Inside Information

Inside Information - April 2012

nospam@example.com (Admin) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 20:05:19 -0400

The Right Side of History

nospam@example.com (Admin) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 19:57:40 -0400

Why are brokerage firms losing market share?
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Snowbird Conference

nospam@example.com (Admin) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 19:42:58 -0400

SSG has created another professional meeting to put on your calendar.
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MARKETING OUTSIDE THE BOX

nospam@example.com (Admin) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 19:31:18 -0400

If you aren't getting as many referrals as you want, maybe you should stop taking the advice of conference presenters and trade magazine writers.
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Nontraditional Succession

nospam@example.com (Admin) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 19:19:20 -0400

Here's an entirely different, holistic model for transferring ownership of a planning practice.
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Conflicts Revealed, Conflicts Explained

nospam@example.com (Admin) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 01:03:00 -0400

Having trouble explaining brokerage conflicts of interest to clients and prospects? This may help.
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MEDIA REVIEWS - March 16-23, 2012

nospam@example.com (Admin) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 18:37:07 -0400

Last month's article in the Journal by Joe Tomlinson, coupled with this month's article by Finke, Pfau and Williams, together introduce the idea of risk tolerance into the retirement income sufficiency realm. When we help clients understand how much money they can take out of their portfolios safely, shouldn't we be taking into account how worried they are about diminishing their lifestyle later in retirement if the markets are not kind?

In this article the authors introduce something called a "risk-version coefficient," which ranks clients on a scale of one to ten, "one" being the sort of person who might look hard at a 9% annual distribution from the portfolio. The authors then look for optimal solutions for each type of client--but, as you'll see, this is a VERY sensitive measure, which yields very different outputs for clients with subtly shaded differences in risk tolerance.

Nevertheless, this is an important field of research, and you will be seeing a lot more of it before long. Early adopters will be using some kind of risk tolerance measure for retiring clients in the very near future, and the rest of the profession will be dragged along as the tools, and the discussion, become less exploratory.

Continue reading "MEDIA REVIEWS - March 16-23, 2012"

The Best Advice

nospam@example.com (Admin) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:07:08 -0400

What advice you give a new or young planner who wants to get ahead in this profession?
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"Client-Last" Advice

nospam@example.com (Admin) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 17:58:00 -0400

What brokers actually do and say when you aren't looking.
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MEDIA REVIEWS - March 8-15, 2012

nospam@example.com (Admin) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 18:14:00 -0400

Looking for income in today's investment market? Surprisingly, the cover story in this month's issue of Financial Planning uncovers some possibilities--none of them where you're accustomed to looking. Looking for a good financial planning app for your mobile device? Joel Bruckenstein has found the best one so far. Looking for a model that helps you avoid falling into a conflicts of interest trap when giving recommendations to your clients? Alan Roth offers a pretty good one. I also liked the Kol Birke article on how to help clients think with the rational side of their brains when the markets are scaring the hell out of them.

Plus my column on success, which has gotten a lot of response from readers who are still climbing the ladder from subsistence to making a good living in the planning space.
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The Last Greek Headline?

nospam@example.com (Admin) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 17:57:00 -0400

Maybe the Greek Debt Crisis is Resolved After All.
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How to Die Like a Doctor

nospam@example.com (Admin) — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 17:54:00 -0400

Medical professionals really do have a different end-of-life experience. Here's how to improve yours.
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The Psychopathic 1%

nospam@example.com (Admin) — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 17:52:00 -0500

Is your broker a psychopath or a sociopath?
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Is the Market Overvalued?

nospam@example.com (Admin) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 20:50:06 -0500

The answer can be a lot trickier than it might seem.
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Compensation Manipulation

nospam@example.com (Admin) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 20:48:04 -0500

How can you put a value on stocks when you can't be sure that the earnings data is correct?
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