Triggered by the growing demand for greater value, the financial services industry is creating new categories of products and services that never existed, expanding access in ways that were never expected, providing greater transparency and simplicity—and driving down costs to unprecedented lows. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: How Advisors Can Beat the Fee Compression Race. ...

Women financial advisors stand a long way from equal footing with men in terms of hiring and pay—and independent broker-dealers are no exception to the industry-wide disparities. The average share of female registered representatives out of the total headcounts of the largest IBDs amounts to an estimated 17%, according to data submitted by firms for Financial Planning’s 33rd annual FP50 survey. To read the ...

The IRS announced relief from late-payment penalties and that it will allow late elections for taxpayers subject to the new Sec. 965 transition tax on deemed repatriated foreign earnings, which was enacted by P.L. 115-97, known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. To read the full article in The Tax Adviser, click: Sec. 965 Transition Tax Penalty Relief Issued. ...

Some wealth management firms are finding that solutions to two of the industry’s big stumbling blocks—succession planning and diversity—may be intertwined.  Indeed, a link between the two emerged when firms began to diversify their advisor staffs, according to executives. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: Is Diversity the Key to the Succession Plan Challenge? ...

For the future of financial advice, the writing isn’t on the wall, it’s on the mobile phone screen, says Christopher P. Van Slyke, financial planner and founder of wealth management firm, WorthPointe.  Van Slyke, who's based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, says the tipping point for him was when he saw that the local bank, Bank of Jackson Hole, was touting its app in a community paper. To read the full article in ...

Business economists have grown a little less optimistic about the outlook for the U.S. economy as a result of U.S. trade policies.  The National Association of Business Economists reports that its survey of 45 professional economic forecasters now projects a median 2.8% growth in real GDP from Q4 2017 to Q4 2018, down from 2.9% three months ago. To read the full article in Think Advisor, click: A Mixed Outl ...

As technology continues to change the investment landscape, a new Merrill Edge report has found that nearly 40% of mass affluent Americans are comfortable consulting artificial intelligence for financial advice.  But that’s not all… To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: 40% of Americans are Comfortable Seeking Financial Advice From AI. ...

With the Social Security Administration’s recent update on its long-term financial health, advisors and their clients now have a new time frame for the anticipated depletion of the retirement program trust fund. Unless Congress acts, the trust fund is expected to run out of money in late 2034, at which point Social Security will be able to cover just 77% of retirement benefits. To read the full article in F ...

New lease accounting standards come into force at the start of next year which will fundamentally change how companies can report off-balance sheet financing.  How will the new rules affect finance leaders? To read the full article in Accountancy Age, click: Lease Accounting Standards: Are Multinationals Sitting on a “Leaseberg” of Huge Proportions? ...

Many long-term investors have amassed substantial capital gains since the market bottomed out in March 2009.  While great-looking on paper, such gains have real tax implications for engaging in even routine investment adjustments. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: Kitces: Three Strategies for Managing Big Capital Gains. ...

Lack of communication and trust has depleted 60 percent of family fortunes, according to a recent white paper from BNY Mellon's Pershing entitled "Parent Trap: Avoiding Common Multigenerational Wealth Planning Pitfalls."  On the other hand, poor financial planning accounts for three percent of bankrupted family wealth. To read the full article in Financial Advisor, click: Lack of Communication Killing Famil ...

Global companies have long expected talent from all over the world to work together, whether remotely or in the same location.  McKinsey research has shown that a diverse workforce is in the best interest of businesses.  The varied approaches workers with different characteristics and backgrounds bring to creativity, problem-solving, and leadership drive innovation and growth more effectively. To read the f ...

Clients can use tax-free, non-alternative minimum tax municipal bonds to create a source of tax-free income, an advisor on CNBC writes.  While long-term investors will be better off building a portfolio of equities and bonds than having a 100% bond portfolio, muni bonds are a good alternative to annuities and other fixed-income vehicles, according to the expert.  Clients who invest in annuities will incur t ...

Influential figures such as Hollywood powerbroker Harvey Weinstein and casino mogul Steve Wynn have had their careers ended amid allegations of sexual misconduct.  And several members of the House of Representatives have resigned in recent months over accusations that they too had engaged in misconduct.  Wealth management is not immune from these problems. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, clic ...

Leading futurist and keynote speaker Ross Dawson, who regularly consults to accounting, finance, and banking bodies, spoke with Chris Sheedy about the single greatest opportunity that the future holds for accountants. To read the full article in ICAS, click: How We Will Learn to Love Big Data in 2018. ...

In completing the comprehensive project to change the conceptual framework, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) confirmed the objective of IFRS financial reporting as providing financial information that is useful to investors and others when deciding whether to provide resources to a company. To read the full article in the Journal of Accountancy, click: New IFRS Conceptual Framework Revise ...

The owner of a retirement planning firm cheated dozens of investors out of $3.8 million in two related scams that included a Ponzi scheme and fraudulent stock offerings targeting elderly retirees, the SEC says. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: $3.8M Ponzi Scheme Funded Spa Treatment, Maids, Church Tithes: SEC. ...

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018, H.R. 1625, which is the $1.3 trillion spending bill that Congress passed, contains a few tax-related provisions, including funding for the IRS and technical corrections to various recent pieces of tax legislation.  It also amends the centralized partnership audit regime and changes the Sec. 199A deduction for farmers who sell grain to agricultural cooperatives. To ...

The demand for housing has been outpacing supply since early 2015, according to the National Association of Realtors, putting upward pressure on home prices and creating affordability challenges for potential homebuyers already badgered by tight inventory.  However, consumer conditions vary geographically, meaning some states provide less stressful home-buying environments than others. To read the full arti ...

Despite several projections about the future strength of digital advice, executives took to social media to express doubts that wealth management disruptors would remain standing—undone instead by private equity investor demands, tepid growth and evolved competition. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: What Wealthfront’s Reported Valuation Drop Means for Indie Robo Advisors. ...