Financial Advisor Technician
On the Financial Advisor Technician podcast, some of the sharpest minds in financial advice dig into the technical side of financial planning, discussing topics ranging from retirement and tax planning to estate planning and behavioral finance, all at the level of nerdiness you've come to expect from the Kitces.com platform. Each weekly, 30-minute episode will provide actionable insights to help you become a better, and more successful, advisor.
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Creating A (Compliant) Testimonial And Google Review Strategy, With Whit Lanier and Kent Keister
<p >Online reviews can be a powerful way for financial advisors to demonstrate social proof, but collecting and publishing them comes with important compliance considerations. In this episode, we are joined by Whit Lanier, CEO of Amplify Reviews, and Kent Keister, founder of Reliant Compliance, to explore what the SEC's modernized marketing rule means for advisors using testimonials, endorsements, and third-party ratings. </p> <p >Listen in to learn why online reviews can be particularly valuable in an industry where trust is critical, and how testimonials, endorsements, and third-party ratings differ. Whit and Kent also explain how advisors can create a complian...
What Trump Account Auto-Enrollment Means For Clients, With Ben Henry-Moreland
<p >Millions of children now have a Trump account, whether their parents intended to open one or not, after the Treasury Department announced that it auto-enrolled eligible children. That said, there are still actions parents need to take to claim the account and manage it according to their preferences.</p> <p>Kitces.com Senior Financial Planning Nerd Ben Henry-Moreland joins us to break down what auto-enrollment, along with a separate change allowing philanthropic contributions of individual securities to Trump accounts, means for families and their advisors. Listen in to learn why parents might consider claiming their child's account even if...
Putting Economic And Q3 Market Headlines Into Context For Clients, With James Liu
<p >With financial news headlines flagging everything from higher bond yields and oil prices to AI and elections, clients can easily lose sight of the bigger picture. For financial advisors, these headlines create an opportunity to provide context, address concerns, and help clients stay focused on their long-term financial goals. </p> <p >James Liu, founder and CEO of Clearnomics, joins us today to break down the major forces shaping the current market environment and what advisors should be prepared to discuss with clients. Listen in to learn what rising bond yields mean for portfolios, why today's rate environment differs from 2022, and...
Maximizing Charitable Deductions Under OBBBA's New Rules, With Ben Henry-Moreland
<p >The 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act introduced a range of changes relevant to financial advisors and their clients, including regarding the deductibility of charitable donations. In this episode, Kitces.com Senior Financial Planning Nerd Ben Henry-Moreland breaks down the new 0.5% of AGI floor on itemized charitable contributions and the 2/37ths reduction for taxpayers in the 37% tax bracket, including how these rules work, who is most affected, and what their actual dollar impact could look like across different income levels. </p> <p >The conversation also explores practical planning considerations in response to the rule changes related to charitable bunching, donor-advised fu...
A Step-By-Step Process To Handle Retirement Plan Rollover Conversations, With Leo Rydzewski
<p >While 401(k) rollover conversations are common for financial advisors, they also represent a major decision point for clients and come with investment, tax, and fee considerations. Rolling over assets into an IRA may offer valuable benefits for the client, but it can also create conflicts of interest for the advisor. Which means that a thorough evaluation of all options and disclosure of potential conflicts of interest and may not always be the best option for the client can both help an advisor fulfill fiduciary responsibilities while also buildng client trust. In this episode, Leo Rydzewski, General Counsel and Managing...
Working With Legacy Investment Positions, With Rich Chen
<p >Clients sometimes come to the table with legacy investment positions, from inherited stock passed down from a loved one to large amounts of employer stock, that the client does not want to sell. Which can create a challenge for advisors in managing the client's total portfolio and raises questions about how (and whether) to charge fees on the legacy position.</p> <p >In this episode, we are joined by Rich Chen, founder of Brightstar Law Group, to explore the fiduciary and compliance challenges advisors can face when working with legacy stock positions. You'll learn why simply accepting a client's d...
Handling Client Requests That Go Against An Advisor's Recommendations, With Shelitha Smodic
<p >What should an advisor do when a client insists on taking an investment action that goes against their advice? In this episode, we are joined by Shelitha Smodic to explore the compliance, fiduciary, and practical considerations advisors need to navigate when a client wants to make a trade or take another action the advisor would not recommend. You'll learn about the duty to follow client instructions, what makes a request lawful and reasonable, and how questions around authority, capacity, and undue influence can affect how an advisor responds. </p> <p >Listen in to hear about compliance requirements and practical step...
Ranking Account Types For Meeting Intergenerational Giving Goals, With Ben Henry-Moreland
<p >What if the "best" account for an intergenerational gift isn't actually the one that produces the biggest (potential) tax benefit? In this episode, Kitces.com Senior Financial Planning Nerd Ben Henry-Moreland returns to explore how advisors can help clients consider their goals for the gift alongside tax efficiency considerations before selecting a specific account type when deciding how to give money to their children. </p> <p >Listen in to learn how to identify the different goals behind lifetime gifting—from childhood expenses and education to home purchases, lifestyle support, retirement, and dynasty planning—and how they can influence the account ty...
Medicaid Planning For Long-Term Care And Its Ethical Implications For Advisors, With David Haughton
<p >While some individuals are able to pay for long-term care expenses through savings and/or through insurance benefits, others end up relying on Medicaid benefits to fund these costs. While doing so allows them to access needed services, it can require that they first sharply draw down their assets. Which leads to a variety of planning strategies that allow an individual to preserve assets for a spouse or future generations while still qualifying for Medicaid benefits. However, such strategies come wtih tradeoffs and might not actually represent an individual's interests.</p> <p >In this episode, we are joined by...
Supporting Client Couples With Misaligned Engagement Levels, With Sydney Squires
<p >What happens when one partner takes the lead on finances and the relationship with their financial advisor while the other stays quiet, disengaged, or simply operates on a different wavelength? In this episode, we welcome Sydney Squires, a Senior Financial Planning Nerd here at Kitces.com, to explore the challenge of working with "misengaged couples"—client couples who have different levels of involvement, communication styles, or priorities when it comes to financial planning. </p> <p >Listen in to learn how advisors can identify different types of misengagement using an assertiveness and cooperativeness framework, understand the risks of only engaging with the m...
