Samantha Lamas

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Target-Date Funds and Annuities ... It’s Complicated

Samantha Lamas Apr 9, 2024

Does Your Financial Plan Fit Your Core Values?

Samantha Lamas Apr 1, 2024

Crypto, REITs, Private Equity: Long-Term Investments or Short-Term Trends?

Samantha Lamas Feb 28, 2024

The Key to Personal Financial Planning: Being Lazy

Samantha Lamas Feb 15, 2024

How Often Do You Really Need To Meet With Your Clients?

Samantha Lamas Jan 30, 2024

More From Samantha Lamas

Why It’s Important to Retire With Purpose

Retirement isn’t the freedom from work, but the freedom to do your life’s work.

Samantha Lamas Nov 10, 2023

7 Faux Pas for Financial Advisors To Avoid

When it comes to managing a relationship with your client, little mistakes can have big consequences.

Samantha Lamas Oct 23, 2023

Financial Planning Tips for the Latino Community

Wealth advisor Catalina Franco-Cicero discusses the unique challenges facing Hispanic households and how to help mitigate them.

Samantha Lamas Oct 4, 2023

How to Coach Investors Through Choice Overload

Having more choices doesn’t always translate to better decisions.

Samantha Lamas Sep 20, 2023

How Advisors Can Create Financial Plans That Reflect What Investors Really Want

Sidestepping the limitations of goals-based planning.

Samantha Lamas Sep 12, 2023

What Financial Advisors Can Learn About Portfolio Personalization from a Yoga Mat

Use the principles of successful recommendation systems to help clients better understand their opportunities.

Samantha Lamas Aug 30, 2023

2 Ways to Build Strong Client Relationships

Don’t wait until a financial crisis to shore up your client relationship.

Samantha Lamas Aug 2, 2023

What Is Behavioral Finance?

Hint: It’s more than cataloging behavioral biases.

Samantha Lamas Jul 7, 2023

With ChatGPT, Why Do I Need a Financial Advisor?

Advisors can, and should, give you more than standard financial advice.

Samantha Lamas Jun 26, 2023

Why Do Investors Hire Their Financial Advisor?

Our research points to the importance of addressing a client’s emotional needs during beginning conversations.

Samantha Lamas Jun 16, 2023

More Investing Tools Won’t Solve All Your Problems

Behind every new tool is a human being grappling with how to use it.

Samantha Lamas May 24, 2023

Curious About Sustainable Investing? Start With These 2 Questions

Sustainable investing can feel tricky. Here’s how it can fit into your toolbox.

Samantha Lamas Apr 14, 2023

Why Advisors Shouldn’t Worry About Losing Trust During Market Volatility

Returns aren’t the only answer, or even the best one.

Samantha Lamas Mar 2, 2023

Move Past Positive Thinking and Make Your Investing Goals Realistic

It’s important to make actionable plans to reach your goals.

Samantha Lamas Feb 14, 2023

Even Advisors Aren’t Immune to Overconfidence Bias

Amid ‘outlook season,’ we must beware of this tendency.

Samantha Lamas Feb 8, 2023

Portfolio Personalization Is Here. Are You Ready?

Understanding what your clients value can help drive your conversations.

Samantha Lamas Oct 4, 2022

Is Your Smartphone Hurting Your Portfolio Performance?

Trading on your smartphone can affect how you invest.

Samantha Lamas Sep 21, 2022

Inflation, Market Volatility, and Your Mind

It is important to acknowledge our biases.

Samantha Lamas Jul 27, 2022

What’s Driving Cryptocurrency Investors?

A look at what’s led people to invest in this risky asset.

Samantha Lamas Jun 9, 2022

The Role of Family and Friends in Investing Decisions

Consider involving clients' families in financial planning.

Samantha Lamas May 24, 2022

How to Keep Building Trust With Clients and Why You Should

Personalization, deep knowledge, and shared goals can establish advisor-client trust.

Samantha Lamas Apr 13, 2022

How to Talk to Investors About Sustainable Investing

As sustainable investing becomes more common, it is important that industry professionals are able to effectively introduce and talk about the subject with clients. This is no easy task, as sustainable investing is multidimensional, with novel nomenclature and lacking industry-level consensus around its core features.

Samantha Lamas Mar 16, 2022

4 Things to Know Before Talking to Clients About ESG Investing

Sustainable investing can be an appealing, but complex, subject.

Samantha Lamas Mar 15, 2022

Why Do Women Invest Less Than Men? Blame the Income Gap

As women gain wealth, advisors must prepare to serve them.

Sarah Newcomb Feb 25, 2022

Do Black Households Have More Wealth in the South?

Comparing the financial outcomes of Black households.

Michael Thompson Feb 24, 2022

More About Samantha Lamas

Samantha Lamas is a behavioral researcher at Morningstar. She is a recipient of the Montgomery-Warschauer Award for her research in financial planning.

Lamas' research focuses on investor engagement and the factors that drive people's decision-making about investing and money. Her work delves into how people think about their financial goals, what they look for when seeking financial advice, and what kinds of mental shortcuts people use when making decisions about their personal finances.

Lamas joined Morningstar in 2016 as a product consultant working directly with the individual investor and advisor audience segments before moving into a research role.

Lamas holds a bachelor's degree in business with a concentration in finance from Dominican University. Follow Lamas on Twitter at @SamanthaLamas4 and on LinkedIn.

Email Samantha at Samantha.Lamas@morningstar.com.