With the S&P 500 up more than 60% from those dark days in March, it is becoming very easy to forget what it felt like to hold course in the face of what was clearly some very uncertain times. If you need a reminder, this video may help.

You may have already forgotten, but back then, there was an almost universal recognition that talking about risk in a "lifeboat drill" sort of way is completely different than EXPERIENCING IT.

Risk is funny that way: You can't understand it until you feel it.   More 

Carl Richards and Cathy Curtis have written eloquently about financial advisors' (financial planners,' you pick the label) image in recent columns. The gestation was the comments section of a Your Money column in The New York Times, which was filled with disdain for advisors. As the article was in the NY Times, more cynics may have opined negatively due to their own personal experiences with brokers (and other Wall Street types) residing in New York City. We all know there are many outstanding planners across the country. It is difficult for the public to locate fee-only, fiduciary, client-first CFP®s. Fee-only planners' marketing budgets pale in comparison to the fog-horns of Wall Street.

Undoubtedly, differentiation is critical in the RIA space for the industry to survive the recent scandals. Pending new regulatory legislation could further place a wall between investors and their advisors in regard to differentiation, as brokers appear to have the upper hand in commoditizing the business and the labels attached to fee-only planners.   More 

I spent last week answering questions for investors on the new Bucks Blog at The New York Times. It was an interesting reminder of the vital role of a real financial planner and the ongoing process of planning.

Almost every question I answered should have been answered by saying: "Find a real financial planner, tell them everything, and do what they say." Of course, you can't do that over and over because no one will listen to you, but boy, it was tempting.

This experience got me thinking about a couple of questions:

1. How can you make reasonable investment decisions without an overall plan?
2. How do you decide when or what to invest in without any context?   More 

For the last decade, I've had an identity crisis. I've never really been sure what to call myself. I have had business cards that said "financial consultant," "financial advisor," "wealth manager," "private wealth advisor," etc. They all seemed to be much more about marketing then an actual description of what I did professionally.

During much of that time, I have been a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER^TM. Does that mean I should call myself a "financial planner"?   More 

After reading the comments section of Ron Lieber's article, I agree with Carl Richards. We have to get out and tell our stories.

The level of hostility toward advisors was shocking. Phrases such as "do it yourself," "don't waste your money," "inherent conflict of interest," "rich elite," "greed," "self-serving," and "financial planning is a joke" are just a few of the choice comments. Out of 52 comments, 75% were negative, 15% were neutral or self-serving, and only 9% were positive. It's a small sample, but is this how most people see our profession?

We can start the story by talking about these points:   More