Many people I talk to are utterly overwhelmed during their open enrollment period.

Should I change this benefit? Should I opt-in for this or that?

In my opinion, this is a great time to maximize your paycheck!

There is so much money left on the table that can be placed back into your budget to reach your financial goals, but there are some steps to take.

I want to give you 5 tips for open enrollment period that you can use in order to fully maximize all that is available to you.

1. Know when it starts and ends. How can you be empowered if you don't know when the annual enrollment period begins or ends? Usually, you will get some type of internal notification from your company. I highly recommended marking your calendar and not waiting until the last minute.

2. Review your benefits from previous period or employer. You'll want to review what benefits you had last--either last year or if you're changing jobs from your previous employer. I suggest printing these out before you get started on the upcoming year to give you a side-by-side comparison. It's very possible to use your last paystub to look at this also. Most employer websites have a separate portal that may allow for this comparison so you won't have to print it out.

3. Elect the free stuff. This may be a no-brainer but elect the free stuff. Typically this may be life insurance for you as an employee, short-term, long-term disability and maybe some other things. If it's free and you don't use it, you're leaving money on the table more than likely.

4. Consider the HDHP vs. PPO. One of the most expensive benefits you are provided is health insurance. Just look at your W2 from last year in box 12DD. I've seen a lot of plans that have employer-sponsored and/or subsidized medical coverage depending on plan type. That's to say you may get free health care if you choose a high deductible health plan (or HDHP). This is beneficial in a lot of ways and I'd cover how these plans work in this video. This could potentially save you a lot of money in current and future taxes, as well as, allow you to get some extra cash from your employer.

3. Max out your 401(k). If possible try to contribute the IRS limit into your 401(k) plan thereby maximizing any type of employer match that you are eligible for. I see many people only contribute the default as most plans will elect 1-2% if you don't specify a %.

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Are you a current or aspiring financial professional? Click here to learn more about how I'm helping you jumpstart your career!

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It's not often you get to sit with an expert on how to determine your risk tolerance.

Whether your an investor or a financial professional, getting risk tolerance right in your investment strategy is a major component of successful financial planning.

I recently got a chance to have a great conversation with Dr. Brad Klontz, one of today's leading experts on risk tolerance.

We are able to cover the following during our conversation:

• Dr. Brad's personal money story

Check out Dr. Brad's book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2LehWpd

Dr. Brad's YouTube Channel

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Are you a current or aspiring financial professional? Click here to learn more about how I'm helping you jumpstart your career!

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I've worked with dozens of financial professionals on how to find a niche market in order to reach their ideal prospect.

Today, I've boiled it down into 5 crucial steps to figure how to market to a certain individual, so if you want to know how to find a niche market as a financial advisor, stay tuned.

I want to provide you with a high-level view of my 5 step content creation guide which gives you how to create content that will be specific to your niche.

1. What is a niche? A niche is a specific group of people with similar characteristics, or in your case a similar problem that you can uniquely solve for them. If you are marketing yourself as a financial advisor to retiring physicians looking to sell their medical practice you will be more attractive to that type of person vs. a "financial advisor". So when we talk about a niche, keep in mind that it can also be persona-based, like "retirees that live in Boca Raton". I'll just say the more narrow and specific you get the better.

2. Why are niches important and how can they help your business? Niches can help in 2 main ways: (1) you have a greater focus on what is crucial to your business to grow and move forward. You don't want to have your focus split too many ways and it will be if you don't have a narrow focus AND (2) it helps the people you are uniquely designed to help find you easier. A lot of advisors confuse this with turning away business. I will just say that it has never been my experience that you miss out on a great prospect because you are too focused. The reality is that prospect is probably not best for you.

3. What is a tried and true framework for marketing to a niche market?

Thanks for listening, reading and watching.

Are you a current or aspiring financial professional? Click here to learn more about how I'm helping you jumpstart your career!

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Some of my young advisor friends find themselves in the first 3-5 years of business asking the question...

Can I sell and help?

I'm here to tell you that there are some definite things you can put in place to avoid the financial professional's dilemma. Wanting to help people, but also the need to provide for your financial needs can present this dilemma.

How do you bridge that seemingly wide gap in motives?

1. Understand you will need a "True" North. First and foremost, you must remain true to yourself at all times. This means that money, fame, success at any level will only amplify who you already are. If you're a good person with a good heart, then all those things will only make you better...however the reverse is true.
   

Thanks for listening, reading and watching.

Are you a current or aspiring financial professional? Click here to learn more about how I'm helping you jumpstart your career!

Want to connect with me? Send me a DM on Linkedin (@dhendersonsr) or Instagram (@dominiquehendersonsr).

Do you want to know exactly how to find your next financial services job?

Without guidance, it can be difficult to know how to get a job in finance with no experience.

Many of you that watch my YouTube channel or read this blog want to know how to get a job as a financial advisor.

Knowing how to get a job in finance boils down to a couple of things that I want to share with you.

TIP: Use a site like www.adviserinfo.sec.gov to conduct background research on a firm.

1. Identify the firm(s) - So I shared this trick inside my Facebook group some time back on how you can use public information to research a firm or firms you're interested in working with. Luckily, this information can help set you apart since not everyone knows about this little secret. This is a requirement that all firms have a profile here. You can look up the firm or members of the firm that are registered individuals. Here you can find a lot of helpful information.

Thanks for listening, reading and watching.

Are you a current or aspiring financial professional? Click here to learn more about how I'm helping you jumpstart your career!

Want to connect with me? Send me a DM on Linkedin (@dhendersonsr) or Instagram (@dominiquehendersonsr).

I've often been asked what are the best books for financial advisors or what should I be reading as a new and aspiring financial professional?

In this video, I'm sharing my top 3 book recommendations for aspiring financial advisors as well as my honorable mentions list.

COMPLETE BOOK LIST📚

1. "Life Planning for You: How to Design & Deliver the Life of Your Dreams" by George Kinder

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Are you a current or aspiring financial professional? Click here to learn more about how I'm helping you jumpstart your career!

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Let's talk FEARS of Starting a Financial Professional Career...Are any of these holding you back?

Working as a financial advisor there's nothing like the boogeyman to come try and scare you every now and again. :-)

From my career as a financial advisor I want to share a few "boogeyman" type myths that you may have heard about that shouldn't derail you...

Let's take our time a break down some of these arguments and show you why "FINANCIAL ADVISOR" is still one of the top careers in finance!

✅ Robos will not takeover. Clients still want human connection.

✅ Fee compression is a problem when you don't provide enough value.

✅ Zero commissions are a "shell" game.

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Are you a current or aspiring financial professional? Click here to learn more about how I'm helping you jumpstart your career!

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Are there certain things you can't (or shouldn't) say as a financial advisor?

Absolutely.

I've heard some wild stories in my time in the industry and I'm sure you have some doozies to tell also.

There are some guidelines in this industry as to what you can and cannot and I'd like to provide you with some tips that you can use as a financial advisor in practice.

In my latest video, I describe the following things as "bad" financial advisor talk:

✅ "I guarantee OR I'm sure that...Always...never..."

✅ "The client's assets I placed in XYZ fund will perform the same way for you..."

✅ False or Misleading information

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Are you a current or aspiring financial professional? Click here to learn more about how I'm helping you jumpstart your career!

Want to connect with me? Send me a DM on Linkedin (@dhendersonsr) or Instagram (@dominiquehendersonsr).

Have you thought: "do I need a college degree just to be a financial advisor?"

The quick answer is "no".

There are a few paths to being a successful financial advisor with (or without) a college degree...BUT there are some things to consider!

In my latest video, I talk about considering the following scenarios for success as a financial advisor:

✅ The Traditional Route with Finance background,

✅ Some college or no college, and

✅ Career Changer with no Finance background

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Are you a current or aspiring financial professional? Click here to learn more about how I'm helping you jumpstart your career!

Want to connect with me? Send me a DM on Linkedin (@dhendersonsr) or Instagram (@dominiquehendersonsr).

I found out about the great things Steven was doing with financial literacy through Instagram from his Know Money Inc. brand.

I saw he'd just finished a BankRoll Summit at college and loved his focus on financial literacy.

Today, I invited him on to talk about his efforts reaching Gen Y and Z and specifically how the financial services industry can do a better job addressing their financial needs.

We are able to dive into...

• Steven's money story

Steven's Instagram Profile

Thanks for listening.

Are you a current or aspiring financial professional? Click here to learn more about how I'm helping you jumpstart your career!

Want to connect with me? Send me a DM on Linkedin (@dhendersonsr) or Instagram (@dominiquehendersonsr).