It’s a brave new world for educational savers — and none too soon. In 2025, lawmakers outdid themselves by expanding ways families can help their children or grandchildren obtain a degree or certificate.

To invest or not to invest in alternatives; that is the question for anyone involved in the business of retirement planning. FAs can help clients navigate the brave new world of customized alternatives, but this is easier said than done.

While tariff negotiations may well bear fruit eventually, investors today are trying to figure out the impact of changing trade pacts on GDP growth, interest rate levels, the value of the dollar, and the ability of the Treasury to refinance $9.2 trillion of our $36 trillion federal debt in 2025.

Risk. It’s a tiny word for a critical investment concept, one that necessarily merits ample discussion by advisors with their clients. Unfortunately, evidence suggests this may not be happening evenly across the advisory industry.