The most common money mistakes normal people make
Posted On July 30, 2022
Arindam Nag will tell you the 2008 financial crisis wasn’t really caused by Wall Street. It was caused by the general public’s lack of financial literacy. That’s a problem Nag has been trying to solve as CEO and co-founder of CentSai.com, a financial education platform that seeks to provide the public with the financial guidance it needs to make informed decisions. In the latest episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” Nag explains why 2008 was a lesson that just because you can doesn’t mean you should. He also shares why, with longer life expectancies leaving some people retired for… Read More
Categories: Blog, Financial Services, Podcast, What's Working with Cam Marston
On the road again with the Gen-Savvy Financial Advisor
Posted On July 28, 2022
When I was asked to propose a half-day program for financial advisors I was happy to dust off the contents of the Gen-Savvy Financial Advisor – update the data, refresh the slides, rehearse the content – and deliver the program at the annual LPL Focus event in Denver. The last time I did two half day programs on the topic with in 2019 with LPL in Boston. This time I added an hour of content on recruiting and retaining talent. These small-office advisors struggle with finding and retaining talent just like other businesses do. They need some understanding of the… Read More
Categories: Financial Services, Recruiting, What's Working with Cam Marston
How Dr. David Bronner rebuilt Alabama’s retirement system, and its image
Posted On July 14, 2022
Dr. David Bronner wasn’t the first choice to lead the Retirement Systems of Alabama when the job was last open back in 1973. He wasn’t the second or third choice. He wasn’t even the 100th choice. But he was the right choice. Bronner, who grew up in Minnesota before coming to Alabama for law school, ended up running the state’s retirement system because neither of the two most powerful men in the state at that time – Gov. George Wallace and Paul Hubbert, then head of the Alabama Education Association – knew who he was. And therefore, after about 160… Read More
Categories: Advertising, Blog, Financial Services, Podcast, Real Estate, Succession Planning, What's Working with Cam MarstonIncreasing 401k Plan Contributions – Our Successful Campaign
Posted On November 14, 2019
Showing off a bit of our work with an independent recordkeeper who we’re working with to increase plan contributions in test groups. This will be seen by 20-24 YO Males Enrolled in their plan. It will arrive to them via email and USPS on / near the same day. You should ask, “Is it working?” Answer: YES. Quite nicely, in fact.
Categories: Financial Services, Product Design, Work
Gen X won’t be overlooked by financial industry for long
Posted On August 22, 2019
As the Baby Boomers enter retirement and millennials are now the largest segment of the workforce and the consumer base, we’ve noted before that Generation X has somewhat of a middle child syndrome. This might seem particularly true in the financial industry, where Boomers essentially built the industry as we currently know it, and millennials are the group that seems to have grabbed its attention as investors. That leaves a generation in the middle that, despite being in its peak earning years, has gotten less attention from the financial industry despite likely needing it the most, according to a story… Read More
Categories: Financial Services, Generation X, Retirement
Banking in the digital age means doing more with less
Posted On September 26, 2018
During the recession about a decade ago, many banks found themselves saddled with bad debt and forced to freeze their lending. This created an opportunity for new banks to gain a foothold – smaller, more nimble institutions with fewer branches and more flexibility. One such institution was ServisFirst Bank, a Birmingham-based bank that’s now operating in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee. Our guests in this episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston” are two of the leaders of ServisFirst’s operations in Mobile – Bibb Lamar, who serves as President and CEO for the region, and Alex Arendall, Senior… Read More
Categories: Financial Services, Podcast, Recession Economy, What's Working with Cam Marston
Millennials finding it tough to bounce back from Great Recession
Posted On June 16, 2018
We grouse about their participation trophies and helicopter parenting. We stereotype them as overly entitled and self-absorbed. We laugh about their reactions to pop culture standards from before they were born. But instead of mocking millennials, we should perhaps be worried about them. A new study from the Federal Reserve Bank of St.Louis found that many millennials have never gotten over the Great Recession of the late 2000s. The study found that the net worth of a typical family whose head was born in the 1980s, the front edge of the millennial generation, was 34 percent below expectations, and lost… Read More
Categories: Blog, Financial Services, Generation Y / Millennials, Wealth
Demystifying your paycheck: Who FICA is and why he’s taking your money
Posted On June 6, 2018
During an NBA career that spanned two decades, Shaquille O’Neal made more money per season than most of us will ever see in our lives. But when he got his first paycheck, he had a revelation with which most of us can relate: “Who the hell is FICA?” he famously asked. “When I meet him, I’m going to punch him in the face.” Michael Roe had a similar revelation, visiting his manager’s office after receiving his first paycheck to complain about being shortchanged. The experience inspired Roe to educate himself about personal finance and ultimately to create The Financial Millennial… Read More
Categories: Financial Services, Podcast, Wealth
Setting up a Self-Directed IRA? You Really Need to Know These 5 Things
Posted On May 23, 2018
One of the pieces of research we cite the most is the lack of Baby Boomer retirement savings, especially in the younger half of the Boomers. This lack of savings has many implications from their longevity in the workplace to Gen X’s inability to get promoted. Today I’m posting a guest blog from Rick Pendykoski about a self-directed IRA – a type of retirement savings tool. If you’re a Boomer and haven’t begun retirement savings, maybe this is the right one for you. -Cam If you are setting up a self-directed IRA to expand your financial portfolio beyond stocks and bonds,… Read More
Categories: Financial Services, Retirement
Dealing with the mid-career doldrums: Is it time for a change?
Posted On April 12, 2018
Are you tired of your job? No, I mean really tired – to the point of throwing away a career of twenty-some-odd years and starting over? You may be suffering from a fairly common phenomenon I call the mid-career doldrums. You’ve been doing the same job for a couple decades, you’re bored, and the achievements that once thrilled you don’t move the needle for you anymore. You crave something new, but stepping away from the familiar into the unknown can be scary. Can you make the leap? Should you? My guest in this episode of “What’s Working With Cam Marston”… Read More
Categories: Financial Services, Generation X, Podcast, Work