Drazen Zigic | iStock | Getty Images For financial advisors, the focus is often on growing their business, not passing it on to new owners. However, succession planning should be a key consideration in running a financial advisory firm, experts say. Yet research shows that most firms don’t have a plan in place — which
Advisors
Thomas Barwick | DigitalVision | Getty Images The financial advisory industry continues to struggle with efforts to boost diversity, though more firms seem to be emphasizing the issue in their recent recruiting, according to top firms on CNBC’s annual FA 100 ranking. The profession has long been one dominated by white men. For example,
dowell | Moment | Getty Images CNBC enlisted data provider AccuPoint Solutions to assist with the ranking of registered investment advisors for this year’s FA 100 list. The methodology consisted of first analyzing a variety of core data points from AccuPoint Solutions’ database of registered investment advisors. This analysis started with an initial list of
Westend61 | Westend61 | Getty Images Let’s be honest: Making personal financial decisions can be challenging. There’s a variety of investment options, all of which carry some form of risk. And, of course, there are many types of retirement plans to choose from, each with their own set of tax consequences. The seemingly endless amount
Finding the right financial advisor to help with your financial needs and goals can be complicated. There are so many things to consider. Every financial advisor has his or her own area of expertise. The services provided by financial advisors will vary based on the type of advisor, but overall, a financial advisor will assess
Working remotely in a business built around relationships means adapting in more ways than one. For most financial advisory firms, the pandemic accelerated advancements already underway in virtual communications and paperless transactions. The best businesses maintained their personal connections with clients and safeguarded customer data at the same time. “We are now fully in the
d3sign | Moment | Getty Images Hiring young talent is imperative for financial advisors. But finding so-called “next-generation” advisors can be a challenge — largely because young college graduates are often unaware of financial advice as a career path, according to firms on CNBC’s annual FA 100 ranking. These top firms have found ways to
izusek | E+ | Getty Images To pay for a historic and sweeping expansion of the social safety net, President Joe Biden and Democrats are planning to slap wealthy Americans with higher taxes. In response, financial advisors and their well-off clients are also scheming. Specifically, they’re looking at moves they can take now to avoid
Paul Bradbury | Getty Images Younger generations of Americans apparently do not have a great deal of faith that Social Security will be available to them when they retire. To that point, about 23% of Gen Z and 26% of millennials actually believe there is little likelihood that they will be able to rely on
Marko Geber | DigitalVision | Getty Images In a world that’s rapidly changing and becoming more uncertain than ever, the financial advisory industry has a great opportunity to become a beacon of trust for investors by helping them navigate through difficult life and financial decisions. The Covid-19 pandemic, combined with the social and economic shifts
UpperCut Images | UpperCut Images | Getty Images Student athletes and their parents have likely heard that the NCAA has opened the door to allow collegiate athletes the ability to profit off their name, image and likeness. The NCAA policy, which took effect in July 1, will allow college athletes and recruits to make money
FatCamera | E+ | Getty Images It’s a situation that appears incongruous: Congressional Democrats want to expand Medicare’s benefits while a trust fund that supports the program is facing insolvency. Indeed, some Republican lawmakers have seized on that looming problem as a reason to oppose a proposal to add dental, vision and hearing coverage to
Sometimes an investment is too good to be true. As Elizabeth Holmes, founder and former CEO of Theranos, goes on trial on allegations of defrauding investors and patients, her health-care start-up may be a prime example. Nearly a decade ago, investors, including media mogul Rupert Murdoch, former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and the Walton family
mediaphotos | E+ | Getty Images As our elected officials debate how best to address a national debt approaching $30 trillion while simultaneously increasing spending levels and addressing wealth inequality, it should not be surprising that tax policy is at the forefront of the discussion In that context, there has been an especially intense focus
Getty Images There has been a recent flood of “math error” notices from the IRS, which have been confusing for taxpayers and difficult to resolve, financial experts say. The IRS sent roughly 9 million such alerts from Jan. 1 through July 15, up from 628,997 in the same period last year, according to Taxpayer Advocate
JGI/Jamie Grill It appears most workers have to wait years for a company’s 401(k) matching contributions to become entirely theirs. The majority (82%) of employers that offer traditional 401(k) plans say they match a portion of their workers’ account contributions, according to a report from human resources firm XpertHR. However, the research shows that just
Towfiqu Photography If you inherit a retirement account, you may want to pause before making any decisions on when and how to access the money. Basically, the rules that apply depend on your relationship to the person who died. Mistakes can be made, and depending on the specifics, they can be hard to undo. The
Sinenkiy | iStock | Getty Images The Social Security cost-of-living adjustment for 2022 could be the highest it has been in decades. The latest estimates from The Senior Citizens League, a nonpartisan senior group, point to a possible 6.2% increase for next year based on the latest Consumer Price Index data. In comparison, this year’s
Westend61 | Westend61 | Getty Images Recent upticks in inflation have renewed interest from investors in assets that may help preserve the real (inflation-adjusted) value and purchasing power of their portfolio. The good news is that the typical investor’s portfolio will likely contain all the inflation-fighting tools that they need — such as stocks and
VALERIE MACON | AFP | Getty Images Social Security will be able to pay full benefits for just another 12 years, according to new estimates released this week. Experts, however. say that does not mean you should dramatically change your Social Security claiming strategy. Each year, the Social Security Administration releases an annual trustees report