When most consumers purchase an item or service, they do comparative shopping. If it’s a house, you go online and search for comparable properties. The same can be said when shopping for a car or a household appliance. When I speak in front of a group of financial advisors, I’ll often ask them, “How many [...]
“The lack of money is the root of all evil."—Mark Twain As many of you know, the fifth edition of The New Retirementality was published last month. The book includes lots of new research (more on that below) and plenty of new-to-this edition material, while retaining the time-tested tools and concepts readers have enjoyed and [...]
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving." -- Albert Einstein Last month, I approved the final files for the fifth edition of The New Retirementality. The new edition is a significant revision, including lots of new material. Look for the new edition in your local or online bookseller [...]
“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference." -- Winston Churchill In a study conducted last year by the FPA and other research partners, “The State of Client Understanding,” several interesting findings were shared. For those of you who already embrace life-centered planning™, the findings are not a surprise as much as an [...]
The Pursuit of Happiness “Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions." -- Dalai LamaI recently received a letter from an advisor that talked about how The New Retirementality had profoundly impacted his life. Here’s a brief excerpt: “Most everyone we knew, young or less young, were letting fear or greed [...]
“Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value." -- Albert Einstein Regardless of how you felt about the late John Bogle, we can all agree on one thing—the mutual fund pioneer was a disruptor. He looked at investing in a whole new way and changed the [...]
“Don't let money run your life, let money help you run your life better." --John Rampton, CEO of Due Like lots of other industries, the financial services community is transitioning as boomer markets mature, and younger generations—both Gen Xers and millennials—evolve. Don’t get me wrong—boomers are still an important part of any financial practice and [...]
“The only two things that really make you happy are having your health and people that love you, and money can't buy either one." -- Warren Buffet I recently spoke at a conference in England and was pleased to learn that my talk hit close to home for a lot of people in the audience—and [...]
by Mitch Anthony “The trouble with retirement is that you never get a day off." - Abe Lemons, Oklahoma City University basketball coach In a recent New York Times article about planning for retirement, the reporter laid out a year-by-year plan of action for people expecting to retire in about five years. The advice included: Five years [...]
by Mitch Anthony “In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.” -- Franklin D. Roosevelt Recently I read that 42 percent of Americans plan to downsize, in part to help stretch their retirement dollars. The article also talked about other reasons for downsizing: less maintenance, smaller utility bills, and lower property taxes. To [...]
by Mitch Anthony “To succeed, you will soon learn, as I did, the importance of a solid foundation in the basics of education - literacy, both verbal and numerical, and communication skills” -- Alan Greenspan Every so often, we all need to get back to basics. When it comes to your own practice, it pays to [...]
by Mitch Anthony “There are people who have money, and there are people who are rich.” -- Coco Chanel When I first introduced the concept of financial life planning almost 20 years ago and published those ideas in Your Clients for Life, we were at the very beginning of what became a revolution in the financial services [...]
by Mitch Anthony "The shortest period of time lies between the minute you put some money away for a rainy day and the unexpected arrival of rain.”—Jane Bryant Quinn Last month we discussed the importance of goals in financial planning. This month we’ll focus on transitions. A dialogue focused around a client’s transitions is a critical and [...]
by Mitch Anthony “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.”—Les Brown According to Alite Group, one of the top ten disruptors in the financial services industry this year is “holistic wealth management”. This means that more and more advisors are realizing that robo advising, fees, and changing client demographics indicate they [...]
by Mitch Anthony I recently read an article bemoaning the fact that financial services professionals aren’t the best communicators. Why? Simply put, advisors don’t always listen to what their clients are telling them. In a Financial Planning article published last month, Alan Boomer talked about why clients dislike their financial advisors. He cited a few reasons, one of which was communication [...]
by Mitch Anthony “Never spend your money before you have it.” -- Thomas Jefferson Successful financial planning involves more than the balance in a client’s portfolio. A strong financial plan represents what is important to an individual—in other words, his or her fiscalosophy. Consider these two scenarios: Mark spends lots of money on trips and entertainment. [...]
by Mitch Anthony "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you"—Exodus 20:12. At this time of the year, we all love to celebrate—at home, at the office, and with friends and family. We give gifts to those we care about [...]
by Mitch Anthony "It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich." —Sarah Bernhardt There are only four things you can do with your money: Owe it (taxes and debt) Grow it (investing and saving) Live on it (lifestyle spending) Give it away (philanthropy) The choices you make around Owe-Grow-Live-Give (OGLG) have a direct impact on the [...]
by Mitch Anthony I have been amazed at how few advisors I interact with take their clients through a cash-flow analysis. When I ask them about it, most give one of two reasons for their inaction: Their clients really don't want to know how much they're spending, preferring to live in ignorance. Really? When an advisor [...]
by Mitch Anthony In some communities, getting into certain kindergarten programs can be as tough as getting into an Ivy League school. Since 1997, the number of kids taking the ERB (an aptitude test used by many kindergartens and private schools) has grown by about 40 percent. This translates into the pressure starting early for many [...]