Nerd's Eye View

NOVEMBER 28, 2024

Still others may choose a hybrid model, combining AUM fees with additional charges for other services like tax planning. They also suggest how advisors with unsustainably low fees can shift their mindset, embrace their value, and realign their pricing to reflect both the tangible and intangible value they actually provide to clients.

Clients

Nerd's Eye View

MAY 15, 2025

Young advisors may feel – and face – an extra burden to prove their expertise to clients. After all, it can feel odd to create an estate plan that will impact a client’s grandchildren… when those grandchildren may be older than the advisor themselves!

Financial Planning

Nerd's Eye View

DECEMBER 12, 2024

There's an old joke in the financial planning industry that the ideal client is "anyone with a pulse". However, as their firms mature, advisors often notice a divide manifesting between newer clients paying higher fees and 'legacy clients' from the early days paying discounted rates.

Clients

Nerd's Eye View

NOVEMBER 19, 2024

Anjali is the Founder of FIT Advisors, an RIA based in Torrance, California (but works virtually with clients nationwide) and oversees $65 million in assets under management for 45 client households.

Clients

Nerd's Eye View

APRIL 9, 2025

It's natural for advisors to begin discovery meetings by asking questions about a client's current financial situation – understanding cash flow, debt, investments, risk tolerance, or even the burning tax concern that brought them to the advisor's door in the first place is crucial for financial planning.

Clients

Nerd's Eye View

JULY 24, 2025

However, the rapid rise of artificial intelligence has brought a deeper wave of disruption to the financial advice profession. In this 169th episode of Kitces & Carl, Michael Kitces and client communication expert Carl Richards discuss how AI will reshape the tasks advisors perform and the value they bring to client relationships.

Financial Planning

Nerd's Eye View

NOVEMBER 27, 2024

Yet, despite the important role that charitable giving can play, studies show that many advisors hesitate to bring up the topic with clients. Advisors may worry about overstepping boundaries or feel uncertain about a client's interest in philanthropy. These statements often stem from clients' life stories and core values.,

Clients

Nerd's Eye View

FEBRUARY 18, 2025

Sebastian is the President of Guerra Wealth Advisors, a hybrid advisory firm based in Miami, Florida, with nearly $15M of revenue and almost 60 team members, supporting over 1,700 client households.

Financial Planning

Nerd's Eye View

JUNE 16, 2025

While many firms have historically relied on commission-based compensation methods – reflecting a sales-driven approach – financial advice has evolved with technological advancements and a greater focus on financial planning, with the Assets Under Management (AUM) fee emerging as the primary compensation model.

Financial Advice

Nerd's Eye View

MAY 7, 2025

For many financial advisors, an early planning conversation often includes asking clients to identify financial goals. Which can leave both client and advisor feeling stuck: The client doesn't have the motivation to act, and the advisor struggles to guide the plan forward in a way that connects.

Clients

Wealth Management

JUNE 26, 2025

Mason received a 97-month prison sentence for defrauding clients of over $17 million. Mason, a former advisor who was barred from the industry, was sentenced to 97 months in prison and three years of supervised release for defrauding at least 13 advisory clients out of more than $17 million, according to the Department of Justice.

Clients

Nerd's Eye View

FEBRUARY 19, 2025

When a client first begins working with an advisor, the relationship is often marked with a flurry of onboarding tasks, immediate issues to resolve, and long-term planning goals to establish. And as clients come into monitoring meetings, they may increasingly describe their situation as "fine", with no pressing issues to address.

Clients

Nerd's Eye View

APRIL 8, 2025

Seth is the founder of Heartwood Financial Planning, an advisory firm affiliated with PlanMember Securities Corporation that is based in Fresno, California, and oversees approximately $100 million in assets under management for 850 client households. My guest on today's podcast is Seth Scott.

Financial Planning

Wealth Management

JULY 17, 2025

He said the tie-up made sense with Innovative CPA Group clients looking for wealth management capabilities, and his background in institutional investing meaning expanded investment options for high-net-worth clients. In addition to ICG clients, Minopoli said the Innovative Asset Advisors will offer to “be the RIA arm” of other CPAs.

Wealth Management

Nerd's Eye View

JULY 9, 2025

Financial planning meetings often fall into categories like "Fix Meetings" (where there is an urgent problem that both the advisor and client want to address), 'Fine Meetings' (where everything is on track and the advisor provides reinforcement), or 'Flourish Meetings' (where clients are thriving and the focus is on expanding possibilities).

Clients

Nerd's Eye View

APRIL 16, 2025

In these moments, the conversations that advisors have with their clients play a crucial role in helping clients maintain perspective, avoid emotional decisions, and stay committed to their long-term financial plans. Using mirroring language (e.g., Read More.

Clients

Nerd's Eye View

JANUARY 14, 2025

Michelle is the Founding Principal of Paradigm Advisors, an RIA based in Dallas, Texas, that oversees approximately $110 million in assets under management for 80 client households.

Financial Planning

Nerd's Eye View

JANUARY 22, 2025

I help clients in retirement by doing X, Y, and Z."). However, not all prospects have immediate financial concerns. While these individuals may genuinely be interested in financial advice, they might also feel ambivalent about the timing, relevance, or ultimate value of working with an advisor.

Financial Advice

Nerd's Eye View

FEBRUARY 5, 2025

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) have become an increasingly popular tool for financial advisors and their clients due in part to the 'triple tax savings' they offer: tax-deductible contributions, tax-free growth, and non-taxable distributions for qualifying expenses. Read More.

Accounting

Nerd's Eye View

MAY 28, 2025

In this guest post, Kathleen Rehl, a "ReFired" financial advisor and educator in legacy planning, shares a framework to help advisors guide clients through this transition using a more expansive "ReFirement" lens. While the core elements of traditional retirement planning remain (e.g., Read More.

Retirement

The Big Picture

MAY 29, 2025

RWM works with clients by constructing a long-term financial plan, marrying it to an appropriate level of risk in a broadly diversified portfolio built around a core index, and then applying the best technology we can find to generate net after-tax returns with modest risk and volatility.

Portfolio

Nerd's Eye View

JUNE 25, 2025

Many financial advisory clients might work for 40 years or more, ideally seeing their income – and capacity to save for retirement – increase over time as they advance in their careers. Still others, including adherents of the Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) movement, may hope to retire even sooner.

Retirement

Nerd's Eye View

JUNE 6, 2025

Enjoy the current installment of "Weekend Reading For Financial Planners" – this week's edition kicks off with the news that a recent report finds that the number of SEC-registered RIAs, the assets that they manage, and the number of clients they serve all increased between 2023 and 2024 and suggests the industry is robust across the size spectrum, (..)

Financial Planner

Nerd's Eye View

JUNE 3, 2025

Nina is a partner of Stratos CA, a hybrid advisory firm affiliated with Stratos Wealth Partners and based in Los Angeles, California, that oversees approximately $500 million in assets under management for 300 client households.

Clients

Nerd's Eye View

JULY 23, 2025

For newer financial advisors, few situations feel more daunting than being asked a question in a client meeting that they can't confidently answer. In these high-pressure moments, the fear of appearing unprepared or inexperienced can be overwhelming – particularly when trying to earn the trust of both senior advisors and clients.

Clients

Nerd's Eye View

MAY 27, 2025

that generates $850,000 of annual, primarily retainer-based, revenue serving 155 client households. What's unique about Alvin, though, is how he has grown his firm by using project management software Monday.com as a central hub for financial plan presentations and efficient client task management.

Financial Planning

Nerd's Eye View

NOVEMBER 6, 2024

In the early days of financial planning, serving clients often meant developing transactional relationships focused on facilitating trades and selling insurance. Over time, advisors shifted toward more analytical approaches, such as investment management and retirement planning.

Clients

Wealth Management

JULY 2, 2025

They also make up the second biggest client base for financial advisors after baby boomers. advisors’ clients, up from 20% in 2021, according to a survey Cerulli conducted in 2024. In comparison, only 9% of advisors’ clients in 2023 were millennials or Gen Z members. As of year-end 2023, Gen X made up a quarter of U.S.

Financial Advisor

Nerd's Eye View

JULY 10, 2025

This holistic approach to financial advice, often referred to as life planning, focuses on helping the advisor understand the client’s financial history, deep-seated goals, and overall relationship with money, which can allow for more targeted and comprehensive advice. Read More.

Clients

The Big Picture

MAY 3, 2025

Fun conversation in Barron’s about Steering Clients Away From Bad Investing Mistakes. Source : How Next-Generation Advisors Steer Clients Away From Bad Investing Mistakes A key role of a financial advisor is to prevent clients from making rash decisions during volatile markets. billion in assets under management.

Clients

Nerd's Eye View

JULY 4, 2025

Enjoy the current installment of "Weekend Reading For Financial Planners" – this week's edition kicks off with the news that Congress has passed highly anticipated tax legislation, making 'permanent' (i.e.,

Financial Planner

Nerd's Eye View

DECEMBER 11, 2024

is perhaps the most fundamental question a client brings to their advisor. Advisors want to help clients set a secure, reliable retirement plan, yet even the most comprehensive assumptions will inevitably deviate from reality at least to some degree. "How much can I spend in retirement?"

Retirement Planning

Nerd's Eye View

MAY 29, 2025

Financial planning is inherently complex, especially when it comes to data gathering, analysis, and crafting well-reasoned recommendations. But delivering those recommendations in a way that clients can understand and act on is a separate skill. One way to simplify delivery is to build meetings around a single core takeaway.

Clients

Nerd's Eye View

JUNE 23, 2025

Advisors have a relatively brief window of time to communicate their value to prospective clients. Given how little time prospects spend evaluating their options, it's crucial to understand why people hire financial advisors and to communicate how their services address those drivers as clearly and effectively as possible. Read More.

Communication

Wealth Management

JUNE 27, 2025

So far, I’ve written about AI notetaker Jump and its integration with the financial planning application RightCapital , and the AI-powered financial planning application and company Conquest Planning and its $80 million fund raise to help accelerate its U.S. It has become a challenge to keep up with new rollouts.

Wealth Management

Nerd's Eye View

FEBRUARY 4, 2025

Cristina is the CEO of Mana Financial Life Design, an RIA based in Los Angeles, California (but works virtually with clients nationwide), that oversees approximately $70 million in assets under management for 119 client households.

Financial Advisor

Nerd's Eye View

JULY 14, 2025

For a financial advisor and their new client, the first year working together can be a particularly intense period, typically involving multiple in-person or virtual meetings. These touchpoints convey the ongoing value the advisor offers between meetings, particularly when clients are paying fees on a quarterly or even monthly basis.

Clients