financial adviser

Renowned author Emily Guy Birken, known for bestsellers like The Five Years Before You Retire and Stacked, engages in a captivating conversation with Semmax Way host Matt Landon. They delve into a spectrum of finance-related subjects, covering the nuances of the progressive tax code, challenges encountered by the middle class, and the crucial role of tax-efficient financial planning. This dynamic exchange is enriched by compelling insights and even humorous anecdotes from their personal experiences, creating an engaging and informative dialogue that goes beyond conventional finance discussions. 

Visit Emily Guy Birken's official website at www.emilyguybirken.com.

Still have questions? Contact us using the link to set up a 15-minute call with one of Semmax’s fiduciary advisors: https://semmax.com/contact-us.

Many busy advisors explore using LinkedIn, but soon become overwhelmed and confused then end up ignoring it. After all, isn’t it mainly a job seeker and recruitment tool, and why should they spend their limited time there? LinkedIn expert Jennifer Darling says no businessperson can afford to ignore LinkedIn because it can be a powerful marketing machine for your business – if you set up your profile in the right way. In this interview she explains the three areas to concentrate on to simply set up your LinkedIn profile the right way, for lead generation, sales and even client retention.

Melly’s Situation. Freelance worker who has divorced and received a settlement.  She is not used to having investable assets.  She lives with her new partner in his house which they adore, and he is financially independent with a secure pension of his own and an investment portfolio, but there is still an interest only mortgage outstanding on their home. 

Melly has grown up children, her income fluctuates, and she loves her work so passionately that she doesn’t really think about retirement, but having reached 59 she has started to wonder how she will live if her earnings opportunities dwindle. The divorce settlement is likely to be the only windfall she has, and she needs to make it count.

Challenges 

• Self-employment (no pension or other employee benefits)
• New to investing and in receipt of a divorce settlement 
• Blended family with legacy implications

Further resources:

Women’s Wealth Website

Book a free 15 minute chat with one of our Money Mentors.

Women’s Wealth Network (FREE to join for 6 months) - join us on for the ‘weekly lives’ where you can listen to what others are saying

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Why would a financial advisor want to write a book? Cynthia Zigmund says there can be a range of reasons – from a brief introduction to a deeper dive into your business philosophy and showcasing how you use your expertise to positively impact your clients’ lives. If done well, it can make a huge difference in connecting with your ideal clients. But many aspiring authors don’t know what to expect or have misconceptions about what creating a useful book entails. Many don’t understand that creating a well-published book is much more than simply printing a manuscript. She discusses what makes a successful book and how her team at Second City Publishing Services provides direction and resources to ensure a great end result.

Mitch Anthony has been creating innovative discovery approaches for financial advisors to use for more than two decades. He helps advisors understand the necessity for listening and hearing people, then provides ideas and solutions for doing just that. He’s certainly experienced to do this: he’s helped his local community significantly by establishing their first suicide/crisis hotline and saw first-hand the necessity for listening to people during their most deep and personal times of need – much like financial advisors do when listening to their client’s plans, regrets, and aspirations. In this episode he discusses important mindsets and skills necessary when beginning conversations with people; patience, empathy and an approach that will set you apart from many advisors and have people opening up to you, seeing you as the professional they need, and beginning healthy relationships with you. He says that advisors need to understand the importance of getting to the heart before going for a product. Every one of us has a story; the sooner someone sees you as genuinely interested in hearing theirs, the sooner they’ll trust you, tell you more, and permit you to become valuable in their life.   

LaRae Quy was an FBI undercover and counterintelligence agent for 20 years and spokesperson for the Agency’s San Francisco Division for another 4 years. Today, she marries neuroscience and social psychology to help people develop mental toughness so they can effectively manage their emotions, thoughts, and behavior in ways to set themselves up for success. In this episode she discusses key processes for developing a strong mind, which all start with facing reality and self-awareness. She says, while life can be hard, and pain is inevitable, growth is optional. She is on a mission to equip people with tools to choose growth and enjoy the results.

Brian McArthur, creator of the Medicare Execution Process™, understands why Medicare is the most overlooked part of the financial planning process: it’s convoluted, constantly changing and creates minimal revenue. Advisors know Medicare planning is a need for all their clients who reach age 64, yet industry education has been lacking in equipping advisors to guide their clients to effective Medicare results. Clients’ confusion is only multiplied when they are bombarded by the Medicare insurance industry’s fear-based marketing material. Brian provides a way for advisors to have clients look to them for the advice and guidance they most need at this perplexing time.

Playing football in the NFL felt like SaVion Harris’ destiny – his brother and many close friends played, and he always thought he would be next. But a college season filled with multiple significant injuries brought an end to that dream and forced him to pivot. Knowing he had given his all to his lifelong dream, the transition did not leave him filled with regret; but instead feeling grateful. The game he loved had prepared him well for his next step in life – becoming a financial advisor. Hear how SaVion shifted his “big-dream” approach, teamwork skills, and honest self-analysis to the financial services industry, overcoming setbacks to successfully build a business based on serving his clients like family.

So many financial professionals end up trading their health for their career and don’t really take notice of their declining health until they get some shocking wakeup call. But, exercise physiologist and Certified Wellness Coach Stevyn Guinnip says it doesn’t have to be this way. We can avoid or even recover from “Advisor-Bod.” In fact, she says, advisors’ financial know-how is actually a super-power they can apply to reclaiming their health for good, staying on track forever, and retiring “wellthy.”  She says the journey to physical health is almost identical to the journey to financial wealth, from starting early, to having a plan, to making small but consistent deposits. In this interview she talks about some of the most important (and obvious) health markers many advisors are overlooking and provides many no-cost, easy-to-implement activities to boost your wellness account balance, which is just as vital to a quality retirement as your financial account balance. 

Brooklyn Brock, CFP®, CEPA®, ChFC®, CKA®, says financial advisors are their own worst clients. Advisors rarely do financial planning or retirement planning for themselves like they do for their clients, and most advisors’ business succession plans fail because they never get started. Brock, a 3^rd generation financial advisor herself, is founder of Ellevate Advisors, LLC, the only advisory firm in the world that specializes in financial planning and exit coaching for advisors. She discusses why advisors need to hire a professional to advise them, despite often believing they can best take care of things for themselves. She also highlights issues people simply can’t work through effectively without outside/distanced input.  Hear her specific advice for advisors about how to avoid distractions and shape your day-to-day activities to ensure you successfully achieve your end vision for both your professional and personal life.

Technology is critical for financial planning and other professional practices that must reinvent and reimagine their businesses, their value propositions, and how they deliver these to their clients on an ongoing basis.

Staying at the forefront whilst increasing efficiency and effectiveness is no easy task. Employing more staff is not always the answer. Buying technology that everyone else is using is also rarely helpful or successful.

Having worked with financial planners since 1998, we have seen the evolution of not only technology but the profession at large. We have seen the impact of both great tech solutions and inappropriate tech solutions on businesses.

In today's episode, we share the top 5 technology tools to consider for your financial planning practice as well as their value and expected impact.

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---- GLOBAL FINANCIAL PLANNING CONFERENCE 2022 ----

17 to 18 May 2022

Tickets: https://www.propulsion.co.za/gfpc22

Sponsorships opportunity: https://www.propulsion.co.za/gfpc22sponsor

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Larry Fink’s annual letter to CEOs this year caused a stir with his assertion that while BlackRock partakes in sustainability and social justice work, it is neither an environmentalist nor is it "woke." This episode focuses on intention vs. action in the ESG movement and whether it's important to be an idealist to successfully execute these practices. Rachel Robasciotti, founder and CEO of Adasina Social Capital, joins Steve to discuss these points and more. Do you have to be woke to invest in ESG?  

LARRY FINK'S 2022 LETTER TO CEOS

Investors for Livable Wages

Adasina’s Racial Justice Impact Dataset

Social Justice Partners on Adasina Website

Adasina Newsletter Sign-Up or text JUSTICE to 55-444

Related Article:  BlackRock navigates a divided America

Related Article:  BlackRock CEO Larry Fink says stakeholder capitalism is not ‘woke’

Guest Bio: 

Rachel J. Robasciotti grew up poor, raised by a single Black mother who struggled for financial security in a rural town that was still largely segregated. She graduated from high school at age 15 and ultimately attended the University of California, Berkeley where she studied economics. After working at large financial firms, learning what they do well and what she wanted to do differently, in 2004 at the age of 25, she founded Robasciotti & Philipson – a firm dedicated to transforming wealth into a tool that supports the well-being of people and the planet. In 2018, Rachel launched the firm’s Social Justice Investing strategy which would become Adasina Social Capital. This strategy has positioned her as a leader in the financial industry for integrating issues of racial, gender, economic, and climate justice into investment portfolios. 

Often referred to as a distant problem, one that can be solved at a later date with an incredible, yet-to be-invented technology, climate change is here, we caused it, and it’s bad. Dr. Kimberly Nicholas, author of the powerful book "Under the Sky We Make,"  breaks down the overwhelming scientific consensus on human-caused climate change and discusses with Steve the extreme urgency of the situation. They go into detail on the surprising power of individuals to affect change, and the need for the global wealthy (hint, that’s not just billionaires they’re talking about) to take responsibility for their carbon output right away.  What role do financial advisers play in all this?  A lot, it turns out.  

Under The Sky We Make — Kim’s book on Bookshop.org

We Can Fix It — Kim’s Substack newsletter

Normative.io — Carbon accounting engine

ClimateNow — A multimedia platform explaining the key scientific ideas, technologies and policies relevant to the global climate crisis.

The Zeroist — a finance newsletter for the net-zero revolution

Related Article: DOL seeks public input on protecting retirement savings from climate risks

Guest Bio:

Prof. Kimberly Nicholas is a sustainability scientist at Lund University in Sweden. She has published over 55 articles on climate and sustainability in leading peer-reviewed journals; writes for publications such as Elle, The Guardian, Scientific American, and New Scientist; and is the author of UNDER THE SKY WE MAKE: How to be Human in a Warming World, and the monthly climate newsletter We Can Fix It. She gives lectures and moderates at about 75 international meetings and organizations each year across  public policy, civil society, arts and culture, the wine industry, foundations, and academia. Her work has been featured by outlets including the BBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, National Public Radio, Public Radio International, Vox, and USA Today. Born and raised on her family’s vineyard in Sonoma, California, she studied the effect of climate change on the California wine industry for her PhD in the Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources at Stanford University.  

The average retirement in the U.S. has tripled since 1935, from 7 years to around 22 years. Retirees have ample time and opportunity to launch a new chapter of their life, but extra care must be taken to plan their finances. Maddy Dychtwald, co-founder of AgeWave, joins Mary Beth on this episode to discuss what Maddy calls the Longevity Bonus.    

Related Article:  Despite pandemic, defined-contribution plan participants kept saving in 2021

This season is brought to you by Realized

Realized strives to put you in control of managing your investment property wealth. Our goal is to help bridge the gap between investment property ownership and sophisticated wealth management, helping you meet your income needs in retirement and pursue your investment goals across generations. 

Using the principles of Investment Property Wealth Management(R), Realized transforms your individual investment properties into diversified real estate portfolios, customized to your unique income needs, risk appetite, and investment goals. 

For more information, visit www.Realized1031.com/RepairShop to learn more.

Guest Bio:  

Recently recognized by Forbes as one of the top fifty female futurists globally, Maddy Dychtwald has been deeply involved in exploring all aspects of the age wave and how it’s transforming the marketplace, the workplace, our world, and our lives for more than 30 years. Along the way, she has become an internationally acclaimed author, public speaker, Wall Street Journal blogger, and thought leader on longevity, aging, the new retirement and the ascent of women.

A successful entrepreneur, Maddy co-founded Age Wave, the world’s leader in understanding and addressing the far-reaching impacts of our aging population. The Age Wave team has worked with more than half of the Fortune 500 in industries ranging from health care and medical technology to financial services and consumer marketing.

In this episode, you'll hear about: 

• ESG regulatory update from Washington, D.C.
• Danielle's personal journey from bank teller to VP at an impact company.
• What CNote is and how it works.
• Working at awomen-founded and -led organization.
• The importance of investing in communities and BIPOC women business owners.
• Why Danielle believes focusing on helping individual people, one at a time, is the key.

Cnote.com

Black Led CDFIs

CDFI locator

Impact Assets Top 50 Managers 2021

Related Video:  Make DEI a mandate, not a check box in financial services industry

Related Article:  2020 Innovators: Catherine Berman

Related Article:  Expect a flurry of new ESG rules

Guest Bio:  Danielle M. Burns MBA, AIF is vice president, head of business development for CNote. Prior to joining CNote, Danielle worked for First Affirmative Financial Network in a variety of business development roles from 2004 to 2019 most recently serving as vice president of sales and marketing, where she worked with a highly collaborative team that was responsible for the growth and profitability of the firm’s distribution channels. Danielle participated in all aspects of the sales and marketing process, attended and spoke at industry events and educated advisors on how to navigate the sustainable, responsible, impact (SRI) investing and ESG landscape. Her background emphasizes business strategy and consulting and executing integrated campaigns, marketing communications, product launch and system development. 

In this episode, you'll hear about: 

• Will Social Security be solvent in the future?
• How can advisers create plans for clients with such uncertainty?
• Covisum’s new tool to help advisers.
• Tax implications.
• Roth conversions and Social Security strategies.
• Social Security reform.
• Widows.
• Educating clients.

Related Article:  Social Security faces a customer service backlog

Covisum

This season is brought to you by Realized

Realized strives to put you in control of managing your investment property wealth. Our goal is to help bridge the gap between investment property ownership and sophisticated wealth management, helping you meet your income needs in retirement and pursue your investment goals across generations. 

Using the principles of Investment Property Wealth Management(R), Realized transforms your individual investment properties into diversified real estate portfolios, customized to your unique income needs, risk appetite, and investment goals. 

For more information, visit www.Realized1031.com/RepairShop to learn more.

Guest Bio: 

Joe Elsasser developed Social Security Timing® in 2010 because, as a practicing financial advisor, he couldn’t find a Social Security tool that would help his clients make the best decision about when to elect their benefits. Inspired by the success of Social Security Timing, Joe founded Covisum®, a financial tech company focused on creating a shared vision throughout the financial planning process.

In this episode, you’ll hear about: 

-The current state of women advisers

-The a-ha moments for Haleh and Kacie and why they became ESG advisers

-How utilizing ESG has helped them succeed

-How ESG practices can keep women in the advisory space throughout their careers

-The power of values-based client relationships that are at the heart of sustainable investing, and why that is opportunity for women advisers

-Outlooks for sustainable investing in 2022

ESG study shared with SEC reveals fund labels are often useless

Guest Bios:

Haleh (pronounced Holly) Moddasser is the senior vice president and lead advisor of our Chapel Hill office, where she works with clients of all ages and in all stages of life. Haleh also leads Stearns women’s advisory practice where she focuses on issues surrounding women and finance, as well as ESG investing as a tool for creating social change. She is the author of two books; Women On Top: Women, Wealth & Social Change and Gray Divorce, Silver Linings: A Woman’s Guide to Divorce After 50 (Stearns Financial Group Field Guide Series Book 1). Haleh speaks at local and national events and serves as a media resource on a wide range of financial topics. Prior to joining SFG in 2011, Haleh used her CPA credential at Price Waterhouse Coopers and in a treasury and finance role at a public company.

Kacie Swartz has been helping individuals and families pursue financial independence as a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner since 2012. Kacie is an advocate of socially responsible investing and is a frequent public speaker promoting general financial literacy and educating investors about sustainable investing. Her background in investment education makes her a good fit for clients broadening their knowledge of financial planning and investments and helping people through major life changes like ending a marriage or losing a spouse.

Kacie’s interest in Environmental, Social & Governance funds (ESG) started as an extension of her personal commitment to living a more sustainable lifestyle. Kacie turned her years of experience constructing advance portfolios as a Certified Investment Management Analyst® to researching ESG fund options. She found clients were also drawn to the topic and has helped countless people better understand how their dollars are invested and how best to align their values with those investments. Kacie has spoken to local groups, including the Austin Women's Investing Group, about the fundamentals of ESG investing and how to get started. Kacie also recently spoke to other advisors about ESG investing as a panelist at the Investment News Women Adviser Summit in New York City.