eclipse_images | E+ | Getty Images If you can’t beat the crypto crowd, it might be time to join them, experts say. Virtual currency and its underlying technology, blockchain, are here to stay – and that means both will play some role in investors’ lives. “It’s actually very hard to decouple blockchain and bitcoin,” said

Ariel Skelley | DigitalVision | Getty Images For some financial advisors, the person behind the assets is the key to providing the best investment advice possible. That is, awareness of the nuanced differences that distinguish clients helps those advisors construct investment portfolios based on more than, say, a person’s age and how long until they

Jordan Siemens | Getty Images When Tara Unverzagt started her own financial planning firm, South Bay Financial Partners, in 2014, she already had a head start. That’s because Unverzagt’s mother, Janet Tussing — one of the first female certified financial planners — was retiring and passed along her book of business. Those clients ranged from

Find yourself struggling to manage your health-care costs in retirement? You’re not alone. As the cost of health care continues climbing faster than the rate of inflation and an aging population is living longer, many financial advisors are focused on the line item in their retired clients’ budgets more than ever. “It’s a cost we

Geber86 | E+ | Getty Images Staying in equities and embracing their risk and potential return just might make sense for some retirees. Older investors with a combination of pension income, Social Security benefits and income annuities have a measure of safety in retirement. “If you have a big pension and Social Security, maybe you

A senior citizen holds a sign during a rally to protect federal health programs at the 8th Annual Healthy Living Festival on July 15, 2011 in Oakland, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images For most people, signing up for Medicare is a retirement rite of passage. But as they turn 65 and sort through their

A pedestrian passes in front of a Charles Schwab Corp. office building in New York. Gabriella Angotti-Jones | Bloomberg | Getty Images Charles Schwab’s proposed acquisition of TD Ameritrade is stirring up worry among financial advisors. Schwab on Monday announced it would buy TD in a $26 billion all-stock transaction. Together, the firms will serve

Thomas Barwick | DigitalVision | Getty Images The process of recommending life insurance doesn’t have to be rife with conflicts of interest. Insurance has its place in a client’s comprehensive financial plan. For instance, term coverage can protect a young family in the event of a breadwinner’s early demise. Permanent life insurance — which can

Pedestrians pass in front of a Charles Schwab bank branch in downtown Chicago, Illinois. Christopher Dilts | Bloomberg | Getty Images Financial advisors who hold their clients’ assets at TD Ameritrade are about to face a shake-up. Charles Schwab is in talks to purchase TD Ameritrade for $25 billion, and a deal could be announced

Gorodenkoff | iStock | Getty Images Just in the past month, Scott Van Den Berg, president of Century Management Financial Advisors, has added cybersecurity to the firm’s insurance coverage. Now, in the event there is some kind of breach, the insurance company will help send a team to the office, have bitcoin accounts at the

Ariel Skelley | DigitalVision | Getty Images What is a suitable investment for someone? What is in an investor’s best interest? What is the difference between a securities broker and a financial advisor? If you have no idea, you’re not alone. “There is still so much confusion with financial terms,” said Ashley Guerra, chief compliance

Hero Images | Hero Images | Getty Images The registered investment advisor industry may be the perfect playground for private equity investors. It has good growth, high profit margins, consistent cash flow and low capital needs. With roughly 13,000 firms in the industry, it is also highly fragmented, ripe for roll-up, and begging for consolidation.

Kenneth Fisher, founder of Fisher Investments. Jonathan Fickies | Bloomberg | Getty Images Individual investors at Fisher Investments transferred $20 million from the firm the week after the billionaire made lewd comments at a conference, according to a research note from Mercer, an advisor to institutional investors. The development was disclosed on a conference call

Jonnie Miles | Photographer’s Choice | Getty Images There may be no free lunch in the financial services industry, but there is now free trading of stocks, exchange-traded funds and options. Charles Schwab announced on Oct. 2 it would eliminate commissions on those products for retail and registered investment advisor clients on its platform. TD

Thomas Barwick | Getty Images Financial advisors and wealth managers counsel others on money matters. Doling out financial advice is their bread and butter. And like doctors who turn to other physicians when they’ve got their own aches and ailments, financial advisors often rely on others’ opinions when planning their own finances. And, in some

kupicoo | E+ | Getty Images The aging army of independent registered investment advisors who have spearheaded the growth of the financial planning profession need to follow their own advice when it comes to their businesses — for their clients’ sake, as well as their own. With the average age of financial advisors somewhere in

Kenneth Fisher, chief executive officer of Fisher Investments, speaks at the Forbes Global CEO Conference in Sydney, Australia, on Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2010. Gillianne Tedder | Bloomberg | Getty Images The Employees Retirement System of Texas announced on Friday that it would end its relationship with Fisher Investments, yanking $350 million from the asset manager.

The Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension System voted on Thursday to fire Fisher Investments, pulling about $522 million from the money manager. The nine-member board of commissioners voted in favor of terminating the relationship with the Camas, Washington-based firm, following lewd comments Ken Fisher had made at an investment conference on Oct. 8. The

From left, Utah Valley University students Colton Peck, Doug Macdonald and McKenna Jacobsen. Together, they took first place in the Financial Planning Challenge at the Financial Planning Association’s annual conference in Minneapolis last week. Utah Valley University When Colton Peck started school at Utah Valley University, he was set on being an accountant. But after

Ken Fisher Crystal Mercedes | CNBC Fidelity has terminated a $500 million relationship with Fisher Investments, bringing the total yanked from the money manager to almost $1.8 billion. Officials at the giant Boston-based asset manager confirmed it would end its relationship with Fisher on Monday, in light of inappropriate comments founder Ken Fisher made at

Guido Mieth | DigitalVision | Getty Images Raymond James‘ independent registered investment advisors have reason to cheer. The firm announced on Monday that it is eliminating transaction fees for stocks, exchange-traded funds and options in a division serving those professionals. The move was announced on Monday at a conference in Bonita Springs, Florida, for the

Hero Images | Hero Images | Getty Images For financial advisors, the transfer of wealth from baby boomers to their children over the next two decades is a bit like climate change: The consequences may eventually be huge, but it’s easy to ignore the issue in the short-term. The youngest boomers are now 55 years

Kenneth Fisher, chief executive officer of Fisher Investments, speaks at the Forbes Global CEO Conference in Sydney, Australia, on Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2010. Gillianne Tedder | Bloomberg | Getty Images The Iowa Public Employees Retirement System is terminating its relationship with Fisher Investments, pulling $386 million from the asset manager. The Iowa plan, which holds

Kenneth Fisher, chief executive officer of Fisher Investments, speaks at the Forbes Global CEO Conference in Sydney, Australia, on Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2010. Gillianne Tedder | Bloomberg | Getty Images It remains to be seen how long other clients will stick with billionaire money manager Ken Fisher in the wake of off-color and sexist comments

Couple getting financial advice Getty Images Financial advisors are experts at helping clients plan for their futures. It turns out that many of these professionals often fall short when it comes to their own businesses. That’s according to a study from the Financial Planning Association, a professional membership organization, and SEI, a provider of wealth

Towfiqu Photography | Moment | Getty Images If you can find your husband or wife online, why not your financial advisor? That’s why Andres Garcia-Amaya launched Zoe Financial, an online matchmaking engine that hooks up investors with registered investment advisors. A recent Stanford University study found that 39% of people surveyed met their spouse through

After a rough week, billionaire money manager Ken Fisher is apologizing. Fisher, who is best known to a broad audience for his distinctive TV ads, was accused in a viral tweet (well, as viral as a tweet in the financial advisor community can go) of making sexist comments while speaking at the Tiburon CEO Summit

Hero Images | Hero Images | Getty Images Certified financial planner Ken Waltzer has an older female client who suffers from congestive heart failure. Given the high cost of her prescriptions, Waltzer recently became concerned by how much money she and her husband were spending. “I suggested that maybe I should talk to her doctor

Matt Bird | Corbis | Getty Images Where is the future of financial advice headed? The answers always seem fraught with risk and uncertainty. While the bull market in stocks has gone a long way to helping the advice industry recover from the reputational fallout of the financial crisis, technology, demographics and regulatory confusion continue