014.

Unlike past tax extenders legislation, though, this time many of the provisions are permanently renewed. From the popular qualified charitable distribution (QCD) rules for making charitable contributions from an IRA for those over age 70 ½, to the American Opportunity Tax Credit for college, and the deduction for state and local sales taxes, this will be the last time that these key tax planning provisions remain in an end-of-year limbo!

However, not all tax extenders provisions were made permanent; a few, such as 50% bonus depreciation for businesses and the work opportunity tax credit, are only extended a few years. The legislation also includes a few new “tweaks”, from a slight expansion of how qualified distributions from section 529 plans can be used, to the elimination of in-state-plan requirement for the coming new 529-ABLE plans for disabled beneficiaries.

Although the PATH legislation has not quite passed yet – it still needs to be Omnibus Appropriations legislation that sets the government’s budget through September 30 of 2016 – the tax extenders expected to pass in its agreed-upon form in a matter of days, once the remainder of the rulemaking process is completed.

And notably, the final version of the Omnibus legislation will not include any changes to the Department of Labor’s fiduciary proposal, which remains intact and on track for the DoL to issue its final year in the coming months!