Dahna M. Chandler, MPS

Sleeper accounts are fraudulent bank accounts opened using stolen personal information.1 These accounts can remain inactive for extended periods before being exploited for illicit activities. However, they may get used right away, and without your knowledge. To protect your financial well-being, it's crucial to understand how sleeper accounts operate — and how to prevent someone from opening one in your name.

For affluent individuals and families, the possibility of liability claims can threaten their hard-earned wealth. While 92% of households express concern about potential lawsuits, only 28% carry enough liability insurance. This means many individuals face a significant coverage gap that could lead to significant losses. That's why the right liability insurance is essential. Here's what to consider.

Affinity fraud can pose a significant threat to you, especially during social and community gatherings where trust within the group is high. The close nature of these groups often leads members to invest based on trust rather than due diligence. That makes them prime targets for such schemes. Fraudsters take advantage of these relationships to convince victims that an investment opportunity is exclusive, safe and endorsed by their peers. Here's how to prevent affinity fraud.

Wealth brings multiple wonderful opportunities, but it can also present unique emotional challenges in your life. With significant financial success often comes a complex psychological landscape filled with unexpected burdens and threats. Learning how to navigate them can preserve your mental health--and your wealth.

Transferring wealth to the next generation is a complex process fraught with potential pitfalls. Not understanding the most common mistakes in the process can lead to multiple issues, including fractured family relationships. Here are some common pitfalls, along with strategies for overcoming them to ensure a smooth and effective transfer of wealth to your heirs.

This blog post provides mass affluent and emerging HNW readers with essential tips to fortify their digital defenses and safeguard financial assets from ever-evolving cyber threats. Adopting the proactive stance of sophisticated fraudsters, the post outlines a multi-layered cybersecurity strategy—from promptly installing software updates and leveraging secure password managers, to hardening home networks with encryption and firewalls. It advocates engaging financial monitoring services, utilizing AI-driven cybersecurity programs, and promoting continuous family education on emerging risks.

Explore the potential benefits and risks of adding real estate to your portfolio mix. This blog post can provide you with an informed perspective about pursuing this alternative path to growing your net worth strategically. The piece examines how investing in residential properties can generate rental income, leverage appreciation, provide tax advantages, and hedge against inflation. But, it also covers crucial drawbacks, like liquidity constraints, maintenance costs, vacancy risks, and concentration risk.

High net worth and ultra-high net worth executive women often get overlooked by wealth management advisors as viable clients. But, this multi-trillion dollar market is a growing—and lucrative—investor segment. From this white paper, advisors learn why this important investor segment has value to them and how to reach this market.

(Inclusion of this writing sample in my portfolio does not represent an endorsement of me or my work by FlexShares or Northern Trust.)

Increasingly, investors are interested in aligning their investment portfolios around their
environmental, social, and governance (ESG) values. Savvy financial professionals are taking the necessary steps to identify their clients' interests and values to help them meet their investing goals. This research-backed white paper shows financial professionals how to provide customized client experiences that meet their ESG investing requirements.

It's an honor when a friend or loved one trusts you to become their estate executor. But being a will executor is a significant responsibility. It makes you their fiduciary and it can be time-consuming and expensive. It may come with emotional challenges, particularly related to dealing with the departed's remaining family. Here's how to overcome those emotional and logistical challenges.

Many Americans find themselves in their 50s without enough saved for a comfortable retirement. That's because many people focused on meeting financial obligations — like raising children and paying off debt — during their 30s and 40s. It's not too late to get retirement savings on track if you apply practical some strategies to help boost them.

In today's world where people are living longer and future financial conditions are uncertain, a majority of them worry about running out of money in retirement. About 58% of those saving for retirement or already retired feel this fear. That's especially true for Gen X and Baby Boomers who are approaching retirement age or are already retired. To help ease these worries, an effective strategy is needed to protect retirement wealth and ensure a comfortable and secure financial future. Here's how to create one.

You can take many paths to increased wealth, but it helps to have a recognized and easy-to-apply framework to structure your goals. The S.M.A.R.T. framework provides the structure and accountability that can help you turn your financial intentions into tangible results. Consider using the S.M.A.R.T. strategy to achieve financial goals like saving for college, starting a business, growing your income, paying off debt, reducing your taxes, or accumulating tangible assets. (Finance editors, this is the EEAT/YMYL content I can write for your mass affluent and emerging HNW clients.)

Financial scams targeting seniors are becoming more common and harder to recognize. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC)1 reported that, in 2022, older people (60-plus) reported losing more than $1.6 billion to fraud. This is a significant increase from the $1 billion lost by older adults the previous year. There are multiple types of frauds being tried on seniors, and often, they succeed. Here's what to do when your senior has been victimized by this economic crime.

It's an honor when a friend or loved one trusts you to become their estate executor. But being a will executor is a significant responsibility. It makes you their fiduciary and it can be time-consuming and expensive. It may come with emotional challenges, particularly related to dealing with the departed's remaining family. Learn here how to address many of these challenges effectively.