The sad truth is we’re all vulnerable. If you use a smart phone or computer, you’re email and passwords are constantly in danger of attack by computer crooks. If it sounds slightly paranoid, it’s a good way for advisors to look at it.
Point is, A4A faithfully reports on security holes advisors need to know about it, like the one I read about today.
“The research specifically names the HTC Legend, EVO 4G, and Wildfire S; the Motorola Droid X; and the Samsung Epic 4G. Most at risk are users of the EVO 4G, which displayed the most vulnerabilities,” says Mashable.
Mashable says the security flaw, described in a white paper, is specific to a certain implementations of the Android operating system. So it won’t necessarily affect all Android phones.
A hole is reportedly opened when companies like HTC or Verizon overlay their own software (sometimes called “bloatware”) on top of the Android operating system — for example, HTC’s Sense interface — to differentiate themselves.
Advisors don’t need to get worked up about this threat but you do want to be aware of it just in case your cell phone behaves a little stangely. Mashable’s article is the scariest of several stories I found on the Web about the white paper. But its alarmist interpretation could be correct.
A financial advisor routinely deals with personal information, and you have a special obligation to your clients to treat their personal data with care. That’s the law.
Since changing our coverage in January, advisors have responded. And so far this month, the growth has accelerated sharply.
While it is not customary for sites like A4A to share Google Analytics figures, I have an ulterior motive.
Though we have successfully built a unique vehicle for advisors, we have not invested at all in getting additional sponsors.
We're focused on writing great content and too small to spend resources selling sponsorships.
If you would like to sponsor or help us sell sponsorships, please give me a call at 516 333 0066 x222.
Sponsors get benefits that no other outlet targeting advisors provides, and we have many of the best minds in the industry supporting our effort to deliver practical ideas to manage an advisory business.
To help investment advisors better understand the meaning of the downgrade by a major U.S. credit rating agency, Advisors4Advisors is today publishing a special edition.
A4A contributors, which include many of the smartest independent financial advisors in the country, are posting new blog entries today and tomorrow reacting to the credit downgrade.
At a time of heightened fear, I want to express my gratitude to the individuals for generously sharing their ideas on Advisors4Advisors to help other professionals.
Independent financial advisors generally don't have a chief investment strategist, staff economist, or teams of analysts who can assess these issues. So we are attempting to fill that gap here.
Please comment on the postings and share your ideas to help the thousands of advisors who are now part of the A4A online community.
The downgrade of the creditworthiness of the U.S. is, without question, an historic event. Just how significant it will be, however, is open to debate.
Please rely on A4A to promote intelligent exploration of the issue.
When advisors face a complex tax-planning situation, they’re often quick to refer the client to outside help. A better result would be to understand the basics of these advanced strategies enough to introduce them to clients, to be able to spot important issues, and then use an outside specialist to consult on specifics.
My blog will help you do that. Over the next weeks and months I’ll introduce topics that can help you help your clients, build your business, and develop a niche in key areas of advanced financial planning.
I’ll write about topics like:
Tax efficient investing
Investment portfolio planning for estates and trusts
Strategies for maximizing income in retirement
Roth IRAs and Roth IRA conversions
IRA planning issues
IRAs payable to trusts
Post mortem retirement plan issues
And starting this month, I’ll be presenting a four-part webinar series with Advisors4Advisors on tax-efficient investing.
I’ve been educating financial professionals —mostly CPAs and attorneys— for over 20 years, and now I’m focused on helping advisors. Taxes and estate planning are my specialty, and my practice focuses on family wealth transfer and preservation planning, charitable giving, retirement distribution planning, and estate administration.
If you have specific questions or complex planning topics that you’d like me to address in this blog, please let me know.
My blog photo is so old but I almost hate to change it. I look so young in that photo, and much thinner. When I first used this photo on my blog five years ago, it already was three years old.
Point is, my online persona looks younger than me, and I struggle with the idea of replacing it versus staying forever young online.
Back in the days when there were real newspapers, some columnists never changed their picture. Dear Abby was that way in The New York Post. .
I’m not saying I’m anywhere near as influential as Dear Abby, but I am an advice columnist.
Do you think I should stay forever young?
Or should I just wither away before you by changing the picture every year?
