Between Now and Success

If you are in the "inform" business, and not the "transform" business, you won't be long for this business. Technology services are quickly chipping away at the value-stack financial advisors offer to clients. There may come a time when, "I turn on my phone and I say, 'Hi, Alexa. Tell me what my bank account is today. Transfer $10,000 from Bank A to Bank B. Open a 529 plan for my kid. Then, rebala...

I've long said that there are many ways to be successful as a financial advisor. My guest today, Steve Cassaday, founder and CEO of Cassaday and Company, Inc., is a perfect example. His main marketing plan is a throwback to the 1990s. He spends hundreds of thousands of dollars per year doing high-end dinner seminars for a carefully selected group of people. And when they become a client, he create...

My guest today, Dr. Elliot Berkman, is a tenured Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Oregon, where he directs the Social and Effective Neuroscience Laboratory and conducts field-leading, federally-funded research on goals, motivation, and behavior change. He's also the Associate Director of the Center for Translational Neuroscience, and an author who writes about psychology and...

With the accelerating pace of technological change, how can you be sure you are making the right technology choices? What should your tech stack look like? One of the biggest changes in the financial advisory business over the past 10 years or so has been the rise of technology. Now, of course, technology has always been a part of the business -- as anyone who, like me, struggled with Advent Acces...

How long could your business survive without you? For financial advisors, I think that's really two questions in one. Part one is a question of scale. Part two is a question of how you want to connect with your clients, build a sense of community, and run a modern advisory practice. Brighton Jones is one of the top fee-only wealth management companies in the country, and one of Washington's 100 Be...

If you could come up with 3 words for this year, that would drive your actions and keep you on track to make this your best year ever, what would those 3 words be? For several years now, I've begun the year by identifying 3 words that will set the course, give me direction, and totally excite me as I move through the year. I write these words at the top of my Daily Focus sheet and look at them dai...

People often times know what they need to do to reach their goal, or know what the "right decision" is, but they still don't do it. It's that old knowing-doing gap idea. And much of the popular literature about how to create better habits and change your behavior, are, unfortunately, based on weak science. The good news is, there is solid scientific research on how to change behavior and stick wit...

Can I interest you in my new cryptocurrency, BelayCoin? You can use BelayCoin to pay for the services of my company, and every transaction is verified and recorded in the Ethereum blockchain. And over time, the value of BelayCoin may rise to reflect how in-demand my services are. Now, don't go running for your credit cards – I'm just kidding. I haven't actually set up a system like this. But if I...

In the last 35 year, we've seen the following happen in the financial markets. The beginning of the great bull market in August 1982. The stock market crash on October 19, 1987. The technology bubble of 1995 – 2000. The bear market of 2000 – 2002. The real estate bubble of 2002 – 2007. The Great Recession of 2007 – 2009. The amazing, low-volatility bull market of 2009 – today. Two leading financia...

Imagine you're sitting down with a potential new client for the initial discovery meeting. What do you see sitting across from you? Unfortunately, many advisors see a "prospect," "dollar signs," or perhaps "a million-dollar account." The philosopher Martin Buber called this an "I-It Relationship," in which one person objectifies the other. On today's show, Ross Levin explains the importance of "I-...

Financial advisors have a unique opportunity to make a real, immediate impact on people's lives -- if they're willing to break away from the old model that's only interested in improving return on investments. On today's show, RIA leader Seth Streeter explains how his firm not only delivers a first-class planning experience, but also helps their top clients "redefine wealth" and develop their "ins...

Mark Casady had a front row seat on the massive changes hitting our industry over the past 15 years of his tenure at LPL. Now that he's "retired," we discuss his career and the lessons he learned. During his 30-plus years in financial services, Mark likes to think his job was to be a classic "change agent." As chairman of the board and CEO for LPL Financial, Mark led the company through its IPO an...

"Compassionate" isn't necessarily the first word that springs to mind when you think about the traditional financial planning model. But that's just another way that the old model is outdated. The shift in our industry from Return on Investment to Return on Life requires a new conversation between advisors and clients. Understanding your clients as people -- their goals, their fears, their perspec...

You can get the mechanics of a financial plan right, but if you miss the "life" part, you're shortchanging your clients. A financial plan is a tool to help your clients live a happier, more fulfilling life. Consumers can easily get their money managed through the big national brands like Vanguard, Schwab, TD Ameritrade, Fidelity, and the Robo Advisors, without your help. A key value an advisor add...

Curiosity. The best advisors have it. Hannah Moore's curiosity has led her down many roads and in today's podcast, she shares what she's learned about structuring the client meeting process, creating client personas, blogging to "just one person," using three words to define your business, succession planning, and much more. My guest today, Investment News "40 under 40" honoree Hannah Moore, is an...

How do you go from a struggling, cash-strapped RIA to running a fast-growing, profitable top firm? Adopt Sten Morgan's 7 Mindsets and you'll be on your way. As the founder of Legacy Investment Planning, Sten Morgan has lived that dream, and overcome the obstacles that go with it. Sten was recently named one of the "40 Under 40" by Investment News , and his new book, "7 Mindsets of Success," challe...

By rethinking every aspect of how to price and deliver wealth management, AdvicePeriod has gone from a startup just a few years ago, to more than $6 billion in assets under advisement. We go under the hood to learn exactly how they did it. They're not shy about stating their take on the financial advisory business. " We're reinventing wealth management. The old model is totally outdated, " says th...

The latest RIA Benchmarking Study from Charles Schwab contains surprising insights and contradicts some common industry beliefs. I always look forward to Schwab's annual Benchmarking Study because it's full of data that I enjoy digging into to uncover the health of our industry. This year's report is no exception as it contains some nuggets that may surprise you. On today's show, Jon Betty, Charle...

Gail Graham is one of those rare people who have worked in the top echelon of two major companies--Fidelity Investments and United Capital--and helped shaped their strategies that led to massive growth and industry accolades. Today, Gail is the founder of Graham Strategy, and works with companies to figure out where the gaps are between their strategy and how they're running their company. On toda...

The science of wealth is in Sarah Fallaw's DNA. Her father, the late Dr. Thomas Stanley, literally wrote THE book on how and why affluent people accumulate wealth, "The Millionaire Next Door" (1996). Today, Sarah is using her doctorate in applied psychology to create analytics and metrics that carry on Dr. Stanley's study of wealth-building habits at the company she founded, DataPoints. The propri...

The resurgence of analog products in our digital advisor world has profound implications for both consumers and businesses, which author David Sax details in his new book, "The Revenge of Analog: Real Things and Why They Matter." As financial advisors get caught up in trying to "digital advisor everything," it's important to remember that there are many times when human to human contact is the bes...

If you're still stuffing mailers, making cold calls, and tweeting the occasional Warren Buffet interview to a handful of followers, it's time to upgrade your marketing strategy and let data driven content drive some foot traffic through your front door. On today's show, Justin Wisz, the co-founder and CEO of Vestorly, talks about how automated content and advanced AI can provide "delightful digita...

What if you had more than 20 years of financial services experience, then decided to start over and build a new RIA from scratch? Do you think you could take those decades of experience and build a new RIA in tune with the times? That's exactly what Stephanie Sammons is doing with her new RIA, SammonsWealth. Talk about a multi-hyphenate: Stephanie Sammons is the Founder and CEO of SammonsWealth, a...

Michael Nathanson is the chairman, CEO, and president of the Colony Group, a multi-billion dollar wealth management company with offices across the United States. But Michael thinks his most important title is one that isn't listed on his business card: CIO. "I sometimes joke that I'm CIO of this organization -- the Chief Inspiration Officer," says Michael. "I consider that to be one of my top fun...

There's never been a more exciting time to be a financial advisor, or a more challenging one. The Baby Boomer generation is keeping advisors busy as they age into retirement. A new generation of internet-savvy millennials is beginning to consider their investment opportunities. Competition is everywhere. Technology is both disrupting the RIA landscape, and giving advisors new opportunities to reto...