President’s Message

Ryan M. Fleming, CFP®

Happy holidays to everyone. Hope you enjoyed a great Thanksgiving, are enjoying this early Chanukah and are looking forward to a festive Christmas. We wrap up our year long before New Year’s, so if we don’t see you at the next event, we hope you end the year on a good note and are looking forward to seeing you next year.

Our December is typically not very outwardly busy – just a single luncheon. This year’s wrap-up lunch is Thursday, December 12^th at Maggiano’s in Tysons from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. After that, we just work behind the scenes to transition board committees, knowledge, and volunteers from one committee to another. We’re also finalizing plans for the first few meetings of 2014.

This December’s lunch meeting, featuring local tax lawyer John Dedon presenting a “Year End Tax Planning Update,” includes our annual election of the 2014 FPA-NCA board along with a big thank you to our volunteers – this is also our volunteer appreciation day for the chapter. With that in mind, we are going to have volunteer sign-up posters at the event. NexGen members have indicated a desire to volunteer, and several will be coming to the event just to sign up for FPA-NCA committees. We will also have a gift for each Attendee at this meeting to express our appreciation for all that our members do to help our chapter, our pro bono events and our many activities throughout the year.

And while we’re on my favorite topic – integrating the next generation of planners firmly into our chapter and our businesses – we are thrilled to share some November news with you. The national FPA NexGen membership has elected as its 2014 President-elect our own board member, Laurie Belew. Congratulations to Laurie! She takes her role of inspiring the next generation of planners seriously, and has driven our chapter’s NexGen programs to be among the best in the country. Laurie has encouraged the chapter to be both inclusive and supportive of NexGen’s membership. She brought innovative ideas to our National Capital Area Board, including February’s Career Fair. We look forward to seeing Laurie’s growth on the national stage.

If you have not already, remember to register for our Winter Symposium by December 15 in order to receive the early bird price for this terrific event. Our Chair, Rita Cheng, has lined up a great program for this event. Please see the schedule for the day in this Newsletter. We anticipate that we will have 6 CE approved, plus our 2 CE for the Ethics Course. Don’t miss your chance to knock out a great portion of your required credits, while still finding time to network with colleagues and engage with our sponsors.

As mentioned above, we are excited to announce our inaugural Career Day on February 21, 2014. Look for the flyer later in this newsletter (along with Peggy’s dozens of emails to come – I promise), and register early for this event. Several chapters have been successful in integrating a career fair. We will have interviewing firms, job seekers seeking full- and part-time employment and internships, and we will have a wonderful professional development program over lunch with networking and speakers. You will not want to miss this day packed with opportunities! More importantly, it is a chance for our chapter to establish something meaningful for the profession. Please consider coming out to interview a CFP-candidate from one of the nearly two dozen programs we’ve reached out to.

Our 2014 calendar will be available soon. For the regulars, we look forward to seeing you each month. If you didn’t attend an event in 2013, please try to join us for one event in 2014 – we would love to spend some time with you.

We wish you a wonderful holiday season and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year! Thanks for taking a few minutes to read this note. As always, if you have any questions, concerns, suggestions, or just want to say hi, please feel free to reach out to me or any of my fellow board members. All of our contact info is on the last page of the newsletter, every month, and our new Board info for 2014 will be posted in January. Looking forward to seeing you at one of our events.

Best regards,

Ryan M. Fleming, CFP®
2013 President, FPA of the National Capital Area

 

 

President’s Message

Ryan M. Fleming, CFP®

Our chapter is pretty amazing. The breadth and depth of financial planning luminaries in this chapter really boggle the mind. Too numerous to mention (and fearful of leaving one out), we have dozens of past presidents locally and nationally attend our luncheon meetings, symposia, and golf tournament. At any table at any event, you’re likely to find someone who has lectured as an expert on a planning topic or won an award for excellence or runs a firm that is a model nationally or mentored a future competitor to achieve greatness.

But this latest addition to the trophy wall is truly something special. The highest honor in our association at the national level is the P. Kemp Fain, Jr. Award, which “recognizes an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the financial planning profession… in the areas of service to society, academia, government, and professional activities.”

Our own Elissa Buie is the 2013 P. Kemp Fain, Jr. Award recipient, the chapter’s second recipient of the 21-year-old award. She shared some thoughts that remind us what a forward-thinking genius she is; that genius continues to provide guidance for family, clients, firm, chapter, and profession. Elissa’s thoughts help us all to see the evolution of financial planning.

“One Profession – One Designation – One Association – One Foundation”

Elissa, in speaking this, built on the “One Profession – One Designation” comment of the award’s namesake. FPA, in all its faults and successes, is about us, helping each other to learn, grow, flourish, and contribute. But the key part of this is the latest addition to the line – One Foundation. “We are a true profession when we share the magic that is financial planning with everyone, regardless in what ‘percent’ of the population they reside,” Elissa said. She speaks of the Foundation for Financial Planning, to which our chapter has donated nearly $141,000 from charity events. Our chapter has contributors (all past presidents) at the $500,000+, $200,000 to $349,999, and $100,000 to $199,999 levels. Over $1 million from our chapter is an amazing legacy, and hopefully just the beginning.

It’s a real measure of a person when they choose to use the platform for their lifetime achievement honor as a call to action for charity. As Elissa said, “Financial planning changes people’s lives for the better.  Everyone in this room is a part of that magic.  I hope you feel as proud of that as I do standing up here today.” This chapter, this association, and this profession have great opportunities to effect change with what we view as pretty simple conversations. And money. Consider a donation to the Foundation in Elissa’s honor. This organization is doing great things with distributing financial literacy to groups hungry for it.

Congrats again to our friend, Elissa Buie, whose lifetime achievement honor has been bestowed on her in mid-career.

We have closed registration for volunteers at Metro Washington Financial Planning Day. With no advertising budget, we are nearing 300 attendees signed up. We are really looking forward to a successful day of advising. And on the heels of this comes a new volunteer opportunity that is percolating. The Washington D.C. Veterans Affairs Medical Center is hosting a Financial Literacy Week of their own and has invited FPA-NCA to partner with them in mid-February for a number of workshops for Veterans. The IRS and AARP are already working with DCVAMC on other events for the week, so it would be a great opportunity for us. Let me know if you have any interest in volunteering so I can let them know if we have sufficient support for the program. February 17, 2014 to February 21, 2014 – we would be slotted Mon – Wed.

Finally, a shout out for our program of the year. November’s program looks spectacular. Howard Pressman and Parker Trasborg, who run the Professional Development committee, have put together two excellent speakers. Ted Klontz is a pioneer in financial psychology and presents a great program “When Logic Leaves the Room.” He is followed by Chris Hennessey, a repeat speaker and always a huge draw, with a look at healthcare reform and its impact on investors. 3 CFP credits. 3 Maryland insurance credits. 3 Virginia insurance credits. 3 CIMA. 3 CPA CPE. We’ve got it all covered for you in November. Bethesda Country Club 10a to 1:30p.

Please vote for the 2014 Board slate. Peggy sent an email at 2:15p on 10/23 (in case you deleted it) – please reply with a vote of yay or nay or a write-in if you don’t like the slate. Hope your fall is off to a great start and your year ends with a fantastic finish.

Best regards,

Ryan M. Fleming, CFP®

When Logic Leaves the Room

By Howard Pressman, CFP®

 

Have you ever given financial advice to a client, only to have them do something different, maybe even something that goes against their financial wellbeing? Or what about this: you met with a prospective client, delivered some of the best advice you’ve ever given and presented a solid financial strategy based on their goals? The clients said all the right things and gave every indication that they want to start a relationship with you. They leave your office and you’re breaking your arm off, patting yourself on the back and thinking to yourself how you knocked this one out of the park.  Then a week goes by and another and you have yet to hear back from this client. It’s as if the Earth opened up and swallowed them, as they’re harder to find than Waldo.  What happened, you think to yourself.

We all know that people often make decisions that run counter to their best interests. Even when we lay out the basics for them, sometimes clients make the wrong financial decisions.  Perhaps you look inside yourself for answers or maybe you just chalk it up to the clients not being serious about getting help. But is there a way for us to communicate with our clients and prospects on a different level? A level on which they are more likely to act on our recommendations?

Ted Klontz, PhD is a researcher, speaker, trainer and the author of six books including his most recent, Mind Over Money. Ted has also been a guest on “The Judds” which airs on the Oprah Winfrey Network. In his presentation “When Logic Leaves the Room: How Financial Decisions Are Really Made, And What We Can Do About It” Ted will help us to better understand and identify this behavior and teach us how we can help our clients to make better decisions. Ted will show us how the brain influences decision making, discuss the most current research on the topic and share best practices that will help us interact with our clients on this higher level.  Ted will also share with us the fascinating results of his survey on our subconscious “money beliefs”, which influence many of our money decisions. Please be sure to take this anonymous survey before November 1^st by clicking here.

If you are looking to improve your communications and relationships with clients and prospects, please join us on November 7^th at Bethesda Country Club at 10:00am where in addition to Ted, Chris Hennessy will be talking about Healthcare Reform and its impact on investors. Three CFP, CIMA, MD and VA Insurance approved, and CPA CPE offered.

Ryan M. Fleming, CFP® President’s Message

 

It appears that summer doesn’t want to leave, but I’m not complaining – just means more golf. Despite the quirky weather, fall is still an exciting time for us with a full agenda for FPA NCA. As the final quarter of my tenure as president opens, we’re looking at nearly a dozen great events to wrap up 2013. There should be a little something for everyone, so I’m hopeful that each of you gets out of your office to at least a couple of things this fall.

My successor, Helen Modly, should you choose to elect her, has committed to spending on higher quality speakers for our events for 2014. It was one of three main topics at her strategic planning meeting with the proposed 2014 board of directors. With the chapter in great financial shape after years of excellent stewardship from the past five presidents Brown, Jones, Parker, Hess, and Cheng, we are planning to upgrade the monthly programs with a more national-quality speaker series.

The biggest event remaining this year, though, is Metro Washington Financial Planning Day (MWFPD). The 2013 event has been scheduled for the first Saturday in November. This event drew over 300 attendees looking for many layers of financial literacy last year, with everything from student debt to Thrift Savings Plan asset allocation to mortgage refi questions. It’s a great opportunity to sharpen your planning skills. We’re looking for another huge crowd and great pro bono effort from the chapter. A month out, we already have over 100 attendees signed up and more than 30 volunteers. We could use another 10 volunteers, but what we really need is information distribution. If anyone has any thoughts on this, we would love your input. We’re targeting non-profits, community groups, and attempting to get info out through the D.C. payroll system included with each paystub. This national Financial Planning Days event is coordinated by FPA, CFP Board, U.S. Conference of Mayors, and the Foundation for Financial Planning.

Details: Saturday, November 2, 2013, Columbia Heights Educational Campus in Washington, DC, 10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., (volunteers to arrive by 9:30 a.m.)

Our committee is co-chaired by chapter members and past participants Melissa Sotudeh and Jim Sprung. Melissa is working on facilities, volunteers, and coordination with partners at CFP Board and the Mayor’s office, and Jim is working on outreach to community organizations, non-profits, colleges, and media to generate an overwhelming number of attendees who want to improve their financial lives. Consider volunteering or forwarding event details to your neighborhood email thread or posting on all of your social media outlets.

Another neat event that just happened last week was the the semiannual FPA NCA and FPA NexGen happy hour at Chima Steak House on Towers Crescent in Tysons. Turnout was robust at 75 people. It was a great opportunity to hear from NexGen business owners, NexGen ladder climbers, and NexGen recent graduates. The feedback from most of the younger set was that they appreciated having senior members of our chapter available from my firm, Yeske Buie, FJY Financial, and others come to share their stories as advisors who have been there and done that.

While you’re thinking about that, please consider nudging your 20- to 35-year old colleagues to both attend the event and join NexGen. Leadership in our area is incredible, with Jennifer Quigley (national NexGen president) and Laurie Belew (FPA NCA board member) engaging their peers at a level we weren’t engaged with in our twenties and early thirties. They’re breaking the mold, and you need to be involved as mentors or members. Come on out for a couple hours and meet them.

My two year CFP CE cycle was up on 8/31, so I was excited to see an ethics presentation preceding our 9/12 membership luncheon. Ethics is a free program for all FPA NCA chapter members. We will repeat the ethics presentation at the Winter 2014 Symposium in January. It’s your chapter’s effort to be where you need us to be, doing the things you need us to do (although, to my successor, Helen Modly, I will confirm that we’ll never have a meeting in Middleburg, sorry).

More on our programs for the fall can be found on pages 2- 9, and our Winter Symposium information can be found on pages 10-11. Thanks for taking a few minutes to read this note. As always, if you have any questions, concerns, suggestions, or just want to say hi, please feel free to reach out to me or any of my fellow board members. All of our contact info is on the last page of the newsletter, every month. Looking forward to seeing you at one of our events.

Best regards,

Ryan M. Fleming, CFP®
2013 President, FPA of the National Capital Area

The Case For Succession Planning - Sameer S. Somal, CFA, CFP®

By Bryan D Beatty, CFP®

"The business succession plan of an adviser is emotionally complicated and deeply personal" Blue Ocean Global Wealth

The average age of a financial adviser is in the mid to late 50's and the typical practice is one adviser and one or two support staff. Of the 467,000 registered reps, 176,000 are independent and 41% are over fifty.

•  So, what is your exit plan?
•  Where do your clients go when you retire?
•  Where will your employees go?
•   How much is your life's work of building this book of clients and managing their plan for their future?

The case for succession planning is a presentation on how and why you should have a plan. And it isn't just a retirement that will be the reason to have a plan. Whether there is an attempted sale or transfer, a death, disability, divorce, regulatory enforcement disqualification or bankruptcy what happens in the absence of a plan is clearly a mess a loss of value and bad for your clients.

There are a number of ways to do succession planning learn the different ways transitions are taking place today and may work in the future.

• So should the solution be an internal succession or a family transfer.
• Should there be stock or use of debt?
• What about an earn-out?
• How much is your business worth and how do you maximize the value of the transition?

Do you have a plan? Join us for an interesting and lively discussion on succession planning October 10th at Maggiano's Restaurant in McLean, VA from Noon - 2PM.

FPA National Capital Area Features Two October Events!
October 10, 2013, Maggiano's Restaurant, McLean, VA
Member Reception - 10:30 - 11:30AM - Please Come Meet Your Chapter!
Member Luncheon - Noon - 2PM - 1 CFP, 1 CIMA, 1 VA and MD Insurance Approved!

Luncheon Program: Members - $35 -- Non Members - $55
Please review the information and register for these two events here!

Diversification Works…Even If You Don’t Want It

By Jon Yankee, CFP®

The turmoil this summer in the investment markets might cause one to think that people have lost money this year in U.S. stocks.  But in fact, most of the U.S. indices are sitting on plus twenty percent gains for the year.

The rest of the world is not doing as well.  Emerging Markets are having a horrible year.  Looking over alternative asset classes, real estate investments are about flat for the year, and commodities are, like emerging markets, are down big this year.  Add those asset classes to the fixed income piece of your portfolio, which is also down, and you have a year that is not too pleasant for a diversified portfolio.

This is the kind of market environment that many professional advisors least enjoy – for a variety of reasons.  First, the turmoil over the summer makes it clear that investors are making investment decisions – and moving market prices – based on emotions rather than logic.  The initial panic following Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's comments during the summer about ending its QE3 stimulus program seems to have subsided.  But when market values drop precipitously based on a single speech about a hypothetical Fed action that would only be taken due to improved fundamentals, you know that investors are not thinking rationally. 

The other reason professional advisors dislike the current state of the markets is the way diversification looks right now. Whenever U.S. stocks are delivering positive returns while almost everything else – emerging market stocks, bonds, real estate, commodities, and all the other pieces of a prudently constructed portfolio – are going in the tank, investors will ask questions like: "The S&P 500 is up 20% so far this year, but my portfolio is only up 6%.  What are you doing wrong?"

The truth is, no professional can pick the one winning asset out of the myriad of options every year (or half year), and no prudent professional would ever try.  There will always be one asset that returns more than the others, and that winning asset will always be different.  Yet American investors hear about the S&P 500 (and the Dow, and other U.S. large stock indices) on the nightly news, so they are most likely to question the competence (or sanity) of their advisor when the U.S. stock markets are booming and everything else is lagging – exactly the situation we have today.

As most of our clients know, this is the “frame of reference risk” that we discuss often…our client portfolios are very different than most peoples’ context for conversations or current events.  It is the first time since 1998 that we have had such an investment market.  Diversification works…even if you don’t want it to work.

Eventually, some other investment will take the lead, diversified portfolios will look better relative to the U.S. stock indices, and professional advisors will look like geniuses.  That, too, will be a naive view of the situation, but it will be a more pleasant one for those of us who believe in the long-term value of diversification.

Ryan M. Fleming, CFP®

President’s Message

It is sad to see summer go because it means less golf, but it’s also an exciting time for us with a full agenda for FPA-NCA. As the final quarter of my tenure as president opens, we’re looking at nearly a dozen great events to wrap up 2013. There should be a little something for everyone, so I’m hopeful that each of you gets out of your office to at least a couple of things this fall.

The biggest event of the year is Metro Washington Financial Planning Day (MWFPD). The 2013 event has been scheduled for the first Saturday in November. This event drew over 300 attendees last year, so we’re looking for another huge crowd and great pro bono effort from the chapter. This national Financial Planning Day event is coordinated by FPA, CFP Board, U.S. Conference of Mayors, and the Foundation for Financial Planning. Details:

Saturday, November 2, 2013
Columbia Heights Educational Campus
10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
(volunteers to arrive by 9:30 a.m.)

Our committee is co-chaired by chapter members and past participants Melissa Sotudeh and Jim Sprung. Melissa is working on facilities, volunteers, and coordination with partners at CFP Board and the Mayor’s office, and Jim is working on outreach to community organizations, non-profits, colleges, and media to generate an overwhelming number of attendees who want to improve their financial lives. Consider volunteering or forwarding event details to your neighborhood email thread or posting on all of your social media outlets.

Another neat event that I mentioned in the last note is the semiannual FPA-NCA and FPA NexGen happy hour. September’s event is two weeks away: September 24 from 5p to 7p at Chima Steak House on Towers Crescent in Tysons. Turnout looks robust. If you like talking, come to share your story as an advisor, whether you’ve been in the business for 5, 10, 15, or 50 years – the next generation of planners who will be working with your clients when you’re retired need to hear battle stories, wildly successful ideas, and be engaged by each of you. They don’t want

to be an owner tomorrow (well, perhaps they might, but then again so did you when you were getting started), but they will be owners soon enough. Please consider taking some time to come for drinks (we’ll buy the first one) and free appetizers. And also consider nudging your 20- to 35-year old colleagues to both attend the event and join NexGen. Leadership in our area is incredible, with Jennifer Quigley (national NexGen president) and Laurie Belew (FPA-NCA board member) engaging their peers at a level we weren’t engaged with in our twenties and early thirties. They’re breaking the mold, and you need to be involved as mentors or members. Come on out for a couple hours and meet them.

 

More on our programs for the fall are detailed on pages 3, 4, 9 and 10. We have included details on our September and October programs, as well as our Winter Symposium! Also, please remember to vote for our 2014 FPA NCA Board detailed on page 6. Thanks for taking a few minutes to read this note. As always, if you have any questions, concerns, suggestions, or just want to say hi, please feel free to reach out to me or any of my fellow board members. All of our contact info is on the last page of the newsletter, every month. Looking forward to seeing you at one of our events soon!

 

Best regards,

 

Ryan M. Fleming, CFP®
2013 President, FPA of the National Capital Area

The Five Core Principals

For Mastering Interpersonal Relationships

 

By Bryan Beatty, CFP

 

Sometimes is a good idea to get back to the basics. It is very easy not see the forest for the trees.  In running an advisory practice you have so many things you must do. You must stay on top of asset allocation models and the economy. You have to keep up with changing tax codes and legislation. You have to manage your office operations and human resources. You have to comply with the regulations and mange to maintain your CE requirements.  You have to manage your operation processes including your technology, your trading platform and your CRM system.  You have to continue to service your clients and market to get new ones. Suffice it to say you are sometimes overwhelmed and you forget that without the basics you can misfire and everything slides downhill from there.

This month’s luncheon brings us Dan Finley of Advisor Solutions and The Five Core Principals For Mastering Interpersonal Relationships.  “Great communication is the lifeblood of every sustainable business relationship.” says Dan.  We are in a relationship business no matter how you look at it. That is the big picture, the forest.   All the stuff we have to do each day, they are our trees.

Spend a lunch hour getting back in touch with one of our essential basics – communication.  Learning to more clearly and effectively communicate with people will improve all aspects of your business.

·         Are you speaking your clients/prospect’s language?

·         Do you know the CORE personality types?

·         Learn the art of story telling

·         Using the metaphors and analogies

These are just few of the things you will re-engage with in this September’s member luncheon. Join us for  a very worthwhile discussion.

2 CFP CE, 2 CIMA, 2 VA Insurance Approved! 2 CPA CPE Offered! No MD Insurance for this program.

A Look at Time Management

By Chris Rivers, CFP®

 

Recently, our firm conducted a time management workshop with the help of an outside practice management consultant.  Our entire company from principals to interns gathered and went through a full day’s worth of exercises, group discussions, breakout sessions, and individual tasks.  Each of us took away one action item to track (with the help of a partner) over the next 21 days, in an effort to change one bad habit for each of us.

Clearly we each took away something concrete from the day. However, equally as important was the time we spent together, the interaction in the room, and the opportunity for collaboration by employees would not typically work together on a project.  Too often we fall into the trap of focusing on the task at hand, or feeling that we are “too busy” to get away from our desks; or almost equally as important, take our staff away from their desks.

It can be hard to give up productive hours from our staff in order to have them attend a training session or conference.  If they do not hold a license or designation, or there are no CE credits involved, there is even less motivation to pay them to be out of the office for half a day or a full day. 

I thought about this as I looked at the FPA NCA schedule for this fall.  On September 12^th at Bethesda Country Club, we have a luncheon program by Dan Finley on “Five Core Principles for Mastering Interpersonal Relations.”   Two weeks later on September 24^th we have a networking happy hour at Chima Steakhouse in Tysons Corner, which is a joint event held by FPA NCA and FPA NexGen. (What is NexGen? See Laurie Belew’s posts here and here.)  On October 10^th, we have a luncheon program at Maggiano’s in Tysons Corner on “The Case for Succession Planning.” And then in November (back at Bethesda) we have a Professional Development Program.

As you can see, this fall’s program schedule offers a wealth of valuable content, and should be particularly helpful for those in the early or middle stages of their career path.  Aside from the concrete material presented, there will be great value in being in the room, networking and interacting with peers and successful planners, and simply being a part of the community experience that is FPA NCA.

When planning the time management workshop above, it was difficult to “give up” a full day’s worth of work, but the positive effects of the day will be felt long after we have caught up on any work that sat idle for a few hours.   So…if you have support staff, paraplanners, new hires, or career changers in your office, please consider bringing them out to an event this fall.  You may be surprised how valuable the experience is for everyone. 

New Development in Continuing Education for CFP Certificate Holders

By: Helen Modly, CFP, CPWA

President-Elect FPA NCA

Earlier this year, Investment News reported that the CFP Board of Standards is exploring whether or not they should become actual providers of Continuing Education (CE) content as well as being the entity that sets the requirements for CE, reviews and approves the content of programs and generally oversees the providers of CE content.

The Board’s reasoning is that currently available CE content is not of the caliber that the board desires and that this jeopardizes the value of the CFP marks. In their view, the way to mitigate this is to actually produce and sell CE content to members, thus becoming a competitor to the 1,250 organizations and firms that are registered with the Board of Standards as current CE content providers. Many in our industry, including FPA National and NAPFA are concerned that this foray into the business of providing CE content for a fee creates an unnecessary conflict of interest for the Board of Standards.

Not only would they now be competing financially against the very organizations that they are charged with overseeing, but they would also be in the enviable competitive position of still reviewing and approving the content of all the other providers while also developing their own content. This is just asking for trouble down the road.

If the primary concern is really the quality of commercially available CE programs, the Board could use their current authority to simply raise the standards for approving content without competing against those they regulate.  

It leads one to wonder whether their exploration of becoming a CE provider is more of a revenue enhancement issue than a real concern over content standards. A recent member survey conducted by FPA National confirmed that the majority of responders were against the Board becoming a CE provider while still being the regulator of such providers.  

The Board has indicated that it may make a final decision this fall. If you have an opinion on this issue, you can share it with the CFP Board of Standards using this link:

http://www.cfp.net/utility/contact-us. Let them hear from you!

 

Ryan M. Fleming, CFP®
President’s Message

Happy Summer! I hope you’re enjoying it as much as I am. It feels a lot busier this summer with more active clients than in years past, but it’s good to be busy, so no complaints here. FPA is pretty quiet in the summer, but that doesn’t mean we stop working. There is a lot to plan for fall, and we file our Roadmap to Success this month, which creates a framework for our 2014 board of directors’ strategic planning meeting. One of the results of that filing with FPA National is the Gold Level Chapter banner that you see hanging on the lectern at every event. The chapter also usually receives an Outstanding Achievement Award for one of our events or programs – pro bono, golf, and strong chapter governance have received awards in the past, as well as career development and membership.

Before we get into our fall plans, we need to ask for help. Melissa Sotudeh has volunteered to help coordinate the planning of the 2013 Metro Washington Financial Planning Day (MWFPD). This is the fourth annual MWFPD, and the event is put on nationally in conjunction with the Foundation for Financial Planning, CFP Board, FPA National, and U.S. Conference of Mayors. We are in need of volunteers for the event, so please look for our email announcements in another month calling for volunteers for the event. We have one individual who is going to be responsible for volunteers, and Melissa will coordinate with Eddy Demirovic at the CFP Board, with the Mayor’s office, and with the facility, Columbia Heights Educational Campus. The only on-site day is the day of the event, tentatively set for Saturday, October 26^th. We had 100 brave souls and 50 volunteers our first MWFPD and over 300 attendees in 2012. It’s a great way to build your pro bono bona fides and would be a huge assist to the chapter. The CFP Board does a ton of work (they’re in our back yard), and the people who arrive for counseling are very grateful for the volunteers who help that day.

September has two programs – a two-credit-hour luncheon preceded by a free-to-members CFP ethics program. The Advisor/Client Connection: Five Core Principles for Mastering Interpersonal Relations is presented by Dan Finley, President and Co-Founder of Advisor Solutions. It is separated into five parts and looks like a neat presentation for new and experienced advisors. You are encouraged to bring a NexGen colleague with you – even better, make it a non-FPA-member staffer to give them a taste of our chapter. September 12^th at Bethesda Country Club.

The second September program is the second of our semiannual FPA – FPA NexGen happy hours. The first was a runaway success, so we’ve upgraded the facility. If you’re not familiar with NexGen, then you’re clearly not reading my ramblings. In May and June, fellow board member Laurie Belew authored a What and Who is NexGen for the uninitiated. The happy hour is a great opportunity for chapter luminaries and successful advisors to mix and mingle with the 36-and-under set in the profession. Some in NexGen are owners of practices, others are senior advisors, and others are fresh out of college. They are many and varied in our chapter. We benefit from having them at events and vice versa. But this particular event gives us an opportunity for quality one-on-one time in a relaxed atmosphere. It will be September 24 from 5p to 7p at Chima Steak House on Towers Crescent in Tysons. Very few people knew each other at the last event, so don’t be shy – we’re great at integrating newcomers into the fold.

 

October 10 at Maggiano’s in Tysons is the new member reception at 10:30a, an informal gathering of board members with new-to-chapter or new-to-meetings members. Following this is a neat program on Succession Planning by Sameer Somal of Blue Ocean Global Wealth.

Enjoy the rest of your summer. See you in September.

Best regards,

Ryan M. Fleming, CFP®
2013 President, FPA of the National Capital Area

DOMA Ruling Changes Landscape for Advising Same-sex Clients

 

With the Supreme Court’s strike down of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the advisor community needs to begin reaching out to same-sex couples to inform them of major impacts to their financial future.

Things to ask or consider for same-sex couples:

·         How new legal rights will affect their financial goals. And as an advisor, what you need to do to update their planning. This includes changes in how retirement contributions are made and how retirement and survivor benefits are received. Being able to equalize estates by shifting assets without gift taxes is also an area to explore. It is also important to review any changes in employer benefits for extensions to a partner and children. And for wealthy couples, same-sex families may be able to simplify estate planning to remove complications and reduce taxes.

·         High net-worth couples should be informed of the tax implications that may be detrimental to their long-term plan. Couples who can file federal taxes jointly may jump into a higher tax bracket, lose deductions or have them phased out, and face higher AMT. (related article)

·         Financial agreements should be created or reviewed, along with any trusts, by an attorney to reflect changes in the law. Areas addressed include management of debt, property, health care, income, death and a procedure for possible separation and child care.

Obviously, there are more considerations than the ones above and the changes will take time to implement. Planning for same-sex couples requires a whole new perspective on planning and deep knowledge of the legalities. Advisors should not engage same-sex couples unless they are prepared to monitor the more than 1,000 applicable federal laws and update plans more frequently than traditional family plans.

-Dan Serra, CFP®, works with same-sex couples as senior advisor at Freed Advisors in Chevy Chase, MD. He is an Accredited Domestic Partnership Advisor (ADPA) designee. More information on same-sex planning is available at www.LifePartnersPlanning.com.

Jay Mooreland Talks About "The Emotional Investor"

Just before our luncheon program, we spoke with our speaker, Jay Mooreland, Behavioral Economist, MS, CFP® about his presentation titled "The Emotional Investor."

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In the 90 minute presentation, Jay examines what drives investor behavior. How do we better understand clients and thus better communicate with them to help them not do the wrong thing at the wrong time? "Irrational" behavior, says Mooreland, is normal behavior.

 http://youtu.be/fDnpCRTrLHA

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The Emotional Investor

The Emotional Investor

By Bryan Beatty

FPA NCA Membership Program July 11, 2013

Maggiano’s Restaurant, McLean, VA

Check in-11:30AM, Opening Announcements-Noon, End-2:00PM

Two CFP CEU, Two MD Insurance, Two VA Insurance, Two CIMA Approved and 2 CPA CPE Offered!

So if the average of the last 10 years of the market thru June 20, 2013 as measured by the S & P 500 is 6.95%, why is it that the average investor has a return no where near that number? Now before we go any further I know your clients are not the average investor. After all, they hired you to provide them guidance. According to a survey by Franklin Templeton, 79% of individuals still do not work with an advisor, and even some will leave an advisor for reasons that cause them great harm. Behavioral finance is that cause.

For the July luncheon program, our speaker is Jay Mooreland, Behavioral Economist, MS, CFP®.  “The Emotional Investor” examines what drives investor behavior. How do we better understand clients and thus better communicate with them to help them not do the wrong thing at the wrong time? He will help you understand that “irrational” behavior is normal behavior.

Join us for a great presentation on Investor Behavior and a closer look at behavioral finance.

NexGen: The Next Generation of Financial Advisors

Who is NexGen?

By Laurie Belew

In Part I of this article, I described what NexGen is: a vibrant community of young (age 36 and under) financial planning professionals. We connect throughout the year in a variety of ways, and the FPA-NCA chapter is taking steps to better integrate NexGen professionals. We hope you will begin seeing more NexGen participation at our chapter events. So, who is the NexGen Advisor?

The “age 36 and under” requirement certainly captures a wide range of experience levels. Many are recent entrants to the profession, perhaps graduates of CFP^® Board registered financial planning programs, and are eager to learn from peers about getting started in the profession. Others are professionals with close to 15 years of experience as advisors. NexGen members are paraplanners, brokers, advisors, associates, operations processors, compliance professionals, and business owners.

NexGen members are also leaders within the profession. Mike Branham, current president of the FPA, is a former NexGen President. Three members of the 2013 FPA Experience task force are past presidents: Sabrina Lowell (task force chair), Caleb Brown, and Tara Scottino. Mike Anderson, FPA Retreat 2013 task force member, is a former NexGen leader.

NexGen is also represented by thought-leaders in our profession. Michael Kitces, a NexGen founder and author of The Kitces Report and Nerd's Eye View, was named one of the 25 most influential people in our industry by Investment Advisor. Tim Maurer, author of The Ultimate Financial Plan: Balancing your Money and Life, has been active in NexGen. Caleb Brown, current Chair of NexGen, created a firm which specializes in job placement for financial planning students. And let's not forget the NexGen members successfully starting financial planning degree programs at schools such as William Patterson and Saint Joseph’s University, both in our backyard.

As may be expected, many conversations among NexGen members are related to finding early success in the profession, gaining acceptance of the generations before us, and helping clients see past the lack of gray hair. But conversations are also related to starting one's own practice or stepping into a partner role at a well-established firm. Several NexGen members, both past and present, own their own practices, while others have found a path to partnership within their firms.

Regardless of age, NexGen members want to have an open dialogue with members of the financial planning community. After all, the idea for NexGen was a result of the mentoring relationship Aaron Coates, a young professional and NexGen founder, developed with Ben Coombes, a pioneer in our profession. They saw NexGen as a way to bridge the generation gap and transfer knowledge to the next generation of financial advisors, continuing to move the profession forward.

I hope the two NexGen blog articles have provided a new perspective about what NexGen means and about who we are. Please support the FPA-NCA in its efforts to integrate NexGen advisors into our profession and our chapter. You can help in many ways. Attend one of our networking happy hours, mentor a young advisor, volunteer to speak at a local NexGen study group session, or consider how a next generation financial advisor may fit into your firm. And please, share your experiences as a seasoned professional with us every chance you get. One challenge in transferring information from one generation to the next is getting the conversation started, so hopefully this series will make each of you more comfortable having conversations with those inside your firm or with someone you meet at an FPA-NCA event. We are eager to have a conversation with you!

How Do I Get More Out of FPA NCA?

President’s Message by Ryan Fleming, CFP®

Happy June FPAers. I was thinking about a gathering we had with some younger members in May that drew about 40 individuals. One of the big takeaways was that they really want to be involved, but they don’t always feel welcomed. It occurred to me that it might not just be this group that feels that way.

Each of us pays our required annual dues – there are 825 members in our chapter. We’re a top five chapter. The biggest gatherings – our symposia – see 150 (spring) to 300 (winter) of us in attendance. Some of us even go to monthly lunch, learning, and networking meetings – 90 to 120 for each of our luncheons. But the NCA board has 16 volunteers as committee co-chairs on just 9 committees.

We have room for many. Our golf committee was 12 members deep, and they could probably have used a couple additional volunteers. Programs, professional development, and government relations committees don’t have any committee members beyond the board members. Joining a committee is easy and it’s a great way to dip your toe into the waters of FPA. Also, if you have any interest in a board position, joining a committee is the fastest way to get there. Go to the last page of any newsletter for the list of committees and chairs. Or, if you have a few minutes, take a look at the board member job descriptions in the About/Governing Documents section to see if anything interests you.

With our new web host comes a neat new classified section. Check it out at FPANCA.org, click Financial Professionals, run your pointer over Newsletters, and click on Job Bank. Last month, we had six people; in May, that was down to two. If you have a position you need to fill or you want to put your résumé out there for the world to see, send a note to Peggy (peggynelson8@verizon.net) so she can assist with getting your posting set up.

We have one more luncheon before fall – July 11^th at Maggiano’s in Tysons. Jay Mooreland, a CFP® and a behavioral economist, presents The Emotional Investor – Solving Client Volatility. Hope to see you there. In the meantime, if you want to connect, please reach out to me or one of my fellow board members.

Announcing the 2013 FPA NCA Spring Symposium

By Kathleen Sindell, PhD

 

Plan to attend the 2013 FPA NCA Spring Educational Symposium at the Sheraton Premiere Hotel, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, VA   20182 from 7:00 am to 5:30 pm on Thursday, June 6, 2013. This conference provides an opportunity to engage with a community of senior executives, as well as a variety of strategic offerings, designed exclusively for individuals, institutions, and firms that deliver financial planning. The top five reasons for attending include:

1.      Getting the practical guidance you need to develop the most effective planning strategies: You are a professional. The topics in this symposium are current, in the news and timely. The educational sessions are great sources for discussions with your clients.

2.      Participating in world-class educational events: This educational symposium focuses on the long-term financial planning of your clients. Top-notch presenters will provide first-hand knowledge of the latest methods and techniques for professional financial planning. Discussions on a variety of topics will include examining the tax landscape after the “fiscal cliff”, the latest global, national and regional economic and market outlooks, alternative investments, rethinking investment risk, the case for investing in U.S. equities, making the best use of 529 plans, planning for short life expectancies, retirement planning trends and maximizing Social Security benefits.

3.      Connecting with a community of like-minded individuals: Network with your peers – the top planners, advisors and industry vendors in the region. Develop new friendships and business partnerships.

4.      Effortlessly gaining continuing education credit: Earn 8 CFP CEU, 8 VA INS, 8 MD INS, 8 CIMA & 8 CPA CPE APPROVED!

5.      Getting access to award-winning publications and research products: Visit with our sponsors to earn your Raffle Tickets for many valuable prizes. (Raffle prizes include three iPads and five $100 VISA Gift Cards)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE PROGRAM OVERVIEW
REGISTER NOW!