The Financial Communicator

[Note: While this is a B2C blog post, it represents my role in helping this bank build its private wealth and personal resource content platforms using my unique understanding of mass affluent and HNW audiences, economics, and wealth management and preservation.] It's an honor when a friend or loved one trusts you to become their estate executor. But being a will executor is a significant responsibility. It makes you their fiduciary and it can be time-consuming and expensive. It may come with emotional challenges, particularly related to dealing with the departed's remaining family. Learn here how to address many of these challenges effectively.

[Note: While this is a B2C blog post, it represents my role in helping this bank build its private wealth and personal resource content platforms using my unique understanding of mass affluent and HNW audiences, economics, and wealth management and preservation.] Most people know that inflation — the gradual rise in prices over time — decreases your purchasing power. And the recent bout of inflation has certainly had a profound impact on most people's purchasing power. At 8.5%,1 it's at its highest since the 1980s. This comes after price increases holding steady at the Federal Reserve's prescribed rate of a 2% annually since the Great Recession ended in 2009. What is the role of the Fed in mitigating inflation? (Image: Pexels)

[Note: While this is a B2C blog post, it represents my role in helping this bank build its private wealth and personal resource content platforms using my unique understanding of mass affluent and HNW audiences, economics, and wealth management and preservation.] If you have special charitable goals, consider a donor-advised fund (DAF). A DAF lets you set up charitable accounts at a variety of institutions — like community foundations, financial institutions, and national foundations — and donate money through them to your favorite causes. Here's what to know about the charitable and tax implication of establishing a DAF.

High-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth executive women often get overlooked by wealth management advisors as viable clients. But, this multi-trillion dollar market is a growing—and lucrative—investor segment. From this position paper, advisors learn why this important investor segment has value to them and how to reach this market. (Inclusion of this writing sample in my portfolio does not represent an endorsement of me or my work by FlexShares or Northern Trust. It is for demonstration of my skills only.)

[Note: While this is a B2C blog post, it represents my role in helping this bank build its private wealth and personal resource content platforms using my unique understanding of mass affluent and HNW audiences, economics, and wealth management and preservation.] With recession and inflation concerns as a backdrop to this holiday season, you may wonder whether you can give to loved ones in ways more reflective of your personal and family wealth goals. That can include saving on taxes and hedging against inflation — while remaining consistent with the values you and your gift recipient hold. One of your values may be transferring wealth to the next generation to ensure they're prepared for the future and can weather macroeconomic shocks. Here are some ways to give the gift of economic well-being while protecting your finances.

We believe that many of today's investors are seeking investments that put their hard-earned dollars into ETF portfolios that reflect their convictions about important social issues. They connect most with brands that apply ESG — or environmental, social, and governance considerations — in their daily operations. [This blog post pitched and written by me for FlexShares helps financial advisors inform clients how choosing ETFs that focus on ESG, particularly social labor considerations, align with their core value. When I wrote this in 2016, there wasn't as broad an understanding of ESG as there is today. So my thinking and writing about the subject were still novel.]

We believe FlexShares ETFs beneficial investor offerings include our growing innovative fund product lineup. Partnering with seasoned index investment professionals using quantitative research, our alternatively weighted indices and mixed asset classes provide investors with funds that are designed to help meet a variety of investor financial goals. But for many investors, their most objective measure is quantitative—size. [This blog post, which I pitched and wrote for FlexShares, shows financial advisors how to educate clients on choosing measures other than size when evaluating ETF providers like FlexShares. When I wrote this in 2016, there wasn't as broad an understanding of ESG as there is today. So my thinking and writing about the subject were still original.]

We believe that one of the biggest challenges financial advisors often face with ETF investors is the latter's belief that ESG investing only needs to be a small part of their portfolios. Often, they're unconvinced that ESG is an optimal core option, preferring other more “traditional" choices. [In this blog post I pitched to FlexShares, I tell wealth advisors how to educate their ETF investor clients on using ESG as part of their core investment strategy. When I wrote this in 2016, there wasn't such a deep understanding of ESG as there is today, so my thinking and writing about the subject were still innovative.]

Increasingly, investors are interested in aligning their investment portfolios around their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) values. Savvy financial professionals are taking the steps necessary to identify their clients' interests and values to help them meet their investing goals. This research-backed position paper shows financial professionals how to provide customized client experiences that meet their ESG investing requirements.

When working with any investor, financial advisors must excel at client communication. Clients generally want to feel that their financial advisors hear, respect, and value them—especially women investors. Women now control more than half of personal wealth in the US, roughly $22 trillion. As wealth is transferred to more women over the next four decades, that number is projected to rise to nearly $29 trillion. Financial advisors must shift their client communication strategies to meet women investors' needs. Here's how.

Today’s women investors demand communication strategies customized to their needs. Use these five keys to mastering client communication to help you build better relationships with women investors.

Recognizing the importance of providing mentoring and support to early stage start-ups founded by United States military veterans and with a commitment to veteran-owned enterprises, Barclays and NYU Tandon School of Engineering launched the Veterans Future Lab.

As part of one its global CSR efforts, Barclays committed to ensuring students in its own US backyard get the support, tools, and resources they need to help end global youth unemployment. This post summarizes the Rebound Partnership the investment bank established with Good Shepherd Services in New York City. Rebound helps urban young people learn financial and professional development skills and gets the matched to educational and work opportunities. This piece profiles two of the program's most exceptional students.

The CFP Board’s new Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct went into effect on October 1, 2019. This comprehensive update to the Practice Standards, the most recent to address the delivery of financial planning services since 2007, focuses on ethical responsibilities in developing, presenting, and implementing recommendations. Here's what you need to know for your practice.

Recognizing it likely was overdue in providing robust technology standards for CFP® professionals, on October 1, 2019, the CFP Board unveiled its new Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice. The regulations are effective now, but the CFP Board begins enforcing them on June 30, 2020. Read here for a quick overview of the standards and how you'll be expected to implement them.

[Ghostwritten] Over the 20 years since its advent, account aggregation has developed significantly, making it one of the most robust client service tools CFP® practitioners can use. What was once a way to track investments has become an indispensable tool in the delivery of comprehensive financial advice. In fact, it is now a way to grow your firm. Here's how.

This ghostwritten blog post covers longevity as the focus of financial planning, and what today's clients want from advisors at different ages and life stages. That's no longer just retirement planning alone. Your clients are considering much more than what they must save discontinue income-producing work and live comfortably. As people increasing live beyond 100, they're focused on shifting gears later in life and funding a new life direction. How can you help?

Americans famously brag about how they hate to discuss money. In fact, they’d rather talk about anything other than money, including politics and marriage problems. Surveys show conversations about money are widely considered taboo in America. This blog post summarizes the discussion with guests on this subject in the first episode of eMoney Advisor's "That Makes Cents" podcast.

When your younger clients—those just out of college—enter the workforce, they often become fully responsible for their finances for the first time. But, because so many have no substantial personal finance knowledge, they rarely know how to start. Episode 2 of eMoney Advisor’s “That Makes Cents” podcast focuses on exactly this dilemma.

The Tenth Fidelity® Plan Sponsor Attitudes Study, released in 2019, found that an all-time high of 93 percent of sponsors work with advisors, but that what sponsors want from a retirement advisor is changing. That’s because retirement is just one aspect of an employee’s overall financial health picture. This ghostwritten blog post shows advisors some other ways they can differentiate themselves to provide the support plan sponsors now expect advisors from them.