8 THE QUEENS COURIER • QUEENS BUSINESS • APRIL 13, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM queens business The Elder Law Minute TM Oversight of Financial Planners: Proposed Rules Delayed BY RONALD A. FATOULLAH, ESQ. AND DEBBY ROSENFELD, ESQ. Many individuals with assets rely heavily on financial advisors to provide advice or guidance regarding their portfolios. Financial advisers can provide many different services, such as investment management, income tax preparation and estate planning. The expectation is always that a financial advisor has his/her client’s best interest in mind, but unfortunately, that is not always the case. Sometimes, financial advisors will earn higher commissions if they recommend certain retirement investments with high fees and low returns to their clients. This could be a terrible trap for the unwary. A client who is not savvy may be encouraged to invest in a product that is ultimately not in his/her best ELDER LAW interest. To address these concerns, in April of 2016, the Department of Labor drafted rules that would require financial advisors to act as fiduciaries. Fiduciaries are required to avoid conflicts of interest and to act with transparency. The proposed rules required all financial professionals who offer advise related to retirement savings to act in the best interest of their respective clients. Under the current rules, financial advisors are merely required to offer retirement investments that are suitable to a client’s needs. According to these standards, a financial advisor can endorse a product that provides greater benefit to himself/herself than to the client. The proposed rules provide that a financial advisor cannot receive compensation for selling a particular product that would create a conflict of interest unless the advisor has a signed contract in which he/she legally agrees to put the client’s best interests first. The financial advisor would be mandated to disclose any fees and any potential conflict of interest. While these rules were proposed last year, President Trump recently signed an executive order delaying their implementation and calling for a complete review. Many financial companies, in anticipation of these rules going into effect, have already spent time and exerted effort in an attempt to comply with the rules. Now, there is the possibility that the rules will be repealed. Even if the rules are not put into place, the concerns described above should serve as a reminder to anyone seeking the services of a financial advisor to proceed with caution. Each client should ask a financial advisor if he/she is a fiduciary. Ultimately, we all want our professionals to have our best interests at heart. Ronald A. Fatoullah, Esq. is the principal of Ronald Fatoullah & Associates, a law firm that concentrates in elder law, estate planning, Medicaid planning, guardianships, estate administration, trusts, wills, and real estate. Debby Rosenfeld, Esq. is a senior staff attorney at the firm. The law firm can be reached at 718-261-1700, 516-466-4422, or toll free at 1-877-ELDER-LAW or 1-877-ESTATES. Mr. Fatoullah is also a partner with Advice Period, a wealth management firm, and he can be reached at 424-256-7273. RONALD FATOULLAH ESQ, CELA* editorial 5 Secrets of Eff ective Leaders Whether you’re stepping into a new management role or you have been managing people for years, it is important to know how to be an eff ective leader. Here are fi ve secrets that leaders use to successfully manage their teams: • Know Your Team: Effective leaders know that they will only be as successful as their individual team members. Let your employees know that you are there to support them individually and as a team. Recognize that each member of your team has individual strengths, unique personal motivators and their own communication style. Getting to know your team members and learning how to communicate with them on an individual level will enable you to lead the team eff ectively. • Listen: A big part of being a leader is listening to your employees. Managers who listen well can gain valuable insights into their team. Let your employees know that you care about their opinions and want to hear them. Get input from the team before making large organizational changes and keep an open-door policy to encourage honest, ongoing communication. Regularly scheduled team meetings are an eff ective way to build strong teams and inspire team members to creatively solve problems together. • Set Clear Goals and Expectations: Employees need to know what is expected of them. Meet with each employee to establish realistic individual goals and make sure that both you and the employee understand the necessary steps to accomplish those goals. Clearly communicate your expectations for the team and help them understand what success means in your organization. Meet regularly to ensure that you are holding your team accountable for their goals and take necessary corrective actions quickly. • Encourage Creativity and Innovation: Eff ective leaders know that one of their most important jobs is to develop their team members. Invest in classes that will encourage your team to strive for ongoing professional development. Challenge your team to fi nd creative ways to solve problems and actively encourage innovation. • Recognize and Reward: Leaders find ways to recognize and appreciate those who step up to the challenges of their jobs. Celebrate small successes to encourage ongoing professional growth. Sincere expressions of gratitude or small tokens of your appreciation go a long way to building trusting relationships. Employees want their managers to be open to new ideas, show integrity and be responsive to their needs. They appreciate knowing that senior leadership values them and supports them. If you focus on your employees, you will be able to build and sustain strong relationships that will promote organizational growth. Mindy Stern, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, ACC is a trusted HR advisor, author, speaker and president of AIM Resource Group Inc. Visit the website at www.aimresourcegroup.com or send an email to info@aimresourcegroup. com with questions. EMPLOYMENT MATTERS MINDY STERN SPHR, SHRM-SCP,
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