The Affluentialist

What's The Future For Financial Advice?

FOR FINANCIAL ADVISORS: My friend, Bill Bachrach, is hosting a free webinar event on April 21st for members of the financial services profession. It's called "The Right Value Proposition for Today's Economic Reality."

While many of you who receive this email are not financial advisors, I thought it would be worthwhile for you to know that the industry, lead by pioneers like Bill, are keenly aware that their job and their mission is changing with these unprecedented times.

So, in all quarters of the financial services sector, they are asking the question: How can we help our clients now? Bill and his friends will present their answer to that question on April 21.

Advisors: Take advantage of this complimentary seminar by registering here.

A New Year, A New Leaf

When it comes to investing, January brings a clean slate. And we certainly need it. Last year, virtually every investor's portfolio in the country, perhaps the world, experienced a decline. (The exceptions: the Ghanian, Tunisian, and Ecuadorian stock markets all ended 2008 in positive territory.)

Over the next 12 months, in my blog on Inc.com, entitled "The Only Investment Guide an Entrepreneur Will Ever Need," I'm encouraging everyone to shake off the annus horribilis we've just emerged from and commit to a journey, a journey of financial re-invention. By the end of the year, we'll be able to create a portfolio that offers the following:

It should make sense to us even if we're non-professional investors. We'll understand the holdings in it, we'll understand why we bought them in the amounts we did. And we'll know how they fit in with the rest of our financial assets. (For example, do we hold a lot of tech stocks and work in tech? Probably not smart.)

We should be working with the right people. No longer will we keep our money at a brokerage just because our old college frat buddy or family friend's our broker. That's not a good enough reason to entrust someone with our assets. Instead, we'll keep our money where we want it. With a provider that's fair, accessible and reasonably priced

It should be transparent. No more oddball illiquid holdings or secret hedge funds from a guy named "Bernie." We want our passive assets in the public markets where we can see them, follow them and have faith that they're priced fairly at all times.

In the financial business, we talk about the "smart money," those people who are "in the know." Well, the smart money isn't always so easy to spot in times like these. So, let's remember on this journey towards financial re-invention that the best person to trust is ourselves. We are the smart money. Let's act like it, for our families, for our communities, and for us.

Join me at Inc.com where we'll commence a year's worth of blog posts and take back the driver's seat on our financial futures.