Enjoy the current installment of “Weekend Reading For Financial Planners” – this week’s edition kicks off with the news that comment letters submitted regarding the Department of Labor’s (DoL) proposed Retirement Security Rule, which is intended to strengthen standards regarding the provision of certain retirement-related advice, reflect the contentious nature of the proposal, with brokerage and insurance industry groups arguing that existing regulations are sufficient to protect investors and questioning the legality of the measure and groups promoting a more consistent application of fiduciary standards writing in strong support of the proposal.
Also in industry news this week:
- Recent data show that RIAs are gaining on wirehouses in terms of advisor headcount and assets under management, with these trends expected to continue over the next several years
- The range of actions independent broker-dealers are taking to keep advisors under their umbrellas
From there, we have several articles on cash flow and spending:
- A framework for determining whether a particular financial decision can be made relatively quickly or deserves additional consideration
- Why “lifestyle creep”, rather than inflation, might be more responsible for an individual’s increased expenses and how to combat it
- Why the hunt for good deals can be costly in terms of both time and money
We also have a number of articles on retirement planning:
- Why the years immediately after retirement can be a particularly effective time to engage in (partial) Roth conversions
- An analysis shows that “buffer” Registered Index-Linked Annuities (RILAs), where the product absorbs a certain amount of loss in the underlying index, continue to offer a better value proposition than “floor” RILAs, which cap the amount of downside risk the investor will face
- Strategies that can help retirees get the most value out of of their Health Savings Account balances
We wrap up with 3 final articles, all about New Year’s Resolutions:
- Potential New Year’s Resolutions for financial advisors to consider implementing, from engaging in more targeted marketing to sharpening their technical skills
- How a pre-commitment strategy can increase the chances that an individual will follow through with their New Year’s Resolution
- A range of tactics for creating and implementing a successful New Year’s Resolution, from engaging in the “Minimum Viable Effort” to replacing, instead of trying to eliminate, bad habits
Enjoy the ‘light’ reading!
