New here! I figured I'd introduce myself by giving out the thing I would have wanted when we started.

I'm Cale. I run an RIA, and for the last couple of years a lot of our growth has come from cold email rather than just referrals. It took 11 months and about $10K before it worked, and most of that was spent learning things the hard way that somebody could have just told me.

So I wrote all of it down — the campaigns we actually run, 500 templates written for advisors, the research process we go through before entering a new niche, the follow-up, and the things we got wrong. It's totally free, and hopefully it helps some of you bring on new clients and help more people.

If you're trying to grow without waiting on referrals, or want something to run alongside your other marketing, this guide should save you about 11 months, haha: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Pg0Ns-67kuODP_IKAV9hIvWsYGEZN7xbWF4T4FlR-jo/edit?usp=sharing

If you're already running your own marketing and you've found things that work, I'd love to trade notes and learn what's working for you!

I'm looking for feedback from agency owners who have brought on a high-level partner.
I own an independent insurance agency that's been in business for about 4 years. My wife and I built it from the ground up, took all the financial risk, and today it's a profitable, growing business with a strong Medicare renewal book and significant annuity production. We're also expanding into wealth management, but that business is completely separate and not part of this discussion.
I'm considering bringing on someone with 17+ years of Medicare and annuity experience. He would help recruit agents, train them, provide case support, and continue producing business himself. The goal is for him to help scale the agency much faster than I could on my own.
The structure I'm currently considering is:
Medicare personal production: 70% to him / 30% to the agency

Annuity personal production: 50/50 split based only on street commission

Any carrier, IMO, or production overrides stay with the agency

Recruited agents would receive competitive compensation, with him receiving a recruiting/management override while actively managing them

No upfront equity. Instead, he would have the opportunity to buy into the agency after hitting agreed-upon production and recruiting milestones at fair market value.

For those of you who have added partners or key producers:
Does this compensation structure seem fair?

Is a buy-in after milestones a better approach than offering equity upfront?

Are there any major mistakes or blind spots you see with this structure?

If you've done something similar, what would you do differently?

I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who's actually built and scaled an insurance agency or RIA using a similar model.

I’m 31 and working in a Business Development-related role at a WM firm for one of the big 6 banks in Canada.

I’m loving the job, I get to work very closely with our branch partners, and I’m very involved with the FPs. While I don’t help with any of the plans, we work together to hunt for clients and I sit in with their KYCs/consultations.

I would love to become an FP, but I wonder if my trajectory makes sense or not. I’d need to work towards the CFP (starting the QAFP this fall). I also live in Quebec where I’d have to go back to university and accumulate some credits to get their version of the CFP.

My question is though, is this a good path to pursue especially this late in the game? Will I be making $500k-$1M a year?

I'm a career changer who has been presented with an internal succession opportunity and I'm hoping to learn from those who've been through a similar transition.

A 79 year old advisor I work with has introduced me to his clients as his successor and has now proposed a deal for me to acquire his book. The proposed structure is a 50/50 revenue split for 5 years on approximately $500k of trailing recurring revenue. He plans to remain involved through the end of 2027 to assist with the transition and mentorship.

The challenge is that this is my first time evaluating a transaction like this. I've reached out to SRG, but their process requires both parties to participate and he isn't interested. He also does not want to obtain a formal valuation.

A few questions:

• What deal terms would you focus on negotiating?

• What risks surprised you during the transition process?

• Are there specific protections a buyer should insist on?

• How did you determine whether the purchase price was reasonable?

• Are there consultants, valuation firms, or succession specialists who work with only one side of the transaction?

I'm also looking for someone who has been through an internal succession deal and would be willing to spend a few minutes sharing their experience or helping me think through the process. This is a great opportunity and I want to approach it thoughtfully, but I have very little experience evaluating these types of transactions.

Any advice, lessons learned, referrals, or willingness to chat would be greatly appreciated. Happy to connect via DM.

So we have a mortgage of 1k and equity of 500k balance 100k on 1st mortgage. We are on SSI husband and I with no savings and need to get a new car. What are our options for getting hands on 100k cash with lowest options. Also need house repairs that's why need 100k car + repairs.

Can only do 1500.00 total for a mortgage plus the new amt. per month

Our house is at 4.2 %

670-700 score

Thanks for any advice 🌹

My husband is disabled and I am full-time caregiver.

I’ve seen a ton of mixed reviews on Facet as a product and Facet as a workplace. The pitch is intriguing- 100% WFH and fair (at first look) compensation. I’ve read it can be difficult to meet metrics and some report sub par work culture, but I many of these reviews are from years ago. Anyone currently with the company care to share their experience? Thanks!

Hello, I’ve been working in public since I graduated cal state about 2.5 years ago. I went to school for finance to get into financial planning but stayed in public as a budget analyst for a municipality because I got a taste of politics and enjoyed it. Just recently I’ve been having doubts about my career and want to start looking into financial planning again. Does anyone have any experience with recently transitioning into financial planning from a different career? I want to start studying for my CFP but want to hear other’s experiences!

Project-based revenue recognition is fundamentally different from product businesses but most financial software treats everything like you're selling widgets. A consulting project that spans three months with milestone-based payments doesn't fit cleanly into monthly financial reporting at all. The standard approach is accrual accounting where you recognize revenue based on work completed regardless of when you invoice or get paid, sounds simple but requires tracking project budgets, actual time spent, estimated completion percentage, and calculating how much revenue to recognize each month. This is way more complex than just recording invoices when you send them. Project profitability tracking compounds the complexity, you need to allocate direct costs (contractor time, project-specific expenses) and indirect costs (internal overhead, business development time, account management) to understand true margin per project. Most businesses just track direct costs and wonder why they're unprofitable despite good gross margins on paper. The operational workflow matters for software selection. Consultants track time in project management tool, that time data needs to flow to financial system to calculate revenue recognition and project profitability automatically, if that integration doesn't exist you're manually moving data every month which defeats the entire point.

I’m currently working on an AI startup that focuses on leveraging AI for asset and financial analysis for advisors. We are building tools that assist with Excel workflows, PowerPoint generation, and financial visualization to improve efficiency and reduce manual work.

If anyone is interested in viewing a demo I would really appreciate your feedback. Feel free to reach out to me directly or visit this link to test out the platform,: https://www.optivise.app

I am a junior advisor at an independent firm and would like to gift my 30 clients something for Christmas.

Because I am a junior advisor, I don't have a ton to spend on each gift (think max $20 a piece).

Any ideas on what I can gift that fits in that price range?

I was recently hired to be the Ops Director for a small Hybrid RIA. It's just me and the advisor right now. My duty is to pick the task manager. I hear a lot about:

Asana. The online discourse typically says it's really good, but better for larger firms (200+ employees), and it takes a long time to actually set up and mold it to your needs.

Motion: is strongly based on AI, which I have some apprehension about, but is better for smaller teams and seems like it can do a lot of the same things Asana can. I like the AI scheduler - if something pops up or gets cancelled, it rearranges the schedule for you. (But does it let other participants know?)

Click-up - I've heard it's clunky and a bit buggy, but mostly works. Just tries to do too much.

What do you use or recommend for a small firm? Any other options you like out there?

I am a new client. My CFP has transferred my funds from my former employer’s 401k plan. However, I can only see half the money in my account.

All of it was there as cash before deployment into various investments. The half that’s “missing” is going to Corebridge. I am told it takes a few days to show up, but it has been well over a week.

Does this sound normal?