The Supreme Court's Connelly Decision, along with the estate tax exclusion sunset is a recipe for unwelcome surprises. Here's what it could mean for your business owner clients.

With the current market volatility, you may ask yourself, “is now really a good time to review existing life insurance policies?” The answer is simple. Yes.

Multi-life disability insurance could be the solution your business owner clients have been waiting for, and it doesn't have to be complicated. Keep it simple and use these five key benefits to show them how a multi-life DI plan can impact their business.

The clock is ticking on estate planning and with unpredictable macroeconomic trends, clients face new challenges. Wealth transfer is no longer a conversation that can be put off with your clients. Estate planning discussions are intricate — but don’t have to be complicated.

During May's Disability Insurance Awareness Month, Tiger Woods' recent withdraw from the Masters is a reminder that accidents can happen to anyone and have lasting effects. When it comes to your own clients, they have worked hard to build their financial future, but once it’s gone it’s too late. Make sure everything works when your clients can’t.

Few advisors truly understand and implement Social Security planning into their practices. But the knowledge they can provide can make a big difference in a client's overall retirement success. So, it's important to get the facts and learn how you can start having discussions around Social Security with your clients.

Employer funded deferred compensation has more moving parts than the two previous strategies in this employee retention series, and it may involve a bit more effort and a few out-of-pocket expenses. However, it is also one of the most effective strategies a business owner can use to keep exceptionally talented employees from looking elsewhere.

Provide unique fringe benefits for key employees with an endorsement split dollar arrangement. As one of several advantages, the employer will own a life insurance policy on the employee, and the employee is encouraged to name the beneficiary on some or all of the death benefit.

With a restricted endorsement bonus arrangement, or REBA, business owners can help key employees build long-term financial security while retaining top talent. This simple REBA life insurance strategy can also help attract the best employees in today's competitive job market.

Discover three strategies business owners can use to reward and retain their most valuable employees, including the characteristics of a good retention plan as well as the factors that may cause an employer to prefer one type of plan over another.

2022 is a year that will be remembered in the annuity industry. With the unprecedented rise in interest rates, our industry saw incredible growth. And the new year gives us the opportunity to reflect, look toward the future and create change.

It's important to focus on the things you can control when helping your clients create a plan, especially when it comes to business owners who have unique financial needs. But by being the advisor who talks about long-term care, you can protect their bottom-line.

The development of low-load insurance products is a significant step — demonstrating industry alignment with the way clients want to do business.

If you haven’t reviewed your clients’ estate plans lately, now is the time to have the conversation to help ensure they can leave more to their beneficiaries and future generations.

Diversification is essential to optimizing performance. When you strategically position annuities, you could free the remaining assets, which allows for a more aggressive investment, and the retirement your clients deserve.

Premium financing is often appealing for many high-net-worth clients who are comfortable with leverage or complexity. It comes down to one thing — education is key.

While a discussion around fiduciary standards may be relevant to many, the focus here is to identify and unpack some of the recent movements in insurance as it relates to advisors who have built fiduciary practices.

We’re looking at it from two angles: creating a greater return and providing greater protection. And, because income is used instead of other investments, more options are available than other types of funding

The goal of Income Alpha is to give your clients flexibility and liquidity in retirement because they don’t have to rely on their investment portfolio to live. It allows clients to maintain momentum, no matter what happens.

Often, and especially if they are young, your clients haven't thought about the possibility of not being able to work. It's natural. But no matter what stage of life they're in, nearly every plan starts with the same thing: income.

These three themes are broadly successful with financial advisors, but every advisor offers a different and customized value proposition to their clients. No matter what, Palladium Group’s commitment to you is similar: we will align solutions, resources and our expertise to seamlessly integrate insurance into your practice.

From recruiting new clients to adding value for existing clients, Social Security planning is an important part of retirement income planning. Your Palladium Group team, back by Ash Brokerage, has access to proprietary software that can quickly illustrate the effect of optimizing guaranteed retirement income streams through multiple approaches.

On International Women’s Day, Palladium Group is honored to celebrate women who are blazing a new path in the financial advisory industry. We had the privilege of sitting down with three of these women to learn more about what fuels their passion, what they see on the horizon for the industry, and what essential lessons the pandemic has brought.

Over the years, the DOL fiduciary rule has created cause for advisors to become more transparent with their fees and conflicts. We break down how the insurance industry is advancing with other aspects of the financial services sector due to the current ruling.

Some experts predict trust funds may be depleted as soon as 2028. Are your clients protected?

Expanding your fiduciary knowledge alongside Palladium Group’s easy, education-oriented process adds continual value for you and your clients. Focusing on the remaining nine key aspects of the fiduciary infrastructure, we call your attention to the importance of aligning all areas of a fiduciary practice around these standards – including insurance.

A fiduciary standard in the life insurance and annuities industry is a relatively new occurrence. Regulations mandate that you must have a solid infrastructure supporting your fiduciary practice before a best interest recommendation is made. Palladium Group views its fiduciary insurance infrastructure to contain 10 important key aspects.

As an RIA, life insurance and annuities are assets you will encounter within a portfolio or consider as you develop a client’s financial plan. Your fiduciary duty never waivers, but whether federal or state fiduciary regulation applies depends on several factors. Nonetheless, Palladium Group will mirror your fiduciary obligation.

"Engaging with clients and advisors is what I love the most. I enjoy collaborating with others to discuss how we can find a better solution."

If your clients care enough to purchase life insurance for their loved ones, shouldn't they look at disability insurance in a similar light?

The threat of higher income tax on the horizon, combined with a broader acceptance of SMA structures, has created a perfect planning opportunity for RIAs. Whether you are already advising UHNW clients or looking to expand your reach into the private client or family office space, now is the time to educate yourself on this strategy.

As your clients improve their financial literacy, it will profoundly impact their future and how they allocate their assets and save for retirement. This creates a significant opportunity for you. Everyone benefits from a more robust, financially sound plan.

Add value to your clients by making a complete evaluation of their annuity products. Our Annuity Audit service, backed by Morningstar Intelligence, is available to help. We will work up a thorough analysis and provide you with clear information to share with your client.

Most of us are beyond ready to get back to the normal we knew more than a year ago. And for financial advisors, that means helping your clients prepare for the possibility of taxes returning to higher rates. As clients have questions about taxes, you have an opportunity to protect them with tax-efficient solutions.

Our team of expert RIA Consultants is happy to assist you and your clients in reviewing their existing LTC policies with Genworth to ensure all parties involved can make the most informed decision for their particular situation.

Help your client use uninvested assets to protect the future of their business.

As the nation grapples with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Americans are getting a stark reminder of our mortality. For many, this event is serving as a wake-up call to get their estate plans in order.

Very few of your clients have had the need to address potential estate taxes because the exemption amounts have been quite high relative to the historical average. Estate tax changes may be coming — and possibly soon.

Our world is full of complicated information. And the insurance industry is notorious for creating products that can be hard to understand. I’m sure we’ve all had clients suffer from “analysis paralysis” when trying to decide between multiple solutions. But it doesn’t have to be scary.

We have to look at the future in terms of our clients’ needs–beyond technology. We are going to be forced to generate more income for longer periods of time with fewer assets than ever before.

In every successful business, there’s always a handful of people you couldn’t do without. Some are out in front. Others, behind the scenes. Either way, they are the people who make the business go. Without them, the business owner would be lost.

Risk is presenting itself in new ways. Do you know if the risk would have a low or high impact on your clients' financial plans?

In my 20 years of working in this industry, I’m not sure I’ve seen the insurance space struggle with something as much as they have in adopting a fiduciary approach, particularly when it comes to working with fee-only advisors.

By doing your due diligence as a registered investment advisor, and by looking closely at all of the known components of your clients’ current circumstances and future plans, you can do your part to be sure their policy performs to its full potential.

Lately, the only consistent aspect of the long-term care market is change, and in recent years we are seeing that change occur with increasing frequency. One of the most significant changes has been in how we talk with clients about long-term care.

I’ve read several morose articles about the life insurance industry. Reports of companies “halting sales” and reporting “dim profits” make for sensational headlines but also paint a limited picture of an industry that is on the cusp of revitalization and is essential to the financial well-being of families, businesses, and charities.

How often are you checking in with your clients to ensure there aren’t gaps in their insurance coverage?