There is newly updated information about 401(k) compliance that’s of the utmost concern to medical practices — particularly small businesses (defined by The Department of Labor (DOL) as an organization of 100 employees or less).

If your medical practice’s 401(k) plan hasn’t been audited by the government yet, you may not have to wait long — the DOL brought on nearly 1,000 new hires whose role is to enforce ERISA rules by serving as watchdogs and issuing government fines (or worse) to offending employers.

When a physician has worked hard and invested well over the course of a lifetime, it is no surprise for a sizable nest egg to be the fruits of this intelligent labor. However, insidious financial abuses can all too easily put large cracks in the egg. Often silent and unreported – or widely underreported with no easy or immediate solutions – elder financial abuse can affect even the savviest physicians.  

You’ve finished medical school, gone through the rigors of a tough residency, landed a plum job in your specialty. Now what?
Aside from working long hours, the demands of your office or hospital group, malpractice insurance, the EMR, Obamacare, business or school debt—and whatever future surprises will be thrown at the medical profession—your career is a stable one. But is it recession-proof? Do you understand physician investing and financial planning?

For years, affluent families have passed the wisdom, experience, and core values acquired over centuries to subsequent generations. The Rockefellers’ tradition of charitable giving is ingrained in their family legacy – and is well-known throughout the world. Their industriousness, philanthropy, and education have been essential to preserving (and growing!) their vast family wealth.

Practicing medicine may have financial rewards – but reaping financial freedom for retirement and subsequent generations is not a guarantee. Consider these seven actions.

The demands of the 21st century, nationalized health care, the EMR, and other expected changes in the practice and business of medicine may at first seem to indicate physicians will invariably be working more and receiving less. This is likely to be true, especially if a physician fails to plan ahead.

Medical malpractice has always been on the minds of physicians, especially considering such litigation is almost becoming commonplace.

In 2011 an article in the New England Journal of Medicine revealed that physicians in high-risk specialties are projected to face at least one malpractice claim during their careers. A Health Affairs from January 2013 reported that, on average, malpractice claims go unresolved for more than four years. During that time physicians are hit with emotional and financial stresses that they might not be prepared to handle on their own.

Roth IRAs haven’t been around for very long, and have really only taken off in the last few years. There are some techniques with Roth IRAs that advisers may not even be aware of. One such technique is that an individual at a private firm can have stock options issued directly to their Roth.

Traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs are very different vehicles. If you’re intelligent about the way you use them, clients can reap the benefits.

While following a suitability standard instead of fiduciary standard may be within the scope of the law, wouldn’t it be better to work with people, who are, unquestioningly, working to serve your interests and not sell you products or make money off the transactions in your accounts?

Investors should not be sold a bill of goods. If a financial professional is simultaneously able to be both a fiduciary and a salesman, there is no true fiduciary responsibility.

Labaton Sucharow recently issued its second annual report about the financial services industry, “Wall Street in Crisis: A Perfect Storm Looming.” Their findings, while not surprising, are disturbing nonetheless. Here is what they highlighted:

They’re no longer just for the superrich; A new wave of family offices that cater to clients’ every imaginable financial need are courting the merely wealthy; Here’s what they offer.

You don’t have to be a Rockefeller to join a family office.

Family offices are private firms that manage just about everything for the wealthiest families: tax planning, investment management, estate planning, philanthropy, art and wine collections – even the family vacation compound.

Now many family offices are courting the merely rich.