Let’s just put it out there – almost no one, including advisors, enjoys going through the process of putting together a full budget. Budgets can end up being inaccurate as well as time-consuming, and they often provide little actual value to the consumer. However, you still need to know your client’s cash flow as [...]
Designing a financial plan can be as much an art as it is a science. There are so many variables, assumptions, and unknowns that attempting to model out your recommendations can easily overwhelm a client or prospective client. Historically, the financial services industry (particularly financial planning software companies) have created an illusion that the thicker [...]
The concept of bucketing assets began with a Harry Markowitz paper in the Journal of Finance in 1952. The essence of his paper outlined how investors could efficiently allocate assets for the highest return with a given level of risk. This work would later earn Markowitz a Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and redefine [...]
As a financial advisor, you have spent years building your client base and increasing your firm’s revenue. Business is humming along on a steady upward trajectory, and you have never felt more confident about your opportunities for growth.
Now imagine that you suddenly need to take an unplanned (or planned) extended leave of absence from [...]
What separates top performing advisors from the rest? In a crowded marketplace, advisors tend to sound like each other. I have attended countless trainings across the country and heard dozens of “coaches” talking about the importance of having an “elevator pitch.” While it may be important, you are actually bragging about yourself and [...]
As a financial advisor, one of your primary and most important functions is to counsel your clients on staying the course with the investments that are best suited to their long-term financial goals. But how can you be sure that your client will be comfortable with and accept your recommendations? Will they be able to [...]
Helping clients gain clarity to their financial health is what gets most financial advisors out of bed in the morning. The more you teach your clients to understand their finances, the more likely it is that they will come to you to continue growing their portfolio – which also means more “prosperity” for you. People [...]
Individuals seek out financial guidance when they have major life changing events. Expecting a child, buying a dream home, funding a college education, and – the most substantial of all – preparing to retire.
The retirement planning market is enormous, with over 10,000 baby boomers turning 65 every single day. While the opportunity is large, [...]
A proven way to grow your existing financial services business is to add a tax practice. Preparing taxes and providing tax advice is probably the biggest opportunity that financial planners have today. In most cases, clients regard taxes as their largest expense, and they are uncertain about the financial landscape and the best way to [...]
You’ve been building your book of business as a financial advisor, carefully adding more clients and watching your revenue grow. And then it happens – you realize there just aren’t enough hours in the day to not only maintain your current client base but continue to grow it.
What do you do now?Normally the [...]