Archives Of Weekend Reading For Financial Planners

Enjoy the current installment of "weekend reading for financial planners" – this week's edition kicks off with the big news that the SEC has issued a new request for public comment on standards of conduct for brokers and investment advisers, raising the question of whether the SEC will finally act on a fiduciary rule, just as the Department of Labor's version takes effect on June 9th... and whether a new SEC fiduciary standard would help level the playing field for investment advice, or risk just watering down the fiduciary standard instead.

From there, we have a series of articles looking in particular at the broker-dealer industry as the DoL fiduciary rule rollout looms in the coming week, from a discussion of UBS's new compensation changes for retirement accounts (eliminating commissions and production payments in lieu of a simpler asset-based compensation system), to a look at how Merrill Lynch's commission ban and step away from wirehouse recruiting makes it look as though the company might be pivoting itself to become a giant national RIA, how Morgan Stanley is developing new technology to make its fiduciary advisors more proactive with clients, an industry survey of broker-dealer presidents finding that concerns about adapting to the DoL fiduciary rule have become all-consuming for most (to the point that they may be neglecting key investments into advisor technology tools), a look at the ongoing plight of the small broker-dealer, and whether the ongoing diminishment of the broker-dealer community may lead to the diminishment of FINRA itself (unless, perhaps, the organization reinvents itself as the new overseer of a uniform fiduciary standard?).

We also have a few more technical articles, including strategies to (legally) delay or minimize the impact of RMDs, the benefits of using a trusteed IRA (as an alternative to the typical custodial IRA arrangement), and how tolerance-band rebalancing strategies can increase returns (by helping to leverage market momentum, though not necessarily as much as just engaging in an actual momentum strategy!).

We wrap up with three interesting articles, all focused around the brain and how we think and learn: the first looks at how our brains actually take in and interpret information, driven primarily by a small section of the brain's left hemisphere whose job is to interpret what is happening around us (but given its limited information, the interpretation isn't always accurate or correct in its assessments!); the second explores the difference between "long-term" and "expiring" knowledge, recognizing that most people spend their time consuming the latter (e.g., news headlines and cable TV), and not enough on the former (obtained through reading books, and perhaps the occasional long-form blog post!); and the last looks at how, if you really want to make progress, the key is not just to set goals for yourself, but to establish systems that you can execute to get there... recognizing that if you're really good at creating effective systems for yourself, you may not even need to set goals in the first place!

Enjoy the "light" reading!

Read More...

Enjoy the current installment of "weekend reading for financial planners" – this week's edition kicks off with the big news that Labor Secretary Acosta will not be delaying the June 9th applicability date for the Department of Labor's fiduciary rule, ending the active debate of the rule's viability that has raged for the past 6 months since President Trump was elected. However, the reality is that even with the rule taking effect on June 9th, most of the key enforcement provisions will not apply until January 1st of 2018, and even as Secretary Acosta notes that there was "no principled legal basis" to change the June 9th date, he also reaffirmed that the DoL is still considering whether the revise the rule, especially after President Trump's Executive Memorandum in February directing the DoL to further study the rule's impact. Which means while repeal is no longer on the table, the DoL fiduciary rule will likely remain a highly contentious issue, with more twists and turns, through the end of the year.

From there, we have a number of articles about pricing your advisory firm services, including two articles providing strategies on how to set your pricing "purposefully" and in a manner that you can maintain (and not succumb to giving discounts if/when clients begin to haggling over pricing), and another on pricing models for working with younger clients in particular (based on a recent SEI study finding that Millennials are interested in paying for financial advice, but do not want to pay via commissions!).

We also have several practice management articles about how to train, develop, or become a successful younger advisor, including: the need to craft deeper and more fully-fleshed out career tracks for young advisors; the rise of call-center-based financial planning jobs, as large firms increasingly roll out digital advice platforms that necessitate a base of centralized associate planners; how firm owners should evaluate young talent to identify a good prospective financial planner amongst their job applicants; how to develop more confidence as a financial advisor (a critical key to success); and the kinds of fears that all financial advisors succumb to, and that must be faced (and overcome) to advance your own career.

We wrap up with three interesting articles, all around the issues and concerns of ultra-wealthy clients: the first is a look at the deep concerns and challenges that the ultra-wealthy have in even talking about money and prospective inheritances with their children (despite the fact that it rarely turns out any better to skip the conversation, and have heirs find out about their inherited wealth from a trustee or estate attorney!); the second is a look at the rising popularity of "extreme" emergency preparedness, from glitzy bunkers to high-end evacuation services, that the ultra-wealthy are buying as a form of "insurance" against extreme risks (from terrorism to cyber warfare to natural weather disasters); and the last reviews a recent research study finding that one of the best ways to get the wealthy to give more to charity, given that the wealthy often focus on their individuality as a key to their success, is to emphasize the individuality of their charitable giving and the role that they, personally, can play, rather than simply emphasizing the common good.

Enjoy the "light" reading!

Read More...

Enjoy the current installment of "weekend reading for financial planners" – this week's edition kicks off with the big news that Focus Financial, the RIA roll-up aggregator that is fresh off having a majority stake acquired for nearly $2B, just acquired a pair of ultra-HNW independent RIAs with a whopping $18.5B of AUM, with rumors that the intention is not merely to keep growing and rolling up advisory firms, but aiming to cross-sell those ultra-HNW clients with estate tax problems potentially lucrative life insurance policies... and raising questions of the product-independent nature of getting advice from an RIA (and whether the existing Focus Financial RIAs will even be willing to support the sale of insurance products).

From there, we have a number of investment-related articles this week, from a look at what it really takes to run an ETF index (it's harder than it looks!), to a series of studies suggesting that SRI/ESG investing may adversely impact performance (ironically perhaps because eschewing vice and sin stocks appears to give them a relative bonus on performance that SRI/ESG funds then miss out!), a look at how risk tolerance questionnaires for investing might change in the world of big data (where at a click of the button, you might be able to see exactly how clients invested/behaved in prior bear markets), and a discussion of whether it's time to transition to "behavioral finance 2.0", which stops just looking at broad-based trends in how consumers behave sometimes irrationally, and instead boil it down to what's going on at an individual level, and what it actually takes to help them change their behavior for the better.

We also have several practice management articles, including: how to spot warning signs that a client may be thinking about leaving (and what to do about it); how to conduct surveys of your ideal clients to figure out what it really takes to get more of them (and differentiate your services and expertise for them); the problem with the "I Know Better" fallacy of trying to prescribe what your clients want, instead of just asking them (not everyone has the intuitive genius to just "figure it out" the way Henry Ford and Steve Jobs did!); and some great advice on how to reframe and "reset" your relationship with accumulator clients who are now preparing to retire, so they realize you can be just as relevant and valuable for them in the coming years of retirement as you were in the process of helping them to get there.

We wrap up with three interesting articles, all around the theme of behavioral finance and financial psychology: the first examines a new research study on why retirees tend to spend less as they age, suggesting that it may not just be a matter of slowing discretionary expenses, but a rising pessimism that makes us more concerned and less optimistic about the risks and return potential of markets; the second looks at various mental accounting mistakes we make when thinking about retirement spending (including the challenge that those who are frugal in accumulating for retirement often have trouble re-tooling their thinking to be able to enjoy their money in retirement); and the last looks at the way clients answer the question "would you prefer to have $1,000,000 in retirement, or a $5,000/month (guaranteed) income", and how some retirees appear to suffer from an "illusion of wealth" or an "illusion of poverty" that causes them to believe one is substantially more or less valuable than the other (even though, according to current annuity rates, they're approximately equal in value).

Enjoy the "light" reading!

Read More...

Enjoy the current installment of "weekend reading for financial planners" – this week's edition kicks off with the article generating the most "buzz" in the world of financial advisors this week: a takedown of the DALBAR behavior gap study by Morningstar's David Blanchett, who, similar to Wade Pfau in recent months, and this blog several years ago, finds that the DALBAR methodology does not accurately measure (amnd substantially overstates) the actual size of the investor behavior gap caused by bad-market-timing investment decisions. (Though Blanchett still affirms that the behavior gap exists, albeit at a far small magnitude than the nearly-600-basis-points that DALBAR suggests). Also in the news this week was a recent social media guidance update from FINRA, in Regulatory Notice 17-18, which should dramatically expand the adoption of social media for registered representatives working under broker-dealer firms.

From there, we have a number of articles about industry trends this week, from a major announcement that Merrill Lynch is stepping back from the "recruiting wars" amongst broker-dealers and instead is going to focus on hiring advisors with 3-8 years of experience and their CFP certification and pay them a stable salary for three years, to the latest M&A activity for RIAs (which hit an all-time high in the first quarter of 2017, but appears to be rotating to "smaller" firms with $100M to $1B being sold), a substantial increase from advisors and their clients in socially responsible investing (with a desire for SRI up from barely 20% to over 40% in just one year!), and a look at the accelerating growth of Vanguard and Schwab's tech-augmented-human advisor services, which at their current pace could siphon off as much as 2% of the aggregate growth of the entire RIA community in 2017.

Other articles on industry trends this week include: an in-depth Barron's profile on Morningstar, its new CEO Kunal Kapoor, and its controversial decision to begin offering nine mutual funds in its Managed Portfolios solution for advisors, despite its history as an independent rater of mutual funds; Bogle's "dire" forecast for the mutual fund industry, that funds shouldn't even bother trying to compete on price (because they won't win), and that at best they should just focus on their core competencies and try to win where they can, or simply enjoy the profits while they can get them until their funds wind down; the parallels between what Vanguard did to mutual funds, and what robo-advisors might do to human advisors, and where the silver lining may be; and a look at how, as more and more advisors become "fiduciaries", there will be a growing awareness that not all fiduciaries are the same, and some simply don't have the competency to execute as fiduciaries... which could even lead to a backlash against the term.

We wrap up with three interesting articles, all around the theme of consumer financial stress and financial advice behaviors: the first looks at how financial literacy programs are not only failing to make a lasting impact when actual outcomes are measured, but could actually cause harm by making people overconfident in their actual financial capabilities, and fail to recognize the impact their circumstances may have on their financial situation; the second looks at the growing base of research on how financial stress of employees impacts the workplace, which appears to be spurring a growing interest in employers to support financial planning and financial wellness programs; and the last is a fascinating look at the latest FINRA financial capability study to try to identify who is more likely to seek out financial advice (or not), and finds that one of the greatest inhibitors to hiring a financial advisor may be the consumer's fear about whether they're hiring a good one (or not)!

Enjoy the "light" reading!

Read More...

Enjoy the current installment of "weekend reading for financial planners" – this week's edition kicks off with a look from CFP-and-doctor Carolyn McClanahan about what financial advisors need to consider when it comes to the potential future of health insurance for clients under the American Health Care Act (AHCA), which could substantially impact clients with pre-existing health conditions, and "early" retirees trying to bridge the health insurance gap between the end of employment and the beginning of Medicare.

From there, we have several technology-related articles, from early looks at the new Orion Eclipse rebalancing software and the new RobustWealth rebalancing and client onboarding "robo" tools, to some of the recent FinTech startups in the Envestnet | Yodlee incubator platform that are building new solutions for financial advisors (leveraging Yodlee data), and a first glimpse at a new advisor business intelligence (and advisory firm valuation) tool called Truelytics.

We also have a number of practice management articles this week, including: the rising trend of advisory firm mergers (as an alternative to just selling and exiting the firm); the common crossroads that advisory firms hit at they grow (and how to overcome them); what advisors should do to overcome "succession planning paralysis"; and tips on how to find an ideal buyer for your advisory firm if you're looking to sell (and want to be certain you get the right fit).

We wrap up with three interesting articles, all around the theme of behavior change and improving savings behaviors for clients: the first is a series of recent research studies finding that most consumers actually prefer accounts that impose otherwise "unnecessary" restrictions and penalties on withdrawals (a form of "commitment device" that actually helps us to want to save, knowing the restrictions will help us follow through successfully!); the second is a fascinating look at how to help clients think about and change their spending behaviors by grouping spending into Owe, Grow, Live, and Give categories (where the trade-offs help us weigh decisions between freedom, comfort, purpose, and abundance); and the last is an overview of the research on behavior change that we as advisors can apply in working with our clients, to help them actually follow through on the recommendations that we give them!

And be certain to check out the brief video at the end... a recent new commercial from Schwab Intelligent Advisory, highlighting the financial planning services that Schwab is now offering directly to consumers, as the firm increasingly tries to compete with outside broker-dealers that may be impacted by the DoL fiduciary rule under the tagline "Intelligent Tech, Personal Advice"... but puts itself in a position to compete with the RIAs on its Institutional platform as well!

Enjoy the "light" reading!

Read More...

Enjoy the current installment of "weekend reading for financial planners" – this week's edition kicks off with the big news that TD Ameritrade has struck a deal with DFA that will cut transaction costs for DFA mutual funds by as much as 67% (down to $9.99/trade), potentially setting off a new pricing war with the other RIA custodians when it comes to asset managers that refuse to pay sub-TA and other revenue-sharing fees back to the platforms.

From there, we have several articles about marketing, including a look at what you should (and shouldn't) be measuring for success when engaging in social media, how a face-to-face request can be 34 times more effective than just sending an email (though with the ability to send a high volume of emails, the latter can still be more productive in certain situations!), and when it makes sense to try to publish a book as a financial advisor (hint: don't do it for the book sales, do it for the credibility it gives you to attract more clients, and get a ghost writer to help you put your thoughts down on paper if necessary).

We also have a number of practice management articles this week, focused around the theme of attracting and retaining next generation talent, including: how advisory firms are starting to formalize their career tracks as a way to compete for young talent, why having clearly written job descriptions (including criteria for advancement) are crucial to become an "employer of choice", why it matters that you formally write down your business' "core values" (and how to get started), why attracting and retaining next generation talent is essential to build an enduring business that has transferable value, and some tips for next generation advisors looking to buy into an advisory firm (and how to think about the risk of doing so).

We wrap up with three interesting articles, all around the theme of personal and professional change: the first is a look at how a key role of the financial planner is helping clients to change and adapt to an uncertain future, but our own role as financial planners is changing as the nature of money itself continues to change and evolve; the second is a look at a financial advisor who was struggling with a near-failing advisory firm, and ultimately went through a process of deep self-reflection to figure out what it would take to turn it around (including a hard look at whether he really wanted to be a business owner or not, and how much income he really wanted and needed to feel successful); and the last is a fascinating look at how the Great Depression was one of the nation's darkest and most stressful times, but also a period of tremendous productivity growth and invention, which helps to serve as a reminder that while it's not always fun to feel stressed, it's actually the stress that helps to drive us forward to achieve the things that ultimately help to bring financial success... and personal happiness, too. (So if you are wishing your life was less stressful... be careful what you wish for!)

Enjoy the "light" reading!

Read More...

Enjoy the current installment of "weekend reading for financial planners" – this week's edition kicks off with a fascinating new report from Morningstar, finding that the industry's shift to adopt T shares and Clean shares under DoL fiduciary could improve mutual fund returns in the aggregate by as much as 0.50%/year, through a combination of cost savings and the anticipated pressure of advisors to adopt lower-cost fund choices (over comparable higher-cost ones). Also in the news this week was the announcement that front-end advisor software provider Oranj was purchasing portfolio rebalancing software provider TradeWarrior, and the blockbuster deal that private equity firms Stone Point and KKR were buying a 70% stake in Focus Financial valued at $2 billion (and helping to validate that the RIA aggregation/roll-up model is far from dead).

From there, we have a few articles about advisor technology this week, including a Joel Bruckenstein review of the new FinMason risk tolerance assessment tools, a head-to-head comparison of Redtail CRM versus Salesforce Financial Services Cloud, and a brief review of new advisor screensharing software app ScreenMeet.

We also have a number of marketing and sales related articles, including: why meetings with prospects should always include two people from the advisory firm, ideally with different and complementary sales styles (e.g., one "charmer" and one "analytic"); why the presentation of an advisor's physical office space really matters (and when it makes sense to invest into an interior designer to get help!); and how to handle the looming "marketing wars" that may soon emerge in the increasingly competitive advisory landscape.

We wrap up with three interesting articles, all on the theme of big data: the first is a look at how a number of tax prep services offered free tax preparation this year, from TurboTax to H&R Block and even Credit Karma, as the providers are realizing that not charging for tax preparation, and using tax filers' big data, has even more income potential, whether to recommend tax strategies, credit cards, or loan refinancing deals; the second looks at the recent launch of USAFacts, a new initiative from former Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer, that brings together Federal, state, and local government data to understand where tax dollars go, and the results they achieve, in a way that no one has been able to produce before; and the last is a discussion of behavioral economics professor Dan Ariely's new "Common Cents Lab", that is partnering with FinTech software providers to run behavioral finance "experiments" and harness the value of big data to understand what it takes to actually help consumers change their financial behaviors for the better!

And be certain to check out the video at the end - the start of a new video series being offered from journalist and financial consumer advocate Dan Solin, that provides simple 1-minute video tips for consumers, and can even be embedded by financial advisors directly onto their own websites for free (just be certain to include proper attribution back to Solin!).

Enjoy the "light" reading!

Read More...

Enjoy the current installment of "weekend reading for financial planners" – this week's edition kicks off with the interesting announcement that TD Ameritrade is raising its revenue-sharing agreements for its advisor referral network, as the DoL fiduciary rule looms along with the assimilation of hundreds of Scottrade retail branches that could soon turbocharge the advisor referrals coming through the network... and both raising questions about whether this will kick off revenue-sharing increases at other custodians as the struggle for advisor growth becomes more widespread, and also raising concerns about how abruptly TD Ameritrade distributed the news and made the change (giving advisors barely two weeks to agree to a substantial change in terms or be kicked off the referral platform). Also in the news this week is an emerging trend that advisors are getting more political in their communication with clients - what was traditionally a third rail never to be touched in client meetings - and whether doing so is really bad for business, or might actually be good to help attract like-minded prospective clients with similar beliefs.

From there, we have a few articles about regulatory trends, including: a deeper look at how the DoL fiduciary delay until June 9th (and delay of the full Best Interests Contract Exemption until the end of the year) may still not be enough to really deter the fiduciary rule from taking effect; the trends in the 401(k) marketplace for more advisors offering 3(38) services instead of operating as just a 3(21) fiduciary; and an interesting list of other regulatory battles for financial advisors that may be looming (including a potential "fiduciary lite" proposal that could come from the SEC on the titles that advisors use when holding out to the public).

We also have a number of investment-related articles this week, from a look at the rise of "evidence-based" investing, to a theoretical exploration of why it is that stocks continue to persistently outperform bonds (even when we "know" they're going to outperform, which theoretically means an efficient market should bid up their prices until they don't outperform anymore), a fascinating new study that shows how incredibly skewed stock returns really are with the entire wealth creation of the US stock market actually coming from just 4% of all stocks (and half the wealth creation from just 0.3% of them!), and a retrospective look at how TIPS have done for the past 20 years since they were first introduced in 1997.

We wrap up with three interesting articles: the first is a look at how the recent United Airlines incident is an example where having "too many" rules to manage behavior actually caused a breakdown in the system (which has significant implications regarding how many fiduciary rules should or shouldn't be prescribed for advisors); the second is an important reminder that advisors should not market themselves as being "conflict-free" just because they're independent, because all advisory models still have at least some conflicts of interest; and the last is a good reminder of why at least some regulation is necessary in most industries, because otherwise it's just too easy for marketers to take advantage of low barriers to entry and communicate in a way that misrepresents their products (but lets them profit before anyone realizes the profit that has been caused), and thus why smart and ethical marketers (and financial advisors?) should recognize that some level of regulation is actually a positive (both for consumers, and in providing clear guardrails to practitioners).

Enjoy the "light" reading!

Read More...

Enjoy the current installment of "weekend reading for financial planners" – this week's edition kicks off with the big news that the DoL fiduciary rule was in fact delayed this week, not only with a 60-day delay to the applicability date itself, but also including a further delay until the end of the year for complying with the full-BIC, the need to acknowledge fiduciary duty to clients, and the application of the Best Interests Contract Exemption to annuities... though the debate is on as to whether this is still the beginning of the end of the DoL fiduciary rule, or if the extended delays for key provisions will actually make it harder to eliminate the rule now that the industry has been granted more time to accommodate! Also in the news this week is the launch of the CFP Board's new "I'm A CFP Pro" campaign to encourage more people to become CFP professionals (particularly amongst Millennials, women, and people of color, who are all currently under-represented amongst financial advisors), and a 'heads-up' from the SEC that it is increasingly scrutinizing RIAs who have 'independent' investment adviser representatives affiliating with them as 1099 contractors.

From there, we have a few articles about industry trends, including: a look at how regardless of the DoL fiduciary rule and its prospective delay, the biggest broker-dealers are in the process of reinventing themselves for a fiduciary-advice future; how advisors who are considering changing broker-dealers in this environment should scrutinize how the payouts really work, as some broker-dealers who offer 90%+ payouts also have higher costs (from trading charges to custody fees to compliance and technology fees) that may mean the advisor actually finishes with less on the bottom line; and a look at how a new "breakaway" trend is starting to emerge, not amongst the brokers who are breaking away to form RIAs, but amongst independent RIAs themselves, where advisor teams are breaking away to form their own new independent RIA firms.

We also have several more technical articles this week, from a new study by David Blanchett on the interplay between the amount of a retiree's guaranteed income and their ability to sustain a higher "safe" withdrawal rate from the portfolio that complements that guaranteed income (especially for retirees who have at least a little income flexibility), to discussion of another study that finds mutual funds holding ETFs tend to have inferior performance to those that hold stocks and bonds directly (whether due to bad market timing, or adding a layer of ETF fees while acting as a closet indexer), and an explanation of how conservation easements work and why they can be an appealing tax planning strategy for high-net-worth clients that have substantial positions in (undeveloped) land.

We wrap up with three interesting articles about personal development and learning: the first is an overview of the latest research on how we actually learn, and what we should do as adults to try to learn better; the second is a fascinating series of short interviews with prolific readers about how they read, and what strategies they engage in to get the most out of their reading material (hint: it's ok and normal to read for a while, then skim, then lose interest before getting to the end and picking up another book instead); and the last is a fascinating look at how the Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, comes about naturally, and why it is that you don't have to be twice as good to get twice the results... it's only necessary to be 1% better, and do so persistently over an extended period of time.

Enjoy the "light" reading!

Read More...

Enjoy the current installment of "weekend reading for financial planners" – this week's edition kicks off with the latest news that the Department of Labor has submitted its official 60-day fiduciary rule delay, and sent it along to OMB for final approval... although fiduciary supporters are already raising the question of whether the delay might face a legal challenge, as it's not clear whether the DoL could have realistically read and thoroughly considered in just two weeks the over-1,100 comment letters that were submitted. Also in the news this week is a new FINRA Rule 2165, that would obligate financial firms (and their advisors) to make "reasonable efforts" to get contact information for a trusted third party (or even to stop disbursements from an account) if there is suspicion that a senior client may be getting financial exploited, while also providing a safe harbor against privacy breach or other legal consequences for endeavoring to do so.

From there, we have a few practice management articles, including a look at "what's next" in the world of financial advisor marketing (as we continue the evolution from cold-calling to seminar marketing to client appreciation events and now digital marketing), an important reminder that as financial advisors we use too much industry jargon (often without realizing it), and an interesting way to think about how the client relationship evolves over time from being "just" a customer, to a true client, to a friend, and finally to an advocate (which is food for thought about what you might do to evolve your own clients along that continuum!).

We also have several more technical articles this week, from a discussion by Wade Pfau of "time segmentation" (i.e., bucketing) strategies in retirement (as differentiated from systematic withdrawals from total return portfolios, or various essential-vs-discretionary income approaches), common estate planning mistakes that financial advisors can help their clients avoid, and a look at the recent Tax Court case of Ozimkoski, which provides several valuable reminders of what not to do when handling an inherited IRA!

Towards the end, we have three interesting articles on the theme of retirement, and whether it's all that it's cracked up to be, from a look at the global research on happiness and wellbeing that finds being employed is consistently associated with greater life satisfaction than being unemployed (with white-collar jobs consistently scoring better than blue-collar jobs as well), a look at the real-world challenges that early retirees face in transitioning to retirement when all of their peers are still working, and the results of a fascinating survey from the Wall Street Journal that asked new/recent retirees what they found to be most surprising in retirement, to which they said... almost everything.

We wrap up with the sad news that this week, financial planning visionary Dick Wagner passed away unexpectedly. Wagner has long been recognized as a thought leader in the profession (since long before the term was popular), and was both a former practitioner, former volunteer leader at the chapter and national level in various FPA-predecessor organizations, co-founder of the Nazrudin Project (from which much of the life planning movement emerged), and a tireless advocate of advancing financial planning into a true profession around a broader garden of knowledge that he dubbed the study of "finology". Fortunately, Wagner was able to publish his book, "Financial Planning 3.0", just a few months before he passed away, and in today's weekend reading, we highlight what many view as the seminal article on how financial planners must evolve to truly become a recognized profession... an article he first published in the Journal of Financial Planning in 1990, that we are all collectively still trying to live up to today. Rest in peace, Dick Wagner.

Enjoy the "light" reading!

Read More...