Wed.Apr 09, 2025

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FOMC Minutes: "Inflation was likely to be boosted this year"

Calculated Risk

From the Fed: Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee, March 1819, 2025. Excerpt: With regard to the outlook for inflation, participants judged that i nflation was likely to be boosted this year by the effects of higher tariffs, although significant uncertainty surrounded the magnitude and persistence of such effects. Several participants noted that the announced or planned tariff increases were larger and broader than many of their business contacts had expected.

Planning 259
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Inspired Discovery: Asking Vision Questions To Focus On Clients’ “Ideal Self”

Nerd's Eye View

It's natural for advisors to begin discovery meetings by asking questions about a client's current financial situation – understanding cash flow, debt, investments, risk tolerance, or even the burning tax concern that brought them to the advisor's door in the first place is crucial for financial planning. However, starting with these questions can have unintended consequences.

Clients 200
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Part 1: Current State of the Housing Market; Overview for mid-April 2025

Calculated Risk

Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Part 1: Current State of the Housing Market; Overview for mid-April 2025 A brief excerpt: This 2-part overview for mid-April provides a snapshot of the current housing market. At this moment, we cant talk housing without mentioning the overall economy. Just over two weeks ago, I revised down my outlook for housing this year, see Policy and 2025 Housing Outlook.

Marketing 216
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Personal finance links: the golden age of scams

Abnormal Returns

Podcasts Jim Dahle talks with Rob Orman about building a resilient, long-lasting career. (whitecoatinvestor.com) Christine Benz and Amy Arnott talk with Jay Zigmont, the author of a new book called "The Childfree Guide to Life and Money." (morningstar.com) Dan Haylett talks with Riley Moynes about the four phases of retirement. (humansvsretirement.com) Housing Not every financial decision has to make perfect sense.

Taxes 146
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Data Talks, CFOs Listen: Why Analytics Is The Key To Better Spend Management

Speaker: Claire Grosjean

Finance teams are drowning in data—but is it actually helping them spend smarter? Without the right approach, excess spending, inefficiencies, and missed opportunities continue to drain profitability. While analytics offers powerful insights, financial intelligence requires more than just numbers—it takes the right blend of automation, strategy, and human expertise.

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MBA: Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey

Calculated Risk

From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey Mortgage applications increased 20.0 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Associations (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 4, 2025. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 20.0 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.

Economics 147
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401(k) Real Talk Episode 147: April 9, 2025

Wealth Management

Open, honest and candid discussion about March jobs numbers, Commonwealth ruling overturned, PEPs in DC plans and the future of revenue sharing.

Numbers 264

More Trending

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Eight Critical Steps When Considering Art Donations

Wealth Management

Essential steps for high-net-worth individuals to donate art for tax deductions. Learn about institution selection, documentation and appraisal requirements.

Taxes 264
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Thursday: Unemployment Claims, CPI

Calculated Risk

Note: Mortgage rates are from MortgageNewsDaily.com and are for top tier scenarios. Thursday: At 8:30 AM ET, The initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released. The consensus is for 225 initial claims up from 219 thousand last week. Also at 8:30 AM, The Consumer Price Index for March from the BLS. The consensus is for 0.1% increase in CPI (up 2.6% YoY) and a 0.3% increase in core CPI (up 3.0% YoY).

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XA Investments Launches Interval Fund Index

Wealth Management

XAI Interval Fund Index debuts, tracking 77 funds with $103B in assets. It offers a new metric for tracking interval and tender offer fund market performance.

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"I Can't Top That"

Random Roger's Retirement Planning

A satirical account I follow on Twitter will often say "I can't top that" in the face of something truly ludicrous. Today's tariff news and all the rest, I can't top that. Really, that is to say it is all so unanalyzably stupid for how unnecessary it was, the rumor on Monday that this would happen which was denied up, down and sideways but then of course the pause did happen.

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What Your Financial Statements Are Telling You—And How to Listen!

Speaker: David Worrell, CFO, Author & Speaker

Your financial statements hold powerful insights—but are you truly paying attention? Many finance professionals focus on the income statement while overlooking key signals hidden in the balance sheet and cash flow statement. Understanding these numbers can unlock smarter decision-making, uncover risks, and drive long-term success. Join David Worrell, accomplished CFO, finance expert, and author, for an engaging, nontraditional take on reading financial statements.

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Pete Dorsey Launches Client-Facing Financial Planning App

Wealth Management

The former TDAI and Altruist executive has been in stealth mode building Wing, a digital financial planning app meant to help next-gen clients build personalized, goals-based plans, and advisors capture money in motion.

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5 Ways to Transform Tax Season Into an Opportunity with Grayson Blazek, Ep #237

Financial Symmetry

Tax planning might not top everyone’s list of leisure activities, but in the middle of tax season, theres a hidden opportunity. What if, instead of seeing it as a mere logistic hurdle, we embraced it as a moment to refine our financial strategy? In this episode, we talk about five strategies you can use during tax season to create opportunities to help you reach your financial goals.

Taxes 52
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Anne Heche’s Son Trying to Settle Loose Ends Involving Her Estate

Wealth Management

Anne Heche's son, Homer Laffoon, is attempting to sell off assets to satisfy outstanding creditors.

Assets 258
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Ten Top High Insider Ownership Stocks

Validea

When leadership holds a substantial stake in their company, they forge a powerful connection with investors. This skin-in-the-game approach creates natural incentives for executives and board members to make decisions that enhance shareholder value over the long run, rather than fixating on short-term metrics. By experiencing identical market fluctuations as other shareholders, executives who own significant portions of their company tend to demonstrate greater fiscal responsibility and strategi

Sales 52
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Are Robots Replacing You? Keeping Humans in the Loop in Automated Environments

Speaker: Erroll Amacker

As businesses increasingly adopt automation, finance leaders must navigate the delicate balance between technology and human expertise. This webinar explores the critical role of human oversight in accounts payable (AP) automation and how a people-centric approach can drive better financial performance. Join us for an insightful discussion on how integrating human expertise into automated workflows enhances decision-making, reduces fraud risks, strengthens vendor relationships, and accelerates R

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Joel Bruckenstein on the Top Advisor Tech Trends from T3

Wealth Management

At this years T3 Conference, the spotlight was on innovation, impact, and recognition.

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From Tax Season to Team Growth: A Look at Q1 at Carson Wealth Pella

Carson Wealth

As the first quarter of 2025 comes to a close, the team at Carson Wealth Pella has been hard at work helping to ensure our clients remain on track with their financial goals. From tax season preparations to professional development and a few well-deserved breaks, heres a look at what weve been up to. Navigating Tax Season The Carson Wealth team has been busy assisting clients through tax season, helping coordinate with CPAs, providing 1099s, and making sure everything is in place for a smooth fi

Taxes 52
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New Analysis Shows Record Low Number of IRS Audits

Wealth Management

A new analysis of historical data found that the IRS audit rate of individual taxpayers has decreased by about two-thirds since 2010.

Numbers 257
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Animal Spirits: The Stock Market Crashed. Now what?

A Wealth of Common Sense

Today’s Animal Spirits is brought to you by Betterment Advisor Solutions and the Morningstar Investment Conference See here for more information on Betterment’s Advisor solutions See here to register for Morningstar’s investment conference, which is free for advisors Get a random Animal Spirits chart here On today’s show, we discuss: Weekend Reading – How Did We Get Here?

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Book of Secrets on the Month-End Close

Based off SkyStem's popular e-Book, the book of secrets to the month-end close will be revealed in this one-hour webinar. Learn leading practices when it comes to building a strong and sustainable month-end close that has room to grow and evolve. Learn about the power of precise estimates, why reconciliations are critical to closing the books, how and when to automate, and how the chart of accounts play into your close process.

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Atria Founders Step Away From LPL

Wealth Management

Atria co-founders Doug Ketterer and Eugene Elias Jr. say they've reached the end of their journey with the firm as it completes its roll-up into LPL.

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Citadel Securities Pitches Banks on Handling Their Bond Trades

Advisor Perspectives

Citadel Securities’ proposal to process trades for a swath of banks is taking shape behind the scenes, focusing on products across fixed-income markets.

Banking 72
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Valuation of QTIP Trust Isn’t Adjusted for Settlement Payment

Wealth Management

In Kalikow v. Commissioner, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upholds QTIP trust valuation for estate tax, rejecting deduction for settlement payment to widows estate.

Valuation 245
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Why Your Marketing Feels Scattered … and How to Fix It

Advisor Perspectives

When you define your “who” and “how,” marketing stops feeling random and starts feeling strategic. Instead of trying to be everywhere, you’ll focus on what actually works — showing up in the right places with the right message for the right people.

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Stop Falling Short When It Matters Most—The Elite Advisor’s Playbook to Success

Like being inches from the end zone, many advisors are frustratingly close to their next level of success. You work hard. You put in the hours. But if your closing rate is stuck or your pipeline feels like a revolving door… something has to change. Most advisors are just one small shift away from dramatically increasing their revenue. The difference?

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RIA Consolidation Models and Opportunities

Wealth Management

The pros and cons of centralized and decentralized RIA consolidation models for retirement plan advisors.

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Carry Trade Destruction

Advisor Perspectives

Lost in the focus on the bludgeoning that tariff policy has had on equity markets, is the impact on global currencies. From the end of February through April 3rd, the U.S. Dollar is down 5.1% relative to other developed market currencies (DXY). In addition, we’ve also seen a violent unwinding of the popular currency carry trade.

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Zephyr's Adjusted for Risk on Location: BondBloxx's Leland Clemons on the Opportunities within Bond ETFs

Wealth Management

BondBloxx's Founder & CEO, Leland Clemons shares his thoughts on why bond ETFs are poised for growth.

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Recalibrating for Higher Risk Without Overcorrecting

Advisor Perspectives

We’re adjusting our stance in response to rising risk while maintaining a disciplined view on long-term strategy.

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Demo SkyStem’s Award Winning Month-End Close Solution & Earn $100

Is your finance team bogged down by endless data requests and disorganized spreadsheets during the month-end close? It’s time to consider a better option – automate with ART! SkyStem’s solution works alongside your ERP to transform the close and account reconciliation process and speed up month-end work. Explore SkyStem’s ART - the award-winning account reconciliation automation platform - and receive a $100 Amazon gift card as a thank you for your time.

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MissionSquare Retirement Hires Product Lead to Bolster Personal Wealth Unit

Wealth Management

The plan provider with 1.3 million public service worker accounts has hired a former MassMutual executive to lead retail product offerings in a week market tumult has taken its toll on 401(k) plans.

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Employment Trends for the 50+ Workforce: March 2025

Advisor Perspectives

Today, one in three of the 65-69 cohort, one in five of the 70-74 cohort, and one in ten of the 75+ cohort are in the labor force.

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How Do You Navigate the Awkward Middle to Find New Beginnings?

Leading Advisor

The “awkward middle” of transition is where growth happens. Its the phase where youre no longer where you were, but not yet where you want… The post How Do You Navigate the Awkward Middle to Find New Beginnings? appeared first on Leading Advisor - Simon Reilly.

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Baby Boomer Employment Through the Decades

Advisor Perspectives

The 20th century Baby Boom was one of the most powerful demographic events in the history of the United States. We've created a series of charts to show seven age cohorts of the employed population from 1948 to the present.

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Next-Level Fraud Prevention: Strategies for Today’s Threat Landscape

Speaker: Sierre Lindgren

Fraud is a battle that every organization must face – it’s no longer a question of “if” but “when.” Every organization is a potential target for fraud, and the finance department is often the bullseye. From cleverly disguised emails to fraudulent payment requests, the tactics of cybercriminals are advancing rapidly. Drawing insights from real-world cases and industry expertise, we’ll explore the vulnerabilities in your processes and how to fortify them effectively.