Who Will Help Your Spouse with Investing After You Are Gone?

by Ethan S. Braid, CFA | Apr 18, 2025 | Blog, Estate Planning, Fiduciary Standard, Retirement Planning

Have you been managing the family wealth yourself for a long time and your spouse is either not interested or not capable of managing the investments if you are gone? Do you fear that your spouse might be taken advantage of by an unscrupulous financial salesperson?...

How Your Fee-Based Financial Advisor Hides Commissions

by Ethan S. Braid, CFA | Feb 22, 2025 | Blog, Fiduciary Standard

Fee-Based Financial Advisors, aka dual-registrants, have both a series 7 stockbroker license and a series 65 investment adviser license. Sometimes they have an insurance license too. According to FINRA, approximately 90% of financial advisors are fee-based dual...

Is my Financial Advisor a Fiduciary a Stockbroker or Both?

by Ethan S. Braid, CFA | May 30, 2024 | Blog, Fiduciary Standard

What is the fiduciary duty and why is that important? The fiduciary duty requires an investment adviser, by law, to act in the best interest of her clients, putting her clients’ interests ahead of her own at all times.[i]  Under the fiduciary duty, an investment...

Does Your Fee-Based Financial Advisor Have Conflicts of Interest?

by Ethan S. Braid, CFA | May 29, 2024 | Blog, Fiduciary Standard

How Many Financial Advisors Have Conflicts of Interest? Approximately 90% of financial advisors are dual registrants which means they are both financial advisors and stockbrokers. Dual registrant financial advisors often market themselves as “fee-based.”...

Fee-Only vs Fee-Based Financial Advisors. Don’t Get Ripped Off!

by Ethan S. Braid, CFA | May 27, 2024 | Blog, Fiduciary Standard

Today we are going to look at the differences between a fee-only advisor and a fee-based advisor.I am writing this article for all of you who are working with someone who tells you they are fee-based and they are probably ripping you off, hiding their commissions,...