Retirement Income Strategies: How to Improve on the 4% Rule

by Joe Tomlinson

In the past few years, the 4% rule has been challenged by those who claim its premise of 4% inflation-adjusted withdrawals is too optimistic under today's market conditions. Others assert that more sophisticated approaches will yield better-than-4% results. I'll evaluate two alternatives - economic utility maximization and required minimum distributions - and also discuss the practical implications for advisors.

A Simple Explanation for DALBAR's Misleading Results

by Michael Edesess, Kwok L. Tsui, Carol Fabbri, and George Peacock

For a number of years, DALBAR has been publishing a report that purports to show that investors make bad decisions and, as a result, their investments underperform the market by several percentage points. It has captured headlines for years, perpetuating the myth that individual investors invest poorly, and therefore they do much worse than the market average. There's just one thing, the DALBAR result is wrong.

Are Your Clients Meetings Like Visits to the Dentist?

by Dan Richards

In their desire to give prudent advice, sometimes advisors fail to deliver the positive messages that clients need to stay motivated and on track. Worse yet, some advisors' approaches leave clients feeling that their next visit will be a chore.

Stiglitz: Europe's View on Inequality

by Marianne Brunet

When you approach a crowd conversing over coffee at an economics conference, you don't normally expect to hear them giddily saying: "He's absolutely adorable! Adorable, and so sweet." But at a recent economics conference in Toulouse, France, participants were raving about Joseph Stiglitz like he was a movie star.

Meditate Your Way to Happiness

by Daniel Solin

Here is how I increased my level of happiness in my daily life.

Seven Tips for Delivering Bad News

by Megan Elliot

You can better communicate bad news to clients by keeping the following seven tips in mind.

Career Center

Find career opportunities for firms that seek to add financial advisors and planners to their staff. Read more to find out how to post opportunities at your firm.

When Delegating Leads to More Stress

by Beverly Flaxington

I have been trying to delegate more of human-resources responsibilities to my operations manager. However, my operations manager has made two poor hires in the last six months. I can't delegate if I can't ensure that things are done well. I'm inclined to take back these responsibilities unless you tell me otherwise.

The Four Bureaucratic Horsemen of GM's Apocalypse

by Mariko Gordon

Bureaucracy is more than just an annoyance; in the case of auto manufacturing, too much of it can cost lives. Today's article takes a look at GM's recently revealed internal bungling and offers four suggestions for avoiding these same types of errors in the running of your business or team.