MEDIA REVIEWS - April 1-7, 2010

The theme of this month's issue of Financial Planning is not hard to find: the feature well is all about health care issues. After offering up a view of the issues that absolutely have to be resolved (think spiraling costs), advisor Rick Kahler recommends that advisors pay more attention to their clients' lifestyles and health habits, and encourage them to get regular checkups. Martin Shenkman offers a good guide to various issues that can be overlooked when you get the usual durable power of attorney, living will and health proxies, noting that these documents can lead to abuse if you don't set up some checks and balances.

Meanwhile, Deena Katz offers what may become a VERY useful distinction: between management succession and ownership succession. One involves stock, the other involves responsibilities, and advisors who want to continue working forever may want to focus on bringing in somebody to run the office on a day to day basis. Compliance consultant Brian Hamburger warns about a patchwork quilt of privacy requirements at the state level, at the FTC and the SEC, and Carl Richards is thinking outside the box, as usual--this time questioning the value of any planning work that involves future projections, when there may be better ways of handling crises and issues as they arise.