As a kid, I played a lot of console games. As I positioned myself in front of the TV, I had Nintendo on my left, Sega Genesis on my right, and an original PlayStation in front of me. Four power cords, three AV cords, six controller cables, and numerous other wires turned my little play area into a death trap for my poor mother. Mom’s daily battle cry was, “Clean up this mess!”

Turns out, we all should have listened to my mom.

As a technology consultant at Commonwealth Financial Network^®, I frequently talk about technology with the firm’s affiliated financial advisors. Given the pace at which new products come to market, the questions I receive typically revolve around whether advisors should invest in top-of-the-line hardware and systems and how often they should upgrade. It can be tempting to chase the latest trends, but do you really need and i7 processor when an i5 will do? With that in mind, let’s look at what you really need to run an efficient practice, and how to determine when it’s time to invest in your office technology.

What do advisors expect from their broker/dealers when it comes to keeping up with trends in financial advisor technology? And how do broker/dealers deliver the tools and resources their advisors are asking for?

From cybersecurity to system integration, here I'll discuss some of the prominent trends that will continue to play a significant role for financial advisors in the years ahead—with a focus on how we meet (and exceed!) expectations here at Commonwealth.

How do you know when the time is "right" to upgrade your technology? After all, things change so rapidly that today's innovation is sometimes obsolete within a year (or less!). But here is one thing that I believe remains true: new technology can help you add value to your clients, your practice, and your life.

My husband is a commercial airline pilot, and it’s easy for him to talk with almost anyone about his job. After all, who doesn’t have a good travel story to share? It’s not quite the same when I tell people that, as the vice president of user experience at Commonwealth, part of my job is to ensure that our products and services are “usable.” They don’t seem all that interested in hearing why usability matters. But it does matter, quite a lot! So, let’s take a look at what usability is, why it's important (using some real-world examples), and some of the ways we improve usability here at Commonwealth.