Articles on Financial Matters:

Is The Financial Services Industry Failing The Baby Boomer Generation?

Are advisers really compensated to act in their client's best interest or are they in conflict with the best interest of the client's? Do we really incent the behavior that we seek? If Boomers are seeking competent and trusted advisers that will act according to their best interest, are we giving them the proof that we can do that?

Much as been written about the vast amount of wealth that has begun to transfer from one generation to another over the next 15 years. It has been estimated that approximately $14 trillion in assets involving over 70 million households will begin to migrate over the next decade and beyond.

Never before have so many households needed competent, trusted advisors to help them navigate their wealth into the future. Whether it's their intent to pass the assets along to their heirs or to their favorite charity or foundation, they need the guidance of a competent and trusted advisor. Never before has financial planning been so desperately needed by so many.

But, as an industry, are we prepared to meet the needs of the largest group of consumers ever amassed in our country's history? Are compensation plans aligned with the best interest of the client, across the board? Can advisers truly act in the best interest of their client's and still be successful? Are the plans in conflict with the company's desired outcome? Aren't most plans still designed around the amount of commission and fees an adviser generates? Don't we tell advisers to develop long term relationships with their clients, to think in terms of households and cross selling opportunities, yet, we based their compensation on the amount of revenue generated?

Yes, investment advisory accounts and the assets in those accounts are increasing in popularity, but by all estimates the total percentage of accounts in advisory accounts has just recently crossed into double digit territory. Why isn't the "win/win" scenario of the advisory account gaining more traction? Following the money trail might reveal the answer-look at compensation plans.

What if...Advisers were paid to gather assets and to develop relationships? What if advisers were paid an annual trail based on the anniversary of the assets being held-the longer the client retains the assets with the adviser, the higher the payout. Wouldn't that encourage the nurturing of long term relationships? Wouldn't that encourage transactions that are in the client's best interest, without regard for the generation of fees? Here's a big one- what if all investment products (packaged or not, insurance based or not) paid the same revenue stream? Or what if the product cost and its risk profile were correlated for revenue? What would the product mix of most advisers look like? Isn't it time for our compensation measurements to be changed and updated? Aren't we still paying for business the old way and expecting advisers to find business the new way? Just look at the number of lawsuits surrounding the "overtime pay" issue and you will realize that we have to look at our business differently. Those lawsuits seem to be gaining ground and changing the landscape. Change is hard, but it's good, too! There are 70 million households with over $14 trillion in assets looking for an answer. We should deliver it.

Bill Cole
12 Dec 2006

William F. Cole, CFP™, is a 20 year veteran of the financial services industry and a sales coach and business development consultant for financial advisors and sales managers. Find out how you can become a Sales Accelerator at http:///www.completefinancialadvisor.com

Post An Article

If you would like to post something please click the link below

Post A Query

Testimony

Feedback

Copyright © 2006 - 2007 Tons Of Matters.com. All rights reserved.

<<  previous  1  2  3  4  5  next  >>

Tons of Matters.com

If you matter, then we matter!

All The Matters Adult Matters Adventure Matters Advertising Matters Ancient Matters Animal Matters Art Matters Astrology Matters Astronomy Matters Automobile Matters Baby Matters Beauty Matters Bible Matters Bike Matters Blog Matters Book Matters Brand Matters Business Matters Car Matters Career Matters CEO Matters Charity Matters Child Matters Christmas Matters Church Matters Coaching Matters Communication Matters Community Matters Computer Matters Consultancy Matters Creative Matters Cuisine Matters Cultural Matters Decor Matters Digital Matters Dining Matters D.I.Y. Matters ECommerce Matters Education Matters Electronic Matters E-Magazine Matters Entertainment Matters Entrepreneur Matters Environment Matters EPL Matters Events Matters Family Matters Fantasy Matters Fashion Matters Feng Shui Finance Matters Financial Matters Fishing Matters Fitness Matters Food Matters Funny Matters Gadget Matters Games Matters Gardening Matters Global Matters Golf Matters Google Matters Gracious Matters Happy Matters Health Matters History Matters Hobby Matters Hollywood Matters Holy Matters Home Matters Horoscope Matters HR Matters Hygiene Matters Image Matters Industrial Matters Inspiration Matters Insurance Matters Internet Matters Investment Matters Leadership Matters Legal Matters Lifestyle Matters Love Matters Luxury Matters Machine Matters Management Matters Manufacturing Matters Marine Matters Marketing Matters Marriage Matters Material Matters Media Matters Medical Matters Men Matters Money Matters Motivation Matters Movie Matters Music Matters New Matters! New Year Matters Occasion Matters Office Matters Organization Matters Outsource Matters Parenting Matters Passion Matters Personal Matters Pet Matters Photography Matters Popular Matters PR Matters Printing Matters Professional Matters Project Matters Psychology Matters Publishing Matters Real Estate Matters Recipe Matters Relationship Matters Religion Matters Research Matters Resource Matters Retail Matters Safety Matters Sales Matters Science Matters Seasonal Matters Service Matters Sexy Matters Shopping Matters Social Matters Speaking Matters Spiritual Matters Sports Matters Strategy Matters Success Matters Survival Matters Teaching Matters Teen Matters Technology Matters Tennis Matters Trading Matters Training Matters Transportation Matters Travel Matters Trend Matters Vacation Matters Video Matters Wealth Matters Weather Matters Web Matters Wedding Matters Wellness Matters Wine Matters Wildlife Women Matters WOW Matters Writing Matters Xtreme Matters Yahoo Matters

Credit Monitoring - Advantages and Disadvantages

Have you heard of credit monitoring? It is a service that credit reporting agencies offer to you. The service is quite straightforward. For a fee, they will monitor your credit for you to insure that nothing strange appears or that nothing out of the ordinary reduces your credit score. Is an investment in such a service worthwhile?

How Credit Monitoring Can Benefit You

First of all, credit monitoring does do something that has become necessary with the advent of different types of credit fraud. Any consumer, anywhere that uses credit needs to monitor their credit score and report. It is necessary because at any time a negative item is placed on your credit report it can be very detrimental to your future credit needs. Those who commit such fraud do not necessarily need your social security number or other personal details. It all depends on where they use your credit card information.

It is important to know what’s on that record and it is important to know how it got there. The longer it goes without being disputed, the more ‘real’ it looks in the eyes of the law. In this way, credit monitoring really can benefit you because you will be notified right away when negative activity is reported on your credit report.

How Credit Monitoring Can Rip You Off

It is true that such a service can be helpful, but credit monitoring is very expensive, up to $150 per year in some cases. This money can be used to help reduce credit card debt instead. If you are net savvy, then your credit report is a few keystrokes away. All of the major credit reporting agencies can be found online and can tell you’re what your credit report looks like.

Also, in the United States, as of this year, you are provided a free credit report each year from the credit reporting agencies so that you can monitor your credit history. This free product may not be enough, but it is a start. You should check your report often and know what is on it. Ideally, you should check your report every 3 months. If you are going to be making any large purchases e.g. a new house, a new car you should get your report a couple of months in advance so that you can clear up any negative items in time to get the best deal on your purchase.

Mike Singh
30 Dec 2006

Check out http://www.why-switch-to-voip.com/ to get an overview of voip and read more about ip phone systems.

10 Signs of Financial Trouble

Filing bankruptcy is not the solution to every situation, but there are particular circumstances and patterns of behavior that stand to benefit from filing bankruptcy. There are numerous warnings that can be observed while you are headed towards severe financial troubles.

1. You have recently lost your job and are unsure of how you will maintain you financial obligations. This job loss becomes much more dire when it was the direct result an injury or medical condition, because the amount of time you could be unable to work is unknown. Financial planning is not conducive to unknown parameters and small cash flows.

2. You have recently been afflicted with an illness or injury that resulted in excessive unplanned expenditures that cripple your budget.

3. You have been signing up for every unsolicited credit card offer that you receive in an effort to keep you head above water. This situation has left you only able to make minimum payments at best on your credit cards.

4. You shop furtively or purposefully hide the true costs of you purchases from your loved ones.

5. Your credit cards are reaching their limits and you consider getting more cards just to survive. At this point you have stopped using credit cards for convenience and instead are using them because you simply don't have the money. It is never a good idea to pursue this line of thought.

6. A definite cause for concern is when your credit card balances are rising uncontrolablly while your income is decreasing.

7. You charge more on your credit cards than you are paying each month.

8. You receive letters or phone calls from creditors threatening legal action.

9. You are apprehensive when checking the mail and refuse to open certified mail because you are fearful of what might be inside. In the same vein you don't know how much debt you have accumalated and don't really care to know. This is the ostrich syndrome. Ostriches stick their head in sand when they feel endangered under the impression that what they don't know can't hurt them. This is sadly not the reality of the situation. Fees, overage charges, interest and additional legal steps continue regardless if you choose to be aware of them or not.

10. You tap your retirement or savings accounts in an attempt to satisfy creditor's demands. While filing bankruptcy is not the answer to all of these concerns, it can be the best answer when one or a combination of these signs become overly burdensome to you or your family. It is much easier to prevent and get out of the downward spiral of cumbersome debt the sooner you identify the problem. It is a common theme for bankrutpcy filers to wait until the last second such as the day before their house is foreclosed on to act appropriately. Don't put yourself between a rock and a hard place. Act preemptively and speak with a bankruptcy attorney before the situation has become dire. Acting in this manner will save you thousands of dollars and pay dividends in the future. For help alleviating the stess, pressure, and debt in your life visit www.bankrutpcyhome.com before it is too late.

Tim S
08 Jan 2007

Original content from http://www.bankruptcyhome.com