The Nine Core Values of Financial Advice

January 05, 2015

What does the game of golf have in common with the financial planning profession? According to my colleague Paul Wannemacher, there are many parallels between the two. The financial planning process is all about aligning your money and wealth with your life goals and personal values. As Paul explores below, professional financial advisors have an important role in this process and your financial future should be treated with the highest levels of professionalism and integrity: Continue reading “The Nine Core Values of Financial Advice”

Your Retirement Planning Doesn’t Have to Be a “Gamble”

June 27, 2013

A friend of mine recently sent me a link to this much talked about Frontline episode called “The Retirement Gamble” on the problems in our current retirement system. The show points out that half of all Americans say they can’t save for retirement and lays the blame on several main culprits: Continue reading “Your Retirement Planning Doesn’t Have to Be a “Gamble””

Can You Really Trust Your Financial Adviser?

October 04, 2012

When it comes to financial advisors, we often hear the term “trusted adviser” so often that we can take the “trusted” part for granted and forget just how important that trust is. This is someone we may entrust with some of our deepest and most intimate goals, our financial secrets, and our life savings. Yet, we often rely on very little to decide who’s worthy of that trust. We may choose an adviser based on who greets us at the nearest brokerage office, a cold call, a casual recommendation from an acquaintance, or even who happens to be sitting next to us at our child’s soccer game. Equally difficult can be the decision of when to fire an adviser we’re working with, especially if it’s been for a long time. Continue reading “Can You Really Trust Your Financial Adviser?”

Should You Invest with a Commissioned Broker? Maybe

September 20, 2012

I recently had dinner with a friend of mine who just got a job working for an investment brokerage firm. Yes, that means she’s going to be one of those commissioned brokers that I’ve warned so much about. (If they work for a brokerage firm, they’re a broker even if they call themselves something else.) Ironically, she was looking for some advice from me in getting clients and building her business. Did I tell her to forget it and join a fee-only financial planning firm? No. In fact, there are some very good reasons why an investor could be better off with a broker than one of the many fee-only advisers she’s competing against: Continue reading “Should You Invest with a Commissioned Broker? Maybe”