MichaelKitces

One nerd’s perspective on the financial planning world… CFP, #LifelongLearner, Entrepreneur-In-Denial, Advisor #FinTech, & publisher of the Nerd’s Eye View blog

[MichaelKitces @MichaelKitces]

Our list of "Best Conferences 2025!", and be sure to take advantage of the discount codes that several have offered to Nerd's Eye View readers!

Best in:
-Overall Planning: @FPANorCal
-Technology: @t3techhub
-Advanced Tax Planning: @AICPA Engage
and more!
https://t.co/bewEKQMNXQ

[MichaelKitces @MichaelKitces]

The SEC's Marketing Rule sets forth rules requiring RIAs to disclose their compensation arrangements with any paid promotors and the potential conflicts of interest they entail. Many advisors assume that providing these disclosures is sufficient to ensure compliance with the Marketing Rule. However, depending on the relationship between the RIA and the promoter and the extent to which the promoter provides 'advice' to prospective clients, disclosure alone might not be enough for the RIA to be fully in compliance. https://t.co/BninK2PFf4

In this guest post, Isaac Mamaysky, Partner of Potomac Law Group and Cofounder and COO of QuantStreet Capital, explains the requirements for paid referrals under the SEC Marketing Rule, why paid promoters may need to register as RIAs (or IARs), and whether the registration burden lies in the hands of the promoter or the RIA that's compensating them.

#advicers #regulations #SECMarketingRule

[MichaelKitces @MichaelKitces]

The Latest In Financial #AdvisorTech – July 2026): https://t.co/VhCElf9pcK

This month's edition kicks off with the news that:
-@salesforce, @RightCapitalHQ, and @ycharts have all launched their own new AI capabilities
-AI Notetakers like @JumpAdvisorAI and @zocksio are developing their own expanding capabilities
-New roll-up @arca_wealth emerges from "stealth" mode with a $48M capital raise, while @FartherFinance raises another $150M to fuel its own growth
-WealthReach raises a $1M seed round to support the development of their "Living Sites" platform
-@EdwardJones takes a minority stake in @Quicken

[MichaelKitces @MichaelKitces]

Hitting a capacity wall and profitability wall: A framework that solo advisory firm owners can use to decide when their firm will be ready to make an initial hire, based on data from Kitces Research: https://t.co/jKbmZEsR8R #advicers

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4 Non-Obvious Metrics For RIAs To Track To Evaluate If Their Marketing Is Working (Kendra Wright | LinkedIn), and more on advisor marketing this #WeekendReading: https://t.co/snLtA2p71U

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Financial advisory firms that focus on a P4 culture by implementing good Preparation, Pay, Perks, and Productivity practices, with an emphasis on providing the right Perks for their employees to support their happiness, will generally have great employees with high morale and the motivation.

4 principles that are most effective at supporting employee happiness: https://t.co/gagvuBAPYv

#practicemanagement #employeeretention #advicers

[MichaelKitces @MichaelKitces]

Updated research on retirees' spending trajectories finds that they could resemble a 'smile' or a 'smirk', with implications for initial withdrawal rates (Dinah Wisenberg Brin | ThinkAdvisor), and more on retirement planning this #WeekendReading: https://t.co/snLtA2p71U

[MichaelKitces @MichaelKitces]

This #WeekendReading kicks off with the news that on the eve of individuals being able to open and fund Section 530A "Trump" Accounts, the IRS has issued a revenue procedure that will significantly reduce the number of individuals who have to file gift tax returns as a result of making contributions to these accounts by establishing safe harbor rules including, among others, that taxpayers donating must be individuals and that such contributions must be made in cash.  https://t.co/XkkSj71XdK

[MichaelKitces @MichaelKitces]

The significance of this “hierarchy of retirement needs” is that it helps to explain why some types of retirement income strategies like annuitization are very unpopular (despite the fact that retirees routinely state their biggest fear is outliving their retirement assets and annuitization can guarantee that will never happen), while others are used far more often even if their current guarantees are inferior to available alternatives (e.g., most guaranteed living benefit riders on today’s variable annuities). https://t.co/crPPFS5mTG #advicers

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Trying to maximize credit card miles and rewards for travel? Here's a handy guide on the different types of rewards, and how with a combination of credit card sign-ups and regular spending, individuals can earn thousands of dollars in cash back rewards or travel benefits each year. https://t.co/4zJYCMiTrF

#creditcardrewards #creditcardstrategy #travelmiles

[MichaelKitces @MichaelKitces]

This graphic shows the share of advisors using different marketing tactics that have gained at least one client from that tactic over the previous year. Predictably, referrals from clients (95%) or COIs (85%) are near the top of the list. Though as we've shown in our research, achieving standout organic growth generally requires branching out beyond referrals to tactics that require more time (because while advisors can take steps to nurture referrals, they're fundamentally reliant on the actions of others rather than the advisor) and are harder to do successfully (i.e., many advisors fail to gain even a single client from them).

In September, we'll be releasing a 50k word document in which we extensively discuss the importance of avoiding the "referral coasting zone" for driving organic growth. Though in the meantime, you can check our last Kitces Research study on Advisor Marketing: https://t.co/BTglcsTaaR

[MichaelKitces @MichaelKitces]

➡️Final stage of exam preparation: Focus on developing confidence in passing the exam, spending time reviewing the basics in each topic area, and getting plenty of rest to mentally prepare for exam day. 
➡️Day of the test: Ensure you have your calculator (and a backup, if possible), a valid photo ID, and a packed lunch that can be kept in car or on-site locker.
https://t.co/7lEFrbQ56h #CFP #CFPExam

[MichaelKitces @MichaelKitces]

Who is eligible? How much can they buy? How do we value the company? How do we document the purchase? What happens if someone quits, is terminated, retires, or wants to sell shares for liquidity? How do we protect the company, the founder, and the employee-owner? https://t.co/YLO9w0VZi3

For advisory firms that want employees to act like owners, it may be worth considering whether employees should have the opportunity to become owners. Tim Goodwin shares his desire for opening up ownership, the strategic thinking behind offering equity, and the practical framework he used. More details in the article link:

#equity #employeeownership

[MichaelKitces @MichaelKitces]

Thought this was an interesting perspective... haven't seen it stated quite this succinctly. The promise of cryptocurrencies on the blockchain was its capability to be decentralized and maintain its peer-to-peer trustless framework. But as it went more mainstream, it was increasingly accessed through exchanges, and exchanges of crypto have the exact centralization risks that decentralized crypto finance was supposed to avoid?

"Perpetual Futures and the Illusion They Were Built to Escape" https://t.co/CFx0Qq2w1h

[MichaelKitces @MichaelKitces]

As companies are staying private longer and issuing more private equity and debt, private investments and funds have proliferated, and more and more advisory firms are now exploring whether to add allocations of private funds into their client portfolios. However, without the rigorous disclosures required of issuers because of SEC registration and reporting, it is significantly harder for advisors to conduct due diligence on private funds, which present investment and legal risks not typical for most public investments. https://t.co/0mXJ1XmF6S

In this guest post, Rich Chen, founder of Brightstar Law Group, shares a checklist and explores the practical due diligence considerations that advisors must navigate when considering a private fund investment, with a particular focus on what to look for in governing documents and the operational systems of the private fund.

#privatefund #advicers

[MichaelKitces @MichaelKitces]

Research in psychology and anthropology suggests that there may be another limit (besides time) to the maximum number of clients - the physiological limit of our brain's neocortex that constrains the number of social relationships that can be actively maintained. This threshold - called "Dunbar's number" - is estimated to be about 150 people on average, and corresponds not just to the average size of many ancient tribes and villages, but also the military unit size of the Roman army, and even the average number of Facebook friends or engaged Twitter followers!  https://t.co/MJFbsByDj6

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Estate planning is one of the areas where clients most expect their advisor to be engaged, and the landscape has shifted significantly in 2026. David Haughton spent the better part of a decade as a practicing estate planning attorney before joining Carson Group, where he now works directly with advisors on client planning.

Join David as he covers five areas actively shaping estate planning conversations right now: the post-TCJA landscape, outdated trust structures, digital assets, income tax planning for beneficiaries, and estate planning technology:

Kitces Members, register here: https://t.co/oWYRoD4YN0
Non-Members, register here: https://t.co/IG852cNaw2

#KitcesWebinar #EstatePlanning

[MichaelKitces @MichaelKitces]

The path to becoming a large advisory enterprise: From starting out as an independent RIA to adding partners through M&A transactions, to bringing on capital partners, to now transitioning out of the CEO role. https://t.co/4FbAtc5WLa

In this #FASuccess episode, Shannon Eusey, chairman and co-founder of Beacon Pointe Advisors, she shares how she started Beacon Pointe alongside her father, what it takes to build a $60 billion advisory enterprise, considerations around making acquisitions and taking on outside capital, and the role of culture within a large advisory business.

#advisorpodcast #financialadvisorpodcast

[MichaelKitces @MichaelKitces]

The Rise Of Tax-Aware Long/Short (TALS) Investing To Offset Gains In Concentrated Positions: The upshot of the TALS strategy is that the capital losses generated by the long and short extensions can offset capital gains generated elsewhere. Which can make it useful for when an investor has assets that they want to sell which would recognize a large capital gain. https://t.co/9l1av1vme3

TALS has in recent years been increasingly pitched as a solution for investors (including clients of financial advisors) holding highly appreciated shares of concentrated stock – e.g., equity-compensated employees or early investors in startup companies whose shares have greatly increased in value after originally acquiring them for little or nothing. (Article by Ben Henry-Moreland)

#TALS #TaxStrategy #InvestmentStrategy #advicers

[MichaelKitces @MichaelKitces]

Why build instead of buy? Jake Northrup, founder of Experience Your Wealth, shares how his 3-person advisory firm built their own custom AI assistant, not as a means to replace team members but a way to teach, train, and support their advisors and ensure advice is delivered more deeply and consistently to clients… while reducing how often the team comes to Jake as the founder for direct input. https://t.co/1T4zCqQ418

➡️First, Jake transitioned to a new CRM system (Slant) that has securely integrated Claude directly into its own client database. 
➡️With support from outsourced IT and Cybersecurity provider, CyberSecureRIA, Jake was able to set up a secure private cloud environment – dubbed "Rocky" – where the firm's IP can be uploaded and utilized safely
➡️Once the client and firm data was secured in a safe environment, Jake shares how he utilized Claude to develop a "Standard Operating Procedure" (SOP) document that could be used to teach their AI-assistant Rocky how the firm handles any particular planning situation.
➡️Once trained, Rocky is now able to act like a thinking partner for the firm.

[MichaelKitces @MichaelKitces]

It is very difficult for next-generation advisors to figure out where to focus and what to do in order to succeed. The fact is that the path to leadership and partnership eventually entails growing beyond “just” being a great and expert advisor serving clients, but also learning how to manage and develop a team of subordinates. https://t.co/l8s2mPG4cY