Asset Planning, Inc Blog

Recently, a family tragedy threw my much anticipated, soon-to-be empty nester plans into disarray. I was reminded of a remarkably astute and humorous line from a John Lennon song: "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans". In May my daughter is graduating from high school and will be moving off to college in the fall. She is majoring in Entrpreneurship and will be attending Chapman University. My son is graduating from trade school this year as well. My husband and I could see the finish line on the horizon and we were very much looking forward to both the financial and personal freedon afforded once our children ventured out on their own in the near future. Overnight, our lives went the complete opposite direction. In February we welcomed our nephews, ages 8 and 11, into our home. They are the sweetest children and bring us much joy but we are saddened they have come to live with us as the result of the sudden death of their father, my husband's brother. I hope my story serves as a reminder that good financial and life planning expects the unexpected. But more importantly, the best planning strikes a balance between seizing the day and saving for the days we hope are ahead of us. Like Sandy said YOLO and remember to savor every bit of fun and joy you can.

During my 30 year career I have encouraged  clients to carefully save and prepare for retirement. Now I want you to reach beyond your comfort zone and embrace something new, something exciting, possibly scary. I was recently in the Galapagos and loved that portion of the trip but I also signed up for an Amazon rainforest extension that pushed my boundaries. This self-declared "prissy girl" was going to a very remote part of the world, completely off the grid. No cell, wifi, satellite, news or electricity- which was great for my daughter to be unconnected. We had dim light by solar, hunidity, heat, lots of bugs, birds, snakes, caimans and creatures. I was in a swamp with the Shaman, a medicine man, a healer of the community. To appreciate what we have, go to where they have not. View the world as exciting and try a new hobby, volunteer, give back, get involved. YOLO means "you only live once" and I have lived by that attitude for years. Take the road less traveled. Take a leap.

Most people assume that things such as, annual fees, interest rates and late fees are non-negotiable when it comes to credit cards. A new survey from creditcards.com is showing us that this is not the case. In most circumstances all you have to do is call your credit card company and ask. The survey asked 952 American cardholders and the majority received what they asked for. The problem is that hardly anyone asks.

Here are the results from cardholders who asked:

• 87 percent received a late payment fee waiver.
• 69 percent got a lower interest rate.
• 89 percent received a higher credit limit.
• 82 percent had their annual fee waived or reduced.

If you are looking for ways to reduce or eliminate fees on your credit card it doesn’t hurt to call and ask. The worst they can say is no. This can save you lots of money in the long run, if you carry balances on your cards, so it’s definitely worth a call.

We are pleased to announce that Melani has earned her Registered Paraplanner^SM designation. The coursework she completed has given her the financial knowledge necessary to assist our CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERS^TM in constructing financial plans for our clients. She will work closely with our advisors and is a valuable member of our financial planning team.

Retiring comfortably is a dream for most people. Unfortunately a lot of people are not adequately saving for their retirement or, even scarier; they are not saving at all. What is preventing them from saving? Usually it’s a mind block that gets in the way. Retirement seems too far off to think of or it’s uncomfortable to talk about. Here are a few reasons that most people delay saving and some tips to overcome these excuses.

• Paying off debt and paying for current living expenses - With a lot of people burdened with a mound of student debt after college and paying for current living expenses, the idea of putting anything extra towards retirement savings can seem daunting. While it is important to pay off your debt it is also important to save for your future. Even the smallest amount that you can spare is better than nothing at all.

• Instant Gratification- Spending money on items or trips that you want to go on now is highly more satisfying then putting money into a retirement account that you can’t touch for a long time. Sure everyone loves a new purse or a shiny new set of golf clubs. But one thing to ask yourself; are these items worth my future financial security?

• Unsure of where to start- A big reason people put off saving for retirement is that they do not know how to get started. There are also many online resources that offer retirement calculators and tips to guide you through the process. You can also contact a financial advisor to help you assess your retirement needs and set up a customized plan to get you started on the right track to a successful retirement.

• Procrastination- The mindset of “I’ll do it tomorrow” and then never actually doing it can be one of the biggest disadvantages off all to your retirement savings. Most people do not understand the concept of compounding interest when it comes to savings. Basically, the sooner you start saving, your principal will not only earn interest but over time you’ll earn interest on top of previous years interest and therefore the compounding effect can be huge. If you put off starting to save until you are in your 30s instead of starting in your 20s your money will miss a decade of compounding. The end result is you will have to save significantly more money every month to get to your desired retirement goals then if you had started earlier. The easiest way to get started is through your company if they offer a 401k plan or by setting up an IRA account. With both of these options you can have contributions set up to automatically come out of your paycheck or account. The less you have to think about it the more likely it is that you will do it.

The bottom line is that there are a lot of excuses that people make as to why they can’t save for retirement. The sooner you get started, no matter how much you start with, the better. When you get ready to retire you will not regret taking those first steps you made to invest in yourself and your future.

We wanted to send out a reminder that it's not too late to contribute to your IRA accounts for 2016 as long as you are still working and have not yet met your contribution limit. The IRS deadline for contributions is April 18, 2017. Please give us a call if you would like to make a contribution or have any questions.

Be wary of a new websites that makes it very easy for literally anyone to get your personal information. There are numerous websites that offer this information but one of the newest and easiest is FamilyTreeNow.com. In a couple of clicks you can find out virtually anything you would like to know about someone including their address, phone number and possible relatives. The amount of information listed on these sites is scary and makes you a perfect target for identity theft. The sad part about it is that it is perfectly legal for these sites to post this information because it is considered public information. There are somethings you can do about it though. Here are some tips we took from the article from Cyber Security experts with the LAPD.

1) Send mail to a box rental service that lets you use a street address over a P.O. box number (since no one will believe you actually live where a P.O. box number is located)

2) Buy property through a blind trust if you can, so your name isn't linked to where you live. The downside is this is very expensive, and it also can make selling your property more challenging.

3) Give out a Google voice number instead of your actual cell phone number.

4) Opt out of information gathering websites.

Here are the opt-out pages for a few of them: 

FamilyTreeNow.com: https://www.familytreenow.com/optout

Intelius.com: https://www.intelius.com/optout.php

LexisNexis.com: https://www.lexisnexis.com/privacy/directmarketingopt-out.aspx

WhitePages.com: https://premium.whitepages.com/help#about

Spokeo.com: http://www.spokeo.com/opt_out/new

411.info: https://411.info/manage/

ZoomInfo.com: http://www.zoominfo.com/lookupEmail

PeopleSmart.com: https://www.peoplesmart.com/optout-go

BeenVerified.com: https://www.beenverified.com/f/optout/search

PeopleFinder.com: http://www.peoplefinder.com/optout.php

If you need assistance with any of these steps, please feel free to call the office to make an appointment and we will be happy to assist you.

We talk to clients everyday about how important estate planning is and how they should have a trust in place to ensure that their wishes are met after they pass away or become incapacitated. While having a trust set up is great it doesn’t really provide all of the details necessary for a spouse or loved one to take care of the day to day tasks of wrapping up your affairs. It is a really good idea to create an information folder that provides the pertinent details such as account numbers and passwords. This is also valuable to have in case of an emergency such as a car accident or house fire. You can grab this folder and go. Here is a list of information you should have in the folder.

• Assets: checking and investment accounts, private business interests, location of safety deposit boxes, annuities, individual retirement accounts and 401(k)s, trust agreements, real estate, vehicles, collectibles

• Liabilities: credit cards, mortgages, car payments, cell phone bills, other recurring bills • Social media/online accounts: passwords and login information for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Amazon, PayPal, eBay, Netflix, Hulu, iCloud or other cloud storage accounts, online photo storage accounts

• Miscellaneous subscriptions/memberships: airline rewards programs, Sam’s, BJ’s or Costco memberships, toll tag accounts, magazines, newspapers • Insurance: life insurance, long-term care, disability, home, auto

• Home maintenance: water, gas, electricity, telephone, alarm, lawn care, cable television, Internet service • Medical: medical conditions, medications, emergency contacts

• Personal: burial/cremation preferences, funeral plans, pre-paid funeral expenses, birth certificates, marriage certificates, Social Security card

• Key contacts: financial and legal advisors, doctors, family members, close friends

Each person’s folder will require different information but this is a good start and you can customize it as needed. It also may be a good idea to keep a copy of this information in a folder in your email account, that way you only need to have one password to give out and everything is backed up by the cloud.

(This list was compiled from an article on wealthmanagement.com)

Carol, Sandy and Samantha attended the 2017 TD Ameritrade National LINC Conference in San Diego last week. This conference is a great opportunity to stay up to date on the latest industry trends as well as network with their peers, industry experts and technology partners. The information that they take away from the conference helps them continue to expand their knowledge and better service their clients needs.

We are excited to announce that we now have a secure portal to transmit sensitive information to and from our clients. We will use this portal to send reports and documents electronically with sensitive information including full account numbers, social security numbers, etc. Each client portal is individual and you will be required to set up a log in to receive and send documents. In order to set up the portal and receive your documents, you will be sent an email with a link to your portal site. You will need to click on the link or copy and paste the web address in to your browser. If you are interested in receiving your quarterly statements electronically through the portal please contact me at sjg@assetplanninginc.com or Melani at melani@assetplanninginc.com and we will be glad to set you up on the portal.