Stephanie Horan is a data journalist at SmartAsset. A Certified Educator of Personal Finance (CEPF®), she sources and analyzes data to write studies relating to a variety of topics including mortgage, retirement and budgeting. Before coming to SmartAsset, she worked as an analyst at an asset management firm. Stephanie graduated from Williams College with a degree in Mathematics. Originally from Philadelphia, she has always been a Yankees fan and currently lives in New York.
During times of economic instability, financial advice is often in high demand. As increased inflation and the Russia-Ukraine War continue to shake financial markets, many individuals working with financial professionals may rely more heavily on them for advice and planning. Read more
Most financial advisors fall in the 90th percentile of U.S. workers according to average annual earnings. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the average financial advisor made about $120,000 in 2021, more than double the income of the average worker who earned $58,300 in the same year. Though the advisory career sets many individuals up for financial success, some places are more favorable for pay than others. Read more
With rapidly climbing food, rent and gas prices, inflation is the highest it has been in four decades. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the change in prices paid by urban consumers for goods and services, increased 7.9% during the 12-month period that ended in February 2022. Read more
Though financial advisors expertly help clients plan for their future, they sometimes neglect to apply the same forethought to their own firms. In fact, only 27% of financial advisors have a… Read more
Home prices shot up an average of roughly 17% during 2021 and continued to rise during the first month of this year, according to Freddie Mac data. This spike has led some researchers to hypothesize… Read more
Nationally, less than 3% of businesses are Black-owned. However, over the past two years, the number of Black-owned businesses has grown by 8.52%, according to Census Bureau data. This exceeds the… Read more
Finding an affordable home has become an increasingly daunting endeavor. As the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in the U.S., home prices soared while incomes remained stagnant. In fact, Zillow and Census… Read more
Over the next 10 years, the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects there to be 821,300 new openings for STEM jobs, according to recent estimates. This represents a roughly 9% increase in the number of… Read more
As federal efforts to increase the minimum wage have stalled, many states and cities are paving the way to pay workers more than $7.25 an hour. On January 1, 2022, a total of 20 states raised their… Read more
Census Bureau data from 2019 to 2020 shows the largest single-year drop in national employment. There were roughly 5.7 million fewer Americans employed in 2020 when compared with the prior year.… Read more
Research has shown that the COVID-19 recession was particularly harmful for working women. A recent report from the Brookings Institution highlights two primary reasons why this was the case. Firstly… Read more
As the holidays approach, some workers may look forward to a bump in their paychecks with employers paying out bonuses. Across the many different types of bonuses allotted to workers (i.e. referrals,… Read more
Many homeowners were incentivized to refinance their homes after mortgage rates reached historic lows in 2020. And Freddie Mac data shows that this caused mortgage refinancing activity to hit its… Read more
Americans are spending slightly less of their pre-tax income on utilities when compared with a decade ago. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, the average American household spent 4… Read more
Strains on consumer finances during the COVID-19 pandemic have increasingly pushed Americans to seek assistance from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which serves as an intermediary… Read more
The U.S. recently hit a large milestone on the road to recovery from the economic fallout of COVID-19. In the second quarter of 2021, real gross domestic product (GDP) exceeded its pre-pandemic level… Read more
Over the past decade, the total number of U.S.-based registered investment advisors (RIAs) has increased by 20.29%. Total assets managed by RIAs have grown at an even steeper rate, more than doubling… Read more
Socially responsible investing – commonly referred to as environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing – is gaining traction among institutional investors as well as individuals. According to… Read more
Hispanic and Latino Americans have seen some of the highest unemployment rates during the COVID-19 pandemic of any race and ethnic group for which the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports data.… Read more
Though the COVID-19 pandemic has financially impacted Americans in many ways, the homeownership rate has risen and stayed elevated. Census Bureau data shows that the homeownership rate actually hit… Read more
There are 218,100 personal financial advisors in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This means that there are 9.70 financial advisors for every 10,000 adults ages 25 and older. Of… Read more
An increasing number of nurses are trading in traditional hospital-staffing positions for higher-paying temporary jobs with traveling nurse agencies. The difference in pay is often significant. The… Read more
Business growth is often top-of-mind for financial advisors. Many financial advisory firms follow an “economies of scale” model – that is, larger advisory firms generally tend to be more cost… Read more
Tax filers with higher adjusted gross incomes (AGIs) tend to move less than filers with lower AGIs. This may be due to various reasons, including that taxpayers in higher income brackets often skew… Read more
Financial advisor firms are on the move. That’s in part because the COVID-19 pandemic has presented an opportunity for firms to pull up stakes and relocate their headquarters to new areas that better… Read more
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