Many financial advisors start their own firm because of an entrepreneurial itch, a desire to work with a specific type of client, or perhaps because they want to have more control over their work life. But typically, the opportunity to create and implement a marketing strategy is not one of these reasons. In fact, data […]
Weekend Reading For Financial Planners (August 19-20)
Enjoy the current installment of “Weekend Reading For Financial Planners” – this week’s edition kicks off with the news that a recent study has found that consumers are increasingly likely to spread their portfolios across a range of asset managers, and that this trend is particularly pronounced amongst more affluent clients (e.g., millionaires), suggesting that […]
Motivational Interviewing Techniques To Help Clients Talk Themselves Into Implementing Advice
Financial advisors create value for clients not only by giving good advice, but also by ensuring that the advice they give is actually implemented. After all, financial planning is worth a lot more to clients when they act on the advisor’s recommendations (and realize the projected outcomes), in contrast to the advisor simply handing clients […]
The importance of community football
When I moved back to Melbourne in 2017 after 15 years living overseas, I joined the Glen Eira football club as a volunteer because it’s a great way to meet people and it’s really rewarding. At the club we live by our motto which is “football for all”. We have wheelchair football, we have all […]
#FA Success Ep 346: Moving Procrastinating Clients To “Yes” Instead Of Selling As A Fee-Only Advisor, With Jim Ludwick
Welcome back to the 346th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast! My guest on today’s podcast is Jim Ludwick. Jim is the founder of MainStreet Financial Planning, an hourly, fee-only financial planning firm, and also created Procrastination Junction, a coaching program for fee-only financial advisors looking to improve their sales skills. What’s unique about […]
Moving On From Clients Who Aren’t A Fit By Establishing ‘Kill Criteria’ To Protect Yourself
When a financial advisor first opens their own firm, they often start with few (or no) clients and little revenue. And while they might have an ideal target client in mind, it can be tempting to bring on any client who can pay the advisor’s fee so that the advisor can simply ‘keep the lights […]
Elon Musk launches xAI to take on OpenAI
Image credit: Daniel Oberhaus, Creative Commons, Wikipedia. Elon Musk, at the helm of Tesla, SpaceX, and now Twitter (or simply “X”), is looking for a new project. Apparently, he’s got enough spare time. Rather fittingly for an entrepreneur obsessed with cutting-edge technology, the next big Elon business venture will be to join the new AI […]
5 reasons why non-profits should embrace accounting software
Non-profits are one of the few types of organisations that seem to eschew the use of proper accounting software to manage their books! As NFPs are often volunteer-based, and government or member-funded, they can be extremely prudent with money. But that doesn’t mean one needs to cultivate an ad hoc approach to bookkeeping… While shoebox […]
Weekend Reading For Financial Planners (August 12-13)
Enjoy the current installment of “Weekend Reading For Financial Planners” – this week’s edition kicks off with the news that the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth has launched an investigation into how investment firms are using artificial intelligence-enabled technologies, echoing concerns expressed by the SEC that these tools could be used to put the firms’ […]
Kitces & Carl Ep 118: (Re-)Building Your Financial Advisor Identity When You Dial Back Working With Clients
Financial advisors who have established and successfully built up their advisory firms over several years can often go through many stages of firm development, requiring them to hire staff and additional advisors to manage their growing clientele. When a firm becomes large enough, though, the firm owner may be compelled to consider stepping away from […]