An obvious mechanism to help an individual spend their cash flow in accordance with their financial goals is to employ a budget. But for many of us, the idea of constricting any behavior, especially how we spend our money, is unpleasant. Even if we label it using the euphemism of a “spending plan.” And, changing money attitudes is challenging even for experts. Volumes of advice and technologies are available to help with the mechanics of …
We have an operating theory here at DataPoints that goes like this: portfolio returns are being commoditized for the vast majority of retail investors–either by robo-style services or index strategies, or both–and that this large swath of the population will be willing to pay less for the (likely illusory) promise of market-beating portfolio returns from their would-be financial advisors. This development will in turn put pressure on the financial services industry in general and …
We look to financial advisors to help with the technical mechanics of financial planning, but increasingly we look for advisors to help in managing our financial lives; to serve as expert advisors; and to shape our behaviors to ensure that we can meet goals that are critical to us. DataPoints works with advisers that are focused on their clients well-being–many of whom operate under a fiduciary standard that demands that they never fail to …
Over the past few months, we asked advisors which type of client is the most challenging to work with, and the results are probably not too surprising: nearly one-third of advisors shared that the most challenging type of client is one who wants to beat the market. A little more than one-fourth of advisors shared that the most challenging client is one who cannot stick to a plan, followed by a little less than …
Think about the branding of the message on this church close to my home: Now Serving Pumpkin Spice Communion. JK Y’all. The message is designed to get attention, but it also implies something about the church’s beliefs and personality. The branding is authentic to the extent that the messaging mirrors the culture of the organization. The disruption in the financial services industry is leading to what we hope is an increase in authentic branding and marketing. We …