Podcasts about FPA

Looking for a community that actually supports you as a new financial planner? Blake Pinyan, Senior Financial Planner and Tax Manager at Anchor Bay Capital, joins the show today to talk about the NexGen community of the Financial Planning Association—a community geared towards meeting the needs of younger and newer planners. If you're interested in finding support as a new planner, expanding your network, or getting involved in a thriving professional community, this episode is for you! Listen in as Blake shares how he got involved, what makes NexGen unique, and the real impact it's had on his career. He highlights upcoming programs, in-person events, and the value of the online community for connection, learning, and professional growth. Whether you're looking to expand your network or find your footing in the industry, don't miss hearing how new planners can join and use NexGen to enhance their careers. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://bit.ly/4mbzvpO

Em entrevista ao jornalista Estevão Damázio, da Confederação da Agricultura e Pecuária do Brasil (CNA), o deputado federal Alceu Moreira (MDB/RS), que é coordenador institucional da Frente Parlamentar da Agropecuária (FPA) na Câmara dos Deputados, criticou a atuação do Ibama. Segundo ele, os embargos são decorrentes das autuações ambientais realizadas pelo Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis. O parlamentar gaúcho solicitou informações ao presidente do Ibama, Rodrigo Agostinho Mendonça, a respeito dos números de embargos em áreas rurais.

Em entrevista ao jornalista Estêvão Damazio da CNA (Confederação da Agricultura e Pecuária do Brasil), o senador Zequinha Marinho (Podemos-PA), presidente da Comissão de Agricultura e Reforma Agrária do Senado e coordenador de Orçamento da Frente Parlamentar da Agropecuária (FPA), cobrou uma resposta do governo sobre o Plano Safra 2025/2026 e o Seguro Rural. Segundo o parlamentar, a proposta da CNA para o Plano Safra, apresentada recentemente ao governo federal, é a mais adequada para que o setor enfrente as dificuldades do atual ambiente geopolítico internacional. A CNA defende um Plano Safra de R$ 594 bilhões, que atenda às necessidades do setor. O parlamentar também comentou sobre a importância da aprovação de projetos que tramitam no Congresso Nacional, como a Regularização Fundiária e o Licenciamento Ambiental. Após quatro anos em análise no Senado, a proposta de uma Lei Geral do Licenciamento Ambiental (PL2.159/2021), que está em análise nas Comissões de Meio Ambiente e de Agricultura, terá um relatório único para os dois colegiados. O objetivo é simplificar e agilizar o processo de licenciamento ambiental.

Dani Martins está certa de uma coisa: as cicatrizes muitas vezes tornam a nossa identidade mais forte — não como marcas da dor, mas como testemunhos da potência que nasce quando entendemos a vida por um olhar mais amplo e generoso. Talvez isso explique por que ela tem ajudado tantas pessoas a buscarem novos entendimentos e direções para suas vidas pessoais e profissionais. Dani nos mostra que não devemos nos definir pelos acontecimentos, mas usar cada experiência, em especial as mais difíceis, como caminho de cura. Depois de enfrentar a dor da perda de cinco gestações e a complexidade de viver com esse luto, ela buscou sentido no que atravessou e hoje compartilha olhares e generosidade em tudo que faz. Neste papo com o podcast "45 Do Primeiro Tempo", a mentora de líderes, empreendedora e fundadora da FPA — uma comunidade inovadora dedicada a transformar o cenário do planejamento financeiro no país — contou sua história de vida, trouxe seu olhar sobre esse momento que estamos atravessando e foi categórica: “O invisível existe”. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Salve Dirty Birds! Mais um episódio do Falcons Play Action pra você amante da bola oval! No episódio de hoje: • Mock Draft Final dos Integrantes do FPA • Kirk Cousins pode ser trocado neste fim de semana? • Últimos rumores pré-Draft! Vem com a gente em mais um episódio e aproveite! #riseup LEMBRANDO QUE VOCÊ PODE AJUDAR O FALCONS PLAY ACTION A FICAR AINDA MELHOR: https://apoia.se/falconsplaybr Assuntos Abordados: NFL Free Agency, NFL Draft, Atlanta Falcons, Falcons, NFL, Julio Jones Não esqueçam de seguir nosso podcast nas redes sociais! (Twitter, Instagram e YouTube!): @FalconsPlayBRSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

O deputado federal Rodolfo Nogueira (PL/MS), presidente da Comissão de Agricultura, Pecuária, Abastecimento e Desenvolvimento Rural da Câmara dos Deputados, defendeu a aprovação de projetos que garantam segurança jurídica contra a invasão de terras. Em entrevista ao jornalista Estêvão Damázio, da Confederação da Agricultura e Pecuária do Brasil, o parlamentar também comentou outras propostas relevantes para o agro que tramitam no Congresso Nacional. Um dos projetos, de autoria da senadora Tereza Cristina (PP/MS), vice-presidente da Frente Parlamentar da Agropecuária (FPA) e líder do Progressistas no Senado, é o que trata do Seguro Rural, já aprovado no Senado e que aguarda análise na Câmara.

NESTA EDIÇÃO. Alexandre Silveira cobra da ANP a reforma regulatória da Lei do Gás e diz que a Petrobras não é a única responsável pelos altos custos Após cancelamento de leilão, afirma que parque térmico será acionado se necessário, mas descarta crise por atraso em contratação de potência Vice-presidente da FPA defende derrubada de veto para permitir acesso do Fundo Clima para projetos de transporte com gás natural e biocombustíveis Petrobras se prepara para sair na frente na oferta de combustível sustentável de aviação coprocessado.

O senador Zequinha Marinho (Podemos-PA), presidente da Comissão de Agricultura e Reforma Agrária do Senado Federal e coordenador de Orçamento da Frente Parlamentar da Agropecuária (FPA), cobrou explicações do Banco Central sobre a inadimplência das operações de crédito rural em todo o território nacional, com detalhamento por estado, com objetivo de criar políticas de apoio aos produtores rurais e o fortalecimento do mercado de crédito.

In this Medical Spa Show speakers series, we hear from Sara Cole, AGACNP-BC, CANS, Siren Medical Spa; Chakika Williams, DNP-L, MBA/HCM, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC, FPA, SkyRose Rejuvenation Clinic & Spa; Alexander Rivkin, MD, Westside Aesthetics; Alyssa Rapp, Empower Aesthetics; Georgia Cirese, RN, CANS, CLT, Gorgeous Aesthetic Bar; Jenna Hilton, PA-C, Vibrant Skin Bar. They share their biggest wins, lessons learned, and must-know insights for conference attendees. Don't miss their sessions at Medical Spa Show 2025, from April 10 - 13, 2025!   Sara Cole, AGACNP-BC, CANS Saturday, April 12: 10:10 - 10:35 a.m. | The Psychology Behind Your Best Consultation Sunday, April 13: 9 - 10:30 a.m. | When Is It Right to Say “No” Sunday, April 13: 11:15 - 11:45 a.m. | Addressing Lower Face Laxity Chakika Williams, DNP-L, MBA/HCM, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC, FPA Saturday, April 12: 10:35 - 11 a.m. | Diversity in Aesthetics: All Faces Are Not Created Equal Alexander Rivkin, MD Friday, April 11: 3:50 - 4:15 p.m. | Nonsurgical Rhinoplasty: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Alyssa Rapp Friday, April 11: 1:05 - 1:30 p.m. | Leadership and Life Hacks: Insights from a Mom, Wife, Entrepreneur and Executive Georgia Cirese, RN, CANS, CLT Friday, April 11: 3:50 - 4:15 p.m. | Sell It Like a Scholar: Leveraging Knowledge as a Strategic Sales Tool Jenna Hilton, PA-C Saturday, April 12: 3:50 - 4:50 p.m. | Panel: The Worst I Ever Had: Complications and How to Overcome Them --- Music By Ghost Score

Marcelo Tas recebe Roberto Muylaert no Provoca. Engenheiro de formação, mas consagrado como jornalista e escritor, o convidado foi secretário de Comunicação Social da Presidência da República no governo Fernando Henrique Cardoso, presidiu a Bienal de São Paulo e organizou os primeiros festivais de jazz do Brasil. No programa, ele relembra sua passagem pela presidência da Fundação Padre Anchieta/TV Cultura e compartilha sua visão sobre o papel das revistas no mercado atual da comunicação. Durante sua gestão na FPA, Muylaert contribuiu para a realização de programas clássicos que marcaram a história da TV Cultura, como Castelo Rá-Tim-Bum, Mundo da Lua e X-Tudo. Questionado por Tas sobre as diferenças entre televisão estatal e pública — como é o caso da Cultura —, ele destaca: "as empresas estatais, de um modo geral, com exceções, são muito pouco eficientes e criativas. Então, uma empresa estatal, em geral, é chata. Agora, quando você põe uma estatal na comunicação, que é multifacetada, onde muitas pessoas têm que fazer a coisa direito para dar certo, aí você vê que é impossível ter uma boa televisão estatal, com exceções. A TV pública é diferente. Na TV pública, você tem um conjunto de pessoas não subordinadas às regras da estatal e podendo se responsabilizar por aquilo”, afirma.

Em visita a Belo Horizonte, a vice-presidente da Frente Parlamentar do Agronegócio, deputada federal Ana Paula Leão conversou com Marco Antonio Soalheiro, no Mundo Político. A parlamentar veio tratar com o DNIT e o DETRAN sobre melhorias nas estradas federais e estaduais que cortam Minas. Ela explica que o mau estado das rodovias é um problema para a circulação das mercadorias e que há também um defesa por investimento do governo federal em ferrovias que, afirma a deputada, tem potencial de baratear os produtos. Ana Paula critica o governo Lula que estaria pondo a culpa do alto custo dos alimentos na conta dos produtores. Também defende a cesta básica agora acrescida de carne e leite. Sobre a participação dos produtores rurais na COP 30, a vice-presidente da FPA diz que o “o agro não é o vilão de tudo” e pode tirar o mundo da crise climática.

Abate de bovinos chegou a 39 milhões de cabeças, alta de 15% e novo recorde da série histórica. Setor de suínos e aves também cresceu em 2024. Simulador de deriva permite manejo de defensivos agrícolas. Pequenos agricultores têm até 31 março para inscrever propostas no PAA. FPA crítica decisão de zerar alíquota de importação da sardinha em conserva e classifica medida como ameaça à indústria pesqueira. Último dia de verão será marcado por temporais no Sudeste brasileiro.

Nas últimas semanas, o preço do milho vem apresentando altas significativas, aproximando-se dos R$ 95 a saca em algumas regiões. Mesmo com uma boa produtividade na safra 24/25, a diminuição da área plantada pode afetar a disponibilidade do grão até a chegada do milho de segunda safra ao mercado. Mas será que o preço alcança ou ultrapassa os R$ 100? #HoraHdoAgro #Agricultura #Milho #Preço #Dolar #Commodities #Graos #Agro #Lavoura #Corn ProdutividadeEntrevistados:Dep. Fed Arnaldo Jardim, Cidadania/SPRogério Gonçalves, Diretor da Associação Brasileira de Engenharia AutomotivaNelio Wanderley, CEO da Posto Seguro BrasilPaulo Molinari, Consultor da Safras & MercadoRenato Françoso, Consultor em Gerenciamento de Risco de Fertilizante StoneXDaniel Vargas, Professor da Fundação Getúlio VargasArthur Igreja, Especialista em Tecnologia e InovaçãoDef. Fed. Pedro Lupion, Presidente da FPA

O Projeto de Lei 715/2023, também conhecido como o PL dos Safristas, visa assegurar ao trabalhador safrista o direito de receber benefícios sociais, como o Bolsa Família, mesmo durante o período de contrato de safra. Em entrevista ao jornalista Estêvão Damázio, da Confederação da Agricultura e Pecuária do Brasil (CNA), o deputado federal Evair de Melo (PP/ES), coordenador da Comissão de Direito de Propriedade da Frente Parlamentar da Agropecuária (FPA), disse que está otimista com a aprovação da nova lei. O texto é de autoria do deputado federal Zé Vitor (PL-MG) e conta com o apoio dos parlamentares da FPA. A proposta já foi aprovada na Câmara dos Deputados.

Send us a textThe wave of long-term care insurance claims is rapidly approaching, and home care agencies need to be prepared. With nearly 4 million policies written between 1995-2005, we're entering a period where these policyholders—now in their peak claim years of 80-85—are seeking home care services in record numbers.Bill Comfort, with over three decades of experience in long-term care insurance, walks us through the critical steps agencies must take to successfully work with these valuable clients. First and foremost is understanding whether your agency qualifies as an eligible provider under various policy definitions. While many policies use the term "home health care" generically, the actual definitions vary widely. Most policies specify providers must be "licensed by the state if licensure is required"—a crucial distinction for agencies in non-licensure states.Documentation emerges as perhaps the most critical factor in successful claims management. Agencies must carefully document whether assistance with Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) is hands-on or standby—a distinction that can determine claim approval or denial. The caregiving notes must consistently reflect assistance with at least two of the six ADLs (bathing, dressing, transferring, toileting, eating, and continence) for clients to maintain benefit eligibility.Payment structures present another consideration, with Bill strongly recommending against accepting assignment of benefits until claims are fully established. This protects agencies from financial exposure when claims are delayed or denied. Instead, establish procedures to help clients submit claims while maintaining your direct billing relationship.Building referral partnerships with financial advisors and insurance agents offers tremendous growth potential. Organizations like NAIFA and FPA provide perfect networking opportunities where agencies can position themselves as knowledgeable resources. By demonstrating expertise in navigating long-term care insurance claims, your agency can attract both insurance-funded and private-pay clients.Ready to position your agency as an expert in long-term care insurance claims? Learn more about obtaining the Long-Term Care Claims Professional certification to demonstrate your expertise and grow this valuable revenue stream.Continuum Mastery Circle IntroVisit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.comGet Your 11 Free Home Care Marketing Guides: https://bit.ly/homecarerev

Em entrevista ao jornalista Estêvão Damázio, da Confederação da Agricultura e Pecuária do Brasil (CNA), o deputado federal Afonso Hamm (Progressistas/RS), coordenador da Comissão Trabalhista da Frente Parlamentar da Agropecuária (FPA), defendeu o Projeto de Lei 715/2023, que visa assegurar ao trabalhador safrista o direito de receber benefícios sociais.

Em entrevista ao jornalista Estêvão Damázio, da Confederação da Agricultura e Pecuária do Brasil (CNA), o deputado federal Afonso Hamm (Progressistas/RS), coordenador da Comissão Trabalhista da Frente Parlamentar da Agropecuária (FPA), defendeu o Projeto de Lei 715/2023, que visa assegurar ao trabalhador safrista o direito de receber benefícios sociais.

*) Desesperado com a queda livre da popularidade, o governo Lula busca descobrir as razões que levam a esse quadro. Uma das causas identificadas é a inflação dos alimentos.  O que fez, então, o governo: decidiu zerar a alíquota de importação de vários produtos, como carne, café, açúcar e milho. A eficácia dessa medida para baratear o preço dos alimentos, no entanto, ainda é uma dúvida. Representante do agronegócio no Congresso, a Frente Parlamentar da Agropecuária (FPA) criticou o anúncio. Segundo a bancada, "as medidas apresentadas pelo governo federal são pontuais e ineficazes para efeito imediato, especialmente quando se gasta recurso interno ao zerar impostos para produtos importados, sem garantir o reforço ao apoio da produção brasileira".Neste episódio do podcast 15 Minutos nós falamos sobre a eficácia (ou não) da medida anunciada pelo governo federal para tentar baratear o preço dos alimentos. O convidado é o editor de Economia e colunista da Gazeta do Povo, Fernando Jasper. 

Descobrimos que a Maratona de Marília, marcada pra acontecer no dia 23/3 só daria entrada no Permit da FPA hoje.Maratona de Tóquio vai rolar no sábado, às 21 horas!

Bom dia Agro 27/02/2025 - PSol querendo taxar exportações do agro, FPA e o Plano Safra, Venezuela, EUA e o petróleo

O deputado federal Arnaldo Jardim (Cidadania/SP), vice-presidente da Frente Parlamentar da Agropecuária (FPA), demonstrou preocupação com a taxação dos Fiagros. O veto do governo federal à isenção de tributos dos fundos de investimento voltados ao agronegócio segue movimentando o Congresso.

O senador Jaime Bagattoli (PL/RO), vice-presidente da Frente Parlamentar da Agropecuária (FPA), protocolou no Senado Federal o Projeto de Lei 205/2025, que busca garantir condições mais justas ao produtor que recorrer ao crédito rural. Em entrevista à Confederação da Agricultura e Pecuária do Brasil (CNA), ele ressaltou que o crédito agrícola é uma das principais formas de incentivo econômico ao produtor rural e à agropecuária no país.

Em entrevista ao jornalista Estevão Damázio, da Confederação da Agricultura e Pecuária do Brasil (CNA), o deputado federal Pedro Lupion (Progressistas/PR), presidente da Frente Parlamentar da Agropecuária (FPA), disse que não vai aceitar o texto da comissão de conciliação da Câmara dos Deputados sobre o Marco Temporal. Ele criticou a ausência da data do Marco no texto apresentado no STF. Na visão do parlamentar, o acordo coloca em xeque o direito de propriedade e a segurança jurídica para os proprietários rurais.

A Frente Parlamentar da Agropecuária (FPA) realizou uma reunião com representantes de diversas etnias indígenas para falar sobre os principais desafios enfrentados para desenvolver a agricultura em suas terras. Entre os temas debatidos, também esteve o Decreto 12.373, que regulamenta o exercício do poder de polícia da Fundação Nacional dos Povos Indígenas (Funai) nas terras indígenas e em áreas com restrição de uso para a proteção dos povos originários.

Decreto de Lula chega no mesmo momento em que povos indígenas vão à FPA com um "pedido de socorro" para que possam progredir com a produção em suas terras.

Em 2025, importantes pautas do agro serão debatidas na Câmara dos Deputados. Um exemplo é a derrubada dos vetos presidenciais à isenção de imposto no Fiagro. Em entrevista ao jornalista Estêvão Damázio, da Confederação Da Agricultura e Pecuária do Brasil, o deputado federal Zé Vitor (PL/MG), coordenador político da Frente Parlamentar da Agropecuária (FPA) na Câmara, comentou sobre essas pautas e como deve ser a nova gestão do presidente Hugo Motta (Republicanos/PB).

Salve Dirty Birds! Mais um episódio do Falcons Play Action pra você amante da bola oval! No episódio de hoje, assumimos o cargo de GM para fechar o roster dos Falcons para 2025! • Movimentos que devem ser feitos para aliviar o cap space • Quais jogadores devemos buscar na Free Agency? • 1° Mock Draft do FPA! Vem com a gente em mais um episódio e aproveite! #RiseUP Assuntos Abordados: NFL Free Agency, NFL Draft, Atlanta Falcons, Falcons, NFL Não esqueçam de seguir nosso podcast nas redes sociais! (Twitter, Instagram e YouTube!): @FalconsPlayBRSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A senadora Tereza Cristina (PP-MS), vice-presidente da Frente Parlamentar da Agropecuária (FPA) e líder do Progressistas no Senado, falou sobre as pautas prioritárias para o ano de 2025. Um dos projetos é o do licenciamento ambiental, que será uma das principais prioridades da bancada do agro neste ano.  A congressista ressaltou ainda a necessidade de solucionar a questão do Marco Legal e responsabilizou o governo pela inflação dos alimentos. As declarações foram dadas ao jornalista Estevão Damázio, da Confederação da Agricultura e Pecuária do Brasil (CNA).

Pharmacy CrossRoads is celebrating an incredible year of more than 60+ interviews with people in independent community pharmacy making a difference through technology, practice innovation, and networking to build stronger community pharmacies. Pharmacy CrossRoads is one of the most popular podcasts on the Pharmacy Podcast Network with an impressive 40,000+ downloads this podcast is one of the best shows about Independent Community Pharmacy.  With an increase of pharmacy deserts throughout the country threatening access to life saving medicaitons and primary care providers driven to the brink exhaustion with so many patients needing access to care, the community pharmacy is more importatnt than ever before. Pharmacy CrossRoads is expanding its team. Started by Bruce Kneeland through the Pharmacy Podcast Network, the popularity of the show and themes will bring our listeners 4 new Hosts, each taking a theme which has personally impacted their work in community pharmacy. Adam Robinson We have Dr. Adam Robinson, PharmD, known as the "Work flow Whisperer" as a pharmacy owner of Save Rite Drugs in Radcliff KY, Adam will be brining real-world experieces of pharmacy ownership. Kris Rhea With over 15 years of pharmacy and healthcare business experience, Director of Business Development of Pharmacy Marketplace, Kris Rhea is joining the Hosts of Pharmacy CrossRoads to drive content about the business of pharmacy's impact on independent owners. Shahida Choudhry Owner of The Palms Pharmacy in Tampa FL, member of the board of directors with Independent Pharmacy Cooperative, and voted 4 years in a row as one of the "50 Most Influential People in Pharmacy" Dr. Shahida Choudhry PharmD is joining Pharmacy CrossRoads to participate in discussions about moving community pharmacy forward and away from the clutches of the PBMs hampering the effectiveness of our Pharmacists in communites across the country. Stacy Hall Pharmacy Business Executive Stacy Hall, MBA is the CEO of the Florida Pharmacy Association which brings Pharmacy CrossRoads significant insights from state policies, government programs, and a diverse knowledge of multiple sectors of pharmacy care. As CEO of the FPA, Stacy is in conistent communitcations with national organizations like the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations (NASPA) and the American Pharmacists Association (APhA). This will bring Pharmacy CrossRoads listeners an indepth conversation about issues impacting independent community pharmacies. "It's been an honor to work with Bruce. With over 40 years of Pharmacy Business experience and as a prolific writer for Pharmacy Times, Drug Topics, Computer Talk, Dispense Times, and other publications, podcasting was a natural fit to draw out Bruce's insights and guidance of relevant conversations about community pharmacy in the U.S." --stated Todd Eury, CEO of RxPR, LLC dba Pharmacy Podcast Network, "There's no other host on the PPN that's connected better with businesses looking to use podcasting as education for pharmacy onwers in a meaninful way which doenst sound like a boring commerical. We're looking forward to adding our 4 new podcast hosts to one of our most popular shows." To listen to the latest Pharmacy CrossRoads podcast featuring the new hosts, click here: (LINK) Subscribe on Spotify, Apple, and all podcast directories. About Pharmacy Podcast Network (PPN) The only platform of its kind, PPN offers a comprehensive range of podcasts and content related to pharmacy, covering topics such as careers, compounding, education, hospital and health system issues, politics, professional development, retail and community pharmacy, senior and long-term care, specialty pharmacy, and student pharmacists.

Pharmacy CrossRoads is celebrating an incredible year of more than 60+ interviews with people in independent community pharmacy making a difference through technology, practice innovation, and networking to build stronger community pharmacies. Pharmacy CrossRoads is one of the most popular podcasts on the Pharmacy Podcast Network with an impressive 40,000+ downloads this podcast is one of the best shows about Independent Community Pharmacy.  With an increase of pharmacy deserts throughout the country threatening access to life saving medicaitons and primary care providers driven to the brink exhaustion with so many patients needing access to care, the community pharmacy is more importatnt than ever before. Pharmacy CrossRoads is expanding its team. Started by Bruce Kneeland through the Pharmacy Podcast Network, the popularity of the show and themes will bring our listeners 4 new Hosts, each taking a theme which has personally impacted their work in community pharmacy. Adam Robinson We have Dr. Adam Robinson, PharmD, known as the "Work flow Whisperer" as a pharmacy owner of Save Rite Drugs in Radcliff KY, Adam will be brining real-world experieces of pharmacy ownership. Kris Rhea With over 15 years of pharmacy and healthcare business experience, Director of Business Development of Pharmacy Marketplace, Kris Rhea is joining the Hosts of Pharmacy CrossRoads to drive content about the business of pharmacy's impact on independent owners. Shahida Choudhry Owner of The Palms Pharmacy in Tampa FL, member of the board of directors with Independent Pharmacy Cooperative, and voted 4 years in a row as one of the "50 Most Influential People in Pharmacy" Dr. Shahida Choudhry PharmD is joining Pharmacy CrossRoads to participate in discussions about moving community pharmacy forward and away from the clutches of the PBMs hampering the effectiveness of our Pharmacists in communites across the country. Stacy Hall Pharmacy Business Executive Stacy Hall, MBA is the CEO of the Florida Pharmacy Association which brings Pharmacy CrossRoads significant insights from state policies, government programs, and a diverse knowledge of multiple sectors of pharmacy care. As CEO of the FPA, Stacy is in conistent communitcations with national organizations like the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations (NASPA) and the American Pharmacists Association (APhA). This will bring Pharmacy CrossRoads listeners an indepth conversation about issues impacting independent community pharmacies. "It's been an honor to work with Bruce. With over 40 years of Pharmacy Business experience and as a prolific writer for Pharmacy Times, Drug Topics, Computer Talk, Dispense Times, and other publications, podcasting was a natural fit to draw out Bruce's insights and guidance of relevant conversations about community pharmacy in the U.S." --stated Todd Eury, CEO of RxPR, LLC dba Pharmacy Podcast Network, "There's no other host on the PPN that's connected better with businesses looking to use podcasting as education for pharmacy onwers in a meaninful way which doenst sound like a boring commerical. We're looking forward to adding our 4 new podcast hosts to one of our most popular shows." To listen to the latest Pharmacy CrossRoads podcast featuring the new hosts, click here: (LINK) Subscribe on Spotify, Apple, and all podcast directories. About Pharmacy Podcast Network (PPN) The only platform of its kind, PPN offers a comprehensive range of podcasts and content related to pharmacy, covering topics such as careers, compounding, education, hospital and health system issues, politics, professional development, retail and community pharmacy, senior and long-term care, specialty pharmacy, and student pharmacists.

Seca no Rio Grande do Sul pode reduzir produção de soja em até 20%, com falta de chuvas comprometendo rendimento da oleaginosa. No mercado de café, produção registrou queda superior a 1,5% em 2024, impactando setor. Paraná se destaca com crescimento agrícola significativo, liderando aumento de produção entre estados do Sul e Sudeste. Frente Parlamentar da Agropecuária (FPA) avançou com medidas-chave para o setor, mas enfrenta desafios para 2025. Calor nas regiões Sul e Sudeste e perigo de temporais na região Norte marcam a quarta-feira.

As advisors prepare to take on a new year, chances are you are in the middle of planning out your goals and strategies. That's why we brought on Award-Winning Marketing Strategist, Tiffany Markarian, who is also the Managing Director of Advantus Marketing, LLC. Tiffany provides important insights on how advisors can avoid common missteps… and the not-so-common missteps…made during the sales and marketing process with clients and prospects. In addition, she provides tangible steps on the best approaches for developing meaningful relationships with clients. Also mentioned in the recording is a previous episode that Tiffany appeared in, entitled 3 Ways to Serve the Emotional Needs of Clients. Tiffany Markarian is an Award-Winning Marketing Strategist, Founder of Advantus Marketing, LLC, and an elite coach to wealth advisors and insurance professionals. She is a renowned industry author and speaker for numerous industry associations, including FPA, NAPFA, FSP, NAILBA, as well as financial institutions and broker/dealers. https://advantusmarketing.com/

Are you ready to redefine financial advising and build true trust with your clients? Chuck Failla shares how embracing a fiduciary-first model is changing the game for advisors. In this episode, Larry Sprung interviews Chuck Failla, CEO of Sovereign Financial Group and host of goRIA, discussing the power of fiduciary advising, the shift from commission-driven models, and how RIAs are leading the charge in transparent client relationships. Chuck provides actionable insights on growing practices authentically and the value of educational marketing. Chuck Discusses: The transformative journey from commission-based advising to fee-only fiduciary models Why financial advisors should embrace the RIA framework for building authentic client trust How fiduciary principles empower clients to make informed financial decisions The importance of educational marketing to attract and retain ideal clients Misleading practices by "planners in name only" (PINOs) and advocating for ethical advising And more! Resources: Mitlin Financial   The JOY and Productivity Journal by Lawrence Sprung  Download Your Free Copy of the Couple's JOYful Money Guide Connect with Larry Sprung:  LinkedIn: Larry Sprung Instagram: Larry Sprung Facebook: Larry Sprung X (Twitter): Larry Sprung Connect with Chuck Failla:  LinkedIn: Chuck Failla X: @charlesfailla1 Sovereign Financial Group, Inc goRIA Podcast About our Guest: Chuck has been a financial advisor for more than 25 years. He started in the early 90s as a "cold calling cowboy" in NYC selling individual stocks. As he built his book, he always planned to go independent and did so in 1999 by opening an independent branch of Raymond James Financial. At that time, Chuck earned his CFP® designation and transitioned from individual stock picking to financial planning and asset allocating using mutual funds and SMAs. Chuck's practice evolved into what is today Sovereign Financial Group, Inc., an SEC registered RIA. With offices and advisors in the Northeast, Florida, and Colorado, Sovereign is one of the fastest growing RIAs in the country. Chuck is also the Director of Sovereign Advisor Solutions (SAS)-- a division of Sovereign Financial Group, Inc. SAS helps advisors transition to RIA by offering a comprehensive plug and play solution for going independent.   Chuck's ties to the financial planning community run deep… he currently: Is the host of goRIA: Fueled by InvestmentNews ( www.goRIA.com ) Serves on the Board of Directors for the FPA of Connecticut and Chairs their Pro Bono / Public Outreach Committee. Chuck received his degree in Finance from The University of Connecticut and completed his coursework for the CFP® certification with The American College. He resides in Connecticut with his wife, two children, black lab and cats. In his spare time, he enjoys all things travel & outdoors -- on the weekends you will find him with his family hiking, camping, skiing, boating or just enjoying some grilling in the backyard. Disclosure: Guests on the Mitlin Money Mindset are not affiliated with CWM, LLC, and opinions expressed herein may not be representative of CWM, LLC. CWM, LLC is not responsible for the guest's content linked on this site.  

O Café PT desta quarta-feira (18) recebe a presidenta do Conselho Curador da FPA e ex-ministra das Mulheres, Eleonora Menicucci. Ela fala sobre a publicação "Feminismo e o PT - trajetórias e desafios políticos".

Join us as we speak with FPA chapter past president, John McAvoy! John shares insights about working in the Retirement Plan space both with employers and participants.  Thinking of doing more with 401Ks or IRAs, then you'll want to listen this episode. We start off the show learning about John's sustained commitment to the financial planning profession and giving back to our community.   John F. McAvoy, CFP®, AIF® http://linkedin.com/in/johnfmcavoy   J. Christopher Boyd, CFP®, CASL® http://linkedin.com/in/j-christopher-boyd-b932169 Kathleen Kenealy, CFP®, CPWA®  http://linkedin.com/in/kathleenkenealy

On this week's podcast, Bert Herrero joins us from Pompano Beach, FL, to discuss his career in custom integration, including his new role as a franchise owner with Daisy, the national smart space installation and services company. Our guest today founded First Priority Audio in Pompano Beach back in 2001 and led that CI firm until a few months ago when it was acquired by Daisy. Then, just a few weeks ago, Daisy announced that Herrero would be launching the seventh Daisy franchise, choosing red-hot Ocala, FL, for its location. This is the second time in Daisy's first year that an independent owner who was acquired has turned around and launched an entirely new Daisy franchise location. Building from his track record of running a best-in-class operation for more than 20 years at FPA, Herrero is looking to leverage Daisy's robust branch support systems to establish a strong presence in Ocala.Special thanks this week's sponsor: the Sonos Era 100 Pro.

Jon Duggan is the Director of Financial Planning for Procyon Partners. He joins the show today to share how he found his way to the financial planning profession, starting with an economics major before discovering financial planning and getting through the toughest parts of the curriculum. If you're interested in learning how to navigate a career change, build valuable experience without internships, or explore the tax-planning side of financial advising, this episode is for you! Listen in as Jon shares how he compensated for his lack of internships by leading the student chapter of the FPA and working at the Aspire clinic—a peer financial counseling center at UGA—and how these experiences helped him secure his first role at a large RIA. He also discusses the various roles he held at different firms, his struggles, his growing interest in tax planning, and why he didn't envision himself as a long-term client-facing advisor. And don't miss where Jon shares comp ranges for the Director of Financial Planning position, which is $100-250k per year. (The lower end of the range will be at smaller firms where the Director of Financial Planning is a hybrid planning specialist and mid-level advisor, while the higher end of the range is going to be at firms where you are either running a large team—think 10+ direct reports—or in roles where you have dual relationship management/director responsibilities.) You'll also hear Jon's best tips for new planners and more. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://bit.ly/3XybZHR

Ricardo Arioli comenta uma seleção de notícias dos principais assuntos ligados ao Agro, nesta semana. A NASA estuda sistemas agropecuários mais resilientes ao aquecimento global. O Brasil já está no caminho, mas precisa mais pesquisa e ação. Embrapa faz lançamentos na Expointer. A FPA quer punição rigorosa para incêndio criminoso.

Bunni Pounds is a bundle of energy. After running a very successful political consulting firm, she founded Christians Engaged to awaken, educate and empower Christians to pray, vote and engage regularly in efforts to improve the nation's well being.Most Christians would agree that our government would be in better shape if more Christians were involved. However, polling tells us that in many places up to a third of the Christian community sits out key elections. Many of the people who share our values simply don't vote.Alaska Family Council has worked hard over the years to increase voter turnout in the pews. But we've lacked a dedicated staff person and solid technology to truly have as great of an impact as we'd like.Until now.Family Policy Alliance, our national partner we've worked side by side with since our founding in 2006, and Christians Engaged (CE), the nation's leading Christian-based, voter turnout operation, have united to form a powerful alliance dedicated to advancing biblical values in our nation's political landscape for generations to come.Bunni and I will chat about it on today's show. For more info about this strategic merger, watch this video.In short, Christians Engaged has developed the technology and tools we need as a movement to inspire and activate Christ-followers to get to the polls. However, CE lacked the national presence to effectively bring the program before the larger Christian community. Family Policy Alliance, and its network of state-based organizations like Alaska Family Council, has the footprint across the nation but lacked the right technological tools.Together, with FPA and CE now fully merged, Alaska Family Council is prepared to immediately implement this program. The goal is to educate and equip one million Christians across the nation—many of them from right here in Alaska—ahead of the November 2024 Elections.Stand by for more details and take a few minutes to tune in today.Support the Show.

Vanguard Hosts Brad Wright and Chris Boyd are joined by Ted Dinucci, an investment strategist with Vanguard's Investment Advisory Research Center, the team tasked with creating thought leadership for their intermediary advisory partners across a range of investment, wealth management, and financial planning topics. They discuss: -Individual bonds vs bond funds - How to utilize each for income during retirement -Which is better during a falling interest rate environment Learn more at: https://advisors.vanguard.com/advisors-home Join Vanguard at the following New England locations: -Vanguard RIA Social:  Envio on the Rooftop – Portsmouth, NH:  Wed Aug 21 st   4:30pm –7:30pm   PLEASE RSVP -Vanguard RIA Social:  Granary Tavern – Boston (Financial), MA:  Thurs Aug 22 nd 4:30pm-7:30pm   PLEASE RSVP -Vanguard RIA Meet & Connect Luncheon – Riverbend (Marriott) Newton, MA:  Thurs Aug 22 nd  12pm-2pm PLEASE RSVP - Vanguard Symposium - Marriott Long Wharf – Boston, MA:  Thurs, Oct 24 th  9:30am–3pm:   RESERVE A SPOT NOW and you'll receive an email invite. Additional details to follow. Or at the FPA-NE NexGen event: - FPA NE NexGen Presents Build Your Client Service Team (formally Cross Industry Networking): Lily's Boston (Financial) Thus, Aug 8 th  5pm – 7pm - one of FPA's most popular events of the season! https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/t3jvpz5 [lp.constantcontactpages.com]   Investment Advisory Research Center OCTOBER 2022 Individual bonds versus bond funds: Our thoughts on the advisory practice and client outcomes Key takeaways • Forecasting markets accurately is difficult. A much more reliable prediction to make: What questions clients will ask during periods of rising interest rates. Inevitably, rising rates environments prompt a flood of inquiries about whether advisors and their clients are better off purchasing individual bonds or pooled products, such as mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). These questions stem directly from the “principal at maturity” myth, which argues that bond funds will sell bonds at a loss when rates rise, while portfolios of individual bonds can be held to maturity and avoid losses. • Ultimately, bond funds operate the same way as portfolios of individual bonds when cash flows are being reinvested. However, the former generally offer greater return opportunities, lower transaction costs, and higher liquidity—as well as time savings for your practice—than comparable portfolios of individual bonds. Thus, advisors pursuing portfolios of individual bonds should expect to pay greater direct and indirect costs for maintaining complete control of client bond portfolios. The price tag for this control is higher for buyers of municipal and corporate bonds than for buyers of U.S. Treasuries. • Given the higher risks and costs associated with portfolios of individual bonds, and the time they take to manage, most advisors are better served by low-cost mutual funds and ETFs. Particularly in the case of municipal and corporate bonds, it is likely that only clients with enough resources to build a portfolio of comparable scale to a mutual fund (or ETF) can afford to pay the costs for these control advantages. • Consider this report as a resource to inform your client discussions—either for proactive conversations about fixed income portfolio decisions, or to satisfy questions and concerns clients bring to you. For clients who may be partial to holding individual bonds for emotional reasons, the following analysis provides you with empirical data points that could guide them to a more beneficial approach. We also believe the strategies outlined herein can ultimately empower you with more time for higher-value activities, such as deepening client relationships. Authors: Ted Dinucci, CFA | Chris Tidmore, CFA, CPA | Chris Pettit, CFA Acknowledgments: The authors extend our thanks to Elizabeth Muirhead, CFA, and Edward Saracino for their contributions to this report, and to Donald G. Bennyhoff, CFA, and Scott J. Donaldson, CFA, for their prior research, which greatly informed this paper. 2 Introduction The market and economic backdrop today appear highly uncertain, with the highest inflation in 40 years, a series of large rate hikes from the Federal Reserve, and Russia's war in Ukraine, to name a few factors. Understandably, the confluence of these events has led to significant market volatility. It's also led some investors to question the merits of pooled bond vehicles and to ask whether they may be better served by directly owning a portfolio of individual bonds. In some cases, there can be benefits to owning individual bonds, for instance, a nominal immunization strategy where the goal is matching portfolio cash flows to liabilities. However, for the vast majority of advisors and the investors they serve, the likely appeal of individual bonds is largely based on the principal at maturity myth, and embracing it is likely to diminish returns, diversification, and return on your time. This paper offers our perspective on the primary advantages bond funds have over portfolios of individual bonds in the three key regards of returns, diversification, and return on your time (in exchange for less control over individual securities).1 More important, for the vast majority, accessing fixed income via low- cost active or passive funds is likely to provide better outcomes than the direct ownership of individual bonds—even with the hurdle of ongoing management fees. However, we'll first address the flaws in the principal at maturity myth, since this misconception is what generates so much interest in the topic. FIGURE 1. Benefits of choosing either a bond fund or individual bond BOND FUNDS INDIVIDUAL BONDS INCREASED CONTROL ✓ INCREASED DIVERSIFICATION ✓ INCREASED RETURN OPPORTUNITIES ✓ LOWER TRANSACTION COSTS ✓ 1 Vanguard 2017. 3 FIGURE 1. Benefits of choosing either a bond fund or individual bond BOND FUNDS INDIVIDUAL BONDS INCREASED CONTROL ✓ INCREASED DIVERSIFICATION ✓ INCREASED RETURN OPPORTUNITIES ✓ LOWER TRANSACTION COSTS ✓ The principal at maturity myth Holding an individual bond to maturity offers little to no financial benefit to you or your clients versus a pooled product when cash flows are reinvested, as often occurs in laddered individual bond strategies.2 Both portfolios operate in a similar way, but the laddered portfolio is likely to incur greater trading costs and have less diversification. The way that advisors account for laddered bonds in their client statements—by not marking the bonds to their current value, in order to avoid recognizing a paper loss—helps to reinforce the behavioral bias and may mitigate business risk for the advisor. Ultimately, bond prices are inversely related to changes in interest rates: When interest rates rise, the bond's price falls, and vice versa. This is because a bond's coupon payments are typically fixed at issuance, leaving price as the only variable that can be adjusted to make the bond's yield competitive with that of newly issued bonds of similar risk and maturity. This is illustrated in Figure 2. If 10-year bonds are currently yielding 4%, the price of a 2% coupon bond—to be competitive—must decline to a level that results in a 4% yield-to-maturity. In this example, that price is 83.65% of the face value (or $836.50 per $1,000 face value). The 2% bond would provide the same return as the 4% coupon bond trading at par, but some of the return would come from the bond's appreciation from $836.50 to its $1,000 value at maturity, as opposed to the coupon payments. This price adjustment punctures the common myth that holding an individual bond to maturity will provide a financial benefit to your clients. Absent transaction costs, when interest rates change, prices adjust so that total returns will be equal from that point forward, regardless of whether the bond is held to maturity or sold at the prevailing market price with the proceeds reinvested. FIGURE 2. How bond prices adjust to keep yields-to-maturity the same A comparison of hypothetical bonds with 10 years to maturity Coupon (annual interest payment) 6% 4% 2% Market price as a percentage of face value 116.35% 100% 83.65% Yield to maturity 4% 4% 4% Source: Vanguard. This hypothetical illustration does not represent any particular investment and the rate is not guaranteed. FIGURE 3. Total returns closely match starting yields, regardless of whether prices are above (or below) par 14.0% 12.0% 10.0% 8.0% 6.0% 4.0% 2.0% 0.0% 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 Forward annualized return versus starting yield Starting yield Forward annualized return when starting price is above par Forward annualized return when starting price is below par Figure 3 demonstrates this point by comparing the forward annualized return for the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, adjusted for duration, with its starting yield. Here, it is readily apparent that future returns closely track starting yields. Moreover, the narrative doesn't change whether the index is trading above or below par. Therefore, when evaluating bonds with the same characteristics but with different coupon payments, it is always best to compare their yields to maturity.3 Notes: Returns represent the annualized return on the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index using monthly data for the period that aligns with the index's starting modified adjusted duration, rounded to the nearest month. For instance, if on December 31, 2005, the duration on the index was 5 years, the forward annualized return would be from January 1, 2006, to December 31, 2010. Yields represent the index's yield to worst (YTW) at the start of each calculation period. YTW is a measure for the lowest possible yield that may be earned on a bond absent the issuer defaulting. The last observation in the figure is September 30, 2015, because after that date the index's starting duration is longer than the time series. Past performance is no guarantee of future returns. The performance of an index is not an exact representation of any particular investment, as you cannot invest directly in an index. Sources: Vanguard analysis of Bloomberg data, as of March 2022. 2 Laddering refers to building a portfolio of bonds with a range of maturities. 3 Yield-to-maturity is the percentage rate of return on a bond, assuming that the bond is held to maturity. For bonds that may be called prior to their stated maturity, yield-to-worst is a preferable measure, as it accounts for the bond's call feature and represents the lowest possible yield that may be earned assuming no default. 4 As mentioned, this principal at maturity myth typically surfaces only when interest rates rise or are expected to rise. If rising rates mean there is a financial benefit to holding bonds to maturity, then falling rates should mean there is a benefit to selling them and reinvesting the proceeds in new bonds. Thus, an active trading strategy would be preferred over a simple buy-and-hold, laddered bond portfolio to take advantage of the market inefficiency. Ironically, this environment has been the norm for the past 20-plus years, yet the trading concept has not been endorsed by the investment community. One doesn't hear that when interest rates are falling, an open-end mutual fund or ETF with no set maturity date is the preferred structure. Thus, the appeal of holding a bond to maturity is likely emotional, as by not selling a bond at a discount to par, your clients are able to avoid the mental roadblock of “recognizing” a loss. Rather than let this behavioral bias win, advisors can seize this as an opportunity to flex their coaching muscles and leverage the trust they've built with clients to help produce better outcomes. Consider this analogy: Just because you chose not to sell your house when prices dipped does not mean it's worth more than the home of your neighbors, who did sell. The same logic applies to fixed income—whether the bonds are held individually, in a bond fund, or in a separately managed account (SMA).4 Diversification can mean higher returns for similar levels of risk In fixed income investing, diversification among issuers, credit qualities, and term structures is a primary consideration for municipal and corporate bonds. For laddered bond portfolios, issuance calendars do not offer consistent access to all types of bonds. On the contrary, with bond funds, greater diversification is possible because of the larger pool of investable assets and the continuous investment in new offerings. This, coupled with the professional staff needed to conduct risk, trade, and credit analysis allows funds to seek return opportunities farther out on the credit quality spectrum than is possible for an advisor. In the case of the latter, their clients may be seriously affected if even one issuer in their (much smaller) portfolio encounters problems. In the case of corporate bonds (and munis), the dynamic nature of credit risk makes it essential to diversify issuer- specific risk. The price volatility that results from a change in an issuer's credit rating is typically asymmetrical: When a credit downgrade occurs, a bond usually will drop much further in price than it would rise on news of an upgrade. This means that for holders of individual corporate bonds, the penalty for choosing a bond that is downgraded is usually greater than the reward for choosing one that gets upgraded. Professional fund managers who are fully focused on credit analysis may be better suited to spot these trends sooner and avoid the negative effects of downgrades and defaults. FIGURE 4. Incremental pickups in yields available relative to AA rated corporates Average option-adjusted spread Average cumulative defaults 0.0% 0.2% 0.4% 0.6% 0.8% 1.0% 1.2% 1.4% 1.6% 0.0% 0.5% 1.0% 1.5% 2.0% 2.5% 3.0% 3.5% 4.0% AA rated Broad investment-grade Credit quality 0.98% 0.55% As a result, many individual bond portfolios exhibit a higher-quality bias relative to bond funds because of the inability to fully benefit from diversification. As shown in Figure 4, higher return opportunities, in terms of incremental yield, are available beyond AA rated corporates to compensate for the low, but always possible, risk of default—even when staying within the corporate investment-grade universe. A more diversified approach that spans the spectrum of investment-grade corporates can translate into a meaningful increase in yield without sacrificing the primary role of high-quality fixed income in a portfolio—acting as a ballast to risk assets. It should be noted that diversification of credit quality can also be achieved through passive exposure. Notes: Average option-adjusted spreads (OAS) cover the period of January 1997 to April 2022. AA rated as represented by ICE BofA US Corporate Index Option-Adjusted Spread; and broad investment-grade as represented by ICE BofA US Corporate Index Option-Adjusted Spread. OAS is a measure of the difference in yield of a bond and the comparable risk-free rate, adjusted to account for any embedded option. Analysis begins with AA rated corporates, as there are only two AAA rated corporate issuers. Average cumulative defaults are calculated by FitchRatings and represent the 10-year average cumulative defaults for the period of January 1990 to December 2021. Default rates are calculated on an issuer or security basis as opposed to dollar amounts. Sources: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, FitchRatings, and Vanguard analysis, as of April 2022. 4 Separately managed accounts are investment portfolios that are directly owned by an investor and managed by a professional investment firm. 5 FIGURE 5. Growth of hypothetical $1 million initial investment from January 1997 Ending wealth in (million USD) $3.2 $3.3 $3.4 $3.5 $3.6 $3.7 $3.8 $3.9 $4.0 AA corporates Broad I-G corporates $4.1 $4.2 Ending wealth with AA corporates Excess wealth with lower quality Figure 5 translates the lost return opportunities in Figure 3 into actual excess wealth created by expanding the investment opportunity set beyond AA rated bonds.5 For a long-term investor, being broadly invested in investment-grade corporates would have produced an additional $400,000 of nominal wealth, given a hypothetical, initial $1 million investment in 1997, relative to the same investment in AA rated corporates. Moreover, through broad diversification, as an advisor, you would be able to increase your client's long-term expected returns for their fixed income holdings, while significantly reducing single-issuer risk and still maintain high overall credit quality. Notes: Figure assumes a hypothetical initial $1 million investment on January 1, 1997, and held until April 30, 2022. AA corporates as represented by ICE BofA 5–10 Year AA US Corporate Index; and broad I-G corporates as represented by ICE BofA 5–10 Year US Corporate Index. Sources: Vanguard analysis of Morningstar data, as of April 2022. Past performance is no guarantee of future returns. The performance of an index is not an exact representation of any particular investment, as you cannot invest directly in an index. Transaction costs are real, but often go overlooked All bond portfolios incur costs. Though the management cost component often receives the lion's share of attention because it is readily apparent and known in advance, it also represents only one part of the equation. Less scrutinized, but similarly detrimental to long-term financial outcomes are transaction costs (e.g., bid-ask spreads). Ultimately, bid-ask spreads tend to vary by trade size and bond sector, and the size of the spread is typically larger for small transactions. Bond mutual funds and ETFs buy and sell large quantities of bonds, and these large transactions can command higher prices for sales and lower prices for buys. So long as the size of the spreads paid or received are inversely related to purchase lot size, bond funds have a transaction cost advantage over individual bond portfolios. The benefits of scale are most significant in the municipal bond market, but still relevant and tell a similar story to that of corporates. Figure 6 illustrates this point. It shows that in the municipal bond market, the spread for a retail trade (less than $100,000 per bond) on average has been consistently higher than that for an institutional trade. Specifically, between January 2019 and April 2021 the effective spread for transactions with a par value between $25,001 and $100,000 averaged 56.4 basis points (bps), while transactions with a par value of over $1 million averaged 20.2 bps. This differential translates to lower total return for clients who are not able to transact at scale.6 Additionally, large firms, such as Vanguard, are able to get the broadest access to bonds in the primary market, so it's not only about the size of the trade and lower costs, but also what bonds one gets to purchase. This is especially important as there tends to be a drop-off in liquidity as time passes from issuance. FIGURE 6. Spreads are significantly wider for retail trades relative to institutional trades (bps) $10,000 or less $10,001- $25,000 $25,001- $100,000 $100,001- $1 million $1 million+ 20.2 56.4 35.5 63.6 81.9 In the end, higher spreads translate into lower returns. Whether creating a taxable or tax-exempt bond portfolio for a client, the basic decision comes down to this: Does the fund expense ratio detract less from the portfolio's total return than (1) the return surrendered by a higher credit-quality bias, if one exists, (2) the default risk, if there is no quality bias, or (3) the additional transaction costs? It would be rare for the fund expense ratio (particularly in the case of a lower-cost bond fund) to be larger than the other costs. Notes: The above figure shows the average effective spread for municipal bond transactions of various sizes from January 2019 to April 2021. Effective spread is a measure of customer transaction costs and is computed daily for each bond as the difference between the volume-weighted average dealer-to-customer buy and sell price, and is then averaged across bonds using equal weighting. Sources: MSRB data and Vanguard analysis. 5 Though an advised client's fixed income portfolio is unlikely to be comprised of only intermediate-term (5- to 10-year maturity) U.S. corporate bonds. 6 As a simple example, if constructing an initial bond portfolio with an average duration of five years and transaction costs of 50 bps, it would translate to 10 bps per year. 6 Control of the portfolio One, or perhaps the only, advantage of self-directed individual bond portfolios and, to some extent, SMAs over pooled vehicles is the owner's ability to influence portfolio decisions. The motivation for maintaining control generally falls into three camps: strict portfolio guidelines that place firm restrictions on portfolio characteristics, such as credit-quality (e.g., all-AA portfolio) or limits on derivatives usage; matching portfolio cash-flows with specific liabilities (e.g., cash-flow matching); and tax concerns. Given the inflexibility of the first, and presumably, high-level of certainty of the second, we'll focus on the potential tax considerations, as certain common beliefs may be overstated and therefore warrant a discussion. Regarding taxes: Because clients directly own the bonds in an SMA or a laddered bond portfolio, as their advisor you can use any net losses from individual bond positions for tax purposes to partially offset your client's earned income or to offset realized capital gain liabilities from other investments. A mutual fund or ETF, on the other hand, cannot pass through realized losses to its shareholders. Instead, the fund uses realized losses against realized gains, and carries forward any excess losses to be used against future gains. Although this may defer the pass-through of losses, it provides long-term tax efficiency to the pooled structure. In addition, as the advisor, you have a further option: You can sell your clients' fund shares to realize a loss where applicable. Regarding individual bond portfolios or SMAs, another factor to consider is that to take advantage of losses in these accounts, you will incur transaction costs for your clients on both the sale of the current bond and the purchase of the new bond. Though all the above applies to both taxable and tax- exempt bonds, in terms of the latter, there is often the additional consideration of alternative minimum taxes (AMT). With an individual bond portfolio or SMA, the portfolio can be tailored to bonds that are exempt from AMT or specific to issues from your client's home state. While this is true, it is important to acknowledge that there are currently a number of state-specific vehicles available for your clients—particularly in states with high tax rates. Also, though it's sometimes forgotten, the key point that advisors should be concerned with is seeking to maximize client after-tax returns, rather than with minimizing taxes. Bonds issued outside a client's home state and bonds subject to AMT often carry higher yields to maturity. As a result, your clients may well get higher after- tax returns from a portfolio including such bonds. In addition, clients gain from increased diversification—an important benefit. With the preceding considerations in mind, it may be impractical to transition clients from their existing SMA solutions or portfolios of individual bonds into a primarily fund-aligned strategy. For advisors that already utilize an SMA or construct their own bond sleeves, a bond fund can serve as a strong complement—by providing some additional liquidity to the portfolio and a solution for reinvesting periodic cash flows from their individual bond holdings (or SMAs) to reduce potential cash drag. Conclusion For the reasons described in this paper, the vast majority of advisors who invest for their clients are best served through low-cost bond funds. Only those advised clients with the resources to achieve scale comparable to that of a mutual fund should consider putting certain control features ahead of the benefits that a pooled investment vehicle offers. Funds generally provide better diversification, greater return opportunities, lower transaction costs, and higher liquidity for your clients. For advisors, the time savings from outsourcing the day-to-day portfolio management can be reinvested in higher returning opportunities, such as deepening client relationships and growing your practice. Although bonds that are held directly can provide certain advantages over bond mutual funds—primarily related to control over security-specific decisions—such control comes at a cost. To construct an individual bond portfolio, an advisor must assign a very high value to the control benefits to justify the higher costs and additional risks involved. 6 7 References Bennyhoff, Donald, Scott Donaldson, Jamese Dunlap, and Daren Roberts, 2017. A topic of current interest: Bonds or bond funds? Valley Forge, Pa.: The Vanguard Group. Bennyhoff, Donald G., 2009. Municipal bond funds and individual bonds. Valley Forge, Pa.: The Vanguard Group. Donaldson, Scott J., 2009. Taxable bond investing: bond funds or individual bonds? Valley Forge, Pa.: The Vanguard Group. Li, David, Charlotte L. Needham, and Jake Han, 2022. 2021 Transition and Default Studies. FitchRatings. Wu, Simon Z., and Nicholas J. Ostroy, 2021. Transaction Costs During the COVID-19 Crisis: A Comparison between Municipal Securities and Corporate Bond Markets. Washington, D.C., Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. Connect with Vanguard® advisors.vanguard.com • 800-997-2798 All investing is subject to risk, including the possible loss of the money you invest. Be aware that fluctuations in the financial markets and other factors may cause declines in the value of your account. There is no guarantee that any particular asset allocation or mix of funds will meet your investment objectives or provide you with a given level of income. Bond funds are subject to the risk that an issuer will fail to make payments on time and that bond prices will decline because of rising interest rates or negative perceptions of an issuer's ability to make payments. Investments in bonds are subject to interest rate, credit, and inflation risk. Although the income from municipal bonds held by a fund is exempt from federal tax, you may owe taxes on any capital gains realized through the fund's trading or through your own redemption of shares. For some investors, a portion of the fund's income may be subject to state and local taxes, as well as to the federal Alternative Minimum Tax. Diversification does not ensure a profit or protect against a loss. CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute. We recommend that you consult a tax or financial advisor about your individual situation. Vanguard is investor-owned, meaning the fund shareholders own the funds, which in turn own Vanguard. © 2022 The Vanguard Group, Inc. All rights reserved. U.S. Patent No. 6,879,964. FAIBVBF 112022

What are the most important KPIs for your fertility clinics? How do you define them? We explore that with today's guest, TJ Farnsworth, CEO of Inception Fertility, as he shares his best practices for establishing KPIs to obtain reliable data, and how to use it effectively. Tune in as TJ provides his perspective on: How a small group text turned into the Fertility Providers Alliance (The field's first trade organization) The differences between trade organizations and medical societies Can we expect potential FPA guidelines? Leveraging political resources in light of recent legal decisions (Dobbs & the Alabama Supreme Court) Griffin questions if private equity's timeline is bad for investment in innovation and resources

Kathleen speaks with FPA of New England chapter President Marybeth Breed and Massachusetts State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg about the various initiatives Treasurer Goldberg has worked on to promote financial education across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We learn about the task force she convened to determine the best approaches to developing financial education in our communities, the work of the Office of Economic Empowerment and the Baby Steps savings program, and why the Treasurer believes that financial education is a proactive medicine that can be used to address other problems. We also discuss why educating kids about finances as part of the school curriculum is such an important objective, the bi-partisan bill she put forth requiring financial education in our schools, and the challenges of getting new topics added to school curriculum.  Massachusetts State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg Office of Economic Empowerment Office of Economic Empowerment - YouTube Worth in Wealth Program Operation Money Wise  

O 3 em 1 dessa quinta-feira (04) debateu sobre o grupo de trabalho que apresentou relatório que regulamenta a Reforma Tributária. Parecer deixou carnes de fora da cesta básica isenta de impostos. Arthur Lira nega incluir carne na cesta e irrita agro. Presidente da FPA, Pedro Lupion, reclamou da decisão. Imposto do Pecado: parlamentares incluem jogos de azar e carros elétricos. Imposto foi criado para coibir consumo prejudicial à saúde. PF finaliza inquérito e indicia Jair Bolsonaro no caso das joias. Documento deve ser enviado ainda hoje ao STF. Em ano eleitoral, Lula vive cenário hostil com ausência de governadores. Dólar opera em baixa após governo anunciar corte. Fernando Haddad anunciou corte de R$ 29,5 bilhões no orçamento. Senado pode votar regras para Inteligência Artificial antes do recesso. PEC da Anistia: Lira recua com proposta após discordância de líderes. Governo da Argentina avisa Itamaraty sobre visita de Javier Milei ao Brasil. Governo brasileiro adota silêncio aos ataques do presidente argentino. Eleição no Reino Unido, investigação contra META e candidaturas do MST são outros temas debatidos pela bancada.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We continue the recent theme of podcast listeners becoming podcast guests as I'm joined by Arcelia Wicker on the episode today. He is a financial planner at Bay Capital Advisors in the Virginia Beach area.  We chat about his personal experiences of personal finances and how going through Financial Peace University helped him and his wife get their own financial house in order before going on to help host and teach the program for many years. When he realized that he would do that kind of work for free, it sparked an exploration of how to break into the world of financial advice and become the financial planner that he had always wanted. Thanks to getting out of his comfort zone and networking with his local FPA and NAPFA groups, Arcelia built a support network that helped him find his own path. We talk about his educational experience through the American College CFP/ChFC program, how Hannah Moore's externship gave practical and real-life examples of planning with clients, and how he balanced study time with active duty, family responsibilities, and prepping for the career transition. I love Arcelia's transparency across the lessons learned including how he ultimately passed the CFP exam, how he overcame a rescinded job offer, and his reframing of these setbacks. One of the things that struck me the most was how having his own financial house in order including being prepared to make their family lifestyle work post-military without a second income gave him the financial and mental capacity to wait for the right position. I know you can also find inspiration from his lessons learned and career advice.   Arcelia also wants to extend an offer to connect if you are interested in learning more about his story or getting some perspective on your own career journey. You can connect with him on LinkedIn by checking the show notes for his profile. https://www.linkedin.com/in/arcelia-wicker-jr-chfc/ https://baycapitaladvice.com/ https://amplifiedplanning.com/externship/

Nell'area Ue+Efta+Uk le immatricolazioni di auto elettriche sono aumentate del 14,4% a 144.656 unità. Unica tipologia di motorizzazione in calo è stata quella diesel (-0,8% a 124.943 unità), mentre la migliore performance è stata messa a segno dalle auto ibride (+29,1% a 318.854 unità). Si tratta a tutti gli effetti, però, solo di un rimbalzo: se nel 2023 nel periodo gennaio-novembre ha visto le auto elettriche raggiungere il 14,2% di quota di mercato e consolidare il sorpasso sul diesel (al 12,2% di market share), in questo mese le elettriche sono scese all'11,9%. Quindi i consumatori europei sono ancora molto dubbiosi su questa motorizzazione. A complicare l'aumento dell'elettrico nel Vecchio continente potrebbe presto arrivare anche una vera e propria guerra commerciale. Dalla Cina infatti segnali di reazione alle mosse Usa sui dazi, ma a risentirne sono soprattutto i titoli di big europee come Porsche, Bmw -1,39% e Mercedes-Benz Group -1,16%. Un esperto dell'ente governativo di ricerca sul settore automobilistico ha dichiarato al quotidiano cinese Global Times che la Cina dovrebbe aumentare i dazi sulle importazioni di auto premium alimentate a benzina, fino al 25%, dato che il Paese si trova ad affrontare un forte aumento dei dazi statunitensi (fino al 102,5%) sulle importazioni di auto e forse ulteriori dazi per entrare nell'Unione Europea. Anche se proprio ieri la presidente della Commissione, Ursula von der Leyen si è espressa in modo molto prudente, in merito. Incidono ovviamente i forti dubbi tedeschi. Nelle ultime settimane si sono moltiplicate le prese di posizioni dell'industria dell'auto soprattutto tedesca e di esponenti politici, sempre tedeschi (a cominciare dal cancelliere Olaf Scholz), che indicano la necessità di non perseguire una risposta commerciale colpo su colpo verso Pechino. L'industria tedesca dell'Auto basa un terzo circa del suo business sul mercato cinese. La Francia è, invece, dichiaratamente a favore di una stretta. Anche i paesi interessati agli investimenti cinesi nel proprio territorio temono ritorsioni commerciali da parte di Pechino. Esemplare il caso ungherese. Qui i leader mondiali delle batterie per auto, CATL, e delle auto elettriche (includendo veicoli a batteria e ibridi plug-in), BYD, stanno realizzando importanti impianti di produzione. Per CATL si tratta di un investimento da oltre 7 miliardi di euro, per la più grande gigafactory europea (100 GWh). Ne parliamo con Alberto Annicchiarico, Il Sole 24 Ore.Corepla, riflessioni sull'evoluzione del packagingOggi nella sede della Pontificia Accademia delle Scienze e della Pontificia Accademia delle Scienze Sociali (Casina Pio IV) di Città del Vaticano, Corepla ha organizzato l'evento "Dalla Laudato Sì al futuro della Casa Comune, riflessioni tra Scienza ed Etica sull'evoluzione del packaging". Tra i protagonisti presenti, il presidente di Corepla Giovanni Cassuti, il Cardinale P. Turkson, Lara Ponti in veste di imprenditrice (proprio il giorno successivo sarà nominata vicepresidente Confindustria con delega alla sostenibilità). Corepla, il Consorzio Nazionale per la Raccolta, il Riciclo e il Recupero degli imballaggi in plastica ha raggiunto degli eccellenti risultati dal 1997 ad oggi, sensibilizzando concretamente i cittadini verso la cultura circolare, il riciclo e il recupero degli imballaggi in plastica. Oggi il Consorzio è all apice di una grande filiera di imprese consorziate (quasi 2.500 imprese tra produttori, trasformatori, auto-produttori e riciclatori-recuperatori) e di un sistema che svolge un ruolo economico e sociale prezioso per il nostro Paese. E fa parte di un sistema molto virtuoso che permette all'Italia è leader nella Ue nell'economia circolare. Nel 2022 ha riciclato l'83,4% della totalità dei rifiuti (urbani e speciali). Un tasso di riciclo di oltre 30 punti sopra la media della Ue (52,6%) e ben superiore a tutti gli altri grandi Paesi europei, come Francia (64,4%), Germania (70%), Spagna (59,8%). Un risultato che però, secondo l'associazione, potrebbe essere messo in pericolo dalle nuove iniziative legislative europee. Ne parliamo con Giovanni Cassuti, Presidente di Corepla.Intelligenza Artificiale, approvato l'IA Act. In Italia però aumentano i timori occupazionaliVia libera definitivo all'unanimità del Consiglio Ue all'AI Act, la legge europea sull'intelligenza artificiale che disciplina lo sviluppo, l'immissione sul mercato e l'uso dei sistemi di IA in Ue. La legge, la prima al mondo in materia detta una serie di obblighi a fornitori e sviluppatori di sistemi di IA in base ai diversi livelli di rischio identificati. Le nuove regole saranno applicabili a due anni dall'entrata in vigore, con l'eccezione dei divieti, che scatteranno dopo sei mesi, dei controlli sui sistemi di IA per finalità generali, compresa la governance (12 mesi) e degli obblighi per i sistemi ad alto rischio (36 mesi). Intanto aumentano i timori per l'impatto occupazionale dell'Intelligenza artificiale. Il settore pubblico, ad esempio, è fortemente impattato dall'adozione dell'IA. Il 57% dei 3,2 milioni di dipendenti pubblici italiani è altamente "esposto" all'impatto dell'IA nella propria attività, ovvero sarà interessato da una forte interazione tra le mansioni svolte e quelle che gli algoritmi sono in grado di svolgere. Si tratta di ben 1,8 milioni di persone, in particolare dirigenti, ruoli direttivi, tecnici, ricercatori, insegnanti, legali, architetti, ingegneri, professionisti sanitari e assistenti amministrativi. Questa interazione potrà tradursi in un arricchimento delle attività grazie all'apporto dell'IA, oppure in una sostituzione dei lavoratori, in particolare questo rischio riguarda il 12% della platea, ovvero ben 218mila dipendenti pubblici 'vulnerabili' appartenenti alle professioni meno specializzate, caratterizzate da compiti ripetitivi e prevedibili che potrebbero essere facilmente svolti dall'intelligenza artificiale. Sono alcuni risultati della ricerca "L'impatto dell'intelligenza artificiale sul pubblico impiego" presentata questa mattina da Fpa, società del gruppo Digital360, in apertura di Forum Pa 2024 a Roma. Approfondiamo il tema con Gianni Dominici, Amministratore Delegato di Forum PA.

Approvato il nuovo decreto ministeriale sul redditometro che troverà applicazione a decorrere dagli avvisi di accertamento relativi al 2016 (in generale, il 2018, tenendo conto delle decadenze maturate nel frattempo). Con il Dm del 7 maggio 2024, pubblicato sulla Gazzetta Ufficiale, è stato riattivato lo strumento accertativo in esame, dopo la sospensione disposta con l'articolo 10 del Dl 87/2018. Con quest'ultima norma è stato abrogato il precedente Dm 16 settembre 2015, con effetto dagli accertamenti riferiti al periodo d'imposta 2016. Nel contempo, si è stabilito che il futuro decreto avrebbe dovuto essere fondato su di una metodologia elaborata con l'ausilio dell'Istat e delle associazioni dei consumatori. Sul ritorno del redditometro si registrano posizioni divergenti all'interno della maggioranza, in particolare tra Fratelli d'Italia da una parte e Forza Italia e Lega dall'altra. Nello specifico la Lega ha preso le distanze dalla soluzione concepita sotto la regia di Fdi. «Mi sembra di capire che sia un provvedimento fatto dal viceministro Leo quindi chiedete a Fdi», ha detto il capogruppo della Lega in Senato, Massimiliano Romeo, in merito alla misura sul redditometro. «La trovo solo un po' strana come proposta, perché noi del centrodestra siamo stati sempre stati critici su questi strumenti», ha aggiunto il senatore. Intanto arriva il chiarimento del viceministro dell'Economia, Maurizio Leo: Il centrodestra è sempre stato contrario al meccanismo del redditometro introdotto nel 2015 dal governo Renzi. Il decreto ministeriale pubblicato in questi giorni in Gazzetta mette finalmente dei limiti al potere discrezionale dell'Amministrazione finanziaria di attuare l'accertamento sintetico, ovvero la possibilità del Fisco di contestare al contribuente incongruenze fra acquisti, tenore di vita e reddito dichiarato. Potere previsto dall'ordinamento tributario fin dal 1973 . Nel dettaglio spiega, con il nostro decreto, siamo intervenuti per correggere una stortura che si è creata nel 2018, quando il governo Conte 1 ha abolito il D.M. 16 settembre 2015, il cosiddetto redditometro, del governo Renzi e aveva contestualmente stabilito che si dovesse emanare un nuovo decreto con dei paletti precisi a garanzia del contribuente, in modo da limitare al minimo il contenuto induttivo dell'accertamento, e privilegiando sempre il dato puntuale a garanzia del contribuente . Ne parliamo con Giovanni Parente, Sole 24 Ore.Nuovi record, Wall Street e oro ai massimi La spinta dei dati statunitensi su inflazione e vendite al dettaglio hanno spedito Wall Street e Nasdaq sui massimi storici per la prima volta da marzo. Ma, allargando lo sguardo, si può dire che i listini statunitensi siano arrivati per ultimi sulla vetta. Perché mercoledì erano ben 18 le Borse o indici sui massimi storici in tutto il mondo: dall'Europa (Parigi, Francoforte e Londra, ma anche Amsterdam, Budapest, Copenhagen e Oslo) fino all'Asia (Karachi e Taiwan), dal Sud America (Cile) fino all'Africa (Zambia e Tunisia). E se si considerano le Borse che i record li hanno aggiornati nei giorni scorsi si trovavano poco sotto (dal Canada all'Argentina), il conteggio degli indici sui massimi sale a 22. E se si aggiungono le Borse sui massimi da tanti anni, come quella di Milano che ha superato i 35mila punti e viaggia al top dal maggio 2008, non si può trarre che una conclusione: l'euforia sui mercati finanziari è al massimo. Oltre a Wall Street, anche l'oro ha raggiunto i massimi, arrivando a 2.450 dollari l'oncia.Ne parliamo con Alessandro Plateroti, Direttore Newsmondo.it.Intelligenza Artificiale, approvato l'IA Act. In Italia però aumentano i timori occupazionaliVia libera definitivo all'unanimità del Consiglio Ue all'AI Act, la legge europea sull'intelligenza artificiale che disciplina lo sviluppo, l'immissione sul mercato e l'uso dei sistemi di IA in Ue. La legge, la prima al mondo in materia detta una serie di obblighi a fornitori e sviluppatori di sistemi di IA in base ai diversi livelli di rischio identificati. Le nuove regole saranno applicabili a due anni dall'entrata in vigore, con l'eccezione dei divieti, che scatteranno dopo sei mesi, dei controlli sui sistemi di IA per finalità generali, compresa la governance (12 mesi) e degli obblighi per i sistemi ad alto rischio (36 mesi). Intanto aumentano i timori per l'impatto occupazionale dell'Intelligenza artificiale. Il settore pubblico, ad esempio, è fortemente impattato dall'adozione dell'IA. Il 57% dei 3,2 milioni di dipendenti pubblici italiani è altamente "esposto" all'impatto dell'IA nella propria attività, ovvero sarà interessato da una forte interazione tra le mansioni svolte e quelle che gli algoritmi sono in grado di svolgere. Si tratta di ben 1,8 milioni di persone, in particolare dirigenti, ruoli direttivi, tecnici, ricercatori, insegnanti, legali, architetti, ingegneri, professionisti sanitari e assistenti amministrativi. Questa interazione potrà tradursi in un arricchimento delle attività grazie all'apporto dell'IA, oppure in una sostituzione dei lavoratori, in particolare questo rischio riguarda il 12% della platea, ovvero ben 218mila dipendenti pubblici 'vulnerabili' appartenenti alle professioni meno specializzate, caratterizzate da compiti ripetitivi e prevedibili che potrebbero essere facilmente svolti dall'intelligenza artificiale. Sono alcuni risultati della ricerca "L'impatto dell'intelligenza artificiale sul pubblico impiego" presentata questa mattina da Fpa, società del gruppo Digital360, in apertura di Forum Pa 2024 a Roma. Ne parliamo con Gianni Dominici, Amministratore Delegato di Forum PA.

In this episode, Steve Fretzin, Josh Blum, and Dr. Andre Caruso discuss:Mistakes attorneys make that fail to gain trust.Why trust matters and the different dimensions of trust.Ways we can quickly build trust.Making the right first impression. Key Takeaways:People hold how they feel about you higher than how competent you are.You do not always need to be in lawyer mode. Turn off the lawyer speak, be more authentic and human, and you will improve your trust and likeability.Put a little effort into building trust. You need to talk about more than the obvious or the weather.Treat people they way they want to be treated. It is your responsibility to adapt to their communication style to be more trusted. "When you can create some sort of connection with someone, it's going to help build that idea of trust. Even if it is just that subconscious thought of that connection." —  Dr. Andre Caruso Find out more about the 10 Easy-to-Execute Hacks to Unlock Your Full Potential at: fretzin.com/events Thank you to our Sponsors!Lawmatics: lawmatics.com/bethatlawyerGet Staffed Up: getstaffedup.com/bethatlawyerGreen Cardigan Marketing: greencardiganmarketing.com Episode References:Start with Why by Simon Sinek About Josh Blum: Josh Blum has worked for nearly 20 years within the professional services and financial services industries and worked with thousands of advisors, attorneys and accountants in his career educating them and their clients on how to successfully become trusted advisors to their clients.Considered a subject matter expert Josh has served as President of the Financial Planning Association of Miami is a published author and currently sits as Chair of the Board of the FPA of Miami.In addition to the educational services Josh provides and his pro-bono work he is also cofounder and partner in JB and The Doctor and IVOLVE Performance & Development. JB and The Doctor provide soft skills training to professionals to achieve greater productivity, enhance communication and minimize the cost of employee turnover. About Dr. Andre Caruso: Dr. Andre Caruso, affectionately known as ”The Doctor” or “Doc”, combines his deep knowledge of psychology with extensive practical experience across many sectors. Earning a Doctorate in Psychology from Nova Southeastern University, his career has seamlessly transitioned from the hospitality industry along with significant roles in nonprofit organizations and special education, integrating with behavior modification and mindset development. This diverse experience underscores his ability to apply behavioral insights to effect positive, lasting change in both individuals and organizations.Doc's approach to educating is both scientifically grounded and deeply empathetic, focusing on empowering individuals and teams to reach their full potential. Through innovative program development and hands-on training, he has dedicated his career to enhancing personal and professional growth. With over two decades of experience, Dr. Caruso stands out as a pivotal figure in the field, embodying a unique blend of theoretical knowledge and practical wisdom to inspire insight, resilience and growth. Connect with Josh Blum and Dr. Andre Caruso:  Website: jbandthedoctor.comJosh's LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/josh3837Doc's LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/drandrecarusoInstagram: instagram.com/jbandthedoctorFacebook: facebook.com/jbandthedoctorYouTube: youtube.com/jbandthedoctor Connect with Steve Fretzin:LinkedIn: Steve FretzinTwitter: @stevefretzinInstagram: @fretzinsteveFacebook: Fretzin, Inc.Website: Fretzin.comEmail: Steve@Fretzin.comBook: Legal Business Development Isn't Rocket Science and more!YouTube: Steve FretzinCall Steve directly at 847-602-6911 Show notes by Podcastologist Chelsea Taylor-Sturkie Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

Welcome back to another episode of Framework! This week, our focus is on empowering women in the financial industry with mentorship and community.Ana Trujillo Limón, Director, Coaching and Advisor Content, and Odaro Aisueni, Wealth Planner, speak with Bridget Grimes, Co-Founder of Equita Financial Network, about her career journey in launching her practice, Wealth Choice. Bridget shares her experiences in helping women with financial planning and investment management, and her initiatives to empower women in the financial industry through her other company, Equita Financial Network. Bridget also talks about the importance of community and mentorship and the challenges she faced in her career.Bridget discusses: How her first money memory from New Jersey and first big purchase from middle school made her understand the value of moneyHer journey into the financial planning professionHow she became involved with FPAHow she utilized her experiences in the food industry to create Equita Financial NetworkWhy she decided to bring her daughter into her firm after originally running it soloThe need for work-life balance and support for women in the financial planning industryWhy mentorship and a sense of community is essential in the industryWhy women in the industry should take the initiative to mentor new advisorsOvercoming the hurdles she faced when starting her own businessThe importance of sticking to your niche clienteleAnd moreResources:Wealth ChoiceFPA's Women & Finance Knowledge CircleConnect with Ana Trujillo Limón & Odaro Aisueni: Carson Group LLCLinkedIn: Ana Trujillo LimónLinkedIn: Odaro AisueniConnect with Bridget Grimes:Equita Financial NetworkLinkedIn: Bridget GrimesTwitter: @BVGrimes About our Guest: When women are at a crossroads and challenged to make tough decisions, they need a community of support. Bridget Grimes became a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®), fiduciary advisor, educator, and speaker to make a difference in this regard.  In 2016, she founded WealthChoice, a fee-only (commission-free) financial planning firm focused on helping women executives and their families live life on their terms. Launching WealthChoice was the culmination of years of working with career women and helping them overcome challenges to financial security.In 2018 Grimes co-founded with Katie Burke, CFP® Equita Financial Network, a powerful community for women-led financial planning firms, offering a proven platform that includes all the necessary resources to run a comprehensive financial planning firm including professional, outsourced investment management services. Send us your questions, we'd love to hear from you! Email us at framework@carsongroup.com.Disclosure:This episode of Framework was pre-recorded. At the time of recording, Jamie Hopkins was affiliated with CWM, LLC. Jamie Hopkins is not currently registered with or affiliated with CWM, LLC.

In episode 502 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Bradley and Swapneel discuss: 00:00 - Selling on Amazon And Scaling Rapidly 14:18 - Product Launch Strategies and International Market Approaches 12:47 - Scaling a Multimillion-Dollar Business Solo 17:52 - Product Research and Potential Products 20:39 - Issues With Suppliers and Product Lifespan 23:42 - Product Launch and Maintenance Strategies 34:40 - What's Next For Swapneel? 38:52 - Swapneel's 60-Second Tip ► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast ► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension ► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup  (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life) ► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft ► Watch The Podcasts On YouTube: youtube.com/@Helium10/videos Transcript Bradley Sutton: Today we've got a very unique seller. He sold over $10 million over the last couple of years, has 60 products in over 10 marketplaces and launches a new product every month. Guess how many employees he has? Zero. How cool is that? Pretty cool, I think. Black Box by Helium 10 houses the largest database of Amazon products and keywords in the world. Outside of Amazon itself. We have over 2 billion products and many millions more keywords from different Amazon marketplaces, from USA to Australia to Germany and more. Use our powerful filters to search through this database for pockets of opportunity that you might want to get into with your first or next product to sell on Amazon. For more information, go to h10.me forward slash black box. Don't forget you can save 10% off for life on Helium 10 by using our special code SSP10. Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of the series sellers podcast by Helium 10. I am your host, Bradley Sutton, and this is the show. That's a completely BS free, unscripted and unrehearsed organic conversation about serious strategies for serious sellers of any level in the e-commerce world and from the other side of the world. We've got a serious seller here that is joining us for the first time in the show. Why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself, since it's your first time on the show. Swapneel: Hi, my name is Swapneel and I'm from India. Been selling on Amazon from the year 2014 and, as a full term, from last four years. Bradley Sutton: So yeah, were you born and raised in India? Swapneel: Yeah. What part Rajasthan, Jodhpur. Bradley Sutton: Okay, all right. And have you lived all your life there or have you moved around at all? Swapneel: Yeah, so when I was like 19 years old I went to New Delhi like for my university for five years and then right now I'm like kind of digital nominate, so I don't really live here anymore, but just maybe like two, three months a year just to visit my family, because my family still live here. Bradley Sutton: Okay. Well, what did you go to a university for? Swapneel: I did law so. Bradley Sutton: I wanted to be a lawyer. Swapneel: Yeah, so I did law for five years and I specialized in intellectual property rights. Bradley Sutton: How does one go from five years studying law and then all of a sudden, e-commerce? Not a natural transition there? Swapneel: No, I was doing part time, like other than focusing at university. I was working as well All my university years. Any commerce yes, I was selling on Amazon from 2014. And yeah, so, and I did. Well, how did that? Bradley Sutton: happen, though, because that's still not typical. It's not like okay, yeah, during the day I'm going to study law, during the night I'm going to sell on Amazon. I mean like especially in 2014, when hardly anybody was doing it, so how did Amazon even get on your radar? Swapneel: So, even before Amazon, I was doing a lot of other platforms like eBay, and there are some other local marketplaces like traders shop clothes, so, and you know, in 2013, amazon entered in India, but in 2014, they opened for everyone, and I knew that Amazon is a really big e-commerce company and I should be there and yeah. So, but, like, even before I went to university, I was making, you know, some money like some, doing some other stuff like flipping goods from online to offline. Bradley Sutton: So, like you've always been like kind of like I had an entrepreneurial mindset in one of those early age. You trying to make some action, okay, now it's making a little bit more, a little bit more sense, okay. And then things started getting bigger so that when you graduated from university, did you just go full time into into e-commerce then yeah. Swapneel: So that that time, like for me the money was pretty big motivation thing. So in my first year of the university I wasn't sure how much I would be making as a lawyer. But on the second and third year I got to know from my seniors like what is the actual situation and I realized that man like I need to put like at least 10 years in law if I really want to make some serious money in this field. Bradley Sutton: Now back in 2014,. I'm assuming you were selling an Amazon USA. Swapneel: No, I just did in India. That's where Amazon. Bradley Sutton: India was active in 2014. Yes, yes, I didn't even know that. Okay. Swapneel: Interesting, yeah, but it was very new. It was really new they didn't do reselling or private label. Yeah, so I was just doing reselling. I used to buy a lot of stuff from USA, mainly from Amazon.com, and then selling in Amazon India. Yeah, Interesting. Bradley Sutton: Okay, yeah, at what year did you first hit the seven figures? Swapneel: The 2021, yes. Bradley Sutton: 2021  okay, and at that point were you one hundred percent private label or were you still doing like some reselling and things? Swapneel: I was doing both and like I feel like so, in 2020 I launched a lot of private label products. During all the, like you know, doing the first lockdown, I was just focusing on all the products launches I will be making, doing product research and my first product has really contributed a lot for my private label journey, like I started with one product and then just my. Bradley Sutton: You're still selling that product now. Swapneel: Not anymore, because the demand is okay. Bradley Sutton: Can you tell us? Swapneel: what it is, then, yeah, sure. Bradley Sutton: I can show. Go ahead and send me the link over in the chat and let me pull it up on my screen. Let's see here. Okay, I see what this is, so let's pull it up here so everybody else can see. There we go, all right. So this is like a, like a USB capture card I'm looking at here. And how did you find this Like? How did you even decide that this was going to be your product? You just got it randomly, or? Swapneel: what. So for me, like one of the criteria to search the product is checking the new launches of my competitor or and see like if I can have that same product in a very less turn around and can enjoy the party. So that's what's my like, I mainly do. And during that time I saw like a lot of people were seeing selling this product but they were doing MFF, like they were not doing full fill by Amazon and like, even though the product demand was there, but they were, I don't know why they didn't did FPA. And I knew one thing like as soon as I will do this FPA, the product doesn't have any. Like you know, any of my computer doesn't have a lot of reviews and if I will do full fill by Amazon, then I can, you know, sell a lot of goods as well. So how many? Bradley Sutton: how many at the peak? Like? How many units of this were you selling a month or a day? Swapneel: I was selling like I was selling like a month I was selling more than 1500 units in India. Bradley Sutton: Wow, wow In Amazon India. And yeah, okay. All right so then you're like, okay, wow, yeah, this is definitely better than reselling, or I have to get a little bit and stuff you could just Well. Did you manufi, did you get it from China, or did you get it from there in India? Swapneel: Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, I got through some of the suppliers in China. Yeah, but the best thing about this product is not just selling, but the margin I had. So I was buying this product like for $5 and was selling for like this product for around $40. Bradley Sutton: Wow, very nice. Yeah especially in India you're still living in India that the money goes even farther. Swapneel: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. Bradley Sutton: How long until you bought your parents a house? Swapneel: So I bought the like. You know, as soon as my business started picking up in doing COVID, my family was already super excited. So they already finalized, you know, like don't worry about being a lawyer anymore. Bradley Sutton: No, forget that you know like, hey, this Amazon is good, huh, okay. Swapneel: Yeah, but that you know definitely I was in a bit of stress situation. It's a really big thing, you know so, but that stress really motivated me to push myself further and focusing every small details of my finance, my product. So, yeah, I was a stress, but at the same time I was able to, you know, do better in those situations. Bradley Sutton: So 2021 hit that $1 million mark. How much did you sell last year in 2022? Swapneel: I did $5.4 million. Bradley Sutton: I mean, getting to $1 million is impressive enough. How did you go from $1 million to $5 million just in one year? We're just launching tons of products, or you had some products go viral Were you launching to other marketplaces. How did you increase so fast? Swapneel: So, like I was doing some international markets before in and out, like you know, kind of drop shipping back in 2018 in UK and some EU market also in USA but it was not, like you know, full time or doing throughout the year. Sometimes my accounts were also suspended because of drop shipping. But back in 2021, I started again focusing on the international markets, but still was not doing like a full-fledged business. And back in like 2022, I expanded my business in a very serious manner, like in whole of EU UK, Canada, USA. I know everything how to do an average because I had a lot of experience. And also in 2020, I did my business in Austria as well. So that has really helped me a lot. You know, like provided me enough money to expand in those other markets. Yeah, so that was one of the things like really helped me. And like I was just using my suppliers, which I'm already using in India, and I know that, whatever I would be selling the same product in USA, I would be doing 10X more at least. So that has changed a lot. And also my negotiation skills really helped me because a lot of my suppliers started giving me credit and I utilized those that credit in a very efficient manner like, yeah, you get loan and if you just spend on yourself, then it's not a good idea, but if you utilize pretty well in the business, then definitely it helps. So that's what helped me in 2022. Okay, All right. Bradley Sutton: Now it's coming up. We're now here in Q4 in 2023. Are you going to do better than last year? Same Worse. What do you think you're going to end up with this year? Swapneel: So this year it would be exactly the same what I did last year, because the situation has changed a lot this year. Firstly, I'm traveling whole of this year and it's just maybe like 40-50 days. That was in India. Other than that, I was traveling full time. I was just came, like three, four days ago, from like a four month of trip. I was in North and South America. So this year I was like pretty relaxed and also a lot of things happened at Amazon as well. So Amazon is, I think, are really not smooth at Amazon, so trying to fix those things as well, all right, so now you've got this five months, you've got this five, six million dollar business. Bradley Sutton: You're traveling, enjoying yourself, not working like 100 hours a week, so you must have 20 employees supporting you, huh. Swapneel: Oh, not at all. Bradley Sutton: How many total employees have you had the last few years? Swapneel: So in India I just had one accountant and one person who manages, and then there is one guy from at Veros. That's it in India. But I never had any employee anywhere else, even though my Indian business is not even like 7%. If I compare to my last year's sales revenue, my Indian business was just 7%, but for the rest 93% revenue, I never had any employee. So for your Amazon. Bradley Sutton: USA business and in Europe you have zero employees, just you. Swapneel: Yes, yes. Bradley Sutton: Well. So I mean, people listening to this might ask a question well, like, maybe that makes sense. You know, like if you're working like 90 hours a week and have no life and just stay in your basement and work all day, but how in the world do you scale a business so much? And you're the one who has to answer the customer service, you're the one who has to find a line of their products, you're the one who has to do the keyword research, you're the one who has to make the listing, you're the one who has to fight with Amazon if customer support, if something happens, how in the world can you run a five, six million dollar business just by yourself and not even working really full time? Swapneel: So the one of the best thing with Amazon is their FPModels. So a lot of customers, don't you know, reach out to you if they have any issues with the delivery and all the stuff, and that is one of the reasons why customers, you know, contact to the seller at first place, other than the warranty and all the stuff. And also I was doing a lot of reselling as well in US market, so the brand has to take care of those stuff. So a lot of time was saved for sure, yeah, so, and I had really good partners, for example, with the Logistic thing. I have a really nice shipping agent and that really, like you know, eases my work a lot, just sending the details of the labels and everything and just telling you where to ship which market. They take care of everything. So for me, the main goal was just to, like you know what I can do to improve my revenue, and also sometimes I used to use some freelancers if I was not really good with something. So, yeah, that's it. Bradley Sutton: So how many marketplaces now are you in? So right now I'm in USA, Canada, UK, whole of the EU, UAE, Japan, Australia, India, but more than 10 marketplaces, probably, and are you selling the same products across the board, or, like, some products are only sold in EU, or some products only in USA? Swapneel: Each market is different. For example, in India I can sell mostly a lot of products, but not very high end products and which are technical. Each country the situation is really different. Sometimes there is a really low like maybe a local company who is doing really good and have a lot of reviews, and maybe you don't have any kind of competitive advantage, even though I will try or push, try to push. So for me it's more like market specific strategies, because not all markets are same and every market is completely different. Bradley Sutton: Okay, now what's your, what's your process? Like, how many products are you launching or actually until now active? Approximately how many skews, different skews, you know, like if you're selling the same one product in USA and Canada and Europe, just count that as one. But just roughly, like you know, 20 skews in all marketplaces, 100, 300, like roughly. What do you think? Swapneel: So, like beginning of this year, I was also doing a lot of reselling, but now I'm not doing business with one of the company I used to do and that has definitely contributed a lot to my last year's venue. But things have changed. Bradley Sutton: So private label. Then how, yeah, how many skews are you doing? Swapneel: So currently I'm launching like every month at least one new product in private label and so and some I also take off the old you know, which are not really performing really nice and not what my efforts or the you know margin is shrinking a lot, so I just cut off, you know, those products. So right now maybe like 60, 70 products 60 or 70 products. Bradley Sutton: All right, walk me through. Have in mind your last product you launched. Like, when was the last product you launched this month? Last month? So have one product in mind. You have it in mind? Mm? Hmm, you got it in mind. Ready, yeah, yeah. Swapneel: Okay. Bradley Sutton: Yeah, Now was it July that you launched it. Swapneel: Yeah, oh. Bradley Sutton: I guess that one product you have in mind. What month did you discover it, or what month are you like? All right, this is what I'm going to plan to launch. You know we talking January last year. You know what was it? Spring when was it? Swapneel: So in April and May I was in China and I was looking around some products and then I found some product which is doing good in the US market and I contacted some suppliers. When I was in China I visited the factory. So it was in May, in the month of May. Bradley Sutton: But which came first. You found the product, or, like you found the idea in China, or you had done some research when you were still in the USA and then went to China. Which one was first? Swapneel: Sometimes, you know, because of some advertisement or anything if I find I just keep on. Like you know, at least every day when I'm doing product research I spend at least one hour on Amazon just browsing and doing really nothing, checking what's going on and if I can add something value on that product. So then I just found one product and I was doing more and more research and then seeing like I do check, like you know, if any product is launched recently and the rank is going crazy, it means this product could be a potential. So this is one of the reasons. And then to validate, I check the data how much volume it says in a month and other than that. Bradley Sutton: What are you looking for? Like are you checking how many do you have, like a limit? Like oh no, there's already 30 people selling this, so it's too late. Or like what's your what are some criteria? Is that you're looking for when you're doing your validation? Swapneel: So I check if this product is a really advanced, then how the product you know like before generation did, for example, like which was not that innovative enough. It was a basic product, but how much that product was doing, how much is the reviews for that product. Is a really really established and do I have chances of getting success or not? So I do check all these things and I also do the search result how much is a search volume for this particular product? And to check whether this product is seasonal or not. Bradley Sutton: So okay, so, so then you did all that with this product, and then your next step was you actually went to China to like check some suppliers for it, or what was the next step after you're like you know what, this looks really good, it passes my test. What was the next step for you? Swapneel: So I was already in China during those time in April and May and I felt like visiting the factories and you know it's a really good idea rather than just chatting them. I visited factory and I did all the customization with them and, yeah, so ordered like I can also negotiate better. For example, they gave me a price for 10,000 units but I said, hey, it's a new launch and you know, then I try to get the same price for like maybe four, five thousand units and at the same time I make sure that if this product is not really doing good or it's very new in already UK or the U market, then I make sure that I launch the same product in all across the market places all at once. Bradley Sutton: So this one product that you launched in July, the one that you have in mind was that only for USA, or was that one that you had launched in other places? Swapneel: Yeah, at the same time I was launching UK and U for that product it was Enslafrom. Bradley Sutton: On the subject of suppliers, have you ever had issue with your suppliers where they sell your product to other people? Swapneel: Oh, A lot of suppliers do that a lot of if not that, then how do you handle that? That is one of the reason, like why a lot of my products don't have a long life long life in case. Like you know, like people do a lot of drop shipping like tick tock products and Instagram, really, you may see so most of my products are also related to that as well. Not all, but at least 30% of the product. So I sell it. The trend is going on and, yes, then eventually the trend dies, or so it's not like I can sell the same product for another 10 years as well. Bradley Sutton: Interesting. Yeah, so you. So you don't get really emotionally attached to the product because you know that. You know, like now are all these products you're launching similar brands, or or you always starting just different, random brands. Swapneel: So I have some products, specific brands, and some brands are just used for any miscellaneous products. Bradley Sutton: Okay, all right. So then, this product. You were there in April and May. You happen to be in China. You were browsing Amazon. You found it. You found a new supplier for it, got it ready, 4,000, 5,000 units, shipped to Europe and to US. What's your, what's your launch strategy? Like, like, like, how do you, how do you what some techniques use? Like, how are you getting to page one? Are you just using, you know, ppc? You have any special techniques that you can share? I? Swapneel: Use very basic first of all. Obviously, your product should have really nice photos, should classify why your product is better than any other product in the market. Bradley Sutton: How do you get nice photos? Do you have like a studio? Swapneel: You do business with or what. So I first will try to work directly with the supplier so that I don't have to spend a lot of money upfront For these photos, even because I'm not sure whether how the product will gonna do. And then, if I cannot get anything, then I try to look at fiber to find some people who can do for me, and Then also do the nice a plus content, make sure the bullet points are really good, everything this is a really basic thing to start with, and then, since I launch a lot of products and a lot of market, I Utilize one of the best tool of Amazon, that is, amazon wine, because that really help you. And If you will launch a product in a lot of market, then you get a lot of reviews as well, for example, in the US. Bradley Sutton: My view just oh and all the reviews are stacked together, then you be Like you get 20 vine reviews in USA, 20 vine reviews in UK in the same ascent. Now you've got 40 reviews instead of I mean, I'm sure many people do that, but you know, it's just kind of just dawned on me like that's a good, that's a good strategy to have and another reason why you should launch on the the same ascent, okay. And then you find the keywords from helium 10, like you use Cerebro or what tool are using. Swapneel: So for me, because some of the products are really new in the market, there are no competitors as well, so it's really difficult to focus. You know which would be the keyword. So I just use Amazon automatic ads to check all the keywords which are performing and by or but. Maybe every week I try to optimize and seeing if some of the keywords are element, trying to put in the negative list, so, and trying to make sure that those keywords are on the product title bullet points. Yeah, yeah, to improve, to improve, so like just very basic, to like no things I use. And Once, like initially, you always get very good reviews because of the wine, because normally people don't put a lot of negative reviews, they leave mostly positive reviews. So you already got initial pull, you know, for your product. Yeah and Then it is totally depends upon the actual customers reviews. If the actual customers are Giving me good reviews, then I can be sure that this product is really doing good and Then I can have that as a long-term product as long as there is a sale for this product. And then I started improving more of my ASIN by putting videos, doing, you know, whatever things I can improve for this product, then putting some Warranty-related things, making sure the customer is always happy. Yeah, I feel like if you sit on Amazon, you should always align your values with what the values of Amazon are. Yeah, so I just make sure that and I take every detail of the customer to further improve the product as well, like checking voice, you know, a voice of customers. Bradley Sutton: Yeah, so now you know, thinking back then, from April, your product research phase to Negotiating, negotiating with suppliers, you know, getting samples and doing your customization, like you said, sending it to the marketplaces, creating the listing in the different marketplaces, managing those PPC campaigns in the first few weeks to launch that product that you launch in July, up until, let's just say, august. You know, so one month into the launch Approximately, how many hours do you think that you spent doing all those things? Swapneel: Oh, one of the so one of the most interesting time for me when I launch the product is the first sale. I look at the velocity of then another cell, how fast I can. I'm getting another cell. Then you know, checking the performance each day and whether it's improving or not. And, yeah, I closely check every detail during those time and for me, whenever it's my first launch, my goal is not to make profit at all and I will focus on that. Yeah, for me, the main focus is just to see how good is the product and how is the demand actually, because if your product reviews are good and you are early, more Than you can make money for years for sure for this just one product. Bradley Sutton: Okay so, but then how? Same question like the how long do you think you spent up until you know, after those first few weeks of spending a lot of time checking the sales? You know like, do you think it took you 50 hours from April to July or to August for that product? Was it 10 only, or or approximately? How long did, uh, did you actually put actual work into that product? I must say like maybe, yeah, for 30 hours at least okay, so about 30 hours of work for the one product, and then now, like, let's say, a product gets mature. You know, now you are making profit. Now it's kind of taking care of itself. Like how much time in a month do you spend on that product, would you say you know because I'm you know, you're probably having to do your ppc and, and you know, check reviews, customer service. Is it like one hour a month because you almost have nothing to do? Is it five hours a month for that one product? What would you say? Swapneel: so if the product is really doing good, then the first important thing is to make sure that I have stock for this product, sure? So I negotiate with the supplier and, you know, try to to make sure that I have stock, and then I'll look at the competitors if there is something innovating they are trying to do and if I can implement the same as well, you know, as soon as possible, maybe one of my suppliers putting some new product as a free or, you know, trying to value add, then I also make sure that I do some value addition as well, because, just because of this stuff, I don't want my product rank to go down yeah, so how long does it take? Bradley Sutton: you know, like, what is your maintenance phase for a product? For that, for that? We're talking about that same product, you know. Now you know it's October, that product you launch in July. Thank you, how much time are you spending on that product? Swapneel: so right now I felt that this product reviews are not really doing great and I'm not motivated enough right now to do further, even though even without advertisement right now I'm getting sales for those products. But if I'm trying, this is a low value product. So if I'm trying to invest a lot in the advertisement it's not really giving me a lot of fruitful results. So right now I'm like, okay, once this product is sold I will not start again, but then, but, but still. Bradley Sutton: How much time is it are you spending on so? Swapneel: every day. I always wait for the helium, then emailed about my performance, and it gives me all the units I sold in each of the market and that really give me a lot of idea. If something is going interesting, then I try to figure out why it's going like that. And, for example, yesterday I definitely checked on that product and I was saying like, okay, I'm getting sales, not doing anything. And then I checked the reviews are there any improvement in the reviews or is there a possibility of me I take that as a possibility if I can, you know, sell this product for a long time. But yeah, I see that I still have some stock left and the other variation is that really go good, I didn't have that, but I'm still wait and watch. Right now I'm not trying to buy something. You know more from us at first yeah, let's see. Bradley Sutton: So you think maybe less than one hour a month you spend on it now yeah, maybe two hours yeah, so so now we can, we're getting a little bit clearer picture of how you, you know scaled up and still can be by yourself. Is, you know, like, hey, maybe to find and and vet the product and and all the work to launch it only took you 30 or 40 hours, and now that it's in maintenance mode maybe you're only spending one or two hours, you know, per per product a month but, I remember you telling me you know that you're leaving money on the table, probably because you're not using, like, all of the tools, or you're not doing all of that, the analytics, since you're by yourself. But still, even with not doing everything that you could be doing, you're, you're, you're doing millions of dollars. And then what? What is your like profit margin, would you say, after your expenses for for your business? At least 15, 15, 20 percent so always want to make 15, 20 percent. If it dips lower then then you go ahead and cancel that product. Swapneel: If it goes less than 8%, then definitely not worth it at all. Bradley Sutton: Yeah. So what's the future hold for you? Are you just going to keep doing what you're doing, like this, and just do stuff by yourself, launch a product once a month and things like that and then put on maintenance mode, or are you going to like you know what? It's time that I need to start delegating some of my tasks and maybe take some employees on? What are you going to do next year, in 2024? Swapneel: So ever since I was at our BDSS event, that has completely transformed how I see things and how better I can do, and from that time on was obviously I was struggling, so not focusing a lot during all those months, but right now I'm just thinking like every day. Once in a while I have thought about the delegation and what all things I expect from someone, and I'm right now in phase of hiring people, because I know one thing that I can do a lot better what I'm doing right now If I have people. For example, I have a lot of products in Australia. They do really good for me, but I feel I'm so stupid that I'm not sending the inventory on time there. A lot of my products are mostly on outdoor stock and if some market is doing really good, then I don't focus a lot on the market which don't perform well. For example, my USA and UK and EU market do such so better especially Germany, UK and USA that I don't put a lot of efforts in Canada, Australia, Japan, India and also I feel it's really bad because I have all the resources, all the infrastructure. All I need to make sure is ordering the right quantity and making sure that I have stock for those products. That's it. Yeah, so I'm losing just that. Bradley Sutton: That's the first thing that you're probably going to want to hire for is like, hey, I need somebody just 100% managing my supply chain, making sure that I'm not running out of stock anywhere. Okay, All right. So what would you say is your I mean, I'm assuming USA is your number one marketplace what would you say is your number two, three and four marketplaces out of all those that are going on UK? Swapneel: UK, I feel, can do a lot better as well. I really I'm very happy with UK market, a lot better than US market, because I feel the competition is less, the margin is a lot better than US, but overall sales it's number two. Bradley Sutton: You're saying next to USA. Swapneel: Yeah, yeah, right, okay, so far. Yes, so UK would do better than US maybe for me. Bradley Sutton: Oh really, wow, that's pretty impressive. Okay, interesting, all right. So, yeah, you got inspired by going to Billion Dollar Seller Summit. You can see all the strategies that people are using, and these are strategies probably your competitors are using and you're not you know. So, yeah, it's like when you go to events like this, it can open your mind as far as as you know, seeing what, what is possible out there. Okay, so, other than hiring, finally, some help. What are some other goals for you for next year? Swapneel: Focusing on external traffic, because this is a huge thing, really really huge thing, because I see a lot of products on Amazon having 30, 40 reviews and then there's a competitor having 20,000 reviews and they are on the top five products. Why? Because they're getting external traffic. So external traffic is a really huge thing and I think I should have some strategies to work on that thing. Maybe TikTok release, Instagram release, and I'm really like focusing a lot to get some people on board related to marketing, because that's where I feel I'm really not good at all. So, trying to work on that and, yeah, I think that can be really big thing for sure. Bradley Sutton: Okay, all right. Well, I wish you all the best of success. You know I've seen you already at a couple events this past year and hope to see you again at some other local events. And yes, please definitely start hiring people and get some help that you need, and then you'll be able to travel even more, you'll have some more time on your hand and you can enjoy what's your favorite place that you or craziest thing that you have done living as a digital nomad the last couple of years. Swapneel: So I'm kind of and really in juggy right now. So I do skydiving, mostly a lot of sports, mostly a lot of sports related to air, you know. So when I was in like just a few weeks ago, I was in north of Washington and I did some being walking on a plane, like almost eight years old plane. I was walking on that plane and that was one of the craziest thing. Bradley Sutton: Like on the wings and stuff. Swapneel: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that was really a show. Bradley Sutton: No, thank you, thank you. Swapneel: For me, like selling on Amazon is just giving me freedom to do what I love the most. I just need financial freedom. That's it, Because that's it Like it. And such a beautiful thing like selling on Amazon you can work and travel at the same time. Bradley Sutton: Yeah Swapneel: Whenever I'm traveling still not many people very rarely meet someone who is selling on Amazon, to be honest, especially of my age group and they're traveling because either they quit the job or they just got two weeks off from office. Bradley Sutton: That's yeah, yeah. And they have to go back to work but not you yeah. Swapneel: So, yeah, this is a really like, really nice life, you know as a digital moment. But only bad thing is that when I'm traveling, I cannot focus a lot on my work. So I feel like, from going forward, maybe next few months or years, I would like to live at one place a lot more so that my work doesn't hinder. And obviously, if you will, if I want to approach eight or nine figure in coming years, then I cannot do by just one or two hours a day. I need to put more efforts and really need to be very cease at work, because big money comes with big responsibilities as well, I guess. Bradley Sutton: Yeah, all right. So why don't you leave us with a 30 second tip or 60 second tip? It could be either like an Amazon strategy, or maybe it's a strategy for traveling, for how to live as a digital nomad, a strategy for Amazon India. It could be about anything, so go ahead and give us your strategy. Swapneel: So I feel like there would be always a stress when you are selling on Amazon and you always need to have a patience, because Amazon will not fix your stuff in five minutes, even if your listing is gone, your account is gone or whatever. So the most important thing you can focus is on your mental health and you should prioritize that thing, because in life you may make a lot of money you can on the other day, if your account is suspended, you are bringing your nothing. So, but one thing can always help you is your mental health, and I think exercising is one of the best things, because that has changed completely me. I still remember how I was doing the first lockdown and how the journey from last three was not at all smooth at all, but not at all, like you know, not very smooth at all, but going workout and not stressing that helped me to not to stress. So I think, yeah, everyone should do this if you are especially selling on Amazon, because you don't have a lot of social life as well when you're selling on Amazon, except traveling, Okay, all right. Bradley Sutton: Well, that's good for everybody to follow. I wouldn't follow the having zero employees for $6 million business, but everything else is kind of you know, something that I think a lot of people can do Well. Again, thank you so much for joining us and I hope to see you in person sometime next year. Swapneel: Absolutely Can't wait to see you again. Thank you so much, Bradley.

Several years ago, Max McLean and the Fellowship for Performing Arts staged The Most Reluctant Convert, a play about the life of C.S. Lewis up to his conversion. During the Covid shutdowns, that production was made into a film that received strong reviews. Now, McLean and FPA are offering a follow-up stage production dealing with Lewis's life post-conversion.   Although Further Up and Further In includes some biographical information, such as the writing of The Problem of Pain and the recording of the BBC talks that were later published in Mere Christianity, this new production takes the much more challenging route of exploring the different aspects of Lewis's ministry. Not surprisingly, much of the production is focused on his apologetics.  In his day, the great challenge to Christianity was materialism, the idea that everything is just matter and energy. Lewis responded to this by tracing out the implications of that view and showing its utter implausibility. He notes that scientists “observe the behavior of things within the universe. They cannot make statements about things beyond the universe.” Any time a scientist does that, for example by proclaiming that matter and energy are all that exist, he is no longer doing science.  Even more, Lewis says, if materialism is true, there is no reason to trust the scientist doing science. After all, he rightly observed,   If the materialist view is true, our minds must in reality be merely chance arrangements of atoms in skulls. We never think a thought because it is true, only because blind Nature forces us to think it. We never do an act because it is right, only because blind Nature forces us to do it.   This argument, which can also be found in slightly different form in the work of Christian philosopher Alvin Plantinga, is a powerful response to atheism. If atheism is true, any foundation for trusting science or human reason is undermined.  Rather than defend a particular denomination of Christianity, Lewis believed that “the only service [he] could do for [his] unbelieving neighbors was to explain and defend the belief that has been common to nearly all Christians and at all times.” This led him to write The Problem of Pain and from there to do his broadcast talks for the BBC. As a result, he began receiving massive numbers of letters. Though he dismissed some, he felt obligated to respond to any serious inquiries received. Some evenings after work, Lewis wrote up to 35 letters.   Much of Further Up and Further In is adapted from volume two of Lewis' collected letters, a 1,152-page tome. Through an adaptation of some of these letters, we see his work as an evangelist. For example, in the play, a young atheist contacts Lewis with questions, and Lewis responds. After a series of exchanges, the young atheist decides to take the step of committing himself to Christ. Lewis responds with advice on how to grow in faith and hang on to it through doubts. In the end, Lewis argues, “It all hinges on Jesus. If His statements are false, Christianity is of no importance. If true, it is of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important.”   As a literary scholar, Lewis anticipated the argument that the Gospels cannot be trusted, pointing out that the Gospels include statements that would hardly be expected if they were made up by people trying to prove the divinity of Jesus. Rather, the difficulties that they pose are solid evidence for the truthfulness of the Gospels' accounts of Jesus's teaching.  Toward the end of Further Up and Further In, the character of Lewis turns his focus to Christians, offering advice on temptation (something he had discussed in The Screwtape Letters), the crucial importance of prayer, the Second Coming and the end of the world, and heaven. Much of this advice remains as helpful today as when he first offered it.  Once again, Max McLean and the Fellowship for Performing Arts shows why Lewis's popularity and value have endured. Further Up and Further In is currently on tour. How Lewis engaged the materialists of his time is a model for engaging people today who, though coming from a different worldview, seem just as unable to acknowledge the reality that God has made known in His world.  This Breakpoint was co-authored by Dr. Glenn Sunshine. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, go to breakpoint.org.