Latest news with #RobertCannon
Forbes
01-08-2025
- Business
- Forbes
What Today's Retirees Need From Their Financial Advisors
Robert Cannon, Managing Partner of ExperityCPA. Retirement isn't what it used to be. Not long ago, it often meant leaving the workforce at 65, collecting a pension and settling into a predictable, quieter chapter of life. But today's retirees are rewriting that script entirely. People are living longer, and many stay active well into their 70s and 80s. Meanwhile, retirees are also facing a complex financial environment. This shift is reshaping the way advisors support clients. Retirement planning now requires a more dynamic, personalized and emotionally attuned approach because longevity, purpose, healthcare and taxes all play a larger role than ever before. Here's how I believe advisors can adapt. Consider how longevity changes the game. One of the most significant forces reshaping retirement is longer life expectancy. A healthy 65-year-old today may be planning for 25 or even 30 years of retirement. That kind of timeline brings new challenges and opportunities. Retirement planning is no longer about just reaching a number, but making that number last over decades. As an advisor, you'll need to shift your focus from accumulation to long-term sustainability. This includes building income strategies that can adapt over time, preparing for inflation and market downturns and creating flexible portfolios that evolve with clients' lives. Recognize that many retirees look beyond dollars and search for meaning. More and more, I'm finding that retirees are asking not only, 'Do I have enough?' but also, 'What comes next?' Financial security is important, but it's often a means to something deeper. Many clients see retirement as a new beginning. Some pursue second careers, passion projects or world travel. One couple I worked with sold their business and used their next chapter to launch a nonprofit focused on environmental education. For them, that wasn't just retirement; it was reinvention. Advisors today need to help align financial plans with what truly matters to clients. Purpose, fulfillment and legacy aren't side topics; they're central to the conversation. Don't overlook the impact of healthcare expenses. Healthcare is one of the most unpredictable and potentially expensive aspects of retirement. While Medicare might provide a foundation, it doesn't cover everything. Costs related to long-term care, like assisted living, in-home support or memory care, can quickly derail an otherwise solid plan. That's why it's so important to address healthcare proactively. Whether you help your clients explore long-term care insurance, set aside dedicated funds or plan for the possibility of future care needs, preparing for health-related expenses is a crucial part of modern retirement planning. Remember that tax planning is more important than ever. I've seen many retirees surprised by how much of an impact taxes can have on their retirement income. Required minimum distributions, the taxation of Social Security benefits and other state-specific rules can create a hefty and unexpected tax burden. Educate your clients on the importance of thoughtful tax planning, such as phased Roth conversions, tax-efficient withdrawal strategies and charitable giving tools, for example. This can help retirees keep more of what they've earned and increase the longevity of their portfolios. It's no longer just about investment returns; it's also about how much clients keep after taxes. Prioritize flexibility. The idea of a single retirement 'formula' is outdated. Some clients want to retire early. Others prefer to keep working part-time or spend freely while they're healthiest. The modern retirement experience is as diverse as the people living it. That's why flexibility is essential. You can use strategies like bucketing, dynamic withdrawal models and individualized risk assessments to design plans for clients that can adapt over time. Retirement isn't a single event. It's a series of transitions, and planning should reflect that reality. Remember that while technology can help, people still matter most. As expectations evolve, so does the client experience. In my experience, many retirees, especially those in younger generations like Gen-X, appreciate the convenience of client portals, secure messaging and real-time access to their financial data. Technology is improving transparency, responsiveness and engagement. Still, remember that no app can replace the value of human connection. A quiet conversation or a simple check-in often reveals more than a full report. The emotional side of retirement is real. Many retirees experience identity shifts, family changes and fears about the future. The most effective advisors are not just financial professionals; they're trusted guides through one of life's biggest transitions. Meeting The Moment Today's retirees are looking for more than financial plans. They want guidance, clarity and a partner who can help them navigate both the numbers and the nuance of retirement. As the landscape continues to evolve, so must the way advisors serve. By combining financial expertise with empathy, embracing technology without losing the human touch and creating flexible, purpose-driven plans, advisors can not only help clients retire but also help them thrive in the years that follow. The information provided here is not investment, tax or financial advice. You should consult with a licensed professional for advice concerning your specific situation. Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
Business Insider
15-06-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
I tried 2 ways of investing in bitcoin. One thrived and one failed miserably, teaching me a valuable lesson.
Back in December of 2024, I decided to hop aboard the bitcoin train and add some crypto exposure to my portfolio. Markets were flush off of the recent Trump victory, there were whispers of a national bitcoin reserve, and bitcoin had recently broken the $100,000 threshold for the first time. The cryptocurrency had gone mainstream enough for late adopters like myself to deem it investable. For my first foray into bitcoin, I purchased a share of Blackrock 's iShares Bitcoin Trust Trust (IBIT). I later added a share of Semler Scientific (SMLR), a healthcare technology company that holds bitcoin on its balance sheet. I wanted to try multiple methods of investing in bitcoin. In hindsight, I realize I committed the classic retail investor impulse: buying in because of FOMO. Sure, positive investor sentiment led to gains in bitcoin, as well as the ETF I bought that was designed to track the crypto. But my stock purchase proved ill-timed. Almost six months later, bitcoin has crossed new all-time-highs, and I have mixed feelings on my investment. Bitcoin ETFs are a beginner-friendly way to get exposure I opted to buy IBIT instead of actual spot bitcoin because it was a more accessible way to get exposure. I didn't want the hassle of setting up a Coinbase account. Plus, buying a single share in an ETF was more psychologically appealing than buying a tiny fraction of a bitcoin (I did not have a spare $100,000 or the risk tolerance to buy an entire bitcoin). The performance has been encouraging. Year-to-date, IBIT is up about 14%, outpacing a 12% gain for bitcoin itself. It's done its job of tracking the crypto, and even added a little extra. And it's far outperformed the S&P 500, which is up just 2% in 2025. ETFs can experience slight tracking differences due to management fees, operational costs, and the timing of inflows and outflows. But if you want a rough proxy of bitcoin performance without actually owning the underlying asset, IBIT gets the job done. A year and a half over its launch, IBIT has gained incredible popularity, growing to over $70 billion in assets under management. Robert Cannon, a financial advisor at Experity Wealth with a specialization in alternative assets, recommends his bitcoin-curious clients to start with the ETF. "It's the easiest, cleanest representation of bitcoin, compared to some of the other strategies that are a bit esoteric," Cannon told me. The ETF wrapper has really helped bitcoin adoption take off in the last year, Rahul Sen Sharma, president and co-CEO at the custom index provider Indxx, told me. Sharma's seeing a surge in interest for bitcoin and digital asset ETFs, and he believes Trump's continued support for crypto will pave the way for more mainstream adoption. Be careful with bitcoin treasury companies Getting bitcoin exposure through other methods was indeed more esoteric — and much less profitable. I added Semler Scientific to my portfolio on January 8, 2025, and it's down more than 40% since then. There's a growing trend among companies to add bitcoin to their balance sheets, with Strategy, Tesla, and GameStop being one of the most prominent examples. The president's own Trump Media and Technology Group has recently raised $2.5 billion to buy bitcoin. Semler Scientific started adding bitcoin to its balance sheet in May of last year and now holds over 4,000 bitcoins. It sounds like a good idea in theory: holding bitcoin as a reserve asset could be a hedge against inflation and dollar weakness, and could also lead to capital appreciation as bitcoin takes off. Some companies like Strategy have had tremendous success. The firm has accumulated over half a million bitcoins, and the stock has outperformed the underlying crypto year-to-date. However, it's hard to replicate the scale and expertise of Strategy. While many of Cannon's clients often inquire about bitcoin treasury companies like Strategy, he usually recommends they stick to the basics with an ETF. There were also company-specific headwinds for Semler Scientific. The company had been under investigation from the Department of Justice for allegedly misleading claims about one of its medical devices. My takeaway from the experience is that buying a single stocks as a bitcoin proxy is probably not a good idea. When you buy into a bitcoin treasury company, you're also inheriting all of its company-specific risks. That includes everything from management decisions and financial health to legal exposure, product performance, and market sentiment around the core business. As a result, the benefits of diversification with bitcoin are watered down. If you're looking for bitcoin exposure, either buying the real thing or a spot ETF is your best bet. Maybe the strategy from here on out is to close out of my position in SMLR and do some tax-loss harvesting this year.
