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Have you shopped at Target lately?

By Posted on In Rule of Thumb, Saving, Uncategorized

Target announced today (article) that it was the victim of what may prove to be the largest data theft ever recorded. If you shopped at a Target in the last few weeks, your personal credit card or debit card (not just the Target-branded cards) may have been one of more than 40 million credit cards that were compromised. 40 million is also the population of California!

If you suspect you’re in that unfortunate group, you can check to see if there is any unusual activity on your account by going on line or calling customer service for your credit card. You can protest any fraudulent charges, and the credit card company will probably waive the charges after a brief investigation. Keep monitoring your account for the next month or so. If you’re suspicious and want to be extra cautious, ask your credit card company to freeze your account, and ask for a new card.

Identity theft has now affected one in 14 Americans, and losses from identity theft exceeded $47 billion in the last year, far more than all other property crimes combined.

Have you ever been affected? Send us an email with your story and we can post your experience, confidentially of course.

It’s The Issues That Seem to Come Out of Nowhere That May Hurt Us The Most.

By Posted on In Economy, Finding Confidence, Rule of Thumb, Uncategorized

Stock market crashes and big economic recessions can be caused by a variety of factors. The real concern are the factors that seem to come out of nowhere; the ones that catch everyone, even the experts, off guard.

Take all this talk by the media predicting an economic downturn with a grain of salt. It’s next to impossible to predict events such as the Great Depression or the Great Recession of 2008-2009.  Up until 2008, had you ever heard of a Mortgage Backed Security?

Bottom line: Your portfolio should be ready for anything at any point in time.

The 25 Documents You Need Before You Die

By Posted on In Finding Confidence, Retirement, Rule of Thumb, Uncategorized

Having these documents set aside can be a huge gift to your loved ones. Take some time to make sure that you have these documents in order and be sure to revisit it at least once a year.

The Essentials:
  • Will
  • Letter of instruction
  • Trust documents
Proof of Ownership:
  • Housing, land and cemetery deeds
  • Escrow mortgage accounts
  • Proof of loans made and debts owed
  • Vehicle titles
  • Stock certificates, savings bonds and brokerage accounts
  • Partnership and corporate operating agreements
  • Tax returns
Bank Accounts:
  • List of bank accounts
  • List of all user names and passwords
  • List of safe deposit boxes
Health-Care Confidential:
  • Personal and family medical history
  • Durable health-care power of attorney
  • Authorization to release health-care information
  • Living will
  • Do-not-resuscitate order
Life Insurance and Retirement:
  • Life-insurance policies
  • Individual retirement accounts
  • 401(k) accounts
  • Pension documents
  • Annuity contracts
Marriage and Divorce:
  • Marriage license
  • Divorce papers

If you need help with some of these documents. Please contact us and we can help you (or point you in the right direction).

*Special thanks to Wall Street Journal for pulling this list together.

 

Planning for Retirement is Simple.

By Posted on In Finding Confidence, Retirement, Rule of Thumb, Uncategorized

When it comes to retirement planning, there are only two outcomes.  You will either outlive your savings or your savings will outlive you.  It’s that simple.  Unfortunately, it’s not easy.  Below are a few strategies to consider during your transition years.

50s and 60s: Plan for the Future

Around age 50, investors should begin to plan more specifically for their retirement. It’s important for investors to remember that even though they are approaching retirement, they should still maintain a strong holding of stocks.  An investor will retire and may not touch some of their assets for a few decades. Those funds should be invested a little more aggressively than the funds they will need early in retirement.

Retirement Transition: Writing the Next Chapter

As an investor enters retirement, they transition from acquiring assets and saving to spending.  The asset allocation should not have a sudden change.  Rather, a phased approach can offer a smooth transition into retirement. We work with clients to solve this dilemma by using a bucketing strategy.  In a sense, investors split their portfolio in four buckets, with each bucket designed to provide income for 7 to 8 years at a time, and focused on using an appropriate asset allocation for each bucket based on the timeframe.

Age 70+: Staying Prepared

It used to be that the average American male had reached his life expectancy by age 65. In fact, when Social Security first started, it was designed to help people that had lived longer than the life expectancy at the time (age 65). Now, with changing retirement trends, many people are still working at age 70 and beyond.  Not to mention living longer… a lot longer.

If an investor is healthy and there is longevity in the family history, it’s important to review the portfolio to make sure it is not being depleted early.  If the investor is unhealthy, or does not expect to live much longer, it’s important to check that beneficiaries are up to date or develop a strategy for gifting the account to a loved one.

Should I invest now?

By Posted on In Investment Behavior, Investment Strategies, Rule of Thumb, Saving, Uncategorized

I’ve been getting this question a lot this summer: “Should I invest in the market now, or is this the top of the market?”

Here’s my response:

If you watch the news, there’s always a reason not to invest. Think back to the election and the fiscal cliff.  Who would be crazy enough to invest at the end of 2012 when the fiscal cliff was right in front of us?  Then again, The market has gone up and up this whole year with only a few speed bumps.

If you run the numbers, the research suggests that you’re better off moving the money into the markets despite what you hear from the media. Don’t try to time when to buy or sell. But that may be too hard to stomach for many investors.

And then there is the middle ground – invest in the markets on a regular basis over a certain period of time – called dollar cost averaging.  Instead of investing 100% of your portfolio right away, you could invest 25% of it for four months.  That may reduce the risk of buying a security only to see it drop shortly after you purchase it. This allows you to ease back into the markets, instead of jumping in.  Keep in mind, this method does not ensure a profit and does not protect against loss in a declining market, so investors should consider their willingness to continue purchases during a declining or fluctuating market.