Karen Simons Source: Karen Simons Karen Simons was out of the professional world for more than 20 years to raise her three children. Now she’s a financial planner at the investment advisory firm Yeske Buie. She made that change happen through a “returnship,” the grown-up version of a college internship that companies are increasingly offering
Advisors
Thomas M. Barwick | Getty Images Financial advisors have another “best interest” rule around the corner: This regulation applies to life insurance and annuity recommendations. New York is rolling out a regulation that will require financial advisors to place their clients’ interests above their own when they’re making recommendations around proposed or in-force insurance contracts.
Feverpitched | iStock | Getty Images No two retirements look the same. But there is one thing all individuals face in their golden years: high health-care costs. Medicare beneficiaries will need as much as $400,000 for health expenses per couple, according to 2018 research from the Employee Benefit Research Institute. That is up from $370,000
manusapon kasosod | Moment | Getty Images As Generation X and millennials inherit their baby boomer parents’ assets amid the so-called Great Wealth Transfer, some will look to invest it in rental property to generate income. This property might be a duplex, an apartment building or, depending on the location, a single-family house that could
Slocan Lake, BC Ira T. Nicolai | Stone | Getty Images It’s not every day that you’d tell a retiring client to ratchet up their stock exposure, but if she has some guaranteed income, it just might make sense. That’s because pension income, Social Security benefits and income annuities all provide retirees with a measure
Blend Images – Hill Street Studios | Brand X Pictures | Getty Images A bill that will do away with a tax-planning strategy for inherited individual retirement accounts isn’t law yet, but financial advisors should act now to help clients avoid a surprise. The Secure Act, which the House of Representatives voted in favor of,
Jose Luis Pelaez | Iconica | Getty Images Cryptocurrencies are out and cannabis stocks are in, according to the latest investing trends survey by the Financial Planning Association. The 392 financial advisors who participated in this year’s study, the 2019 Trends in Investing Survey, said that 55% of their clients have asked about investing in
Workers who get advice on all money matters impacting their lives do a better job saving specifically for retirement, a new report suggests. Among more than 2,400 employees who have had access to ongoing coaching for all aspects of their financial lives, the average retirement-plan contribution rate climbed to 9.4% of pay in 2018 from
Les and Dave Jacobs | Cultura | Getty Images You may have heard the terms ESG, SRI and impact investing, but they can sound intimidating to the uninitiated investor. Putting money into investments that do good is growing in popularity. The number of sustainable funds has climbed to 351 in 2018, while the assets in
The Bronx Tavern stands in the Port Morris neighborhood of the Bronx borough of New York, one of the 8,700 low-income census tracts. The goal is to reinvigorate these areas. Bloomberg | Getty Images Advisors could soon offer clients access to opportunity zone funds, a hot new investment. However, they need to make sure they
Certified financial planner Ken Waltzer has an older female client who suffers from congestive heart failure. Given the high cost of her prescriptions, Waltzer recently became concerned by how much money she and her husband were spending. “I suggested that maybe I should talk to her doctor about her medications,” said Waltzer, co-founder and managing
Climate change could dramatically alter the value of real estate investments. And that goes for real estate investment trusts, companies that own income-producing real estate, if they do not shift their investment strategies to address growing risks, industry experts say. A 2018 report found that 35% of REIT properties have geographic exposure to climate hazards,
Caiaimage/Trevor Adeline | Getty Images When it comes to clients who own permanent life insurance with cash value, financial advisors have both an asset and a liability. On the one hand, clients appreciate having a financial advisor who can analyze the contract and ensure that it still meets their goals. “It’s a perfect way to
Paul Bradbury | OJO Images | Getty Images Investing can be stressful. Anyone holding stocks and bonds through the 2008 financial crisis knows that all too well. For the financial advisors who help investors navigate the investment markets, it’s no picnic, either. A recent survey of investors and financial advisors by the Financial Planning Association
When Julie Penwell graduates from Central Washington University this spring, she plans to pursue the career she has been dreaming about since she was 15-years-old — that of a personal financial planner. Penwell decided to pursue the profession after a high school financial planning class gave her what she describes as “base level financial literacy”
There’s an expense lurking on the horizon for retirees that is largely unpredictable but likely: Long-term care. With premiums skyrocketing on insurance policies designed to cover that cost, financial advisors are turning to a variety of other strategies to help clients prepare for a day when they might need help with daily living activities such
A tribute to Jack Bogle, founder and retired CEO of The Vanguard Group, is displayed on the bell balcony over the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, January 17, 2019. Brendan McDermid | Reuters If you’re a follower of Jack Bogle’s legendary investment philosophy, you want to buy low-cost index
Jose Luis Pelaez Inc | Getty Images The days of an advisor selling an annuity to a client, nabbing a fat commission and never seeing him again are over. Or at least they should be, if you’re doing it right. Annuities — fixed, variable or indexed — have been long a part of advisors’ toolkits,
Sen. Bernie Sanders (L) (I-Vermont) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (R) (D-New York). Win McNamee | Getty Images News | Getty Images In an op-ed in The New York Times on corporate stock buybacks, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) claim that “stock buybacks don’t benefit the vast majority of
Sprinklers water the lawns of a housing development in Hesperia, California. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images) David McNew | Getty Images News | Getty Images You probably have a rough idea of how much energy and water your home uses, based on your utility bills. But new technologies aim to turn the tables, letting you
Two years ago, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association conducted a cybersecurity simulation that mimicked a real attack. The test included the participation of more than 50 financial firms, as well as government regulators and SIFMA itself. Now, the industry trade group is preparing for the latest iteration of its test — dubbed Quantum
republica | E+ | Getty Images Socially responsible investing has exploded across the globe and interest in it has never been higher. But there is a real chance the business and financial communities will let slip opportunities to fully capitalize on the demand. SRI assets are growing at nearly 40% year-over-year since 2016, according to
Tesla Model 3 Silas Stein | picture alliance | Getty Images If you’re thinking of switching to an electric vehicle, chances are that you have considered a Tesla. The debut of the Model 3 — which starts at $35,000 — is Tesla’s most affordable model. And it has many individuals wondering if they want to
Financial advisors have seen clients make very smart, and pretty dumb, 401(k) plan decisions. FatCamera | Getty Images Knowing a person’s investment approach could also provide insight into their financial priorities and what they’re looking for in a financial advisor, a new study suggests. By splitting investors into two categories, based on their general attitudes
Ariel Skelley | Blend Images | Getty Images Market volatility can turn into a tax-savings play for savvy advisors and their clients — as long as they do it right. Tax-loss harvesting is a strategy in which investors deliberately incur losses in a taxable account by selling off investments that have fallen in value. By
A team of five graduate business students from the University of Vermont traveled to Philadelphia this week to put an impact investing project they have been working on to the test. The trip, which coincided with finals, was a success. The students — Maura Kalil, Emily Klein, Andrew Mallory, Peter Seltzer and Alyssa Stankiewicz —
Tom Grill | Getty Images Eva Dion’s 62nd birthday meant one thing to her husband, Jim. It was time for her to collect Social Security. “I’m from the old school,” Jim, 74, said. “Grab the money while you can.” Yet before Eva made her decision, she mulled it over with her financial advisor, Carolyn McClanahan,
Hero Images | Hero Images | Getty Images Talking about money is one of the most important skills to being a fiscally responsible and literate person. However, 44% of Americans surveyed would rather discuss death, religion or politics than talk about personal finance with a loved one. Why? Two major reasons are embarrassment and fear
A child stands next to the ‘Fearless Girl’ after a ceremony to unveil the statue’s new location across from the New York Stock Exchange on Dec. 10, 2018 in New York City. Drew Angerer | Getty Images News | Getty Images If you want to see a better gender balance in the workforce, you may
By 2016, certified financial planner Kirk Francis had helped numerous small-business owners implement strategies for exiting work. Yet he didn’t have a succession plan in place for his own firm. “I sat there going, ‘Hmmm … the cobbler’s son has no shoes,'” said Francis, CEO and chief compliance officer at Financial Life Advisors in San