MAY 2025: Fintech

COVER STORY
The Compliance Risks of Using Generative AI in a Financial Planning Practice
By Emma I. Foulkes, CFP®, CRPC
As with any nascent innovation, there are risks and benefits to using AI, and financial planners need to do their due diligence.
Click HERE to access the DIGITAL EDITION

CLIENT COMMUNICATION
Harnessing Client Motivation: The Power of Autonomy Support
By Brendan Pheasant, CFP®, ChFC, and Christina Lynn, Ph.D., CFP®, AFC, CDFA
The type of motivation underpinning a client’s action is a key factor in sustained behavior and optimal outcomes.
FPA NEXT GENERATION PLANNER
Forward Thinking
Planners, Take Care of Yourselves, Too
By Kate Skowronek, CFP®
Lead Article
Beyond Accommodation: Cultivating Workspaces that Champion Neurodivergent Success and Financial Well-Being
By Naomi Hill
Planner Poll
The FPA Community Weighs in on Financial Wellness
Planning a STUDY GROUP? Check out suggested questions and other resources to make your study group a success!
COLUMNS
Succesion Planning
Why Adopting Technology Solutions Is Vital to Succession Planning
By Richard Chen
Successors don’t want to inherit an outdated firm with no prospect for younger generations of clients and advisers.
Longevity
Can AI Agents Improve Financial Decisions and Conversations?
By Chris Heye, Ph.D.
Most clients will want to interact with a human adviser, but virtual behavioral coaches may support planners and clients in achieving better outcomes.
Fintech
How Advisers Can Leverage AI to Scale Personalization and Strengthen Client Relationships
By Molly Weiss
Tools once exclusive to large institutions are increasingly accessible to smaller advisers—in some cases, more so.
Risk Management & Insurance Planning
AI and Underwriting: Life Insurance and Big Data
By Anne Jones
Life insurance has been characterized by outdated technology and processes, but modern advances are easing pain points for planners and their clients.
RESEARCH
Dealing with the Aftermath: Understanding Political Sympathy’s Association with Financial Perspectives, Wellness, Efficacy, and Portfolio Actions and How to Help Clients After Major Events
By Blake Gray, Ph.D., CFP®; Thomas Crandall, CFP®, CFA, CAIA, CMT; and Donovan Sanchez, CFP®
Elections disturb expectations of the future and impact financial plans. This study investigates how an individual’s views of the future change in response to changes in political leadership, whether the individuals act based upon these leadership changes, and if financial attitudes are affected.
Earn one CFP CE® credit by reading this month's Journal and access past exams for additional credits.
DEPARTMENTS
STARTING THOUGHTS
To Think . . . Like a Human CFP®
By Danielle Andrus
OBSERVER
Fintech Usage, Fiduciary Planners and Happiness Research, CFP Board Rule Change Proposal
Stat Bank
Q&A
Advancing the Profession: The FPA Competency Model
JFP ACADEMICS
Upcoming Research
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Bridging the Adviser-Academic Gap: A Call to Unite Practitioner Preferences with Academic Research
By Donovan Sanchez, CFP®; Megan McCoy, Ph.D., LMFT, AFC, CFT-I; Khurram Naveed, CFA, CFP®; and Blake Gray, Ph.D., CFP®
A strong practitioner–academic partnership is essential to financial planning’s evolution as a profession. Without this partnership, academics risk producing research that does not inform financial planning practice, and practice risks not being evidenced-based. This paper explains existing challenges and offers solutions to help improve communication between financial planning stakeholders.
Click HERE to access Journal of Financial Planning ARCHIVES
