Kestra Financial Welcomes Gardner Wallace To Platform

In Des Moines, Iowa, where the bank- the nation’s fourth biggest- has a large debt-collecting operation, workers in December were expected to handle at least 30 calls an hour and recoup $34,000 in unpaid credit card and other debts for the month. In January, the targets rose to 33 calls an hour and $40,000, goals that many employees there failed to attain, according to…

It’s good to have a cash buffer just in case your car breaks down and needs fixing, or the water heater goes kaput, or maybe a child suddenly has an emergency and you’d like to help. But if you feel very comfortable you won’t lose your job, I think you can focus on a dollar amount of $10,000 to $20,000. If you’re retired, you don’t need to worry about losing Social Security,…

For the second consecutive year, family conflict was identified as the leading threat to estate planning. According to a recent survey conducted by TD Wealth at the 53 rd Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, nearly half of respondents identified family conflict as the biggest threat to estate…

I am sure by now you or someone you know has gotten some not-so-good news in filing your 2018 tax returns. If you are one of those receiving results with less refund or had to pay, go to your employer and update your W-4 Form to get your withholdings on track of where it should be. A few things you should keep in mind are:.

With today’s stock market swings, Steve Booren’s new book, Intelligent Investing: Your Guide to a Growing Retirement Income will help readers understand how to retire intelligently. Best-selling author of You Don’t Have to Drive an Uber in Retirement and Get Rich with Dividends, Marc Lichtenfeld, said:. Matthew Paulson, Founder of MarketBeat and author of…

–Cetera announced today that it is enabling the delivery of an Advice-Centric Experience to a greater number of individuals through the new fee-for-service advice capabilities that it is offering its advisors. Adam Antoniades, President of Cetera, said, “Cetera is committed to transforming the landscape of financial advice through the technology, tools and…

Smart people make mistakes with money, and they make them for a variety of reasons – all of them avoidable. Here’s what to watch for.

A federal judge has delayed sentencing for a con-man who bilked investors of nearly $2 million in Alabama. U.S. District Judge W. Keith Watkins says he needs time to see what federal law says about Kyle Sandler’s request to do his time in home confinement, where he can use a computer to make more money and provide restitution to his victims.

An investment adviser from Ellisville pleaded guilty on Tuesday to federal wire fraud charges that alleged he misrepresented how he invested more than $1 million from three clients. William Glaser, 61, entered his plea in U.S. District Court in St. Louis. Glaser solicited more than $1 million in investments that went to Paul Creager, whose St Louis…

An advisory issued from the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance recommends seven million American policyholders check to see if they can deduct insurance premiums from 2018 taxes.

Core bond funds should help a retirement portfolio stay afloat when stocks sink. Are yours?

To help consumers, national nonprofit American Consumer Credit Counseling provides six mistakes to avoid when planning for retirement. “The number one mistake consumers make when saving for retirement is the failure to map out a plan,” said Steve Trumble, President and CEO of American Consumer Credit Counseling. According to GoBankingRates, 42 percent of…

The small plan with $5,000,000 in assets costs 1.24%, while the plan with $50,000,000 in assets is 0.93%. But what we continue to find is large plans, with larger average account balances, pay less than smaller plans, “said Joseph Valletta, author of the 401 k Averages Book. The range of a plan with $1,000,000 in assets and 100 participants is 0.72% to 2.81%.

A recent column I wrote on retirement indicated that in order to assure that a retiree will not run out of money at an advanced age- a primary retirement objective- most plans should contain an annuity. Consider a female retiree of 62 with a nest egg of $2 million, half in common stock and half in interest-bearing securities. If her portfolio earns a return of 8.1…

Feb. 22– Feb. 22– PEABODY– An investment adviser has been charged with misappropriating nearly $100,000 from a 65- year-old retired landscaper from Peabody. The adviser, Bruce Worthington of Tewksbury, devised an “elaborate plan” to take advantage of his client from 2006 to 2018, according to an administrative complaint filed Thursday by the Secretary of…

And based on some morbid math– the average remaining life expectancy of someone who’s made it to their early 60 s, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention– you should plan to be retired for at least a few decades. The average budget for a retiree, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, provides even more color on what to expect when you’re…

–Cetera announced today that Robert “RJ” Moore is stepping down as its Chief Executive Officer, effective March 31, due to health reasons, but will continue to serve as an advisor to the Board and the executive management team. Ben Brigeman, Chairman of the Board, will expand his role to include Interim CEO while a formal search for a permanent CEO is conducted.

Feb. 19– DANVERS– In his role as financial planner, Thomas Riquier had a deal for his clients: Give me money to buy property and we’ll all share in the profits when the land is sold. Instead, according to state investigators, the longtime Danvers- based adviser kept all the money for himself. Riquier worked at The Retirement Financial Center on Liberty Street in Danvers.

Setting money goals is the first step to achieving them, but all of us can have blind spots that cause us to miss what’s most important. Check your goals against this master list to see what you might have missed.

The majority of Americans (88 percent) say technology should complement, not replace, the services of a human financial advisor, with 85 percent of Americans stating they prefer working with a human financial advisor rather than a robo advisor.

Others are saying that it is too early in the season and that due to the January federal shutdown less tax returns have been filed and processed by the IRS so far this year. “We have said people will be surprised, but how that comes out in the aggregate is to be seen,” Kathy Pickering, executive director of H&R Block’s Tax Institute said in USA Today.

Life coaches not surprisingly strive to improve the quality of life of their clients. And financial professionals essentially embrace the same mission. So, if you decide to hire a financial advisor, you should expect to receive some “coaching” as you work toward all your important objectives, such as sending your kids to college, enjoying a comfortable…

Lots is written about students exiting college saddled with hefty student loans; however, the impact on retired parents went largely unnoticed. Recently, Wall Street Journal writer AnnaMaria Andriotis reported Americans over 60 years old are coming out of retirement and going back to work just to pay for their children’s education. On average student…

_ Fidelity National Information Services Inc. on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter earnings of $299 million. The Jacksonville, Florida- based company said it had net income of 91 cents per share. Nine analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $2.21 billion.

Phased retirement could allow employees to work longer and let companies retain knowledge and skills, but only 1 in 10 companies offers it. Flexible work arrangements can help younger workers, too.

Feb. 10– Former Eagles wide receiver Jason Avant was using his trademark speed in a new arena. He went on to brief stints with the Carolina Panthers and Kansas City Chiefs. In 2016, offers were flying at him from the Seattle Seahawks and Atlanta Falcons, but he had already signed a franchising agreement a year before for up to $2.8 million in investments for the…

Making it even less likely that this tax will have an impact, gifts between spouses are unlimited, and certain gifts to others, such as payments for directly-paid tuition or medical expenses, are not counted as gifts. Any direct gift to anyone other than your spouse is “taxable” to the extent they exceed the $15,000 annual exclusion amount and must be reported on a…

Aurora Cannabis Inc. recently provided an expected revenue range for the second quarter of the Company’s Fiscal 2019; the period ended December 31, 2018, with the full results published on Monday, February 11, 2019 pre-market, followed by a conference call later that day. Based on preliminary results, the Company anticipates revenues for Q2 2019 of between $50…

Feb. 07– Saddled with the legacy of racist policies of the past, poorer African-American neighborhoods in Baltimore receive far less investment than their white neighbors, according to a new report from the Urban Institute. The report found that Baltimore, the nation’s 30th largest city, has low average income, has lost population for decades and relies on a…

Financial planning guru Ray Lucia is continuing his David vs. Lucia went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to challenge the constitutionality of a Securities and Exchange Commission disciplinary action against him– for statements made in his retirement investment seminars– and he won last June. This time, though, the Washington D.C.- based New Civil…

Known as the Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act, the bill was initially introduced in previous session. It was re-introduced by Reps. Ron Kind, D-Wisc., and Mike Kelly, R-Pa., as the House Ways and Means Committee conducted a hearing Wednesday on retirement security.

Feb. 06– Lynette Robbins was a resident of The Villages retirement community when she and her company raised as much as $147 million by convincing hundreds of investors– many of them seniors– to buy what were deemed “safe and secure” securities, according to court documents filed by federal prosecutors. But what the investors didn’t realize– many of whom handed over…

Having a will is an essential part of an estate plan. A will directs how your probate assets will be distributed upon your passing, designates an Executor to be in charge of your estate, and allows you to create trusts for minor grandchildren or disabled beneficiaries. However, having a will is just part of the story.

The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, G. Zachary Terwilliger, issued the following news release:. According to court documents, Edward Lee Moody, Jr, 47, was a registered investment adviser and the sole owner and operator of CM Capital Management LLC, an investment firm with its principal office located in Virginia Beach. Instead, he diverted…