1. As Rate Hikes Near End, Historic Investor Opportunity May Begin
To say this has been an interesting year in financial markets is an understatement. Equities have been stronger than most expected, and the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield is up 37 basis points as of September 13. So where are we now as we head into the homestretch of 2023? I believe we’re on the cusp of a major transition, one where long-term investors can find attractive income opportunities as central banks pivot from restrictive monetary policy to something that looks much more benign. — Mike Gitlin
2. Five Social Security Myths Busted
If you’re looking to bust some myths – and who doesn’t like a good myth-busting exercise now and then – let me suggest that you look no further than the dialogue in the U.S. swirling around Social Security. What are some of the biggest fairytales experts hear all the time? — Alliance for Lifetime Income
3. Why We’re Still Waiting on a Recession
Amid their most dramatic rate increases in more than 40 years, Federal Reserve (Fed) governors keep discussing the "long and variable lag" before policy changes take hold. They highlight that the Fed’s interest rate changes take time to work through the economy. — Radu Gabudean, Ph.D.
4. What Advisors Can Do To Help Their Clients With Information Overload
Living in the digital world, with its instantaneous access to information, has made us smarter and more empowered. In many ways, it has leveled the playing field for clients who now have access to much of the same information once only available to investment professionals. Information is so highly valued that it is churned out 24/7, accessible on any number of devices people carry around. For clients especially, this should be a good thing, right? — Don Connelly
5. Help Referrers Understand Who You Really Want To Meet
One of the reasons referrers don’t give us quite the right quality referral most of the time is that we are often very poor at describing the person we work best with when we are having a referral discussion to begin with. — Tony Vidler
6. Pay Gap Highlights Need for Advisors To Work With Women
As long been documented, there’s a persistent pay gap between men and women – one favoring the former while disadvantaging the latter. While there is some evidence suggesting the gap is narrowing, it persists and it’s still wide enough to indicate women are in need of and receptive to professional financial advice. — Todd Shriber
7. How To Identify Philanthropists, Possibly the Ideal Prospects
More money means more problems. You have heard that one before. This makes the case why accountants would seek out people with complicated financial situations. From the financial advisor’s point of view, you want people with assets. Philanthropists have money to give away. Therefore, they are ideal prospects. In both cases, financial planning plays an important role. How do you find philanthropists? — Bryce Sanders
8. The #1 Problem With Renewable Energy
Can you name America’s oil king? It’s Texas, of course. Roughnecks pull 4X more “black gold” out of the ground there than in New Mexico, in second place. Texas is also America’s “green” energy capital. It produces more solar and wind power than any other state. Thing is, there’s a BIG problem with these renewable forms of energy… And it just put up to 26 million people at risk earlier this week. — Stephen McBride
9. Stop Forcing Advisors To Be Technologists!
With the recent release from Fidelity on how many 401k millionaires there are, and that the average account balance being just over 100k for over 45 million Americans and all the talk about AI in the wealth management space we were really keen to answer this question. — Adam Holt & Derek Notman
10. Profitable Niche Markets for Financial Advisors
While there are hundreds of profitable niche markets, it is critical that you take the time to select one you love serving. This is a critical decision as you will spend a lot of time interacting with them. — Annette Bau
11. Choosing Optimism in the Polycrisis Era
In the era of the so called polycrisis, there is a myriad of important issues to address. We see war, repression, modern slavery, inequality, climate disasters, pandemics. Henry David Thoreau once remarked, “There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.” I don’t want to be seen as a branch-hacker, but with such a tangled web of cause and effect, can we honestly identify the root causes of our greatest challenges? — Carol W. Geremia