Continuity Plans may be required by the regulators, but there is no industry standard for how to do Continuity Planning successfully. Does your Continuity Plan include everything it needs to protect your clients, family, and advisory firm if you are incapacitated/unexpectedly die? In this blog, I share 9 warning signs your Continuity Plan is incomplete if a triggering event happens.

Do you remember the excitement and big dreams you had for your firm when you launched? The initial honeymoon period of launching an RIA fades over the years. One way I love to reignite my passion for the business is to update my vision for what the firm could look like 3 years from now. In this blog, we’ll dive into 5 tips for updating your advisory firm’s vision documents and share about Ellevate Advisors’ renewed 3-year vision! 

Writing your own retirement speech can be a special kind of intimidating and awkward! This is your career signoff, and there might be some big emotions involved. My father retired early due to his health. Using what I learned from my dad’s beautiful speech, check out these 5 tips to help advisors write their retirement speeches!

They say there are two sure things in life: death and taxes. As a financial advisor, having a written Continuity Plan in case you can no longer work due to an emergency or suddenly pass away is not only responsible, but it’s also your fiduciary duty. After talking with compliance experts, custodial paperwork gurus, and attorneys, I’ve compiled vital information that every advisor wishes they knew in order to get their continuity plan in place!

Younger advisors want to become successors but often feel that it’s “not their place” to bring it up. Senior advisors want to pass the torch but may not know how to start the conversation. I get that it can be intimidating to talk succession. So here are my conversation starter tips for sellers and buyers to gain the insights needed to start the succession dialogue!

If you've been following my story, you know that my family and I recently returned from living and working in France for two months It was an incredible adventure, but also filled with incredible hardship. Keep reading to learn the REAL story of how I practiced self-care during our trip!

Sellers in internal succession plans assume that their successor already knows how to run a firm and manage clients, and if they don’t, they start to look for a new buyer. This week, I'm sharing my most popular Meeting Agenda Template, which both buyers and sellers have come to love!

An advisory firm can have an excellent transition strategy, with the right team in place to execute the strategy, but the end result can be torpedoed by a low-trust tax, or multiplied by a high-trust dividend. So, how do we create trust? Keep reading to find out!

What would happen to your business if you were to get hit by the proverbial bus today? I have seen first hand what can happen and it's not pretty. Our online Continuity Course for financial advisory firms is now live! This is your emergency exit planning solution!

Like Albert Einstein, we’ve simplified valuations into the following 3 simple variables. Here’s what you need to know about Why, When, and Where to get a valuation!

If I were to get hit by a bus today, there would be a lot of loose ends in my life and business. I think that's not right, which is why I've been creating a course to help advisors everywhere solve this problem. Read this week's blog to learn what to expect when you take our course!

Completing an annual valuation on your business is the financial service industry equivalent of undergoing your annual physical. Unlike an annual physical, your valuation results should get better as your business matures. It provides data to set the right business goals, and a starting point to create an exit strategy. Keep reading to learn all that your valuation can do for your business today and in the future!

The foundation of the financial services industry is in historical data and facts. This is both a blessing and a curse! Instead of focusing only on IQ, we’ve found that embracing your EQ (Emotional Intelligence) and TQ (Transition Intelligence) makes you a better advisor, and greatly increases your happiness during your succession plan. Here are a few tips on how you can improve your TQ starting today!

These are my favorite 7 books on exit planning for advisors! Whether you're contemplating your exit, or in the middle of a transition right now, this list lays a fantastic foundation for any succession plan!

We're celebrating our 1st birthday with a quick update on where the M&A market stands now, in terms of average deal terms and the most common challenges for financial advisors in the succession planning space, according to DFA's annual survey!

In life, some decisions are made for us, but your exit should NOT be one of those things! Here are two stories which illustrate the beauty of exit planning, in being prepared to find the right buyer at the right price.

The complexities of succession planning often mean that deals take years to develop, only to end in disaster. Investing the time and money to build your team could be the one thing that carries your deal through, at the end of the day.

What is a “failed” succession plan? That answer depends on how the partners define success or failure. Here are 7 red flags to watch for, and take action to save your succession plan!

What actually happens when an advisor doesn’t have a written continuity plan in place? We can plan for our succession plan, but we can’t adequately control a continuity situation. Here’s a real life story.

Many young advisors would love to acquire an advisory firm but have been burned by sellers who don’t value open communication and mutual respect. Here are the 6 stages to growing a firm through acquisitions that mutually benefit all parties.