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 [...]