FINANCIAL PLANNING

building hinderance, he provided some recommended recommending — Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, by Susan Cain (2013). For those who have already built a successful accounting / personal financial planning practice and are now considering the issue of business succession, a panel comprised of Financial Fitness CEO Pamela Gilmour, Berman McAleer CEO David Berman, and SC&H Group Director Gregory Horning shared the challenges they faced and the steps they have taken to attempt to achieve a relatively smooth transition of organizational leadership. Early on in their discussions, it was made clear that there was no one-sizefits-all method for business succession, and that a successful plan will be tailored to the dynamics of a particular organization. One important point of agreement seemed to be that a key factor in achieving a successful transition is to be closely attuned to and sensitive to the organizational culture. Further, as Horning discussed, if there is already an existing culture of ownership and teamwork, it will make for a smoother transition. One important financial factor addressed by the participants was the issue of debt. Having little or no debt, they agreed, can make for a smoother transition process.

Jonathan Barth, regional vice president of DPL Financial Partners, presented “Annuities 101: How and When to Use Commission-Free Annuities,” which discussed how commission-free annuities may potentially provide a highly efficient way to address longevity risk without the upfront fees often associated with more traditional annuities. For RIAs, they may also provide the opportunity to offer annuities under an assets-undermanagement model.

Also presenting at the conference were:

• Clar Rosso of ISC2, who discussed “What the Financial Planning Community Can Learn from Zero Trust.”

• Ryan Water and Cary Kvitka, both of RIA Lawyers, who presented “Significant Developments for Investment Advisers under ERISA and the Marketing Rule.”

• Mark Iwry of The Brookings Institution, who discussed “Upcoming Retirement Legislation: “Secure Act 2.0.”

• Shananysha Sauls, Ph.D., of the Baltimore Community Foundation, who presented “Rinse and Repeat, or an Entirely New Game? What’s Really Changed About Baltimore and its Civic Agenda?”

The MACPA’s Personal Financial Planning Community Committee is actively at work developing its 38th annual conference, coming this fall. The MACPA will provide more details as they become available.

Don’t

September 19-20, 2023

Baltimore, MD + Livestream | CPE: 16

FEATURING SPECIAL INTERACTIVE SESSIONS:

Legislative & Economic Update Cost Segregation

Maryland PTE tax

HOT TOPICS macpa.org/CTC

FEATURED SPEAKERS

Daraius Irani, PhD

Vice President of Strategic Partnerships & Applied Research at Towson University, Chief Economist for the Regional Economic Studies Institute at Towson University

David De Jong, CPA, LLM, ABV, CVA

Chair of Stein Sperling’s nationally regarded tax law group, Coauthor for 16 years of Year-Round Tax Strategies , lifetime service award recipient for the American Academy of Attorney-CPAs

Promoting purpose: Truly engaged employees more likely to stay true

Editor’s note: The following article was originally published on July 3, 2023 by Financial Management magazine. It is reprinted with permission.

BY BRYAN STRICKLAND

The majority of the world’s workforce isn’t engaged at work, but the majority of employees that are engaged aren’t thinking about leaving their current company, a global survey finds

Fewer than one in four employees are engaged at work. More than half are open to changing jobs.

But all is not lost for companies worried about losing talent.

Gallup’s annual State of the Global Workplace survey suggests that the impact of employee engagement on employee retention may be underappreciated, presenting an opportunity for determined leaders.

Even in an employment environment in which more than half of employees surveyed are at least on the lookout for new job opportunities, engaged employees are significantly less likely than actively disengaged employees to be window shopping.

And with the majority of employees in a category between engaged and actively disengaged, there’s reason to believe that companies can create a culture that demonstrably improves engagement and, as a result, retention.

“Looking at the big picture, lowengagement workers represent an immense opportunity for economic growth,” Gallup wrote in the report’s executive summary, which estimated that low engagement cost the global economy $8.8 trillion in 2022

— about 9% of global GDP. “Leadership and management directly influence workplace engagement, and there is much that organizations can do to help their employees thrive at work.”

Gallup polled more than 122,000 employees worldwide between April 2022 and May 2023, finding that 51% were “watching for or actively seeking a new job.” But while 61% of actively disengaged employees were open to the possibility of a job change, just 43% of engaged employees were.

The annual Gallup poll labels survey respondents as either engaged, not engaged, or actively disengaged using a scale based on responses to 12 statements, such as “The mission or purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important” and “This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.”