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1. Responding to: “I Already Have an Advisor”
Everyone knows about icebreaker questions. When you meet someone new at an event, the first question might be; “Where do you live?” The second is often: “What do you do?” We’ve all experienced the moment when two people are talking at once: “Before you can finish saying “I’m a financial advisor” they have started saying “I already have an advisor.” Sometimes they use the word “broker.” What can you do? — Bryce Sanders
2. The Services Wealthy Clients Value Most
Albert Einstein once famously said “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value”. This sentiment is true in life, but also true in a financial advisor/client relationship. The financial advisor needs to provide value to their clients, and that value is determined by the client. Regardless of how many services or traits an advisor has that they feel is valuable, it is only beneficial if the client or prospect sees the value. — Catherine McBreen
3. Why We Fail To Predict The Future
A lot of money and time is going to be spent on corporate risk registers in the year ahead. Following a crisis, regulators and managers naturally take steps to prevent a recurrence. There’s a danger of retrospective risk management: believing in and using a strategy that has been successful in the past but is no longer a relevant tactic in the present, never mind the future. — Paul Taylor
4. You Can’t Create Permanent Inflation From Artificial Growth
Much like “Humpty Dumpty,” despite the Fed’s best efforts, you can’t create permanent inflation from artificial growth. Currently, depending on whether you are “bullish” or “bearish,” there is much angst over the prospect of higher inflation. If you are bullish, higher inflation is a reflection of surging economic growth. If you are bearish, higher inflation leads to rising costs and higher rates. However, we need a better definition of what inflation is. — Lance Roberts
5. Here’s Why This Historic Housing Boom Can Continue
US housing prices are rising at the fastest pace since 2006. Can this possibly continue? I’ll get the short answer out of the way first—YES. In fact, my research says we’re just getting started. And it all has to do with one key metric. I’ll explain what that is in a moment, as well as the #1 way to take advantage of it. But first, let’s look at where we are today. — Stephen McBride
6. Play the Inflation Trade
As 2021 has taken shape, for many, the inflation debate has seemingly shifted from “how much” to “how long”. More recently, there have been a number of factors pointing towards inflation as a potential protracted risk to investors. Consideration of this risk is clearly being reflected in the price trends of natural resources and commodities, which historically have been a leading indicator of inflation as they sit at the intersections of supply/demand and consumer/producer. — VanEck
7. Is Now a Good Time to Buy Rental Real Estate
According to Zillow, a $235k home bought five years ago in Raleigh is now worth $335k. That’s a 43% increase! Like much of the country, home buyers in the triangle are faced with bidding wars, all cash offers, and a shortage of inventory. — Chad Smith
8. Life Settlements: Accessing the Value of Life Insurance Policies with Michael Freedman
Michael Freedman is the CEO of Lighthouse Life Solutions, who works with financial professionals who advise and assist policyowners with the sale of unwanted, unneeded or unaffordable life insurance policies. In this episode of Power Your Advice, Doug Heikkinen and Michael discuss how Lighthouse can help advisors access the value of their senior clients’ life insurance policies. — Power Your Advice
9. A ‘Rebuilding American Retirement’ Call to Arms for Financial Advisors
Retirement in America represents a complex equation fraught with many diverse and hidden challenges that require thoughtful, proactive, forward-looking planning. Many quantitative empirical studies of retirement preparedness find that a substantial number of US households face a potential financial crisis at some point in the future. The CFA Institute Research Foundation provides a critical survey of the most important and best-known of these studies in their recent monograph “Is There a Retirement Crisis?”. — Bill Hortz
10. What About the Financial Locusts and Their Meme Stocks?
It seems the motto for investing today is ‘if you can create it out of nothing, you can trade it or sell it for something.’ Example: Have you heard about Italian artist Salvatore Garau who sold his artwork titled lo Sono for $18,000? Oh, this is indeed an original masterpiece. Get this – The sculpture is nothing but EMPTY SPACE. Cycles such as this don’t last forever; they inevitably crash and burn. Does anybody want to buy an invisible 5,000 square foot house I have for sale with a view of the beach? — Richard Russo
11. How To Make Your Client Communications Work Harder
I don't know about you, but I've never felt there was a shortage of good communications ideas in my life. Some are mine, many are from others and all vie for my attention each and every day. With so many ideas to choose from you might feel like a kid at a candy store, picking and choosing from the best. Or, like so many of us, you might choose to do nothing. It’s as if we have a distinctly human setting that causes inaction in the face of too much choice. — Julie Littlechild