Insights Financial Planning

Many Americans run into unexpected health care situations, natural disasters or other unforeseeable tragedies that also become financial tragedies. We’ve seen research showing that nearly half of Americans would struggle to cover an unexpected $400 expense and that 56% of Americans could not cover a $1,000 expense with savings. These numbers and surveys vary in …

Back when the SECURE Act passed in 2019, I wrote an article for Forbes called “Why The SECURE Act Makes 2020 The Year of Missed RMDs.” The reality then was that the two biggest and most impactful provisions of the SECURE Act 1.0 were around required minimum distributions (RMDs) from retirement accounts. With the passage …

 While 20 years ago it was possible to thrive as an investment specialist only, that’s becoming increasingly difficult in today’s financial planning services environment. Now clients want advisors who do more than manage their investments – they expect advisors to offer comprehensive financial planning. Comprehensive financial planning can deliver more value to investors. Vanguard’s Advisor’s …

The SECURE Act brought big changes to retirement planning when it was signed into law in 2019. Now, its sequel – dubbed SECURE 2.0 Act – has just passed as part of the 2023 budget. Though SECURE 2.0 Act’s changes to the retirement landscape aren’t quite as sweeping as the original, there’s still plenty advisors …

The SECURE 2.0 Act has passed, making it the largest retirement legislation since the original SECURE Act hit in late 2019. As 55% of Americans say they don’t have enough saved for retirement, this bipartisan legislation primarily seeks to make it easier to contribute to retirement plans and use those funds appropriately for their needs …

Unlike its predecessor, the SECURE 2.0 Act makes major revisions to help Americans save for retirement, which advisors need to understand. The new rules bring plenty of changes for retirees, workers, employers and small business owners. Congress made a clear effort to call out the importance of having an emergency fund and college funding, and …

A couple of years ago, I started to notice a trend: Some advisors I work with were having significant – but sporadic – success with business owners who were exiting their business. These advisors were knocking down the occasional $15 million to $20 million opportunity, but had no formal method for delivering this service or …

There’s no question college costs are daunting: The average tuition and fees for the 2020-21 school year was $9,400 for public in-state four-year schools, climbing to $37,600 for private nonprofit four-year institutions, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. And that doesn’t include other related costs, such as books, supplies, transportation or living expenses …

Financial planning for the LGBTQ+ community requires both more sensitivity and additional practical analysis that their straight counterparts do not have to consider. As financial advisors, it is our job to be aware of these unique challenges, build fitting solutions into their plans and make sure they feel welcome, heard and understood in our offices. …

Sonu Varghese, Director, Investment Platforms; and Ryan Detrick, Chief Market Strategist, contributed to this report. Senate Democrats have reached a general agreement on a bill to address climate change, taxes, health care, inflation and the deficit, according to a White House statement. This agreement came as a surprise to many after the Build Back Better …

Excell isn’t like every other financial advisor conference. It’s more than an event. It’s an experience centered on community. We’re not content to just fill the conference agenda with breakout sessions and call it good – we work to make sure our sessions cover every aspect of the advisor space (not to mention a few …