Enjoy the current installment of “Weekend Reading For Financial Planners” – this week’s edition kicks off with the news that Envestnet has published research highlighting a number of key trends that they believe will shape the growth of the advisory industry in 2024 and beyond, which reflect at a high level advisors’ ongoing shift towards providing more and deeper financial planning while leaning on technology to make that level of planning possible.
Also in industry news this week:
- The SEC has been sending letters to advisory firms requesting details on their use of AI technology, raising questions about whether they may be considering revising their proposed AI rule that received significant pushback earlier this year for the wide breadth of the types of technology it covers
- DPL Financial has announced it has sold over $2 billion worth of fee-only annuities in 2023, doubling their total sales from 2022, which highlights both the significant number of advisors looking to shift their annuity business from a commission-based to a fee-only model, and the growing interest in annuities from existing fee-only advisors seeking to offer more retirement income options to their clients
From there, we have several articles on marketing:
- A newer advisor lead generation service, Datalign Advisory, has seen early success with its unique auction-style model where advisors can bid on prospects who are a good match for their services, which can help eliminate some of the conflicts inherent in other lead generation models (though it remains to be seen whether it can scale its own marketing efforts in a way that can make its business model successful)
- How a regular weekly marketing schedule can help advisors overcome the challenges of finding time to consistently market their services
- Why some of the oldest tactics for finding new clients – including corporate wellness programs, seminar marketing, and custodial referrals – can still help advisors overcome their challenges with achieving organic growth
We also have a number of articles on retirement planning:
- With the end of the year comes a bevy of new key tax planning numbers, including several delayed provisions of the SECURE 2.0 Act that are set to kick in for 2024, which are helpful for advisors to know as they discuss tax planning strategies with their clients
- While individuals may, for various reasons, regret filing for Social Security benefits early, 2 strategies can help to give them a second chance to delay their benefits (and receive a higher monthly benefit as a result)
- Although middle-income individuals can often benefit the most from a tax-efficient retirement withdrawal strategy in percentage terms, higher-income individuals can also see significant savings that make it worth considering the effective tax rate of each marginal dollar in retirement
We wrap up with 3 final articles, all about finding ways to grow in the new year:
- Why a “self-review” at the end of the year can be a valuable way to reflect on accomplishments and lessons learned from the past year, and to gain insight on how to keep progressing in the year ahead
- Amidst a proliferation of advice on how to improve habits in the new year (which can quickly become overwhelming), it’s better to work on changing one thing at a time, with a focus on making the change as enjoyable as the habit it’s replacing
- New Year’s resolutions often fail because they’re tied to an arbitrary date, which fades in importance as time passes – which means that more lasting change should be anchored in a deeper sense of self-identity
Enjoy the ‘light’ reading!
