Deutsche Bank AG is the latest investment bank dangling a juicier carrot at prospective first-year analysts. An extra $10,000 sounds nice but, unfortunately, Wall Street is just appealing to individuals focused on short-term compensation — the kind who won’t hang around long anyway.
529/College Planning
Saving For College: Start Small, But Start Now
With National 529 Day last month and graduation season underway, the cost of education is at the top of many people’s minds.
Crypto-Trading Addiction Is the 'Reefer Madness’ of 2022
As if all that’s going on in the world wasn’t enough to worry about, Bloomberg News reports that young people are seeking mental health treatment to break all-consuming cycles of cryptocurrency trading. Those profiled complained that frantic trading in the hopes of scoring quick riches in a rapidly growing, $2 trillion asset class led them to neglect ordinary life and destroyed their peace of mind.
GLWB Lite: Lower Costs but Much Worse Benefits
While the lower fees associated with GLWB Lite products make them seem more attractive, the expected income is significantly lower than other annuities.
Conflicting Incentives in 529 Plans Harm Plan Participants
Because 529 plans are exempt from SEC oversight, they can charge higher fees and use that revenue in ways that do not benefit plan participants. New research shows some states are guilty of this abuse.
You Shouldn't Skip Your Student Loan Payments
Federal student loan borrowers have been granted another reprieve, but for those who can afford it, the most prudent thing to do is to just fork over the money. Almost everyone has been taking advantage of the moratorium, which allows borrowers to press the pause button on payments without any interest accruing. Just 500,000 borrowers out of 43 million, or 1.1%, were still making payments a year after the freeze was initiated in March 2020 as part of pandemic relief efforts.
Student Loan Forgiveness Is an Idea Whose Time Has Gone
Most Americans say the most important problem facing the country is inflation — and President Joe Biden just made it worse. His administration announced last week it would extend yet again the emergency suspension of student loan repayments, even as his frenemies on the left are urging a program of complete forgiveness of all student debt.
Financial Planning Challenges Facing Foreign-Born Individuals
I’m one of the 45 million foreign-born individuals who now call the U.S. home. I knew enough about budgeting, but struggled with financial decisions from day one, as this was a completely new system to me.
The Post-COVID Challenges Facing the Planning Profession
New data on consumer preferences and behaviors during COVID shows that the advisory firms face daunting challenges with respect to staffing, differentiation and – if they are private-equity backed – financing and maintaining profitability.
Gifts for a Brighter Future
Instead of purchasing the latest toy or electronic gadget for your children or grandchildren, what about giving them something that will last a lifetime and isn’t in limited supply: the gift of a more secure future. Sandra Palmer, Head of 529 Distribution for Franklin Templeton’s 529 College Savings Plan, discusses how crowdfunding can help finance a college education.
Grown Kids Still Stuck at Home? Change Is on the Horizon
When the pandemic hit last year, young adults moved back in with their parents in a big way. Now the share of 18-to-29-year-olds living with parents and grandparents is back about where it was before Covid-19 arrived.
U.S. Misses Billions in Gains as Free Community College Gets Ax
Free community college was among the first big proposals cut as Democrats battled to get President Joe Biden’s agenda down to size -- yet an analysis says dropping the $109 billion initiative carries a lasting economic cost.
Wharton to Accept Crypto as Tuition Payment for Blockchain Class
The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, one of the nation’s premier business schools, plan to accept cryptocurrency as tuition for its online blockchain and digital assets program.
Education, Clean Energy, Housing Make the Cut in Biden Framework
President Joe Biden is attempting to rally fractious Democrats around a whittled-down economic package that his administration is promoting as a monumental achievement for social spending and climate programs.
Bad Managers Are Making the Labor Crisis Worse: Allison Schrager
It’s being called the Great Resignation. Quits are at their highest rate in 20 years and no one seems to understand why. One thing is for sure: the labor market has gone weird.
PNC, Howard University Team Up to Boost Black Business Owners
PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s charitable foundation announced a $16.8 million grant to Howard University that would establish a center focused on furthering Black entrepreneurship.
Boomers Face Higher Student-Loan Bills When U.S. Moratorium Ends
Older borrowers will be among the hardest hit when student-loan payments resume for more than 40 million Americans after a pandemic freeze, according to research by Fidelity Investments Inc.
U.S. to Overhaul Student Debt Relief for Public Service Program
The U.S. Department of Education announced sweeping changes to its public service loan forgiveness program.
MIT Wins Ranking of Most-Employable Colleges for Third Year
Alumni of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are the graduates best positioned to find a job as the global economy roars back and employers look to fill open positions.
The Role of Education in Financial Technology Adoption
I have found great success in providing a fun, energetic learning environment to meet the needs and diverse goals of each office and advisor I encounter through deep consideration of the following three things: diverse learning styles, varying experience levels, and the importance of repetition.
JPMorgan Adds to Tech Acquisitions With College Platform Frank
JPMorgan Chase & Co. bought college financial-planning platform Frank, the latest in a string of acquisitions the largest U.S. bank has made this year to compete with both big technology firms and fintech upstarts.
How Free College Can Help Remake the U.S. Economy: Noah Smith
As the Democrats’ budget bill takes shape, higher education policy is once more a point of contention.
‘Deaths of Despair’ Worsen Among Americans Lacking College Degrees
In the U.S., a four-year degree is increasingly a “talisman” against deaths related to suicide and economic hardship, according to a new research paper that offers a stark verdict on the current economy.
Amazon Will Spend $1.2 Billion on Employee Tuition, Courses
Amazon.com Inc. said it will pay college tuition for select frontline employees, becoming the latest big U.S. employer to offer educational perks to attract and retain workers in a tight labor market.
Wall Street Moving Slowly on Road to Recruit From Black Colleges
Wall Street’s vow last year to fight racism kicked off a parade of pledges, few more specific than plans to support historically Black colleges and universities.
Junior Bankers Have Been Underpaid for Way Too Long: Jared Dillian
Young Wall Street analysts are benefitting from the war for talent among investment banks.
What I Wish I Understood When Starting Out In My Career: Barry Ritholtz
The best part of my job as host of the Masters in Business podcast is that I get to sit down with an incredibly talented and accomplished person each week to discuss their life and career.
Foreign Students Begin U.S. College Deferrals as Delta Spreads
With the delta variant of Covid-19 spreading across the U.S., some colleges are seeing a pickup in deferrals from international students as the worsening public-health situation adds uncertainty for those already struggling to secure flights and visas.
We Can’t Educate Our Way to Racial Economic Equity: Michael Collins
Last month, Senate Democrats released a $3.5 billion budget package that they hope to pass alongside a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill later this summer.
Ranking Colleges Based on Earnings Potential (not SAT scores)
Our college-ranking system is based on the economic value created for students. It is not another rehashed list of colleges, sorted by SAT score.
Rice University Shifts to Online Classes as Covid Cases Rise
Rice University of Texas is shifting classes online for the first two weeks of the semester as Covid-19 cases increase in the Houston area and on campus.
The U.S. Can — and Must — Keep Kids Safe From Covid: The Editors
Throughout the pandemic, it’s been comforting to know that children weather Covid-19 infection better than adults do.
Colleges in Undervaccinated Areas Sweat a Return to Campus
A summer surge in Covid-19 cases is complicating return-to-campus plans for U.S. colleges, particularly for schools in undervaccinated areas or where state laws bar them from implementing key mitigation measures.
To Curb Student Debt, Let Borrowers Declare Bankruptcy: Allison Schrager
Education can be the best investment you make, unless it's for graduate school. Students seeking advanced degrees make up only 25% of student borrowers, yet they account for nearly half of outstanding student loans.
Harvard, Yale to Decline Federal Stimulus Money for Covid Costs
Some of the richest U.S. colleges are declining another round of stimulus money that would offset the financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on schools.
Opening Schools Should Be Priority No. 1
Over the long course of the Covid-19 pandemic, one comforting fact has been that children have been at very little risk from the virus. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean they haven’t suffered.
Getting a Better Return on Education
The right incentives can encourage colleges to help low-income students succeed.
Elite Colleges Offer Students Cash, Ski Passes to Ease Campus Housing Crunch
Colleges are preparing for a flood of students returning to on-campus dorm life this semester, after many spent the past year studying remotely. One problem? There’s not enough housing for everyone.
So, You've Maxed Out Your Retirement Contributions. Now What?: Erin Lowry
For many, paying off debt and putting money away for retirement are the first financial goals to work toward.
Young Talent Isn’t Following the Money to Wall Street: Marcus Ashworth
Deutsche Bank AG is the latest investment bank dangling a juicier carrot at prospective first-year analysts. An extra $10,000 sounds nice but, unfortunately, Wall Street is just appealing to individuals focused on short-term compensation — the kind who won’t hang around long anyway.
Invest in Children and Equality: Hand Out Baby Bonds: Andrea Gabor
A consensus is emerging around an idea Americans used to scorn: That government cash payments are a good way to help struggling citizens and give the economy a boost.
The Best Gifts for Kids Who Aren’t Your Own: Erin Lowry
A common reaction to hearing about a pregnancy is to say congrats and perhaps send a onesie. But there are other ways to celebrate and support newly expecting parents.
Schumer Says Ending Student-Loan Pause Would Risk U.S. Recovery
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and progressive Senator Elizabeth Warren warned that the U.S. economic recovery could take a major hit if the Biden administration fails to extend the federal government’s pandemic moratorium on student-loan payments past September.
Muni Investors Are Still Fretting About the Future of Higher Ed
Municipal-bond investors still have concerns about the future of higher education even as schools in the U.S. look to a more normal-looking academic year thanks to Covid-19 vaccinations.
Congress Takes Aim at China’s Recruitment of Talent in U.S.
Congress is aiming to hobble China’s ability to recruit scientists and academics in the U.S. as part of broader moves in Washington to confront the Asian nation’s growing clout.
Law School Application Surge Means ‘Nightmare’ Contest for Slots
Preston Fregia has wanted to be a lawyer since he was 11. For a year the Chicago native woke up at dawn every day to study for the Law School Admission Test before heading to his full-time job as a recruiter for a staffing company.
The GAO Takes on Target-Date Funds
Two Congressional chairs have authorized a review of target-date funds (TDFs). The last such review was in 2009, and all that changed was that risk increased. It would be a shame if this initiative failed to produce results.
Surge in Early Retirements Exposes Inequalities Among U.S. Baby Boomers
The surge in early retirements spurred by the pandemic is increasing inequality among Baby Boomers in the U.S., with older Black workers without a college degree more likely to be forced to exit the labor market prematurely, a study showed.
Mom Says College Cheating Trial Risks Her Life After FBI Raid
A California woman facing trial in the U.S. college admissions scandal said charges against her should be thrown out because she’d be risking her life if she took the witness stand.
Harvard Plans Full In-Classroom Instruction for Fall Semester
Harvard students will return to the classroom full time and campus housing will go back to its usual density after more than a year of remote learning because of the pandemic.
Fewer U.S. College Grads Are Stuck With $25,000 Entry-Level Jobs
With the 2021 college graduation season in full swing, there is some good news for this year’s class: Their first job’s pay is slightly improving.
The Program That Will Transform the Advisory Profession
The most consequential program in the financial planning world is being ignored by those to whom it matters most – aspiring advisors and the firms that will benefit from hiring them.
Harvard Pedigrees Opened the Door to World’s Biggest SPAC Deal
A few years after launching Grab Holdings Inc. in 2012, Anthony Tan got a piece of advice from Jack Ma. The co-founder of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. told the entrepreneur that life is a tsunami. When you’re up on the wave, get ready for the crash, he said.
The Results of the Veres/T3 Annual Software Survey
Joel Bruckenstein of T3 and I just released the 2021 T3/Inside Information Advisor Software Survey, which includes user ratings and market share statistics (and year-on-year changes to both) for more than 400 different software products and services in 32 different categories.
Title IX Court Decisions Make It Harder for Biden to Rewrite Rules
A string of recent court decisions have accepted sex-based discrimination claims by male students after their schools sanctioned them for harassment or assault, potentially complicating plans for a complete overhaul of former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s campus sexual misconduct regulations.
Ivy League Schools Are About to Deliver Extra Dose of Heartache
Many high school seniors looking to attend the most competitive U.S. colleges are about to have their hearts broken after an already difficult year.
Students Won’t be Taxed on Emergency Pandemic Aid, IRS Says
Students who received emergency financial aid grants related to the coronavirus pandemic won’t owe taxes on that money, according to the Internal Revenue Service.
College Enrollment by U.S. Undergrads Drops 4.5% for Spring Term
U.S. colleges saw drops in undergraduate enrollment for this year’s spring semester as the emergence of Covid-19 vaccines failed to bring more students back to campus, deepening the pandemic-related financial strains faced by schools.
Schumer, Warren Challenge Biden on Student Debt Cancellation
Two top Senate Democrats said Wednesday they will keep pressuring President Joe Biden to wipe out up to $50,000 per borrower in student loan debt after he shot down the idea of doing so by executive action or without restrictions.
College Success by Cutting Costs
The idea is to cut college costs by having an open mind and being willing to make some personal sacrifices.
401(k) Fees Are Eating Your Retirement Savings
Half of Americans aren’t saving enough for retirement. Blame for this problem is usually pinned on some combination of low wages or irresponsible choices, but there’s another culprit: an expensive and antiquated 401(k) system. Reforming it could put billions more dollars into savers’ pockets.
Coronavirus Shakes Colleges But 529 Plans Stand Firm: Alexis Leondis
Colleges face an uncertain future as the coronavirus disrupts U.S. higher education. How should parents, especially those with younger children, set money aside for college costs when things are so unpredictable?
Quit Sputtering Around with Your Marketing Plan for 2021
If you feel like you sputtered around and never got what you wanted out of your marketing plan this year, here are three tips so you can rock 2021 like Eddie Van Halen.
Minisode - A Unique Approach to Target-Date Funds
For retirement-oriented investors, especially those saving through 401(k) and other defined-contribution plans, the most popular solution is a target-date fund. Those funds are designed to build retirees’ wealth through a carefully constructed asset allocation and glide path that minimizes risk. But designing those funds is a complex process, as my guest today will explain.
How COVID-19 Changed the College Planning Process
How do you develop a plan when you don’t know what to plan for? That is the question faced by every family with a child ready to apply for college. But that plan need not be made in a vacuum.
Holding Colleges Accountable
It's time to think about something other than COVID, statues, the election, and defunding the police. How about higher education? Specifically, student loans and grants.
How Your Clients' Children are Lured into Oppressive Student Debt
If you were told that someone would offer you $750 for indebting each of your clients’ children, you would think they had lost their mind. But this is how student lenders operate.
Coronavirus Shakes Colleges But 529 Plans Stand Firm
For many of your high-earning clients, 529 plans still make sense.
Who Should be the Owner of a 529 Plan?
Whose name should a 529 plan be in? Does it matter if the owner is a parent versus a grandparent?
College Planning in the Pandemic Era
Weighty issues need to be considered before making expensive college commitments that could easily be disrupted in the coming months.
How Dedicated Portfolios Reduce Behavioral Risk
The recent market volatility has caused stress, fear and even panic. But that emotional toil can be alleviated by constructing what we call “dedicated portfolios,” rather than blindly following the precepts of modern portfolio theory.
Nuts and Bolts of Special-Needs Planning
This article describes the components necessary for special-needs planning.
We Are Here for You: EK-FF Response to Coronavirus and COVID-19
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the market’s been a bit bumpy lately, so I decided to send out my NewsLetter early to give you something to read other than financial pornography designed to scare the begeebies out of you.
The SECURE Act and 529 Plans
While provisions about 529 plans within the SECURE Act are not lengthy, the implications and benefits are far-reaching, both for families saving for college and graduates with outstanding student loans.
Financing College Education When a Recession Hits
Planning for college and determining how to fund it is difficult in the best of times. But during a recession, it can be… a blessing? We’re not kidding, and here’s why.
How Much Do You Need to Fund a 529 Plan?
Putting income into a college savings account is a no-brainer. Like anything, the execution requires planning and financial expertise.
A Guide to Helping Clients with Education Savings
Advisors can better serve their clients on one of the most important investments they will ever make – their family’s education.
The Key Takeaways from the T3/Inside Information Technology Survey
What software programs are advisory firms using, and what is the market share of each program in each category?
The SECURE Act, Explained
Here’s how the SECURE Act may impact your clients. Plan now for these conversations.
SECURE Act Passage Heightens Retirement Security
A sweeping piece of legislation affecting how individuals save and invest for their retirement, known as the “SECURE Act,” has recently been signed into law. Our investment professionals talk about the implications of the Act, and how it can enhance the retirement security of millions of Americans. And, they outline some changes in the legislation that also affect college savings plans.
Why Making Financial Planning a True Profession May Harm Consumers
Like many financial planners, I hope for the day when we are accorded the same professional stature as lawyers and accountants. But the CFP Board should not be put at the helm of that future profession. That would harm consumers and erode the public trust we have worked so hard to engender.
The Next Generation of Financial Planning Software
Let me tell you about some really powerful tools that will engage clients more deeply and bring your ongoing client service to life.
College Planning: Is the ROI in the College or the Major?
Over the course of 20+ years, families have been bamboozled into spending trillions on top-end colleges, while overlooking the fact that it's actually the academic major that is far more important.
The College Tuition and Admissions Probability Estimator
College is expensive. We all know that – and that is why parents come to financial advisors to talk about how they’ll pay for it. What you and your clients’ families may not be aware of is that the posted tuitions are rarely the price anyone pays. College tuition discounts vary widely and the methodology used to calculate tuitions is not disclosed by any college.
Is It Okay to Display My Success?
Clients have started commenting on the connection between my new, expensive car (which I am excited about) and their fees.
7 Things Every Advisor Should Know about the Slacker Generation
An industry veteran—and slacker—shares his perspective on reaching and communicating with Generation X clients.
Financial Wellness: Are College Costs Impacting Your Retirement?
Recent statistics on student loan debt have found some rather alarming trends. Not only are many parents prioritizing the financing of college for their children over their own retirement, but some are still paying off their own student debt—even into their 60s.
NewsLetter - May 2019
Read the latest newsletter from Harold Evensky.
Five Key Ways Advisors Deliver Value in 2019
What is the value of a financial advisor in 2019? We break down the full value of an advisor’s services in this easy-to-follow equation.
Funding education with a 529 plan
The cost of higher education has been climbing for many years, making it harder for families to afford to send their children to college. Most advisors are familiar with what a 529 plan is, yet only about 18% of children have these plans in place.
Mark Kantrowitz of SavingForCollege.com joins the podcast to discuss how advisors can bridge the gap and become advocates for creating college savings plans. Plus, we discuss the importance of starting early in a child’s life, even in small increments, rather than waiting until high school.
How Amazon Will Dominate Wealth Management
I’m notoriously skeptical, but I could actually see Amazon killing it in wealth management. And what surprises me the most is that it’s for a few very basic reasons.