Asset Planning, Inc Blog

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Dear Clients,

As you may have heard in the news, Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade have reached an agreement for Schwab to acquire TD Ameritrade. The combined company will retain the Schwab name, and will reflect the best that each legacy firm has to offer, including leading wealth management and trading platforms.

For now, the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the second half of 2020. During that time, there should be no impact to how you work with us or TD Ameritrade Institutional.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out. If you would like to learn more about the transaction, visit www.amtd.com for details.

Sincerely,

Sandy, Carol and Erin

Today marks Carol's 14th year with API. We are a family here and we truly appreciate her and all she does for the company and our clients. We celebrated her today by surprising her with flowers and her favorite breakfast of bagels and lox with all the fixings. Cheers to many more years with Asset Planning!

Apparently there is a new scam going around in Orange County. Imposters are calling and claiming that they are from the Orange County Superior Court. They are claiming that you will be facing prosecution for missing jury duty and attempt to obtain your social security number. Read here for more details

The bottom line is, never ever under any circumstances give out any of your personal information such as social security number, birth date etc. to anyone who is calling you that you do not recognize. No reputable company is going to call you out of the blue to ask you for this information. Scammers will stop at nothing to get this valuable information from you so be vigilent in protecting it.

Many people are interested in their ancestry and genetic testing and the popularity of DNA test kits shows this new trend. The most popular tests are AncestryDNA, National Geographic genetics and 23andme. 23andMe has over 2 million customers that have given consent to have their data used for research. Yes, the data is sold. The premise is that the data is sold for research and the buyers are institutions and nonprofits. You do have to consent to your data being used and 80% of their customers do give consent. So, what are the dangers? For a young person who may be applying for health insurance or life insurance in their future, I would advise that their data not be shared and their sample not be kept for future testing. Despite genetic privacy laws, life insurers can request genetic testing information and thus deny coverage based on your disease risk profile. Law enforcement also has the right to your data.

For people living to age 85, there is a 34% chance of having Alzheimers. Age is also a big risk factor for Parkinson’s disease. If you find you have the APOE gene, your risk of Alzheimer’s is increased. How the research can help is that the right patients could be put in specific clinical trials. Carol and her kids have been tested. I spit in the tube and sent my sample off to 23andMe to be tested for ancestry results just because I am curious even though all my maternal side came from Sweden. I have not given consent for learning my genetic risk for diseases yet. If you have an interest in this topic, email us for our links to the articles and research.

Sandy

Seeing the news about all of the displaced animals due to the hurricanes and wild fires has deeply touched our hearts. We have decided to try to do our part by collecting donations for local relief efforts as well as Puerto Rico. The rescue organizations are in desperate need of medications and new or gently used pet supplies. If you would like to donate to this cause feel free to drop off any of the items listed below at our office from now until Jan 15, 2018. 

MEDICATIONS- They accept dog, cat and people medications. Expired medications are fine too.
Antibiotics (ANY) 
Especially: Clavamox, 
Baytril, Albon, Biaxin,
​Doxycycline, Ciprofloxin, 
Orbax, Augmentin,
Amoxicillin, Cephalexin,
Clindamycin, Erythromycin,
Azithromycin, Fungal Meds, 
Heartguard, Nexgard,
Ivermectin, Dewormer
Lixotinic, ​Frontline, ​Revolution
Capstar, NutriCal
Ear & Eye Infection Medications
Pain & Anti-Inflammatory Medications 

We will be shipping the medications directly to Puerto Rico.

New or gently used items such as:

Dog beds
Grooming supplies
Leashes and collars
Dog toys
Dog sweaters
Dog crates
Dog treats- hard and soft
Dry or canned dog/puppy food
Dog carriers and crates
Poop bags
Stainless steel bowls

These items will be dropped of at a local SPCALA location to be distributed by DART (Disaster Animal Response Team) where they are needed the most.

After witnessing the devastation from the recent hurricanes and California wildfires I thought it was a good idea to send out a reminder about having a “go bag” or emergency kit ready. In the case of the wildfires the residents had little to no notice. This gave them no time to collect any of their belongings for themselves or their pets. Having this “go bag” ready and easily accessible is extremely important. On the FEMA website I found a comprehensive list of what you should have in your emergency kit as well as some additional tips to help you prepare for an emergency.It is attached below. Take some time to look over the list and get your "go bag" ready.

Emergency_Kit_Checklist-_FEMA.pdf

We would like to say thank you to everyone who came out to help us celebrate National Ice Cream month at our ice cream event last week. We all had a great time and truly enjoy events where we're able to relax and have some fun with our clients. I have some great pictures of everyone and will be posting them on our Facebook page.

I look forward to seeing you all at our next one!

Sandy

The Fourth of July is a fun and festive time to celebrate America. Fireworks have become a natural part of these celebrations. While it is great fun for us it's not always that way for our dogs. Personally, my golden retriever Roxie, is terrified by them. I came accross a really good article that I wanted to share with you with tips on how to keep your dog safe and calm during the fireworks. Follow the link below to read the article.

https://www.cesarsway.com/dog-behavior/hyperactivity-overexcitement/how-to-keep-your-dog-safe-and-calm-during-fireworks

I hope everyone has a great 4th of July!

Sandy

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.