In this continuing education session, learners will review 2 Nerd's Eye View blog articles: Ethical Considerations When Advising Couples During The Good Times And The Bad and How Can RIAs Effectively Manage Compliance Risk and Client Dignity When Addressing Diminished Capacity and Financial Exploitation?In the first article, Shelitha Smodic, CFP', explores the ethical complexities financial advisors face when working with couples, particularly during marital conflict or divorce. It emphasizes the importance of fiduciary duty, informed consent, documentation, and clearly defined engagement terms to protect both clients and the advisor-client relationship.In the second article, Richard Chen, founder of Brightstar Law Group, explains how advisors can ethically and compliantly respond to clients experiencing diminished cognitive capacity or financial exploitation. It outlines the legal, regulatory, and practical challenges involved, and provides a framework for prevention, intervention, and post-intervention care that respects client autonomy while safeguarding their financial wellbeing.
In this continuing education session, learners will review 2 Nerd’s Eye View blog articles: OBBBA Breakout Guide: Student Loan Changes For Financial Advisors To Know – New Borrowing Limits, Parent PLUS, RAP, And Legacy IDR Plans, and 2026 Mid-Year Market Outlook: 10 Charts On Market Highs And Key Client Topics. In the first article, Ryan Frailich, CFP®, founder of Deliberate Finances, and Ethan Miller, CFP®, founder of Planning for Progress, examine how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) reshapes Federal student loan borrowing and repayment, tracing the shift from a decade of expanding repayment options through the payment freeze, the PSLF and income-driven account adjustments, and the litigation that halted the SAVE plan. They detail how undergraduate borrowing limits hold steady while Parent PLUS loans gain new annual and lifetime caps, Graduate PLUS borrowing is eliminated, and a combined lifetime cap now applies across Federal programs, then walk through the new balance-based standard plan, the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP), the removal of the Partial Financial Hardship requirement from Income-Based Repayment, and the phaseout of legacy income-driven plans, using case studies and the July 2026 Parent PLUS consolidation deadline to show where advicers can add value. In the second article, James Liu, CFA, CEO of Clearnomics, explores the economic and market forces that shaped the first half of 2026 and offers advicers data-driven talking points for client conversations. Liu explains how equity markets reached new highs despite the Iran conflict’s disruption of oil markets, a temporary spike in headline inflation, and a Federal Reserve leadership transition under new Chair Kevin Warsh, distinguishing headline from core inflation, weighing elevated equity valuations against strong corporate earnings growth, and addressing common client concerns about the federal deficit and midterm elections using historical return data. He also considers the sustainability of artificial intelligence infrastructure spending through the lens of the Jevons Paradox, reviews signs of labor market strengthening, and highlights the opportunity cost of holding excess cash given current bond yields. Together, the articles help advicers translate a shifting regulatory and economic landscape into confident, well-informed client conversations.
Advisor Cost on Clients' Nest Eggs and Enhancing Client Conversations About Charitable Giving
In this continuing education session, learners will review 2 Nerd Eye View blog articles: Quantifying (More Accurately) The Real Impact Of A Financial Advisor's Costs On Their Clients' Nest Eggs and Enhancing Client Conversations About Charitable Giving: Sample Questions, Scripts, and Tools for Better Engagement. In the first article, Derek Tharp, PhD, CFP, CLU, RICP, evaluates criticisms of advisory fees and their impacts on clients by personal finance author Ramit Sethi. Derek highlights the mathematical and practical concerns of Ramit Sethi's methodology for assessing the cost of financial advisors and the value they provide. He then explains the value that advisors can bring to clients. In the second article, Kathleen Rehl, PhD, CFP, CEFT Emeritus, explains the benefits of incorporating charitable planning into a financial planning practice, providing a practical guide that addresses concerns about engaging in charitable giving conversations with sample scripts and ideas for how to create client value in this area.
You’ve likely heard over and over again that "you need to work ON the business, not just IN it" in order to grow and scale. But if you’re like most advisors, you’re like “WHAT exactly does that even mean?!” and “HOW do I actually do it?!”
You’ve maybe even carved out "CEO time" and sat there wondering what you were supposed to even be analyzing besides revenue and production numbers. If that's you, then this talk is your golden ticket.
Libby will share her four “unconventional KPIs” to help you think like a CEO without drowning in numbers and spreadsheets that don't actually change anything. We'll focus on what actually moves the needs for you to build a business and a life that you love.
An operational-compliance course focused on advertising, client communications, disclosures, recordkeeping, supervision, and internal best practices relevant to the day-to-day work of investment adviser representatives.
This course prepares Investment Adviser Representatives (IARs) to meet regulatory expectations for business continuity planning (BCP). Learners will explore key BCP components - data protection, communication protocols, office relocation, succession, and third-party risk management - with a focus on practical application and fiduciary responsibility. The course emphasizes real-world scenarios, compliance best practices, and the adviser's role in supporting plan execution. By course end, learners will be equipped to contribute to firm-wide continuity strategies that protect clients and ensure regulatory readiness.
As clients live longer and wealth remains invested well into retirement, financial advisors increasingly face complex situations involving diminished capacity, family conflict, and potential elder financial exploitation. In this session, securities attorney Michelle Atlas-Quinn will provide a practical legal framework for navigating these sensitive situations while protecting both clients and advisory firms. The program will explore how regulators evaluate advisor responsibilities when working with aging clients, how legal capacity differs from observable warning signs of cognitive decline, and why advisors must document concerns carefully without attempting to diagnose medical conditions. Michelle will also discuss account titling considerations, jurisdictional issues, the limits of custodian involvement, and the litigation risks advisors face after a client’s death. The session will further review the federal regulatory framework, including SEC Rule 2165 and Regulation S-P, along with practical risk-mitigation strategies advisors can implement to recognize red flags, escalate concerns appropriately, and respond to suspected exploitation while maintaining compliance and client confidentiality.
This course equips investment adviser representatives with practical knowledge of how artificial intelligence tools can enhance tax planning strategies for clients. Participants will explore AI-powered approaches to tax-loss harvesting, Roth conversion analysis, charitable giving optimization, and multi-year tax projection modeling. The course examines how AI tools can identify tax-saving opportunities that may be missed in manual analysis, while emphasizing the adviser's responsibility to validate AI-generated recommendations against current IRS regulations and client-specific circumstances. Case studies demonstrate real-world applications of AI in tax planning across different client profiles, including high-net-worth individuals, retirees, and business owners. Upon completion, participants will be able to evaluate AI-powered tax planning tools, identify appropriate use cases, and integrate AI-assisted analysis into their advisory practice while maintaining compliance with applicable regulations.