- Social Security & The Emerging Specter of Viability
Considerations for your clients in the New Year
by David G. Freitag, CLU, ChFC, CRPC
According the June 2019 Trustees’ Report, the Social Security Program pays benefits to more than 63 million people each month. Beneficiaries fall into three broad categories – retirement, disability and survivors.
read more - Women & Social Security: Five Common and Avoidable Missteps…
… And how you can help them before it’s too late
by Marcia Mantell, RMA®
My husband let me know he stopped by the Social Security office on his way home. He just started collecting Social Security. He’s 62.
read more - Preparing For the Next Recession
Building portfolios to withstand a significant downturn before they happen is the best way to manage when they do
by Gregory B. Gagne, ChFC
After waves of speculation in 2019, fears of a severe, imminent recession have mostly subsided within the U.S. financial industry. Stock market indices posted significant gains in 2019, and the yield curve inversion on 3-month and 10-year U.S. Treasury securities disappeared in November.
read more - A Conversation With Melinda Mecca
Model Portfolios
by P.E. Kelley
What’s driving interest can be summarized by our own FlexShares ETFs Race to Scalability survey of advisors, which was designed to gauge financial advisors’ attitudes regarding the use of third-party investment management solutions.
read more - Managing Taxes During Retirement
Leveraging the accumulation and payout advantages that annuities can offer
by Mike Reidy
Outliving their income is often the main concern for your clients in retirement. While there are a number of vehicles available to help provide income, annuities have come back into focus as a viable option given their unique characteristics, including the availability to provide income over clients’ lifetimes or a set period of years.
read more - A New Lease On Life
Examining the forces that will reshape the life insurance industry through 2022
by Ed Majkowski, CPA
The past decade’s low growth rates, lack of trust in institutions and declining policy sales are forcing life insurers to redefine their value propositions to stay relevant for new generations of consumers. Optimizing costs while investing in the right technologies and talent are also top agenda items.
read more - Stewarding Family Well-Being And Financial Well-Being Through The Generations
How Hawthorn, PNC’s Institute For Family Success guides the affluent to a longevity strategy
by Nicole Perkins, J.D. & Alexandre Monnier
The general impact of longevity has been well analyzed and documented. It started to change the way we live, impacting our families, our work, our educational system, our communities, and even our social contract. It will result in a complete rethinking of time and redefinition of the markers of life.
read more - One Conversation Can Make All the Difference
Planning for the realities, and misconceptions, of long-term care
The phone rings and it’s your client’s son – his aging father’s health has taken a turn for the worst, and the family is now faced with the possibility of having to make rushed, emotional and potentially expensive long-term care decisions. The son is asking you what plan his father put in place to prepare…
read more - Transferable Systems Give Your Sales People The Edge They Need
How do you train a new producer with little to no experience to be successful?
by Eric Silverman
The problem with teaching new sales recruits how to be successful in an industry that is literally designed for success is… getting started. Therefore, let’s start by answering these three questions honestly.
read more - Fixing Financial Un-Wellness at the Workplace
As business booms, many employees struggle with savings, debt and the healthcare wild-card
by Ken Verzella
Tight competition for talent … on- and off-again trade wars … shifting consumer preferences. Despite a relatively robust economy, businesses have no shortage of external forces to worry about.
read more - Delivering Promises
How Enterprise Risk Management can codify and integrate a culture of growth and success
by Joseph W. Sullivan, J.D.
A fully operationalized Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) strategy and discipline is a good business practice and critical component of any strategic plan. At my company, we’ve created an ERM culture throughout our entire organization to help ensure we can continue to deliver on our promises to our policyholders and producers.
read more - Grouping Up
Three innovative solutions to reduce group plan costs and improve outcomes
by Mark Manquen, CPA, MST
Group health plans have been used for decades by employers to provide viable healthcare coverage for their employees and as a valuable fringe benefit to attract and retain talent.
read more - Planning a Retirement Income Strategy
How well do your clients really understand the process?
by Sosseh Malkhassian
Although two-thirds of workers are actively saving for retirement, only 4 in 10 have tried to calculate what they’ll need, and very few have a financial plan for retirement. People know they need to save, but they’re unaware of the importance of creating a retirement income strategy. It’s a critical area of retirement education that…
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