"There is widespread agreement on the need to provide greater protection to American investors from financial fraud. The adoption of a fiduciary standard that includes broker-dealers when providing personalized investment advice would help restore and strengthen public trust in financial advisers -- both investment advisers and broker-dealers. Any legislation that creates additional obstacles to SEC rulemaking could needlessly delay or weaken critical investor protection measures such as the fiduciary standard, however unintentionally."

10 pages. Excerpt: Ameriprise found the employees surveyed would like their employer to provide financial planning assistance. Eighty-nine percent of respondents said a financial plan that directly addressed their workplace benefit costs and contingent financial decisions would be helpful, and 70% would be moderately or very interested in one-on-one financial planning if offered through their employer.

"[I]ssues to consider for advisory firms that want to ... [offer] financial planning as an employee benefit to the employees of their own firm [include] ... [1] whether to provide such services internally or externally, [2] whether to let employees choose their own advisor, [3] the tax consequences to consider, and [4] why providing financial planning to employees can actually provide an Return On Investment as employees gain better perspective on how to improve the firm's client experience (by actually experiencing financial planning themselves!)."

"The conventional approach to retirement and life insurance planning, which is used throughout the financial planning industry, differs markedly from the economic approach. The conventional approach asks households to specify how much they want to spend before retirement, after retirement, and in the event of an untimely death of the head or spouse. It then determines the amounts of saving and life insurance needed to achieve these targets. The economic approach is based on the life-cycle model of saving. Its goal is to smooth households' living standards over their life cycles and to ensure comparable living standards for potential survivors. In the economic approach, spending targets are endogenous. They are derived by calculating the most the household can afford to consume in the present given that it wants to preserve that living standard in the future. Although spending targets under the conventional approach can be adjusted in an iterative process to approximate those derived under the economic approach, there are practical limits to doing so. This is particularly the case for households experiencing changing demographics or facing borrowing constraints. This paper illustrates the different saving and insurance recommendations provided by economic financial planning software and the practical application of traditional financial planning software."

"[W]hile investors with an established plan report a higher level of confidence (87%) and overall positive outlook for their financial security (75%), only 55% of investors have a plan in place ... In this article, we explore what is a financial plan, how we construct a financial plan with clients, and how we utilize that plan to advise clients."

"We support the SEC staff's recommendation to adopt an over-arching fiduciary duty for investment advisers and broker-dealers if, as mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act, it is no less stringent than the existing standard under the Advisers Act. To achieve this, it is important that a uniform fiduciary duty standard, when promulgated, contain both the rules and practical guidance to clarify how the standard would apply to the broker-dealer business model."

"[T]he evolution of planning software is creating distinct new challenges from a software design perspective, as the tools are increasingly used in three distinct contexts: an interactive collaborative planning tool between advisors and clients in meetings, an ongoing monitoring and personal financial management (PFM) tool for clients, and an advisor support tool for everything from complex analyses to tracking and alerting which clients need assistance. Not to mention the increasing amount of 'meta data' available about the advisory business and its clients as well. In fact, going forward financial planning software designers may need to increasingly view the use of the software through each of these distinct lenses -- advisor, client, and advisor-client interaction, as well as business meta-data -- to advance the efficacy of planning software."

"Imagine a holistic personal financial management (PFM) solution for clients, that simultaneously operates as financial planning software for the advisor, all continuously updated from external data flows, making it feasible for the advisor and client to see the milestones and recommendations that have already been accomplished, and whether the client is on track in progressing towards goals of the future."

"There are a crop of new resources that let you get financial-planning services on the cheap. For a flat or hourly fee, a certified financial planner can help you develop a savings plan, get your budget in order and pay down debt. But keep in mind that you get what you pay for -- so don't expect any of the bells and whistles of a full-service financial-planning or brokerage firm."

Excerpt: As bailed-out financial institutions take more heat over the massive pay packages dished out to their executives, a key fringe benefit usually awarded to top officers -- the financial planning perk -- appears to be on the chopping block. Every element of executives' pay is being carefully scrutinized by lawmakers, shareholders and taxpayers. As a result, several of the nation's largest financial institutions have already stopped footing the bill for their executives' financial planning, which historically has been a staple of compensation packages for CEOs, CFOs and other top brass.

"[F]inancial planning for individuals with a nearly infinite range of situations entails tremendous complexity, to the point where it's not clear if anyone could really remember every possible question to ask or step to take ... [T]he greatest challenge is simply that we need to build our financial planning checklists -- a challenging and time-intensive process. Yet perhaps this is an opportunity for the financial planning community to band together and build something collectively."

"In addition to wreaking havoc on the economy at large, the pandemic has had sudden and significant repercussions for how individuals conduct their financial planning -- specifically, how they approach spending and saving goals.... The pandemic's economic side effects also have significant implications for when and how older adults plan their retirements.... While the COVID-19 crisis has brought these topics to the forefront, their importance is likely to persist post-pandemic as well."

"In 2017, about one-fifth of private industry workers were offered free or subsidized financial planning services from their employers. These services help employees make decisions about savings, borrowing, investing, home buying, education expenses, or retirement. While union and nonunion workers had similar rates of access to financial planning services, access varied based on size of establishment, wage level, and industry."

12 pages; includes checklist. "As a result of these new rulings, employee benefits and financial planning strategies once available only to opposite-sex married couples are now available to same-sex married couples. This paper highlights several of the changes that have taken place, including changes to Social Security eligibility, and details how same-sex couples may wish to incorporate them into their financial planning."

12 pages. Excerpt: "As a result of the new ruling, employee benefits and financial planning strategies once available only to opposite-sex married couples may now be available to same-sex married couples. This paper highlights several of the changes that have taken place, and details how same-sex couples may wish to incorporate them into their financial planning." [Includes a checklist; updated March 2014.]

"1. Fewer new millionaire households with more firms competing for them.... 2. Aging client bases with higher capital consumption.... 3. Possible prolonged period of low return on lower-risk assets.... 4. Operating costs accelerating at a rate higher than inflation in general.... 5. Aging Founders."

"Retirement planning is the top area that same-sex couples require financial assistance. About half of survey respondents indicated they need help in this area.... Nearly nine in 10 have money saved for retirement, and 78 percent have added to their retirement savings during the past year.... About a quarter of same-sex couples are uncertain as to when they will retire, and 40 percent have not determined how much they will need to save to live comfortably in retirement."

"There seems little interest by the regulators and Congress to seriously address the issues of investor investment protection as a result of massive financial lobbying by the financial services industry, a massive lack of understanding of the issues involved (i.e., confusing major fraud with nickel and dime investor investment erosion), and the underlying conservative belief that all regulation is bad."

"[The authors] have concerns about stochastic models that promise higher levels of spending without properly quantifying the additional risk. [They] also have concerns about blindly relying on the results of these models, particularly over extended periods of time without adjustment. And while no one knows what future investments will earn, we do know how much insurance companies are currently charging to provide income for life based on life annuity quotes.... [T]his 'known' market pricing information can be useful in developing a low-investment-risk Actuarial Budget Benchmark that you can use in combination with the other approaches you are using to make better financial decisions."

"[W]hile historical asset class returns give us a sense of what we might expect in the future from various asset mixes, there are no guarantees that these historical returns will continue in the future, and higher expected investment returns generally do not come without additional risk.... [C]onsideration of this additional investment risk is an important part of the 'appropriate discount rate' determination that should not be ignored. Mr. Kitces' advice is potentially inconsistent with the basic financial economic principle that the value of a future stream of payments should be determined by finding a portfolio of assets that matches the benefit stream in amount, timing and probability of payment."