Life Events

Exaggerated concerns about the viability of Social Security continue to circulate like a persistent urban legend that refuses to die. They have only intensified during the political silly season leading up to the November elections.

When I run sessions on dealing with difficult people one of the things I consistently point out is the gift that difficult people give us: they are known and their behavior is repeatable and can be anticipated.

De Leus and Gijsels, both originating in the world of institutional brokerage identify the five principal trends affecting investments in the near future. The two take turns writing chapters so that the book is a straight man/funnyman show, with the straight man providing mostly sound, conventional analysis and the funnyman interviewing dead economists and Fed chairmen not yet born.

Jeff Bezos’ wealth slumped by more than $21 billion after Amazon.com Inc. said it planned to continue spending big on artificial intelligence even at the expense of short-term profits.

Canadian entrepreneur Andrew Wilkinson’s early decision to ditch a career as a journalist and teach himself web design has proved lucrative, making him the majority owner of a technology investment firm worth more than $300 million.

You don’t need a fortune to channel your giving through a DAF. These funds are designed for everyday people who want to make charitable donations in a way that offers tax efficiency, flexibility, and choices.

Clearly, managing windfall wealth requires more than financial acumen. It calls for careful planning, emotional resilience, and trusted advice. Engaging an experienced financial advisor is crucial for setting realistic lifestyle and legacy goals, understanding investment strategies, and managing risks.

San Francisco has been the subject of a lot of negative press over the past several years. It was hit hard by the pandemic exodus from cities, the shift to work from home that emptied offices, the crime and homelessness that marred its national reputation, and pledges by corporate leaders such as Elon Musk to relocate their company headquarters elsewhere.

The mortgage lock-in effect ended in the Levin household shortly before my in-laws arrived from Mexico to celebrate my daughter’s birthday at our home in the Miami area. As usual, my wife and I had no place to put them, and they had to get a room at a Courtyard Marriott.

There’s a new-found religion in the US airline industry, and investors should be thrilled. It’s called discipline.

It’s taboo in many cultures to admit you might want to have a life outside of your work, so a lot of people keep it to themselves because they don’t want to be seen as weak, or uncommitted.

I love questions like this one – the chance to think creatively and brainstorm “what could be” without the stress of having to do something right now. I have some suggestions to start thinking about what you could do when you have more latitude and less financial responsibility.

AI and automation will revolutionize the financial advisory industry. These technologies enhance efficiency, improve client communication, and enable data-driven decision-making. By 2035, AI will be integral to most advisory firms.

Worried that inflation is coming down too gradually? The Romans had a not-so-subtle solution: Anyone suspected of ratcheting up prices faced execution. If you’re currently anxious about declining fertility across today’s major economies, they had an answer for that, too: Celibacy was discouraged among women, Vestal Virgins excluded. Offenders might forfeit their inheritance.

In this article, I will explore the key considerations for investment advisors when selling a minority interest in their firms to maximize the likelihood of success. I discuss how to choose the right investor, provide a blueprint for the process.

For married couples, typically those who have a high net worth, a Spousal Limited Access Trust (SLAT) could be an efficient wealth-preserving strategy. These irrevocable trusts allow one spouse to transfer assets such as cash, marketable securities, real estate, and life insurance, to a trust that benefits the other spouse.

The longer I spent working at a big firm, the more I came to understand that the advice I could offer was determined by decisions at the top. My input as an advisor was limited, which didn’t sit well with me, so I looked for a position that would allow me to offer unbiased financial advice.

I have long admired Jonathan Clements. His columns in The Wall Street Journal introduced me to index-based investing. I was deeply saddened to read his column in HumbleDollar, dated June 15, 2024, that, at age 61, he has been diagnosed with lung cancer that has metastasized to his brain and “a few other spots.”

When it comes to personalization, automation can be one of our most powerful tools. That might sound paradoxical, but it’s not.

Does anyone in Silicon Valley know the saying, “The bigger they are, the harder they fall?” Perhaps it’s just a matter of time before they will.

When SEO is carefully managed during a merger, everyone wins: clients feel comfortable, associates are more confident, and vital branding and marketing assets are preserved.

Why do people so consistently underestimate their lifespan? Their thinking is influenced by the money scripts, financial circumstances, stories, and emotions that drive a person’s cognitive biases, or mental shortcuts.

What’s the best age to start taking Social Security? That is a frequently asked question for financial advisors. It’s also, as any financial advisor will admit, completely unanswerable without significantly more information. Social Security is too inherently complex for one-size-fits-most recommendations.

Of course, perfect or even near-perfect market forecasting is folly. But even if we can find a successful forecaster, odds are that they won’t add any value after taxes.

Here are the key things advisors don’t always know about exchange funds.

In an ever-evolving healthcare landscape, Medicare’s complexities present both a challenge and an opportunity for financial advisors. As clients approach retirement or face health-related decisions, they often turn to their trusted advisors for guidance on navigating the Medicare maze.

When clients express a pragmatic approach to their terminal diagnosis, respect their perspective. Acknowledge their desire to avoid prolonged suffering and financial burden. Assure them you will work diligently to help achieve their goals and honor their wishes.

Relative to 18 developed economies since 1870, U.S. leverage is high though not unprecedented. However, unless the recent rise in interest rates reverses, the U.S. will need to cut its debt load.

Retirement is expensive. If you’re lucky, yours will last a few decades, and you’ll be earning no or very little income. So if you want to have enough money when you retire, you basically have three options: Save more, take more risk with your investments, or work longer.

The most important thing when it comes to managing your time, priorities and life is to get your priorities straight in the first place. It can be helpful to think in categories: work, family, spiritual, health, charitable inclinations and so on.

The generational wealth transfer is the mountain range on our horizon, likely dominating the landscape for much of our careers. Yet many firms struggle to move from acknowledgement to action.

Your clients deserve access to key players to take the field in dealing with each aspect of their financial lives, and so do you.

Even though taste tests had confirmed that participants preferred the taste of New Coke, when presented with the reality of no longer having traditional Coke available anymore, consumers turned away from New Coke in droves.

It’s not just about the balances in the accounts; it’s about helping our clients have a healthy relationship with money.

The often-cited goal of having a $1 million retirement nest egg needs to be retired itself. Adjusted for inflation , it would take nearly $1.9 million to have the same purchasing power today as in 1999, when the oldest of millennials were just turning 18.