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1. Is Buying Leads Worth It? This Advisor Thinks So
We all need leads to grow our business, but there’s a lot of skepticism around purchasing leads—it’s a scam, it’s not worth the money, the leads are less than ideal. The Efficient Advisor dismantles all the suspicions with guest Philip Snyder. Phil shares his firsthand experience, shedding light on the unexpected quality and high-value clients these purchased leads can bring. — Libby Greiwe
2. 6 Non-Verbal Signs Your Clients Don't Trust You
Trust is the bedrock of any successful financial advisor-client relationship. But how do you know if a client truly trusts you, especially when they might not explicitly say it? Beyond the spoken word, clients often communicate their feelings through non-verbal cues. Learning to recognize these subtle signals can help advisors address underlying concerns and build stronger, more trusting relationships. — Don Connelly
3. S&P 6300? Is That Outside the Realm of Possibility?
Goldman Sachs recently upped its price target to S&P 6300 for the end of this year, along with Evercore ISI upping its year-end target to 6000. Such is not surprising given the strong run in the markets this year. Just two weeks ago, I posted the following chart saying: “We should soon start getting a raft of S&P 500 price target upgrades for year-end.” — Lance Roberts
4. Even Workers With Retirement Plans Are Worried About Retirement
Amid high interest rates and persistent inflation, it’s understandable that clients have an increasing array of retirement-related concerns. Advisors are aware of that trend and while awareness is important, there are surprises that must be acknowledged. In theory, the clients apt to be most concerned about retirement readiness are those lacking access to employ-sponsored plans such as 401(k)s. These days, that could represent a significant portion of an advisors’ client base when accounting for business owner, freelancers and gig workers. — Todd Shriber
5. Why Annuities Matter More Than Ever with Tim Seifert
Tim Seifert is the Senior Vice President and Head of Retirement Solutions Distribution at Lincoln Financial Group: a firm that has been helping millions of people plan, protect, and retire for over a century. In this podcast, Tim and host, Steve Gresham, dive into the implications of millions of Americans retiring each year, the challenges they face to secure their financial future, discussing the crucial role of annuities providing protected income. — Power Your Advice
6. How Current Clients Can Get You More Clients
Do new clients come to you or do you need to find new clients? In my opinion, one of the defining characteristics of a “professional” was they did not need to seek out new business. Clients came to them. Accountants, lawyers and physicians fir into this category. I think a turning point came with the arrival of the TV series, Boston Legal.” (2004) When considering an associate for a partnership, they would ask: “How much new business are they bringing into the firm?” Today, finding new business is part of the job description for many fields. — Bryce Sanders
7. Why Economists and Citizens Have Different Inflation Realities
The Fed and economists are encouraged because CPI is down to 3.3% from a high of nearly 9% in 2022. Despite the Fed’s “significant progress” in lowering inflation, most citizens are outraged and confused by economists’ relatively rosy inflation observations. Most citizens believe inflation is still rampant. — Micheal Lebowitz
8. Fed Watch: At the Midway Point
Once again, the Fed kept rates unchanged at the June FOMC meeting. As a result, the Fed Funds trading range remains in the 5.25%–5.50% band that was introduced in July last year, and still resides at a more than 20-year high-water mark. For those keeping track, this represents the seventh consecutive FOMC meeting where the policy makers decided to take no action on the rate front. For calendar year 2024, we have now hit the midway point in terms of the number of annual FOMC meetings. — Kevin Flanagan
9. Institutional Money Could Drive Bitcoin to a $1 Million Valuation by 2033
Bitcoin could be headed for the stratosphere, according to a new report by Bernstein. The global investment firm is predicting that the world’s top digital asset could hit $200,000 by 2025, $500,000 by 2029 and—no, you’re not seeing things—$1 million per token by 2033. This decade-long rally, Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani writes, will be largely driven by institutional investors as the Bitcoin ETFs are approved at major wirehouses and private bank platforms. — Frank Holmes
10. How to End the Sales Conversation, Without Ending the Sale
Our instinct to gaining a new paying client during the sales conversation, subconsciously directs our thinking to keeping the sales conversation constantly moving forward -- so we don’t lose momentum, ending in losing the potential client. So when an initial sales conversation with a prospect runs out of steam, and feels like it should reach some kind of conclusion, we often fill that awkward moment with. — Ari Galper
11. The Real Secret to Success: It's Not What You Think
The common denominator of success – secret of success of every individual who has ever been successful – lies in the fact that he or she formed the habit of doing things that failures don’t like to do. It’s just as true as it sounds and it’s just as simple as it seems. You can hold it up to the light, you can put it to the acid test, and you can kick it around until it’s worn out, but when you are all through with it, it will still be the common denominator of success, whether we like it or not. — Bill Cates