The Art of Practicing and the Art of Communication in Financial Planning

The Art of Practicing and the Art of Communication in Financial Planning is a rare collection of 80 essays on what constitutes the art of practicing financial planning and the art of communication in financial planning. The contributors represent the best brains in the financial planning profession. The insightful articles will help planners to effectively use their technical skills toward ensuring their clients’ financial success and well-being. The book can be used as a supplement to Practicing Financial Planning: For Professionals and CFP® Aspirants (12th Edition) published in 2016 by SAGE Publications.

Harold Evensky is chairman of Evensky & Katz/Foldes Financial. Prior to forming his own company, he served as a vice president of investments with major investment banking firms. Mr Evensky received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Cornell University.

He is the past chair of the International CFP® Council, the CFP® Board of Governors, the Board of  Examiners, and the Board of Appeals. He is the research columnist for the Journal of Financial Planning. He has also served on the National Board of the IAFP, the Charles Schwab Institutional Advisory Board and Council, and as chair of the TIAA-CREF Institute Advisor Advisory Board. He is a member of the Financial Planning Association, the Academy of Financial Services, the CFA Institute, and is an associate member of the American Bar Association, and the American Institute of CPAs.

In 2002, his paper entitled, “Changing Equity Premium Implications for Wealth Management Portfolio Design and Implementation,” was selected as the winner of the Journal of Financial Planning, Planning Techniques and Methods, “Call for Papers” competition. In 1999, 2000, and 2001, he was named by Accounting Today as one the professions most influential people. In 1999, he was awarded the Dow Jones Investment Advisor Portfolio Management Award for Lifetime Achievement. In 2001 he was listed by Financial Planning Magazine as one of five “Movers, Shakers and Decision Makers, The Most Influential People in the Financial Planning Profession” and he was named one of the “25 Power Elite” in the financial services industry by Investment News. In 2006, he received the Skip Viragh Award for Industry Excellence; in 2014 the Insider’s Forum Leadership Award and the Investment Advisor’s IA 25, the 25 Most Influential People in Financial Planning; in 2015 the IA 35 for 35 “leaders who have stood out over the past 35 years and will influence financial services for decades to come.” Mr Evensky has participated as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and the National Association of Security Dealers (NASD). He has been a principal in his own broker–dealer firm and held NASD General Securities Principal and Municipal Securities Principal licenses.

Mr Evensky is an internationally recognized speaker on investment and financial planning issues. In addition, he has written for and is quoted frequently in the national press, and is the co-author of The New Wealth Management, Wealth Management, Hello Harold, self-published and co-editor of The Investment Think Tank, Theory, Strategy, and Practice for Advisers (Bloomberg), and Retirement Income Redesigned―Master Plans for Distribution (Bloomberg).

Alexandra Armstrong, CFP®, has worked in the investment field for 50 years. In 1977, she was the first person certified as a financial planner in Washington, DC. She is now chairman of Armstrong, Fleming & Moore, Inc., an independent personal financial planning and asset management firm based in Washington, DC, a firm which she started in 1983. Her broker dealer affiliation is Commonwealth Financial.

Alex is past chairman of the International Association for Financial Planning (now Financial Planning Association). She also served as chairman of the Foundation for Financial Planning (2000) and continues to serve on that board. She served in the past as president of the Boy Scouts National Capital Council and Treasurer of Reading is Fundamental.

Alex has received several national honors in her field. The most recent was the 2015 Women to Watch Lifetime Achievement Award, awarded to her by Investment News in March 2016. Additionally, Investment News in 2016 honored Alex by naming their lifetime achievement award after her, its first recipient. Among the most notable other awards were the induction into the Washington, DC, Business Hall of Fame in November 2006.

Alex has coauthored a monthly column on financial planning for Better Investing for over 30 years, the magazine published by the National Association of Investment Clubs. She is listed in Who’s Who in America. She coauthored a book for widows called On Your Own: A Widow’s Passage to Emotional and Financial Well-Being (Fifth Edition, 2012).

Sid Mittra, PhD, CFP®, is emeritus professor of finance at Oakland University. He is a past member of the CFP Board. Mittra is in several prestigious listings, including InternationalAuthors’ Who’s Who, American Men of Science, and Who’s Who in Finance and Industry.

Mittra is the author of more than a dozen books, including Practicing Financial Planning for Professionals and CFP Aspirants (SAGE, 2016, 12th Edition). For many years, he published a weekly newspaper article on personal financial planning topics for The Oakland Press (MI) and The Macomb Daily (MI). His professional articles have appeared in the Journal of Accountancy, Financial Planning, Journal of Financial Planning, Personal Financial Planning, and American Economic Review. Mittra is widely quoted in Money magazine, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, Financial Advisor, and other magazines and newspapers.

Mittra established and operated a boutique financial consulting firm, Coordinated Financial Planning, subsequently changing the name to Mittra & Associates, for over three decades. He uniquely combines conceptual and theoretical knowledge in financial management with communicative skills. He frequently speaks on financial economics, money, and financial management. He also advises corporations, partnerships, and closely held corporations.