End-of-year sell-off to beat the tax man may not be the best plan
The back-and-forth touched off by NAPFA's announcement last Tuesday to go all-CFP next year highlights the fact that after decades of discussion and debate, the financial advisory business is still struggling to define itself.
Although President Obama's appointment of Elisse Walter as chairman of the SEC will provide a degree of continuity at the agency, it also raises questions about how effective it will be for the near future.
Taxpayers probably won't have a clear idea of their 2012 tax obligations until the last minute this year — and possibly not even then.
If the CFP Board wants to meet its mission and not suffer a lingering stain on its reputation, it must come clean about the Alan Goldfarb drama.
The election clarified some issues for advisers and their clients but left dark clouds of uncertainty hovering over major financial and economic concerns.
Voting is a basic right of all Americans. The importance of this right cannot be overstated, yet every election year, we hear and read reports of low voter turnout.
If everyone is scared to go into an asset class, then there will be no competition and prices will not get bid up.
Enticing individual investors to trade on their own is a dangerous game, especially in this complex and convoluted marketplace.
Financial advisers should begin preparing their clients for changes in the money market fund industry being pushed by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
Now that the Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of the health care reform law, advisers need to study it thoroughly.
It is deplorable that the serious economic issues that the country faces won't be addressed between now and the Nov. 6 election.
The 2012 presidential and congressional elections are just seven weeks away, and neither presidential candidate has offered a realistic proposal to reduce the rate of growth of the country's debt.
As summer winds down and the presidential election looms, financial advisers' thoughts must turn to 2013 tax investment planning for their clients.
The SEC has called on advisers to become more familiar with hedge funds and learn how to keep on top of that constantly changing universe.
