Financial services industry insiders often throw jargon around in client meetings, newsletters, and even marketing materials – but when an advisor uses jargon, what does the client actually hear? Advisors Magazine asked advisors across the industry and across the country for their thoughts on how to relate to clients and why clear, jargon-lite communication matters, even to investors who know their way around financial concepts.

Few Americans receive unbiased, third-party help with their 401(k) plans, and some even mistakenly believe that their employer actively manages the plan for them. A new tool, however, could help 401(k) holders maneuver toward the retirement they have always dreamed of.

Most people still manage their 401(k) plans through the decades-old “buy and hold” strategy, leaving them exposed to today’s faster-paced financial world.

Frank G. Wisner, Sr. did not dabble in small matters.

Wisner, one of the early members of the Central Intelligence Agency, helped build, and was the original “orchestrator” of, the first state-sponsored propaganda network in the United States—nicknamed the “Mighty Wurlitzer Organ." Wisner ran that operation through a vast array of contacts in order to sway public opinion against communist encroachment world-wide, and later that campaign would be folded into the new CIA.

Frank G. Wisner Jr. grew up in the long shadow of his secret agent father. And yet, the junior Wisner cut a path for himself in the diplomatic corps that made him one of the country’s most accomplished, and respected, envoys.

Today, Wisner serves as an international affairs advisor for global legal powerhouse Squire Patton Boggs, where he offers the firm’s clients strategic global advice on business, politics, and international law. Previously, when Wisner, the former ambassador to Kosovo, trekked around the world he was a diplomatic dealmaker, frequently wearing a dark blue suit and a conservative tie.

A new, silver-backed cryptocurrency aims to combine precious metals and blockchain into the money of the future.

Cryptocurrency often catches flak for lacking an objective value, so could a silver-backed token be the way forward? “Advisors Magazine” recently caught up with two ambassadors from LODE, a new cryptocurrency that turns “idle silver” into electronic tokens.

Gold often dominates discussions about the value of precious metals while silver gets downplayed or ignored. Now, a cryptocurrency initiative known as LODE intends to restore silver to its historic place as “sound money” and as a modern alternative to fiat government currencies.

Cut through the jargon – know what your advisor’s credentials mean

It often looks like the average financial advisor’s business card needs a few extra lines to fit all their certifications. And to the average investor, those certifications remain a mystery – for example, what is the difference between a certified financial planner and a chartered financial professional?