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Rescue your lost mobile device with this simple setting

Posted on October 25, 2012 by in General, Technology

This is the back of a Town Car. Don’t leave your phone here!

I just flew over 16,000 miles in the last 60 days, passing through airport security and riding in taxis at least a dozen times. Thankfully, I always remember to gather up my laptop and phone before I head to my destination.

But what if you have that one time when you’re in a rush and leave your mobile device behind?

This month’s Quickview update for Morningstar Advisor tells you about one simple setting you can use on your laptop, tablet, or smartphone to increase your chances of recovering your device.

Go read Rescue Your Lost Mobile Gear at Morningstar Advisor now.

FPPad surpasses a milestone with its 500th post

Posted on June 23, 2012 by in General

Advisers, like all human beings, love round numbers; increments of 1,000 in the Dow Jones Index, 100 in the Nasdaq and S&P 500, and $100 million in AUM.

So when FPPad hits a round number, it’s cause for some celebration.

Friday’s Bits & Bytes update marked a minor milestone as the 500th post to FPPad. It seems like only yesterday I celebrated 100 posts (for the record, it was December 2008).

To celebrate, I connected with Timothy Welsh, founder of Nexus Strategy and respected colleague during a short visit to Dallas.

Here’s to the next 500 posts!

FPPad is moving to Atlanta!

Posted on June 18, 2012 by in General

Atlanta, Georgia twilight

I have exciting news to share today. FPPad is moving to Atlanta in July!

You may have noticed that the frequency of new posts has slowed somewhat, or the disclaimer on my Consulting page that says I’m not taking new clients through the end of July. I’m busy getting ready to move from Dallas, where my business and family have been based since 2009.

I’m looking forward to exploring the Atlanta metro and building on the success FPPad achieved as a Dallas-based company. After July, you should notice an increase in new content at FPPad, including video, podcasts, and a few new secret developments up my sleeve.

Sign up for my free newsletter to keep up to date on the latest news and information.

And if you live in and around Atlanta and want to connect, contact me!

(Image credit: drashleyj)

How to download photos off of your new iPad

Posted on April 2, 2012 by in General

So you took a number of photos with your new iPad, plugged it in to your iMac, opened iTunes, and…

there were no photos to download or sync.

So how do you download photos off your iPad?

If you’re new to Mac OS, you may not know about Image Capture. It’s a built-in app you can use to download photos from most external devices, including the iPad.

To get your photos moved to your iMac, fire up Image Capture, select the iPad in the list of devices in the left-hand sidebar, identify the “Import To:” directory, and click Import. That’s all you need to do!

The one hot topic in TD Ameritrade Institutional 2012 pre-conference sessions

Posted on February 1, 2012 by in General

Leading up to its 2012 National Conference, TD Ameritrade Institutional held a full day of pre-conference sessions today for the benefit of its advisors.

George Tamer, Director Strategic Relationships and Consulting, welcomed 683 attendees to the pre-conference sessions, representing an uptick in attendance of 88% over the previous year.

Pre-conference tracks were split across four areas:

  • Learn How to Market Your Fiduciary Advantage
  • 401(k) Fundamentals
  • Options Market Center Workshop
  • Capturing Investment Opportunities
  • Boost Efficiency with Technology

I attended the Technology tracks, and throughout the day, the hottest topic that came up was the DocuSign integration with Veo Open Access.

Supporting E-Signature

The DocuSign integration with Veo Open Access allows a nearly seamless workflow from form creation, client signature, to back office processing. It sounds too good to be true almost, and advisors are rightly concerned about end-client experience. Clients will be faced with authentication questions from DocuSign, possibly failing to authenticate, figuring out how to get their own copies of signed documents, making sure they use the right Internet browser, and so on.

To its credit, TD Ameritrade Institutional’s team, including Andy Wang, Senior Manager of Product Management, was very proactive on addressing advisor concern. The custodian is not simply pushing out the new integration without any testing. It’s clear that they’ve listened to adviser feedback.

For example, Wang said that the DocuSign integration allows customization of client authentication questions so they’re not impossible for most clients to use. Wang cited an address of a house a client owned in the 1970s as one of the more challenging questions the default system might generate. The customized questions, according to Wang, are much more relevant, yet they still fall under the strict RSA guidelines for enforcing accurate authentication.

Electronic signature workflow presents a great opportunity for efficiency in an adviser’s firm, particularly because once documents are electronically signed, they are automatically routed to the TD Ameritrade back office servicing team. This largely removes advisers from the follow up chain, where they used to be required to gather all the signed paperwork, FedEx it to the custodian, and then call the back office to confirm receipt. That’s antiquated process is history.

Tomorrow, the main event kicks off with business updates from Tom Bradley and Fred Tomczyk, followed by keynote sessions from Robert M. Gates, 22nd U.S. Secretary of Defense and Sheila Bair, 19th Chairman of the FDIC.

Look for more updates soon!

Boost your online security with two-factor authentication

Posted on November 29, 2011 by in General

After participating virtually (e.g. online) in what was likely the busiest shopping weekend of the year last week, I logged in to reconcile one of my credit card accounts. Lo and behold, they added a new security feature to authenticate my account when I used a second computer to log in.

The timing is perfect as my blog post for Morningstar was just posted yesterday, titled Quickview: Get Enhanced Security With Two-factor Authentication.

So Chase recently added a two-factor authentication process it calls an Identification Code to complete your account logon and verify your identity. This is the first screen I was presented at login:

After clicking Next, I was given the option of receiving my code using several contact methods associated with my account profile. Options included voice or text messages to one of my phone numbers or receiving a code via an email account previously registered to my account.

Just as in my blog post, more and more online providers, including free web-based email programs, social network services, and credit card companies are giving customers the option (and in Chase’s case, requiring) to boost their account security by adding two-factor authentication.

Is this the right way for advisers to use social media?

Posted on November 22, 2011 by in General

There isn’t one “right” way to use social media. Opinions cover a wide spectrum on how advisers can best use social media to market their practice, create their brand, and listen to conversations by clients and colleagues.

But there certainly are some uninspiring ways to use these new communication channels. I submit to you Exhibit A:

(And what’s up with the Socialware app? When you look at individual tweets on the web, they’re white text on white background. QA fail!)

Live from NAPFA Connections: How to stay optimistic in challenging times

Posted on November 17, 2011 by in General

One of the worthwhile breakout sessions I attended at NAPFA Connections this week was presented by Michael Bryant of Career Transition Services titled Staying Optimistic in Challenging Times.

In this session, Bryant began with the premise that we are all born optimistic. If we weren’t, he said, we would have just stopped evolving long ago and would have stayed happy as cavemen.

According to Bryant, all people have an optimistic part that can be tapped. Consider the following examples he gave to illustrate this point. When asked how many people think they’ll live to be 100, about 10% of an audience will respond affirmatively. In reality, only about 0.2% of the population actually does.

Or what about married couples asked if they might ever become divorced? Almost no one answers in the affirmative.

Bryant’s point is that optimism is something that is a part of all of us, and over time, we can develop skills to learn how to use our optimism to change our behavior and the way we react to external events.

Optimists, according to Bryant, just think differently. They see problems as temporary and externalize negative events (e.g. “It’s not my fault I got stuck in traffic, it just happens.”). For them, difficulties are limited and they think with an abundance mentality.

On the other hand, pessimists internalize many negative events (“I should have known I was going to get stuck in traffic.”) and assume responsibility for events beyond their control (“I’m sorry the markets had a bad week.”). Many times, Bryant says that pessimists play “pain olympics” with others, attempting to appear as the most unlucky, unfortunate individuals in the room.

Bryant provided 15 techniques to session attendees to help identify pessimistic traits, and what to do to refocus negative reactions and turn them into positive ones. If you have the chance to see or hear Bryant at an upcoming conference, circle his session as one to attend so that you, too, can be introduced to his techniques to stay optimistic in challenging times.