1. 12 Reasons It Makes Sense To Pay for Professional Advice
“Investing is easy. Why do I need you?” When the stock market does well, it might appear the financial advisor is merely a middleman. Eliminating the middleman makes sense, doesn’t it? The financial advisor is a professional, trained to give advice. Let us look at ten situations when paying for professional advice makes more sense than going it alone. — Bryce Sanders
2. The Moments That Matter: Seven Questions Will Make - Or Break - Your Advisory Practice
The text message said it all. “Sorry I went dark. My dad has stage three lung cancer and we’ve been scrambling to deal with that.” I was wondering about a close friend and colleague. We had connected recently and made plans to work on a project together. The text message cleared up the mystery but also created new priorities for us both. Perhaps because I’m getting older, these messages are becoming more frequent – not just about relatives and friends but also age contemporaries like my friend Gavin Spitzner, just 57 when he died. — Steve Gresham
3. Deficit Surge Will Lead To Lower Rates, Not Higher
Fitch’s recent downgrade of the U.S. debt rating alarmed investors as the deficit and debt steadily increased. The downgrade sent 10-year Treasury bond yields above 4%, causing concern about America’s deteriorating financial condition. The problem is that if radical steps aren’t taken to curb spending, such will cause interest rates to rise. — Lance Roberts
4. Do You Own These Chip Stocks? (Not NVDA or ASML)
The mission was clear… don’t let the Russians get their hands on these devices. Sanctions rained down on Russia after it invaded Ukraine last year. Europe stopped importing its oil… America froze it out of the financial system… and hundreds of Russian oligarchs had their luxury yachts and private jets seized. But one set of devastating sanctions slipped under the radar. — Stephen McBride
5. How To Make Your Website Business Develop (And Introduce Yourself to Prospects) with Nate Blair
Nate Blair is a Partner at Palo Alto Wealth Advisors alongside long time friend, Ryan Schmidt. The two founded Palo Alto Wealth Advisors in order to serve the unique needs of tech professionals as they plan their lives and careers. In this podcast, Nate discusses the client-focused approach to marketing which Palo Alto Wealth follows, highlighting the short film bios created to promote the firm in a new, creative way. — Power Your Advice
6. Annuities Getting Much Needed Refresh
In terms of financial products, annuities are old. Actually, depending on one’s perspective, they’re ancient. There’s evidence various forms of the products that eventually became annuities existed during the Egyptian and Roman empires. — Todd Shriber
7. Marketing to Centers of Influence for Financial Advisors
The Center of Influence definition is marketing to key people you can rely upon to help grow your business. As a financial advisor, your Centers of Influence (COIs) may include CPAs, attorneys, trust underwriters, mortgage professionals, and more. Centers of influence for financial advisors are professionals who refer their clients to you and whom you are happy to refer your clients to, as well. — Samantha Russell
8. As Rates Rise, Homeowners and Prices Stay Put
A lot has been written about the US housing market of late, but you’d be forgiven if it’s all as clear as mud. To untangle the unusual dynamics of a market often seen as a bellwether of US economic growth, we need to rethink traditional expectations of how interest rates affect housing supply and demand. — Eric Winograd and James T. Tierney, Jr.
9. Prospecting Got You Down? Here’s How To Turn It Around
I just have to let you know that prospecting is really, really hard—like soul-crushingly difficult. When I first saw this statement from a listener, my first response was to agree. Then I stepped back and thought, “Wait a second, you thought prospecting was soul-crushing because you thought it would be easy.” – Micah Shilanski
10. Stop Trying to “Fix” Your Clients
Great advisors are problem solvers; they are ‘fixers.' When it comes to managing money, that’s a good thing. But when it comes to managing client emotions and concerns, that natural tendency may get in the way of engagement. — Julie Littlechild
11. First Comes Me, Then Everyone and Everything Else …
When you first read the title of this blog, for most of us, it may invoke an automatic reaction of “That’s nuts of me, how selfish!” It’s no secret that most good hard-working people put themselves last. They put their families, pets, work, friends, associations, and community first. By the time they crawl into bed at night, they’re exhausted. Before they know it, the next day bell rings and the merry-go-round starts all over again. This pattern happens every day including weekends. Everyone and everything are always pushed to the front of the line. — Mark David