The Dad Report
With Father’s Day approaching fast, we decided to honor all the great dads out there with a tribute called The Dad Report.
Impress Dad with:
A brief history of Father’s Day
A list of the highest paid TV Dad’s
The five most popular Father’s Day quotes
Ultimate Father’s Day gifts
And how much people plan to spend on good old Dad this year
FREE one-page report shares it all. Click here for the report.
Make sure to pass it along to every great Dad in the world. He deserves it!
Sponsored by Naked Retirement, a new book that strips traditional retirement planning down to the core. Learn how the history of retirement reveals why people are behind in savings and what you can do about it NakedRetirement.com
Five Financial Trends To Watch in 2010
Each New Year’s brings predictions about the stock market’s performance and with it the opportunity to look like a fool or genius. Instead of walking that prediction tightrope, I have decided to highlight five financial trends for 2010.
Clicks & Mortar Beat Bricks & Mortar
The proliferation of Internet Banks will continue to cause problems for traditional banks as investors seek income instead of excuses. Internet based banks don’t have branches on every corner with salaried tellers waiting for people to come in, so their savings in overhead translate into higher rates of return and more flexible terms. Rates offered by online saving account alone can often exceed those available from local institutions’ three, six, and nine month CDs.
Cash Continues It’s Decline
2010 will continue to see cash vanish as banks incentivize customers to use debit cards instead of cash. And with technological advances like mobile banking via cell phone, the days of George, Abe, and those lovely Benjamins are slowly suffering the same fate as pay phones, beepers, and home phones.
Good Defense Beats Good Offense
Investors who select low-cost mutual funds like ETFs and individual stock portfolios can save in the range of 1% – 2% on average. In 2010, GDP growth is likely to be below 3%, unemployment will remain at double digits, and the housing market will be dominated by foreclosures. The impact of these factors on consumer spending (which accounts for approximately two-thirds of GDP) will make it more important to make up for lackluster market returns by minimizing investment costs.
Non-Savvy Conservative Investors Get Burned
With short-term yields at an all time low, more and more conservative investors will seek income through high-yield bond funds and dividend paying stocks. Unfortunately, not all bond funds and dividend stocks are structured in the same way. Many investors will be lulled by high yields alone and, to their regret, will learn that good cash flow, profitability, and quality credit cannot be ignored when it comes to the selection of dividend stocks and bond funds.
Fiduciary v. Broker Fight Takes Center Stage
The Fiduciary versus the Broker fight that has been taking place within the financial services community will take center stage as investors become more aware that not all financial professionals operate under the same rules and guidelines. Fiduciaries provide actual investment advice and are legally obliged to do what’s in the best interest of their client. Commissioned agents at firms such as Merrill Lynch, Edward Jones, Ameriprise, and at a host of insurance companies, refuse to accept such legal obligations. Educated investors armed with the right questions and information will see firsthand the potentially abusive and expensive tactics inherent among non-fiduciaries.
Holiday Shopping Tips That Go Beyond The Traditional Cliche Stuff You See Everywhere
Tip 1: Take an extra step when setting your holiday budget. Take actual cash and place the amount you plan to spend on everyone in individual envelopes with their names on it. Then when you’re out and thinking about overspending, you have to reach into someone else’s envelope instead of from your savings or putting more on your credit card. Cash helps you feel the pain now instead of delaying it
Tip 2: If you are going to use your credit card, know when your billing cycle starts. By waiting until after your billing cycle starts you’ll actually increase the amount of time by which you have to pay off your purchase by over 30 days.
Tip 3: Don’t push bad financial decisions into next year. One of the worst things you can do it set yourself up for another year of not keeping your new year financial solutions by ignoring the impact of overspending will have on you as you start 2010. Create some good Financial Karma right now
Bonus tip: Your not alone if money is tight this year. Ask your family to be creative in gift giving this year to save money. Pick names or agree to all go to the dollar store and find the funniest gift for someone. The holidays are about celebrating family and traditions, not stuff.
For Online Shoppers
Pay by Credit Card Rather than by Check or Debit Card:
Paying by Check and debit card uses funds available from your bank account. Credit cards, on the other hand do not, which offers greater protection against fraudulent purchases. If an unauthorized charge appears on your monthly credit card statement, it can be disputed without much effect on your bank account and financial life. Additionally, you reduce the risk of someone stealing your pin as they watch you type it in at a busy and crowded register.
Use one specific card for online purchases:
Use one credit card with a low credit limit (under $1,000) for your online purchases. This way, if your personal or credit card information is stolen it will limit the extent of the damage and save you months of financial repair.
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Inspirational Story From OrganizeMyBills.com
“Every year I set a new year goal to organize my finances. It always started out well, but it always fizzled out. I realized that in all my past attempts I was just working harder and not smarter. I was just putting more time into my bills and finances than I wanted to so after a month or two I fell back into my own ways because I hate spending time on it. Then for a couple bucks I got an easy to follow system that makes sense. It’s kind of like doing a home improvement project over and over again and then finally calling a professional who makes it look easy , except in this case I read a five page booklet and I’m good. My husband even got on board – I just left the download in the bathroom and he read it too. Very easy and brilliant time saver – I’m still blown away” Amie N.
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Bob Laura is a financial expert and partner with Synergos Financial Group. He is an accredited financial counselor, accredited asset management specialist, chartered mutual fund counselor, and chartered retirement planning specialist.
He is the author of The Five Most Important Financial Things They Don’t Teach You In School and creator of myFinancialReflection.com, the first financial software program that doesn’t use any numbers.
Common Sense Economics With A Solution For Consumers
Here’s a little ditty about what every investor needs to know right now and one simple thing the government can do to help the consumer.
History Repeats Itself
This is important for two reasons. First, if you look at the market crash of 1929 and the symptoms of the great depression and compare it to today there are some scary similarities. What most people don’t realize is that the big blow to the stock market didn’t come in October of 1929, but rather took place in September of 1930…ironically after a 50% run up from the market low in 1929. Sound familiar? Furthermore, the market rally of 1929 was created by excessive government spending. And what was the result? The worst economic crisis America and the world have ever seen.
The second important part of this lesson is that cash is king. Whether history replays itself in the coming months or not, if you think you are going to need money from your investments / retirement account(s) within the next three years, make sure you have the amount of money in some form of cash equivalent… like a certificate of deposit, guaranteed money fund, or money market account.
The Stock Market Has Taught Us One Thing In The Last Couple Of Years:
Record highs mean get out and Record lows mean get in. So take a lesson from Goldman Sachs and their philosophy of “Long-term Greed” and stop thinking you’re going to regain all your investment losses within a six month market rally. Buy and hold (should be buy and hope) and diversification both produced the same results in the last couple of years… Steep losses! Take your gains, get your cash position in-line with your near-term needs, and position your portfolio for a downturn. After all, which do you think is more likely after a 50% run up in the market? Dow 10,000 or Dow 9,000?
When Will The Economy Turn Around?
Don’t worry about learning how to interpret leading and lagging economic indicators. Simply go to your favorite retailer on Saturday at 12pm. When you can pull into Target or Best Buy and not get a parking spot in the row closest to the door, you know things are turning around.
70% of how we measure economic growth is based on consumer spending. So the economy will turn around when your family, friends, and co-workers start talking about nice vacations, big screen TV’s, and buying a larger or second home. The missing link in all this bail-out money is the consumer. If people don’t have money or access to money they can’t buy things, start businesses, and hire people to do projects. So until they figure out a way to fix that, hold on tight.
The Candy Dish
If you want to know when things are going to turn around and how the consumer is feeling about the economy, place a candy dish with chocolate in an area of your workplace. Then simply track how many times you fill the dish everyday. When times are bad, you’ll be filling the dish three to four times a day with lots of negative (this sucks or stinks) kind of conversations and when times are improving you’ll see the candy last longer and the conversations turn positive. So forget durable goods orders and new housing starts, and focus on what people do when they are stressed…Eat
What’s Your Solution?
Eliminate the penalty and taxes on retirement plan distributions for a year. The unfortunate reality is that the only savings most Americans have is their retirement plan. Yet they can’t get to them because the rules don’t allow in-service distributions (the ability for people to take money out while they are still working for that company) they have to pay a 10% penalty if they are under age 59 ½, and they would have to pay income taxes on the distribution. In a sense, reducing any distribution by 30 to 40% of it’s value. Since everyone has already lost 30% to 40% and can’t get a loan if they needed it, eliminate the penalty and taxes and give them some short-term breathing room.
Critics would ask ” if people take their retirement money out now what will that mean for their future?” Well if consumers don’t have jobs or credit, they will pull the money anyway, and frankly they are already doing it. So let’s just make it easier for them and less profitable for the government since they are already loaning our money without our consent. Plus it’s no different than what the government is doing, since they don’t appear to care about future generations with their record deficits and looming problems with social security.
Sponsored by Old401k.com Advice for how to maximize old 401k, IRA and other retirement plans.
What Does Your Spending Say About You? Take The Quiz
Do You Need A Lifestyle Review? Take The Quiz
Do you have a hard time sticking to a budget or achieving your financial goals?
Do you dislike keeping track of every penny you spend?
Are you living paycheck-to-paycheck with very little or no room to breathe?
Have you tried to apply the principles of a Dave Ramsey, Suze Orman or other personal finance book(s) / program and been unsuccessful so far?
Are you paying all or most of your bills?
Do you have multiple financial goals that you’re struggling to accomplish?
Can you commit at least two hours to complete the program?
On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate your desire to make changes in your financial life?
1=Not motivated but know I need to change 10=Will do whatever it takes
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If you answered “YES” to at least five questions and rated your desire to make financial changes a “7″ or higher, than please contact us about getting started on your lifestyle review and start achieving the financial life that you deserve.
New York Contact
Craig Forman, CFP®
Well-Being Financial, LLC
585-241-5900
craig@well-beingfinancial (dot) com
Securities and advisory services offered through Waterstone Financial Group, Member FINRA/SIPC. Well-Being Financial, LLC and Waterstone Financial Group are independently owned and operated.
National & Advisor Contact for myFinancial Reflection & Dancing Frog Software
Robert Laura
248.890.0834
rsl@dancingfrogsoftware (dot) com
NAKED RETIREMENT
Naked Retirement strips down the old traditional models of retirement planning and replaces the it with a more creative and intuitive one that helps people take control of their retirement planning, saving, and investing.
The book details the evolution of retirement and uses it to help baby boomers and retirees understand why they are behind in saving and what they can do about it.
"Retirement planning can no longer be one-dimensional, focused exclusively on merely providing information such as how pensions or a 401(k)’s work. It needs to extend beyond financial planning to include aspects of health and social issues that will impact future retirees," according to author, Robert Laura.
Billed as the ultimate defense against the scary, anxious, and stressful feelings people get on their first day of retirement when they have only a financial plan full of numbers and charts to guide them, Laura simplifies the mental and emotional aspects of retirement planning with thought-provoking questions about your definition and approach to retirement as well as important retirement conversations that foster strong relationships in retirement.
The book culminates into a one-page Naked Retirement plan that will help people as well as planners successfully estimate retirement preparedness and future success.
Book is available at NakedRetirement.com and is emailed in pdf format directly to participants.