Ben Mattlin

Grateful to @nytimes for publishing my essay on the resurgence of facilitated communication and the harm it poses to profoundly autistic people like my son Jonah:

Clients locked up in big winners? @benmattlin explains how a 351 exchange can deliver tax-deferred diversification into an ETF wrapper. One of the cleanest rebalancing tools out there right now. CE Credit available #WealthManagement fa-mag.com/news/how-351-e… via @FAMagazine

Like stocks more than bonds? That might be OK, says research out of @Yale . My take, for (you guessed it) FA-mag More Clients Should Have A Stock-Heavy Portfolio, Yale Researchers Say fa-mag.com/news/more-clie…

What's are older investors worried about? The survey says: politics. Specifically, how gov't policies cld upend retirement plans. Advisors, pay attention. My new piece for FA mag: Politics Worries Clients, But Advisors Are Shy To Discuss It, Survey Says fa-mag.com/news/clients-w…

J.P. Morgan is charged with discriminating against a bisexual employee, or how I spent yesterday, for FA mag… Advisor Says J.P. Morgan Discriminated Against Him For Sexual Orientation fa-mag.com/news/bisexual-…

2025 was a good year for the life insurance biz, survey shows; this year, not so much… My summary of the report, for FA-mag : When It Comes To Life Insurance, There's Good News And Bad News fa-mag.com/news/2025-was-…

Maybe we should all move to Australia? Read my latest for FA-mag.com (and ignore the typos): Trump Wants The U.S. Retirement System To Look Like Australia's, Experts Disagree fa-mag.com/news/pres--tru…

This is more thoughtful & direct than anything issued since the incident occurred. Says a heap.

Own an S&P 500 fund? It's dominated by tech, yes, but that's okay. In fact, it's ideal, say 2 researchers. Or, how I spent my Monday. Read it here, FA-mag.com Don't Give Up On Tech-Heavy Market, Say MIT, State Street Researchers fa-mag.com/news/don-t-giv…

Retirement isn't only about dollars & cents. How can advisors help w/ the nonfinancial aspects of leaving the workforce? Read my latest story FA-mag... When Client Depression Becomes Your Business fa-mag.com/news/how-to-he…

Wanna unload overpriced stocks, improve your portfolio’s diversity & defer the taxes? Well, you should definitely read my latest article for FA mag: How To Use Section 351 Exchanges To Unload Overweighted Stocks fa-mag.com/news/unload-ov…

Wanna unload some overpriced stocks & defer the taxes? Well, read my latest article for FA mag: How To Use Section 351 Exchanges To Unload Overweighted Stocks fa-mag.com/news/unload-ov… To Use Section 351 Exchanges To Unload Overweighted Stocks fa-mag.com/news/unload-ov…

Wanna unload some overpriced stocks, improve your portfolio's diversity, and defer the taxes? Well, you should definitely read my latest article for FA mag: How To Use Section 351 Exchanges To Unload Overweighted Stocks fa-mag.com/news/unload-ov…

Thanks to @benmattlin for including some of my thoughts in this article. Candidly, I've been more than a little surprised by the number of people I've heard calling on (affected) high-income individuals to stop making catch-up contributions, since they can no longer do so to the pre-tax side of the plan. The question isn't "Would it be better to make your catch-up contribution to the pre-tax side of your plan instead of the Roth?", because that's simply not an option anymore. Rather, the question is, "Is it better to make a catch-up contribution to the Roth side of your plan than to, say, put the same money in a brokerage account?" There, at least from the tax perspective, the answer is clear. As I noted to Ben when we chatted, the Roth catch-up costs nothing (no increase to current taxes), but allows all future earnings to be tax-free (if holding requirements are met). “The Roth is typically going to be the far superior option,” said Jeffrey Levine, chief planning officer at Focus Partners in St. Louis, Mo. “Contributing to a Roth instead of, say, a brokerage account ‘magically’ transforms every dollar of future interest, dividends and capital gains into tax-free earnings at a cost of $0.” fa-mag.com/news/for-your-…

My magnum opus this week for FA-mag... These Trusts Now Dominate 401(k) Target-Date Funds. Should Advisors Worry? fa-mag.com/news/these-tru…

Happy Friday! I wrote most of this news story, staying late to finish it because I really don't understand all the numbers. Ah well, my editors fixed up – LPL Beats Earnings Expectations, Says Commonwealth Asset Retention Is In Low 80% Area fa-mag.com/news/lpl-beats…

My latest story for FA mag – which you can read here – falls under the category of “benefits of not being too well-paid.” Enjoy! fa-mag.com/news/for-your-…

Can A Newly Revamped Software Platform Clarify Annuities? My latest contribution to FA mag... fa-mag.com/news/can-a-new…

The Golden State's largest labor union wants an extra tax on the state's billionaires. The nation's wealthiest moneybags are shaking in their Berlutis (?) My new story for FA mag is here: California's Proposed Billionaire Tax Has Affluent Clients Rattled fa-mag.com/news/californi…

In the new year, Health Savings Accounts will offer more for more people. But some experts are barely cautiously optimistic. Here, for your reading pleasure, is my final published piece for 2025: HSAs Are Expanding. Some Expect A Surge In New Accounts fa-mag.com/news/hsas-are-…