BCG Blog

2018's greatest tech trend may be the movement away from social media. If the clients you have (or want to have) are moving away from Facebook and Instagram don't chase them there. Instead, follow these key tips to increase your communications strategy.

Client communications can be more than one directional. One of the easiest ways to engage your clients is to include polls and surveys in newsletters and blog posts to boost retention.

As the financial advisory industry lurches towards another dynamic year of quick pivots and increasing stress on advisor fees, the pressure on advisors could lead to chronic stress or burnout. And those two results can drastically undermine even the best compliance program.

Comparing your results to others can be motivating to some, but when comparing turns into trying to keep up with your social circle it can harm results instead.

Over the long run, those too on restrictive budgets end up bugging out and making poor money decisions. Planning for splurges can help both with your employee’s waistline and wallet. So how does it work?

Social media can be a great tool to tackle sticky subjects like debt and retirement readiness planning. It’s also fantastic for gathering resources and ideas from how other companies are educating their employees about financial matters. But it can also be full of pyramid schemes and false news.

Employees looking to balance work and family while also budgeting may feel hemmed in by their options. They may avoid options to save time because they think they are too expensive. But there may be some magic to luxuries after all.

Sometimes a rose isn’t always a rose. Some words or phrases have more than one meaning, and when that happens in the financial world, it can cause confusion for clients and advisors.

Does the jargon in your communications make your clients miss the boat? Not catch what you are saying? Not smell what you are stepping in? A quick review of English slang can keep you from leaving readers out in the cold.

Design thinking imports the principles for design and architecture into business and personal planning by flipping the problem solving to zero in on the problem.

Think you’ll lose your mind if you read one more thing about the importance of networking? You’re not alone. So, if networking is a worn out welcome mat, what IS a tactic that can help boost business? Collaboration.

There’s more to health care and retirement than explaining an HSA. Sponsors can help employees by educating themselves on the link between health, stress and retirement saving.

While no one can plan for what they don’t know, there are unexpected events that happen frequently enough that employees should know how to plan for them. Plan Sponsors can help employees understand how to prepare for financial surprises.

It seems like every two years the news likes to take issue with 401ks, with articles like top 6 problems with 401(k) accounts. What are employees hearing about so called problems with 401(k)s and how can they respond?

Many think those who work a lot make (and save) a lot. The true fact is those who compulsively work (or might be called workaholics) are terrible savers. What can employers do to ensure those who work too much also understand to save?

With news ringing about new wire transfer fraud alerts from the FBI, advisors may want to examine all the other electronic means of transferring money and make sure they are knowledgeable about them.

FINRA’s new rule on electronic signatures highlights the differences between state and federal law. What do advisors need to know about e-signatures and how that might impact their work?

FINRA has had a busy season, including consolidating its enforcement unit and allowing for e-signatures. Get up to speed on what changes are happening at FINRA and clients need to understand about those changes

2018 saw a flurry of information, and countless opt-in/out messaging about the GDPR. Yet, states and other regulators have been moving improving cyber security protections all year long. Read on for more information on cyber laws you might not have encountered and how they could impact on how financial advisors practice.

Horace Mann Educators Corporation to acquire Benefit Consultants Group to expand strategic capabilities in the retirement market

Statistics show that almost half of young families have significant student loan debt. How can employers help educate their employees, especially those who may want additional degrees so they can specialize, about debt, savings and retirement planning?

In the past, doomsday scenarios or calling people out for behavior was thought to be a way to change their behavior. Fear based techniques have a short shelf life and shame is counterproductive. What works? Here are a few tips on using motivation to help employees invest.

Employees complain about not having enough time to focus on retirement planning. Plan sponsors can’t add a 25th hour to the day, but they can provide tools to plan participants about how to mind their time, both from an efficiency stand point and from a holistic standpoint.

Not all debt has the same impact on retirement readiness for employees. Debt has impacts on retirement readiness your employees may not realize. Below, we list a few key distinctions employees may not know when making budgeting decisions that could impact their retirement readiness.

Before you jump on the App bandwagon, you might want to consider whether developing an App for your advising business is what’s best not for you, but for your clients. Here are a few things to consider before investing in developing an App for your advising business.