Wealth Manager Web May 2008

Cover Story

• Never Too Late

  By Gregory Taggart

  If you have a client who's dragging his feet on estate planning, the good news is that he may have more time than you think....

• Legacy Issues

  By James Picerno

  Ben Bernanke just can't get a break. From day one he was saddled with the burden of filling his predecessor's shoes. No mean feat when...

• Living with Lockups

  By Vanessa Drucker

  In January 2008, Citigroup made a tough decision on CSO Partners--a $500 million fund consisting mainly of leveraged loans, which had lost 11 percent in...

• There Will Be Oil?

  By James Picerno

  Sure, it's easy to be an energy bull now--after seven years of rising prices. But it was a lonely job in the late 1990s, when...

• Clarifying COBRA

  By Michael Radler

  The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act--better known as COBRA--protects an employee's right to continue healthcare coverage for a certain length of time--usually 18 months--after separation...

• Divorce Connections

  By Marie Swift

  Ask women in the moneyed suburbs of lower Fairfield County, Conn. who comes to mind as a good financial advisor for someone getting--or soon to...

• Back to the Future--Again

  By James Picerno

  It has been five years since veteran investment consultant and celebrated author Peter Bernstein invoked the word "obsolete" to describe the policy portfolio, which encourages...

• Marketing Redux

  By Jeff Headrick

  About two weeks ago a lawyer friend of mine contacted me. He wanted to introduce me to the estate planning attorney at his firm. He...

• Nobody's Perfect

  By Mark Francis Cohen

  Making a mistake with a client can fill you with dread like nothing else. CFP Patti Houlihan remembers the horrible feeling that overcame her the...

• Playing It Safe

  By Stan Luxenburg

  When the markets began tumbling in the fall of 2007, investors were hard pressed to find secure assets. During the 12 months ending in January,...

• Retirement Revised

  By Elaine Robertson Demby

  Remember when all retiring clients wanted was security, and all you had to do was convert the majority of investable assets into bonds? The assumption...

• The Hidden Obstacles

  By Thomas C. Scott

  As advisors, we're keenly aware of the challenges of retirement planning and portfolio management--longevity, inflation, market uncertainty and sequence of investment returns. But as we...

• Thicker Than Water

  By Caren Chesler

  Shakespeare's King Lear was hardly the only father to bemoan the existence of a "thankless child." Consider the case of the client we'll call "Joe...

• Rearview Mirror Investing

  By Gerald P. Sullivan

  Every ETF follows either an established index or, with increasing frequency, a newfangled one. In fact, of the 482 publicly traded U.S. equity ETFs, 39...

• The Power of Purpose

  By Robert Niederman

  Do you know what your life purpose is? Oddly enough, most people don't; in fact, it's pretty rare to find someone who does. That's why...