Enjoy the current installment of “Weekend Reading For Financial Planners” – this week’s edition kicks off with a recap on where the latest legislation on the infrastructure legislation and budget reconciliation bill (with pending tax law changes) stands as it winds its way through Congress in the coming weeks, which is anticipated to culminate in final passage sometime in mid-September… and likely kicking off a fresh wave of fourth-quarter tax planning with whatever new tax rules are implemented.
Also in the industry news this week are a number of other interesting industry headlines:
- California regulators fine Jefferson National $150k for not better overseeing the recommendations RIAs were making regarding its no-commission annuity, raising fresh questions of how no-load fee-based annuities will be overseen in the RIA channel
- A Wall Street Journal article highlights the rise of new advisor fee models as an alternative to the 1% AUM fee (which is notable if only because the conversation has now made it all the way to the WSJ?)
From there, we have several retirement-related articles, including:
- Why retirees should consider doing a ‘Trial Run’ of retirement before pulling the trigger for real
- How ultra-HNW retirees are using the “Buy, Borrow, Die” strategy of using securities-based loans to (permanently) avoid capital gains taxes
- Why the guaranteed income from an annuity may act like a ‘license to spend’ that helps retirees enjoy more of their money than a traditional portfolio-withdrawal-based approach
We’ve also included a number of articles on advisor marketing and sales:
- How to do a quick test on your “referrability” as a financial advisor amongst your clients to their friends and family
- How the rising competency of financial advisors means that prospects are more likely to choose us for other reasons, such as our personal connection and ability to quickly establish trust
- The three questions to ask prospects to set the best agenda for a first meeting
We wrap up with three final articles, all around the theme of managing our own behavioral biases as advisors:
- How to overcome our brain’s tendency to be overly optimistic about how long projects will take
- Why it’s unrealistic to expect our lives to be hassle-free and why it’s better to focus on the ‘optimal’ amount of hassle instead
- Why sometimes the best way to improve our situation is not to add, but to subtract instead
Enjoy the ‘light’ reading!
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