Top May Articles on Advisor Perspectives Target Retirement, Scams & More
Several articles enjoyed strong performance during the month of May, though there does not seem to have been a unifying theme, unless it is pointing out mistaken beliefs or unexamined conventions.
The top article was “The Many Utilities of Retirement,” by William Bernstein and Edward McQuarrie. The piece examines the need for advisors to understand that for some clients, the psychological rewards (sense of security) of being frugal in retirement and dying with significant assets are more desirable than risking the potential insecurity that can come with spending down those assets prior to death. Dying with millions of dollars in assets is not necessarily a tragedy for some retirees.
Meanwhile, Allan Roth’s “Ten Nasty Financial Tricks Predators Play on Our Clients” fell into the second-place ranking. It runs through some of the slickest and most deceptive phrases an advisor’s client might hear from financial hucksters trying to part them from their hard-earned assets. Roth explains exactly why these statements are so toxic.
The third-most-read article during the month was “On the Horizon: America’s Municipal Default Crisis,” by Paul Hill. In it, Hill describes a brewing — and disturbingly overlooked — disaster in what many perceive to be a fairly stable portion of the fixed income markets.
Falling into the No. 4 spot was “Gold Bugs’ Faulty Thesis: M2 & Inflation,” by Michael Lebowitz. The author systematically deconstructs the argument, made by many of gold’s biggest fans, that the supply of money is what drives inflation and — by extension — the investment argument for investing in the yellow metal. Lebowitz explains to his audience why they should also consider the impact of the velocity of money.
“The Productivity Paradox: Why AI Is making Advisors Busier,” by Jonny Swift of Impact Communications rounds out the top 5 articles for May. It looks at how different advisors and service providers are using AI to increase productivity, not necessarily lessen their workloads.
An honorable mention goes to John O’Connell for “The Rise of AUM Fees: Why the Next Market Correction Puts the Model at Risk,” which just missed making it into the top 5. In it, O’Connell warns that asset-based fees that represent a percentage of assets under management could cause problems for advisors using that model if the markets fall into a sustained downturn. He also suggests some possible solutions.
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