Read this today's Wall Street Journal and had to share.  So who here is focusing on a niche market and how has your experience so far?  Feel free to comment below.

Financial Advisers Focus on Niches to Grow

More than half of advisers in a survey said they plan to add new niches as part of their growth strategy

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season and is busy wrapping up end-of-year business so you can take a little time off before the New Year. 

I tried to touch on a few year-end essentials in my recent InSights blog and Linkedin posts.  If you haven’t read them yet, here are the links:

I found this column by Liz Weston of Reuters and thought it approriate for this time of year.  Whether you are trying to increase your donations for tax reasons or looking to give to a worthy cause, it is important to take your time and do some research.  People waste billions of dollars on inefficient, poorly run or fraudulent charities because they do not bother to research where their money is going.

The below was written by Kerrie Debbs, one of our partners here at Main Street Financial Solutions.  She sent this to all her clients/prospects and it deals with end of year financial considerations of some popular employee benefits. 

You may want to remind your clients of some of the items mentioned.

I hope all of you had a wonderful, relaxing and safe Thanksgiving holiday.

Last week the Treasury Department announced the national launch of myRA (“my Retirement Account”), a new savings option for those who don’t have access to a retirement savings plan at their job.

myRA is designed as a starter retirement account for middle- and low-income workers that do not have access to an employer sponsored retirement plan and is intended to appeal to first-time savers. 

Last week, the Senate passed a budget bill and attached to it were changes to the “File and Suspend” strategy that financial planners have used in the past.  Under the new law, individuals can still suspend their benefits, but relatives will not be allowed to submit a new claim for spousal benefits based on the earnings of the worker who suspended his benefits.  The article below appeared in the October 31st issue of The Wall Street Journal and does a good job explaining t

I wanted to give you all a head's up on class that I have coming up tomorrow!.  I will be teaching a webinar titled CFP® Board Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct on Tuesday, October 27, 2-4 pm.

I wanted to remind friends in the Boston area that the day-long CFP Education Extravaganza is coming up next week, October 21, at the Marriott Courtyard in Norwood, MA.

At a recent Extravaganza class in Philadelphia, we had a discussion on “Helicopter Parents” and how more and more parents are taking on the financial debt of their adult children.  While it is admirable that parents want to lend a helping hand to recent college grads, it is quite another thing to take on debt at the expense of retirement savings.

This appeared in yesterday’s (10/5) The Wall Street Journal.  It’s a great example of an adviser being aware of current rules and thinking outside of the box for the best interest of the client.  Staying educated on rules and regs, as well as a good, lasting relationship with your client takes work.  Push yourself to be, as the adviser in this article states, a valuable resource to your client instead of just settling for the easy, traditional means of investment management and

Pages