Advisor

Universities should develop advisor education

With increasingly fewer exceptions, professionals are expected to earn a four-year university degree from a program accredited to educate people entering the field. And, in the cases of law and medicine, barriers to entry are even higher. Society applauds such rigorous requirements because they prevent people who aren’t serious about cultivating key skill sets from […]

By Staff |January 1, 2010

2 min read

Planning and Advice

Keep elderly clients in mind

I’ve been doing retirement planning for the last 25 years. I started off as an insurance agent and am old enough to remember when there was no such thing as a retirement industry. In 1985, specializing in retirement planning and all the issues related to seniors was decidedly un-sexy. In fact, some of the people […]

By Ken McNaughton |December 1, 2009

5 min read

Planning and Advice

Justifying your fees

One of the questions advisors will be asking themselves more and more as they move towards complete transparency of fees is…How do I justify my fees to clients? The answer is simple. Below are six easy tips you can use when this sometimes uncomfortable but necessary conversation arises. Show them the money – Full, upfront […]

By Robert Abboud |October 27, 2009

5 min read

Planning and Advice

The great divides

Latté or buzz juice? Health drink or tea? A client’s choice speaks volumes about the generational landscape.

By Philip Porado |December 1, 2008

19 min read

Exit planning: Doing your due diligence

Buying a practice or a book of business isn’t as simple as signing on the dotted line. If you want to make sure you’re getting the right deal, it’s mandatory that you conduct due diligence. But what exactly is due diligence and why does it need to be performed?

5 min read

Exit planning: Successfully reaching qualified buyers

Building a practice is no easy task, but when the time comes time to sell you want to make sure you’re getting the best possible deal. Unfortunately, many advisors don’t know the first thing about putting their business up for grabs.

4 min read

Exit planning: How much is your practice worth?

There is no hard rule of thumb or magic formula that can be used to value a practice and typical valuation guidelines can be simplistic and fail to produce a realistic market value for the average financial services practice. Understanding the factors that drive the value of a financial services practice, however, is an important part of increasing short-term and long-term profitability.

5 min read

Exit planning: Knowing what you want

It’s true that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. The trouble is you can journey in the wrong direction entirely if you don’t know where you are going. Successful exit planning begins with careful consideration of what you want and what's possible. First there is a list of practical and emotional questions to consider.

5 min read