$pring Clean Tip 13:Insurance

$pring Cleaning Tip 13: Do you have enough insurance coverage for home, auto, health and life? Are your beneficiaries up to date? A MUST DO!

Reading: Spring clean your finances

Reading: Spring clean your finances @Tightwad blog http://ow.ly/9Za70

Three Spring Cleaning Tips for Your Finances

Spring is traditionally the time to clean up the old and get ready for the new. Why should your finances be any different? Now is the perfect time to spring clean your retirement plans.
Check the beneficiaries on your existing IRAs, 401k and 403B accounts
Assets held in these types of accounts (Roth IRAs too!) will pass outside of your will. This means that  your retirement assets will pass to the beneficiaries that you named when you opened your account. So, make sure that the beneficiaries that you named are still those that you want to pass your retirement assets to.  –You would be amazed at how many ex-spouses are the beneficiaries of their former spouses 401ks! This oversight leaves the current spouse with no claim to these 401k assets.

Reclaim the 401k or 403b held at a former employer
Many folks have the set it and forget it mentality especially when it comes to their retirement assets held in an account at a former employer. Well, this is probably not the best idea.
Consciously decide what to do with your 401k, 403b, IRA held at a former employer. Do you really need to leave your monies there? Should you move them to your current employer’s 401k? Or should you roll the monies over into an IRA? These questions need to be answered and action taken. If you are not sure what to do, consult with a trusted financial advisor. Research your options and take action. Make time to reclaim your abandoned retirement money!

Review and adjust your portfolio asset allocations

While most of us are content to let ‘things rock along’ and leave our investments untouched for years, your retirement portfolio should be analyzed and rebalanced annually. Make sure that you have an asset allocation plan and stick to it.  
In keeping with your plan for asset allocation, sell both assets that have gone up and holdings that no longer serve you. Then, buy more of the assets that have gone down in value. It’s the perfect way to execute your ‘buy low, sell high’ strategy.

Springtime is the perfect season to ‘till the asset allocation soil’ and prepare your portfolio for future growth, check your beneficiary designations and reclaim those 401ks that you have left as orphan investments .

If you need help with your asset allocation or reclaiming your abandoned retirement accounts, just give me a call at 770-333-0113 option 1 x110.

Jane Nowak  is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst ™ at Kring Financial Management in Atlanta, GA.  Jane is a Retirement Specialist and Divorce Financial Analyst who provides financial planning for clients in their prime.

 She has recently had articles published or has been quoted in articles that have appeared online at theNASDAQ, Yahoo Finance, Womenetics.com, Smart Money Chicks, Fox Business News, CreditCards.com, U.S. News &World Report, Financial Planning Association (FPA) and Equifax Personal Finance blog web sites.   
 

Securities offered through Triad Advisors, Inc. Member, FINRA/SIPC

                     

 

           

Why is Financial Planning Important for You?

October is the time to add some  Financial Planning to your life! The Georgia Chapter of the Financial Planning Association as well as FPA Chapters across the nation have named October 3^rd through the 9^th as Financial Planning week.

So Why all the Hubbub around Financial Planning?

There are many studies[i] that have been done over the last several years about Americans who have a financial plan and those who don’t. And as self-serving as it many sound, those Americans surveyed who have a financial plan and work with financial planners have many common characteristics. Americans who work with a financial planner:

• Feel more confident about their financial futures
• Have a clear financial direction
• Are more likely to know how much they need to save for retirement
• Feel ready to deal with market ups and down
• Are more optimistic about their financial futures
• Are able to save more than average

Having been a financial planning client for many years before I decided to make Financial Planning my encore career, I can honestly say that I enjoyed many of the above advantages. A consistent relationship with a financial planner did give me confidence, peace of mind and an annual review of my financial situation and investment direction.

Many Americans Say: It’s All in Their Head

Tongue in cheek, I’m talking about American’s financial plans. A recent survey sponsored by the CFP® Board showed that, 86% of the survey respondents agreed with the idea that everyone should have a financial plan.  And, 79% said they have a plan in place. However, less than half of the respondents have a formal plan in place––46% said they just have a plan in their head, and 11% just have notes and ideas.[ii]

Folks,  unless you have already met your financial goals,  having ideas in your head about your financial plan, just won’t cut it. Many of the formal written plans that I do for middle-income clients have more than 10 pages of information and two pages of recommendations. How can anyone keep all that detailed information in their head?

After having said that having a formal financial plan is important,  I think the survey respondents were simply trying to save face. It is clear to me that they really have no financial plan.  And, if you haven’t heard me say this before, ’If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.’

I know most folks are just plain overwhelmed by just the thought of doing a financial plan. But, I do urge you to give yourself the gift of a financial plan and a long-term relationship with a trusted financial advisor. That way you can work on reaching your financial dreams and goals year over year, one step at a time.

How do I choose a Financial Planner?

Here are two  sources that I trust will give you good advice on what questions to ask, what to consider and how to choose a financial planner.

Choosing a Financial Planner – FPA.net

CPF Board -How to Choose a Planner

Celebrating  Your Very  Own Financial Planning Month

Take at least one step forward with your own financial planning by doing one or more of the activities below taken from The FPA of Georgia’s article titled 20 Ways to Celebrate Financial Planning Week [iii]:

• Balance your checkbook
• Start a savings account for a child, vacation or a gift for yourself
• Help teach your children how to save and spend wisely
• Get your estate in order: Create or revise your will and other estate-planning documents
• Call your financial planner and share your appreciation for their service
• Pay off a credit card
• Establish an emergency fund
• Evaluate your employee benefits and begin planning for open enrollment
• Develop your holiday spending budget
• Plan for year-end tax strategies
• Purchase a session with a financial planner for a relative, friend or colleague
• Give a relative, friend or colleague a subscription to a personal finance magazine
• Invite a financial planner to speak at your workplace
• Review your insurance coverage
• Write down your financial goals and revisit them periodically
• Start using personal finance software to help you better understand your money
• Look up three financial terms that have baffled you and resolve to understand them
• Talk to a relative about their plans for long-term care
• Talk to your relatives about your plans for long-term care

If you have thought about working with a financial planner, now is always the best time to move forward.  And, begin today by completing one or more of the suggested ways for you to celebrate Financial Planning week.

As always I welcome your comments and suggestions for future articles.

 Jane Nowak  is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ specializes in AT&T Retirement Plans, Women’s Retirement and Financial Planning for Women. Located in the Smyrna, Marietta, Vinings area of Atlanta, GA, Jane’s goal is to educate and empower her clients to take control of their daily finances so they can fully fund their retirement dreams and needs. Jane has recently had articles quoted and published on-line at the NASDAQ, Yahoo Finance, Womenetics.com, Smart Money Chicks, Fox Business News, CreditCards.com, U.S. News and World Report and Financial Planning Association (FPA) websites.

Securities offered through Triad Advisors, Inc. Member, FINRA/SIPC

                                                                                                                                                 

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[i] Surveys by ING and Ameriprise Financial

[ii] The findings from the survey of 1,011 adults, conducted earlier this month by Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. in tandem with KRC Research

[iii] FPA of Georgia  20 Ways to Celebrate Financial Planning Week http://www.fpanet.org/WhatisFinancialPlanning/FinancialPlanningWeek

Must Read:Enough with the #Social #Security

Must Read:Enough with the #Social #Security scare tactics @BaltimoreSun http://ow.ly/6K8Qh Turning down the noise and swirl RE #SS

Social Security Pays a Lifetime Bonus -If You Delay Benefits

The Very Wonderful Magical Math of a Delayed Retirement   

Retirement credit? Good heavens! I call it a bonus. Do you know how much of a bonus that you get if you delay receiving Social Security past your normal retirement date? 

Boring Stuff AKA Fine Print about the Credit for Delayed Retirement  

Born in 1943 or after? Eligible for Social Security benefits? For every month that you delay receiving Social Security benefits past your normal retirement age you will increase your retirement paycheck by .00667 =2/3 of 1% per month! 

Why am I so excited? That itsy bitsy .00667 per month benefit doesn’t sound like much. But, the .00667 increase per month equals 8% per year!! And, you can delay taking Social Security retirement benefits up to the maximum age of 70. 

Note that because the normal retirement age will be increasing to age 67, eventually, retirees will only be able to receive a delayed retirement credit for three years instead of four or five.  

Translation of Your Social Security Delayed Retirement Math

 Chart data is for example only. The Full Monthly Retirement benefit shown may or may not show your actual benefit! Check with SSA.gov for more information. 

Actual Retire-ment Age	Social Security Normal Retire-ment Age	Full Monthly Retire-ment Benefit at age 66/67	Actual Benefit Amount at age 70	Dollar Amount per Mo. Difference	% Amount per Mo. Differ-ence	Annual Dollar Differ-ence for life
66[1]	70	$1200	$1584	+$384	+32%	+$4608
672	70	$1200	$1488	+$288	+24%	+$3456

 [1] At age 70 with a retirement age of 66, your credit is an increase of your monthly benefit by 32%. (That is: .00667 x 48 months for ages 66-70. You increase every dollar you earn by waiting until retirement age 70, you get $1.32 cents. So, in dollar terms, what an annual salary of $14,400 is increased to $19,008 per year, for life. 

 [2]At age 70 with a retirement age of 67, your credit is an increase of your monthly benefit by 24%.(That is: .00667 x 36 months for ages 67-70. You increase every dollar you earn by waiting until retirement age 70, you get $1.24 cents. So, in dollar terms, what an annual salary of $14,400 is increased to $17,856 per year, for life. 

Jane Nowak  is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ specializes in AT&T Retirement Plans, Women’s Retirement and Financial Planning for Women. Located in the Smyrna, Marietta, Vinings area of Atlanta, GA, Jane’s goal is to educate and empower her clients to take control of their daily finances so they can fully fund their retirement dreams and needs. Jane has recently had articles quoted and published on-line at the NASDAQ, Yahoo Finance, Womenetics.com, Smart Money Chicks, Fox Business News, CreditCards.com, U.S. News and World Report and Financial Planning Association (FPA) websites.

Securities offered through Triad Advisors, Inc. Member, FINRA/SIPC

    

 

 

 

Is Social Security Really Just A Ponzi Scheme?

There’s been a lot of talk over the last several years and most recently by a Presidential candidates about whether Social Security is nothing but a Ponzi scheme. Well folks, Social Security is not a Ponzi scheme. It may feel like one. But it’s not.

Here’s why…

A Ponzi scheme is investment fraud knowingly perpetrated so that early investors are paid off with money from later investors. This is done specifically to encourage more investors to take part. (Remember: If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.) Of course, the scheme’s perpetrators keep a lot of the money for themselves. Social Security lacks both the fraudulent intent and profit-making motive of a Ponzi scheme.

How was Social Security Supposed to be Funded?

Designed as a pay as you go system, the system was never designed with the idea of creating an individual savings account for each working adult. Social Security is a pool of money held in trust that pays benefits to our retired workers that have met set eligibility requirements. So, although the payment formula allows for payments based upon contribution levels, we are not necessarily supposed to be getting back the same dollar amount that we paid into Social Security. Further, the working public and their employers are supposed to be carrying the tax burden for the country’s qualified Social Security recipients. Like it or not, the Social Security system is as designed. 

Jane Nowak is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ specializes in AT&T Retirement Plans, Women’s Retirement and Financial Planning for Women. Located in the Smyrna, Marietta, Vinings area of Atlanta, GA, Jane’s goal is to educate and empower her clients to take control of their daily finances so they can fully fund their retirement dreams and needs. Jane has recently had articles quoted and published on-line at the NASDAQ, Yahoo Finance, Womenetics.com, Smart Money Chicks, Fox Business News, CreditCards.com, U.S. News and World Report and Financial Planning Association (FPA) websites.

Securities offered through Triad Advisors, Inc. Member, FINRA/SIPC

Paying for your kids’ college vs. your

Paying for your kids’ college vs. your own retirement @USAToday
http://ow.ly/6khq1 NEVER use #401K or #IRA to pay for college for your kids

Elder Abuse – Financial Style

You might be wondering why I’m writing about elder abuse on a financial blog, right? Unfortunately, all types of elder abuse are on the rise in lock step with our aging population -including financial abuse. Regarding abuse of our seniors, in a study done by MetLife in 2009, only 1 in 6 cases of  elder abuse is even reported. And, in dollar terms alone, the estimated losses from reported cases of elder abuse adds up to whopping $2.6 billion per year. So, what  is being reported is just the tip of the iceberg.

From a health care point of view the concerns are multiple. The early stages of dementia and Alzheimer’s often go undetected by friends and family members. The number of cases of Alzheimer’s in our population is on the rise. And, these cognitive diseases whether diagnosed or not diagnosed can make our seniors even more vulnerable as targets for emotional, verbal, physical and financial abuse.

Recently actor Mickey Rooney, now 90 years old testified to Congress about the alleged financial abuse that he suffered at the hands of his stepson. Rooney a fixture on the American screen since the 1920′s is quoted as saying “If it happened to me, it can happen to anyone.”

When it comes to elder financial abuse, what are some specific things that you should be on the look out for? 

• Disaster-home repair fraud after a tornado, flood, hurricane etc.
• Price gouging for goods and services
• Unscrupulous charities
• Unusual changes to financial situation
• Monthly bills going unpaid
• Changes to wills, trusts or powers of attorney
• Lottery scams

Frankly, the list is potentially endless. The ‘bad guys’ and their scams are coming after our seniors from all over the world via telephone, U. S. mail, email and the internet. And, sadly, sometimes the ‘bad guys’ come in the form of  trusted care givers and family members.

What can you do?

• Keep an eye out for your parents, grandparents,elder friends and family members
• Be aware of changes in their financial, emotional and mental health
• If cognitive diseases run in your family, plan ahead on how you are going to deal with financial and health care issues that will come up due to dementia and Alzheimer’s
• Be ready to take appropriate action
• Use the National Elder Care Locator if you need a starting place for available resources www.eldercare.gov 1-800-677-1116
• In Georgia to learn about available resources contact the Georgia Department of Human Services

About Jane Nowak, CFP® – MoneyGal2020

Jane Nowak  is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ with a focus on Women’s Retirement and Financial Planning for Women. Located in Smyrna, GA, Jane’s goal is to educate and empower women to take control of their daily finances so they can fully fund their retirement dreams and needs. Jane has recently had articles quoted and published on-line at the NASDAQ, Womenetics.com, Smart Money Chicks, Fox Business, Credit Cards and Financial Planning Association websites.

Securities offered through Triad Advisors, Inc. Member, FINRA/SIPC

5 Harsh Financial Statistics: Women Need to Plan Ahead

 

Harsh statistics should propel women to plan ahead – Chicago Sun-Times

http://www.suntimes.com/business/savage/2292120-452/women-financial-percent-retirement-filings.html

Ouch! Once again Terry Savage delivers a swift kick to women by reminding us about the harsh financial realities that we face throughout our lives. For those of you who haven’t already heard some of these statistics, they are both worrisome and worth repeating:

• In 2009, women represented 39 percent of bankruptcy filings
• Women live  between five and six years longer  than men
• Women make up 75 percent of the elderly poor today
• 80 percent of women living in poverty were not poor before their husbands died
• Median pension benefit for men was $9,600 vs. just $4,800 per year for women (mid 1990′s data)

I know that  it is both daunting and frightening to consider our financial futures in light of these statistics. But, we will not improve our future financial situations by burying our heads in the sand and ignoring facts and probabilities.

So what can you do now?

If single or head of household:

• Save  -Everyone can figure out how to put a little money aside.
• Begin saving now/today
• Begin small and save more as time goes on
• Only buy what you can afford to pay for ‘in full’ at the end of the month
• Pay off credit cards in full every month
• When you swipe, keep a log of your debit card spending
• Write a monthly budget and stick to it
• Write a financial plan and review it every 6 months

If married:

• Save  -You should have an personal savings account.
• Begin saving now/today
• Begin small and save more as time goes on
• Participate and understand your retirement plan
• Participate and understand your financial plan
• Make sure spending levels in retirement will support the spouse who lives longer

Like it or not, most women at one time or another, will be likely have the sole responsibility for our financial futures. Take action now by saving and participating in the financial planning.

Jane Nowak is a Financial Planner with Kring Financial Management located in Atlanta, Ga. Jane’s practice focuses on Women’s Retirement Planning and Financial Planning for Women. Her articles have been published on line at NASDAQ, Financial Planning Association and Womenetics.com, SmartMoneyChicks.com.  Follow Jane on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/moneygal2020