DECEMBER 2024: Estate Planning
COVER STORY
No Wool for the Black Sheep: Estate Planning for Clients with Estranged Family Members
By Abbey Flaum, J.D., LL.M.
When engaging in estate planning, underlying family dynamics may significantly shape the structure of the client's plan. Sensitive family issues call for empathy, tact, and a deep understanding of legal strategies that can mitigate potential conflicts.
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PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
Advance Women in Financial Services and Build Better Firms
By Ana Trujillo Limón
Firms that survive past the fourth generation have to embrace disruption and do business differently.
ESTATE PLANNING
Six Myths that Stop Heirless Clients from Estate Planning
By Lisa A.K. Kirchenbauer, CFP®, CPWA, RLP, CeFT
Clients with no obvious heirs may get stuck before they even start. Here are some ways planners can help make an already uncomfortable process a little easier.
CRYPTOCURRENCY
The Estate Planning Nightmare Lurking in Your Client's Crypto Portfolio
By Christina Lynn, Ph.D., CFP®, AFC, CDFA
Self-custodied crypto assets, whether stored in cold or hot wallets, present unique estate planning challenges.
FPA NEXT GENERATION PLANNER
Forward Thinking
Uncovering Your Niche Through Professional Fulfillment
By Riley Saunders, CFP®
Lead Article
Nurturing Your Practice by Serving Clients in Pain
By DonJay Rice
Featured Article
Financial Planning Strategies for a Generation Facing Climate Anxiety
By Paulina Mejia and Jeff Finkelman
Skill Builder
Grow Your Practice by Finding Your Niche
By Kristine McManus
Planning a STUDY GROUP? Check out suggested questions and other resources to make your study group a success!
COLUMNS
Women in Retirement
Life Lessons for Successful Succession
By Alexandra Armstrong, CFP®
Some planners want to put off succession planning, but starting early is key to a positive outcome.
Your Practice
Understanding Tactical and Strategic Outsourcing
By Charesse Spiller
Not all outsourcing opportunities are created equally, and many founders pay too much for outsourced services that don’t move the needle.
Digital Assets
What About Ethereum and All the Altcoins?
By Ivory Johnson, CFP®, ChFC
The technology undergirding cryptocurrency has implications beyond alternatives to traditional currency.
Tax Planning
For Richer or Poorer: How Divorce Affects Tax Planning
By Claire Thornton, CFP®, EA
Is your client navigating divorce? Understand the tax issues and tripwires that may be at their feet.
SPECIAL REPORT
Help Clients Hedge Their Life Annuity with TIPS
By Edward F. McQuarrie
In an economic system where inflation is almost never absent and can be substantial, all that an SPIA can guarantee is to pay less real income each year, for as long as the purchaser shall live. A properly constructed TIPS ladder can help address this shortcoming.
RESEARCH
Efficient Portfolios with Social Security as an Asset
By Doug Waggle, Ph.D.; Hongbok Lee, Ph.D.; and Gisung Moon, Ph.D.
Social Security provides retirees with a quasi-guaranteed lifetime income stream that increases with inflation and can be considered a government-backed “annuity.” This paper examines the impact of including the value of expected future Social Security payments as an asset, along with stocks and bonds, in efficient portfolios.
Earn one CFP CE® credit by reading this month's Journal and access past exams for additional credits.
DEPARTMENTS
STARTING THOUGHTS
Addressing Estate Planning Heebie Jeebies
By Danielle Andrus
OBSERVER
Financial Anxiety and Savings, AI Risks, and Inflation Fears
Stat Bank
JFP ACADEMICS
Upcoming Research
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Why Are There So Few Women in the Financial Services Industry?
By Inga Timmerman, Ph.D., CFP®, and Laura Mattia, Ph.D., CFP®
It’s no secret that women are underrepresented in financial services, and this research sets out to show that giving women more autonomy and responsibility for client acquisition could help prevent women from leaving the industry.
Click HERE to access Journal of Financial Planning ARCHIVES
