author of 10+ business books. Latest is Effective Apology, a guidebook to apology.
Articles by John Kador
Developing Advisors Who Stay
Emeri Johnson, a 22-year-old finishing her undergraduate degree in personal planning and wealth management at Utah State University, represents exactly the kind of talent the wealth management profession is racing to recruit and keep. She participated in the Schwab Wealth Management Academy, a 15-month hands-on learning program, and recently completed a fellowship with the FinServ Foundation.
The Best Business Books of 2025 for Financial Advisors
As the nation approaches the 100th anniversary of the Great Depression, 2025 saw the release of an engrossing history and an intriguing novel that each opens with the events of Black Tuesday, Oct. 29, 1929. The books take wildly different approaches to underscore how financiers and ordinary citizens experienced the greatest financial disaster in U.S. history.
Ten Beach Reads Featuring Advisors
With summer beach reading season approaching, you can’t beat these 10 novels centering on wealth managers. Wealth advisors, investment bankers, private equity partners, bond traders and hedge fund directors figure into some of the most intense narratives on recent best seller fiction lists. It turns out that finance lends itself to telling the most compelling stories about money, greed, power and trust.
Katie Tschida | WealthManagement.com
Katie Tschida, a recent graduate of San Diego State University, is beginning her career as a Wealth Advisor Associate at a national financial services firm.
Can You Unmask These 10 Amazing Investors?
With just three clues, how many of the 10 most important investors of the past 200 years can you name? Ten of the most amazing and successful investors of all time are waiting to be unmasked. Most readers will be very familiar with the names of these 10 outstanding investors from past and present. But how much do you really know about them? We’ll give you three clues. Can you guess the name of the celebrated investor? Give yourself extra points if you need only one or two clues. Good luck.
11 Revealing Interview Questions to Ask Potential Hires
Hiring mistakes are costly. We asked advisors for their go-to interview questions. It’s hiring season. As advisors reopen physical offices while managing fully remote workers, the challenges of filling vacant positions have never been more daunting. The job interview, for all its limitations, continues to be the most-effective tool for selecting the candidate with the best combination of analytical and client relationship skills.
The Benefits of Substack as a Publishing Platform for Advisors
Like clockwork, every Wednesday morning, Russ Thornton, an Atlanta-based advisor who specializes in helping women with retirement planning, publishes a financial newsletter called “Wealthcare for Women” on Substack. Substack is an online platform that makes it easy for authors to efficiently publish and distribute digital newsletters at no cost (as Thornton does) or to actually get people to pay for content by charging a subscription fee (as most advisors who publish on Substack do).
John Kador | WealthManagement.com
John Kador is a business author focused on leadership, finance, and technology. He is the author of over 15 books and has been a contributing editor to Wealth Management since 1995. He received an MS degree in public relations from The American University and a BA in English from Duke University. He lives in Lewisburg, PA. Contact him on his website, www.jkador.com.
Can You Unmask These 10 Amazing Investors?
https://www.wealthmanagement.com/sites/wealthmanagement.com/files/logos/WealthManagement_com_white.png Skip navigation Recent Recent Featured With just three clues, how many of the 10 most important investors of the past 200 years can you name? Ten of the most amazing and successful investors of all time are waiting to be unmasked. Most readers will be very familiar with the names of these 10 outstanding investors from past and present. But how much do you really know about them?
Ten Best Books of 2024 for Financial Advisors
https://www.wealthmanagement.com/sites/wealthmanagement.com/files/logos/WealthManagement_com_white.png Skip navigation Recent Recent Featured Memoirs abound—blame the pandemic. It’s no coincidence that about half the books on this year’s list are business memoirs or trade books that include large segments of personal history and reflection.
Eight Colleges with the Best Financial Planning Programs
In 2024, the CFP Board accredited 179 undergraduate colleges preparing students for careers in financial planning. How is a prospective financial planner supposed to determine which program offers the best preparation for success? The results of the FPA Financial Planning Challenge point students to an answer. Each year since 2010, the Financial Planning Association has invited colleges with CFP Board-registered financial planning programs to compete in the FPA Financial Planning Challenge.
Nine Colleges with the Best Financial Planning Programs
Based on the results of the FPA Financial Planning Challenge, these nine colleges unlock the most value for students training to be financial planners. In 2024, the CFP Board accredited 179 undergraduate colleges preparing students for careers in financial planning. How is a prospective financial planner supposed to determine which program offers the best preparation for success? The results of the FPA Financial Planning Challenge point students to an answer.
Eight Colleges With the Best Financial Planning Programs
WealthManagment.com In 2024, CFP Board accredited 179 undergraduate colleges that are preparing students for careers in financial planning. The FPA Financial Planning Challenge, held annually since 2010, evaluates competing college teams through rigorous assessments of financial planning concepts and skills, helping prospective financial planners identify the top-performing programs based on a decade of competition results. WealthManagment.com John Kador, Katie Tschida October 28, 2024
The Benefits of Substack as a Publishing Platform for Advisors
Like clockwork, every Wednesday morning, Russ Thornton, an Atlanta-based advisor who specializes in helping women with retirement planning, publishes a financial newsletter called “Wealthcare for Women” on Substack. Substack is an online platform that makes it easy for authors to efficiently publish and distribute digital newsletters at no cost (as Thornton does) or to actually get people to pay for content by charging a subscription fee (as most advisors who publish on Substack do).
The Myriad Benefits of Marriage in the United States
https://www.wealthmanagement.com/sites/wealthmanagement.com/files/logos/WealthManagement_com_white.png Skip navigation Recent Recent Featured These benefits regulate virtually every aspect of how clients manage taxes, finances, inheritance, housing and healthcare. Married people automatically qualify for no fewer than 1,138 benefits, rights, protections and privileges under current federal law.
Financial Planning for Families With Disabilities
What’s so special about working with families caring for individuals with special needs? The question is personal for Melissa Weisz, a wealth advisor and associate partner at Corient Private Wealth in Morristown, N.J. Her oldest son is on the autism spectrum. Attending to her son’s current needs and securing his financial future occupy much of Weisz’s daily attention.
Myths and Realities About Special Needs Planning
https://www.wealthmanagement.com/sites/wealthmanagement.com/files/logos/WealthManagement_com_white.png Skip navigation Recent Recent Featured Ivan-balvan/iStock/Getty Images Plus Myth: Public benefits are sufficient. Reality: Not if you want the loved one to have a cell phone or tablet or trips to the bowling alley or movie theater, especially if they need an attended escort. Myth: Siblings (or other family members) will do what’s necessary. Reality: This leaves too much to chance.
Can You Pass the Financial Planning Challenge?
https://www.wealthmanagement.com/sites/wealthmanagement.com/files/logos/WealthManagement_com_white.png Skip navigation Recent Recent Featured Test your skills against those of student teams. Test your skills against those of the student teams who, with the clock running, nailed the answers to these five questions from the 2023 Financial Planning Challenge.
What Is the FPA Financial Planning Challenge?
A three-student team from Texas Tech University clinched first place at the Financial Planning Challenge hosted by the Financial Planning Association, Ameriprise, and the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards. The annual competition serves as a national stage for students enrolled in CFP Board-registered financial planning programs nationwide to showcase their expertise and financial planning abilities.
Summary: How to Help Clients Choose the Best Publishing Path for Their Book
Every client wants to choose the best publishing path for their book, and today, there are more options than ever — from self-publishing to hybrid to traditional publishing houses. Ghostwriters reach their highest value when, rather than automatically defaulting to their client’s first inclination, they act as the project manager among all the stakeholders of the project and help guide everyone toward the best publishing path for that book. But how can ghosts act as that crucial guide?
The Ten Best Business Books of 2023 for Advisors
https://www.wealthmanagement.com/sites/wealthmanagement.com/files/logos/WealthManagement_com_white.png Skip navigation Recent Recent Featured This year’s crop includes major books by two of the best business writers working today. A number of standout business books were published in 2023. Two headliners lead the way—Walter Isaacson (who wrote the biographies of Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein) offers a tell-all biography of the richest man in the world.
Ten Must-See TED Talks for Financial Advisors
Skip navigation Recent Recent Featured Notes on these TED Talks that inspired your colleagues. If you have a few minutes to spare, there are few pieces of content more rewarding than a curated TED talk. These short (8-20 minutes) educational videos deliver powerful new ideas and ways of thinking from some of the brightest thought leaders and cultural innovators in the world.
The 15 Best Investment Books of All Time
https://www.wealthmanagement.com/sites/wealthmanagement.com/files/logos/Wealth-Management-Logo-white.png Skip navigation Recent Recent Featured WealthManagement.com asked readers to nominate the investment book that most helped them in their investing careers. WealthManagementt.com recently asked readers to nominate the investment book that most helped them in their investing careers.
Nine Book Recommendations From Advisors to Get You to the End of Summer
https://www.wealthmanagement.com/sites/wealthmanagement.com/files/logos/Wealth-Management-Logo-white.png Skip navigation Recent Recent Featured Non-fiction about happiness, purpose and the psychology of money, a thriller from David Baldacci and more. Summer is a great time to catch up on reading, whether it’s that professional book you’ve been meaning to open or a beach novel perfect for page-turner diversion.
Are You Smarter Than a College Financial Planning Student?
The Financial Planning Challenge is an annual competition for undergraduates enrolled in financial planning degree programs registered with the CFP Board. Organized by the Financial Planning Association, the challenge engages students in preparing and presenting a complete financial plan as well as demonstrating expertise by answering questions about retirement planning, taxes, insurance, estate planning and CFP policies.
30 Years of Asset Class Returns
These charts demonstrate the benefits of a well-diversified portfolio. Returns were erratic, with one-year returns ranging from +36% to -37%. But record volatility was mediated because asset classes are not always correlated.
30 Years of Asset Class Returns
Charts detailing returns by asset class from 1992 to 2022. These charts demonstrate the benefits of a well-diversified portfolio. Returns were erratic, with one-year returns ranging from 36% to -37%. But record volatility was mediated because asset classes are not always correlated.
Virtual Externship Offers Pathways for the Next Generation of Financial Planners
It was early summer of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was devouring every business routine, and Hannah Moore, an action-oriented financial planner in Richardson, Texas was alarmed. Advisories that had confirmed internships so critical to students pursuing careers in financial planning were one by one withdrawing the invitations. In one sense, the loss of internships was small change compared to the wholesale upending of the economy, but it was one thing Moore was determined to do something about.
Meet the Externs
With an established career in government lobbying, advocacy and policy, Anna Bell Gall is typical of someone who registered for The Virtual Externship as part of a career change strategy. “What drew me in was how convenient it was to integrate The Externship juggling a full-time job and family obligations,” she says.
Advising Childless and Child-free Clients
Advising clients who have no children—and don’t intend to—gives some advisors pause. Most of the planning variables that advisors manipulate solve for an equation that includes, and often focuses on, children. Removing the possibility of kids changes the underpinnings of the advisor’s financial planning scripts. Advisors usually distinguish between “childless” (no children today but perhaps tomorrow) and “child-free” (no children today or tomorrow).
The History of the Currencies of the World
The majority of currencies around the world feature heads of government, with most of those being images of men. Just 15% of international banknotes feature women, but the individual appearing most often is Queen Elizabeth II of England. The United Kingdom's pound sterling is also the oldest currency in continuous use, dating back to the establishment of the Bank of England in 1694.
The 12 Most-Revealing Onboarding Questions Advisors Ask
Many advisors quickly learn how off-putting clients find direct questions about money and personal finances. Many clients would rather discuss their sexuality than the intimate details of their finances. Yet, questions are unavoidable if advisors are to meet the individual needs of clients. In response, many advisors have devised proxy questions—indirect ways to get prospects and clients to talk candidly about their hopes, fears and values about money and finances.
How Well Do You Remember 2019?
2019 was the last year anyone could call “normal.” It was the year before masking, border closures, travel bans and social distancing took over every aspect of our lives. It wasn’t that long ago, the year that introduced lockdowns, supply chain disruptions, school closures, remote learning and the start of record inflation. In this quiz, you’ll get 15 multiple choice questions related to the financial developments, general news, sports and popular culture that defined 2019.
The 12 Best Business Books of 2022 for Advisors
In the wake of the pandemic that disrupted every aspect of business, financial professionals working remotely leaned into reading books to better understand the changing landscape and to polish their skills. Publishers noticed the demand, responding with a flurry of business books on investing, leadership, risk management, conflict management and more. Of the thousands of business books published in 2022, here are 12 that we think offer important lessons for financial advisors.
Secfi Launches RIA, Targets Startup Employees
Secfi, a San Francisco-based firm that provides education to startup employees around equity-based compensation packages and runs a digital portal that helps them monetize their illiquid stock options, launched an SEC-registered investment advisory firm earlier this month, bringing on John Morrison, a Dimensional Fund Advisors portfolio manager, to run it.
Six Fallacies That Wreck Investment Portfolios
These mistruths can bias investment decisions and distort advisor-client relationships. Even the most intelligent and sophisticated clients can succumb to logical fallacies that bias investment decisions. Every advisor has seen how these fallacies can distort advisor-client relationships.
How My First Paying Work Prepared Me to Be a Successful Advisor
Think about your first paying work. Not your first formal job, but the first work for which you expected and received payment. Maybe it was mowing lawns, babysitting, delivering newspapers, or a retail or fast-food gig. It’s easy to underestimate how foundational these early work experiences are for our future careers. This Labor Day, we asked a dozen financial advisors to link the lessons they took from their first paying work experiences to their success as financial services professionals today.
I’m an Advisor. This Book Changed My Life
Do you credit a particular book with changing your life? If so, you are not alone. Many of the most successful financial planners link their success to a certain book that has inspired them. We wanted to find out which books advisors credit with having had the most impact professionally or personally. Dozens of advisors nominated their favorite books. We expected books focused on investing or money management and we got a few of those.
Money Supply and the U.S. Dollar
As the U.S. economy continues to be in a highly inflationary period, it may be helpful for advisors to study up on how money supply is measured, recent circulation trends and performance of the U.S. dollar. Here are the latest developments in world currencies and money supply. Infographic design by kathleenkowal.com
Second Citizenships and Golden Passports
An increasing number of wealthy Americans are seeking second citizenships for themselves and their families. They’re motivated by a mix of rational risk management, shadowy survivalism and a desire to escape what they fear will be confiscatory taxes on the wealthy. Whether they call it an “exit plan” or “backup plan,” wealthy Americans are dropping impressive amounts of money to secure a guaranteed path out of the U.S. for themselves and their families should the need arise.
11 Revealing Interview Questions to Ask Potential Hires
It’s hiring season. As advisors reopen physical offices while managing fully remote workers, the challenges of filling vacant positions have never been more daunting. The job interview, for all its limitations, continues to be the most-effective tool for selecting the candidate with the best combination of analytical and client relationship skills. It turns out that advisors who do a lot of hiring have favorite interview questions they believe help them determine if a candidate is a good fit.
The Puzzler: Peripheral Vision and Other Commonsense Mindbenders
John Kador | Apr 15, 2022 The puzzles here call on scientific theories and a bit of logic to drive home principles that we all once knew but maybe forgot. The best puzzles use what people are most familiar with to surprise and stretch the imagination in satisfying ways. The 10 puzzles here all reference objects and concepts that everyone is familiar with. Most of the puzzles call on scientific theories and a bit of logic to drive home principles that we all once knew but maybe forgot.
Ten Financial Planning Lessons Superheroes Can Teach Us
With The Batman’s recent release and subsequently huge box office numbers reminding us that the era of superhero dominance in pop culture is far from over, some important questions come to mind: Do superheroes care about retirement planning? Do the dozens of figures committed to fighting injustice in their pajamas even retain financial advisors? The movies and comic books are mostly silent on the matter.
What’s In Your Wallet? Financial Advisors Reveal Their Credit Card Life Hacks
John Kador | Feb 25, 2022 There are endless rewards to using credit cards strategically. Carrying a balance negates them all. Financial advisors are in a good position to know about credit card hacks that reap rewards such as cash back, airline points, hotel stays or other perks, and even earn cryptocurrency. These are pros who spend much of the day thinking about squeezing the most benefit out of each investment—and charge cards that have an annual fee are certainly an investment.
Seven Lessons to Learn from Jeff Martinovich
If Jeff Martinovich had taken any of these pieces of advice, it could have spared him from prison. John Kador | Jan 31, 2022 Here are the seven lessons Martinovich thinks readers can take away from his story. He believes that any one of these lessons, had he acted other than he did, might have spared him from prison. Never settle. “If I had fought more in the regulatory environment, then the matter wouldn’t have ended up as a criminal matter,” Martinovich says.
How Could I Have Escaped If I Was Home the Whole Time?
Jeff Martinovich A series of miscommunications led Jeff Martinovich back to jail despite never leaving his house during home confinement. John Kador | Jan 31, 2022 Serving time under home confinement is certainly better than being in prison, but it’s still highly restrictive. Martinovich must wear an ankle bracelet. He must not leave the house except for approved times to go directly to and from work or church. Any exceptions must be approved in advance. The telephone rings randomly day and night.
Confessions of a Barred Broker Original
Jeffrey Martinovich, at one time the CEO of MICG Investment Management, sits at home in Norfolk, Va., only a few miles from the offices of the now shuttered billion-dollar boutique investment company he founded in 1992. After being convicted of several counts of fraud in 2013 and serving 6 1/2 years of his 14-year sentence in prison, the former investment manager is completing his term in home confinement. An ankle monitor on his left ankle keeps tabs on his movements.
Twenty Original Financial Planning Aphorisms
John Kador | Jan 21, 2022 Pithy truths from working financial advisors. Move over Oscar Wilde, Winston Churchill and Warren Buffett. These whizzes of wordplay have nothing on these working financial advisors who have agreed to share their original aphorisms—statements of truth or opinion expressed in a concise, witty and memorable manner—about investing and financial planning.
16 Inspirational New Year’s Resolutions of Financial Advisors
John Kador | Dec 30, 2021 Wealth Management asked advisors to share their resolutions for 2022. What is it about the start of a new year that inspires self-improvement? Enter the New Year’s Resolution, an intention to improve our personal or professional lives in some consequential way. You may be wondering what personal goals your colleagues around the world are pursuing. To find out, Wealth Management asked advisors to share their resolutions for 2022.
Ten Wrongheaded Market Predictions
John Kador | Dec 20, 2021 Investing and market forecasts by best-selling authors and highly confident experts that turned out to be 100% wrong. The loudest among us almost always attract the most attention. This old adage holds true in the investing world as well, with hundreds of writers jostling to be recognized as visionary experts and attract the most eyeballs to their work. But how many utterly incorrect prognostications have best-selling authors and other experts made in recent years?
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