Friday, September 27, 2019

Are you being scammed?


Best evidence you are being scammed
A cold call, unsolicited letter or email! Think of it. You have been ‘chosen’ out of billions of people to receive an offer that sounds too good to be true. If the offer requires you to send money to get money or if it is heavily charged with emotion, you can’t possibly make a rational decision by yourself. You need help—any friend or advisor can help. The money strategy is complicated but scammer sounds like they know what they are talking about. Even Harvard endowment fund is fooled by bad direct investments. Scammer has your detailed personal info so they must be authentic agent of govt agency. You find a charge on your credit card you don’t recognize. Credit card charge is small $1 and you ignore it. Check out how much info you can find on yourself on the internet—just type your full name. You will be shocked to see a lot more than you want floating out there. Most of it can be used to rob you. You should go after every firm that offers to sell your data. It is said that scammers can buy your whole profile for less than $100.

Will you have enough?
How do you know whether your investments will provide enough money for retirement? Your advisor may not be a financial planner or have access to the calculators that can make an estimate. You should do a little homework just to make sure you know how you are doing since your advisor is unlikely to be around in 25 years. Retirement calculators like Vanguard’s Retirement Income Calculator and Vanguard’s Nest Egg Calculator can give you a feel for your accumulation progress. The value of these kinds of calculators is that they include the Time Value of Money. For instance, if you are due to have a pension of $1,000 a month when you retire in 20 years, it is sobering to know that it will be worth about HALF or $500 a month in purchasing power. Inflation of 3% is assumed in Vanguard’s projections so you understand that if you use bonds or CDs paying 3% a year as your investments, you will have NO real gains in 20 years. Only stocks with 10-12% total return can overcome inflation. Compounding is the name of ‘money earning money on itself’ when invested in companies like those in a low-cost market index fund. Compounding is how you can reach a $1,000,000 nest egg by investing $250 a month for 35 years. It is TIME, not stock-picking that wins according to Warren Buffett. When you avoid high-cost advisors, you earn 11% not 3.79% the average for ‘managed’ money.

What you own in your 401k stock fund
Many 401k participants make their contributions to low-cost stock index funds or Target-Date index funds. What do you really own? You own shares of a fund that owns stocks that make up the market. You own them through your share of parts of these firms:
1          Microsoft Corp.
2          Apple Inc.
3          Amazon.com Inc.
4          Alphabet Inc.
5          Facebook Inc.
6          Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
7          JPMorgan Chase & Co.
8          Johnson & Johnson
9          Exxon Mobil Corp.
10        Visa Inc.
Over time, you receive gains and dividends that provide a total return of 10-12%. In this manner, you can accumulate $1,000,000 with as little as $16,000. All it takes from you is patience. As Buffett proved in his win over 5 hedge funds, no person or computer can foretell the future. Buffett used John Bogle’s invention to win: “Don’t look for the needle in the haystack. Buy the whole haystack!” And the haystack gives you more!

Are you willing to wait for your $1 million?
You can accumulate $1,000,000 with as little as $16,000. All it takes from you is patience. But most of us have no more patience. Three quarters of those surveyed said they believe the dominance of digital technology, such as smartphones and on-demand TVs, are to blame for this ever growing lack of patience. Respondents reported becoming frustrated after just 25 seconds of waiting for a traffic light to change. Life moves at such a fast pace, we just don’t believe that it is TIME, not stock-picking that beats expensive money managers. Very few of us believe that just by avoiding high fees and trading, you can earn 11% not 3.79%. The facts and actual results don’t make an impact on most investors. We don’t learn about compounding in school so we assume saving in a high-interest bank account is the only way to become rich. Actually, the rich keep 60% of their assets in stocks compared to only 18% for US. Fidelity studied their most successful investor accounts: Best were forgotten—never traded, hedged, rotated, or churned. If you were running a business, you would NOT sell (trade) it every 6 months or year. You would keep working it to be rewarded over time. Like Buffett, just buy and buy more: https://www.amazon.com/MasterClass-Buffetts-SIMPLE-Strategy/dp/1983485268

Is a Health Savings Account right for you?
First, you must buy a high-deductible health care policy from your employer: Deductible must be over $1,350 for individuals and $2,700 for families. Second, you need to have the money to establish and maintain a special savings account for your medical expenses. It is tax-advantaged so to help you, you must have sufficient income to need a tax deduction. Your employer can make the contributions for you. While your 401(k) contributions are subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes, contributions to your HSA are not. If you have HAS money left over you can let it grow year after year. After age 65 there is no penalty on non-medical withdrawals. Third, your HSA institution may charge fees. Fourth, depending on your medical expenses, you may pay more for health care coverage than using a traditional plan.

Converting IRA to tax-free Roth IRA?
You can amass a sizable tax-free income later in retirement by paying the tax due on your IRA, moving the money to a Roth IRA so that future earnings are tax FREE. There is no withdrawal penalty if you begin after age 59.5. However, after age 70.5 you must take certain annual amounts from your IRA so Uncle Sam gets the income tax you didn’t pay during all those accumulation years. It is called your RMD and it amounts to 3-4% of your overall IRA total. If you take it as monthly income, according to the IRS formula, be aware that the RMD must be recognized BEFORE the IRA conversion can take place. The RMD amount is first out in any given year. So if you take $2,000 a month as your $24,000 RMD, you can’t take $10,000 to convert to a Roth in the middle of the year.

Can you really save with ‘behavior’ car insurance?
Since everyone is different, we can’t tell without trying it. The app down-loaded to your phone records HOW you drive for 2-3 weeks. Hard turns and quick stop and go driving will dissuade from the low-cost rates. A quiz sets up the coverage you want. You get a quote: usually if you are an infrequent careful driver, you win. You must live in a state where it is available. Most large insurers offer some form of behavior-driven coverage. Savings depend on a host of other policy options.


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This period is a test of democracy—do we really want it or not?
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Each state wastes $ millions: claims it ‘created’ jobs: NJ shows how Christie did it.

What happened to Trump’s Taliban ‘deal’: $2 TRILLION wasted so far
Trump's wall is 'totally absurd': Congressman climbs over to show how easy to scale.



SCAMS/SPINS:
We can’t avoid tax on retirement funds just by not cashing check: ‘Dog ate it’ not excuse
Moscow Mitch plays both sides: give states money to ‘fix’ election machines for USSR.
Trump rolled back legal clock to the 1860s: Destroy 13th, 14th, 15th, Roe, Voting Rights


Six annuity sellers caught replacing deferred annuity with immediate: cost $1.8 million

BEWARE: Brokers pushing ‘calendar risk reversal’ options—bet only what you can lose
Hidden costs of ETFs: these index funds are not always cheaper than the traditional.
Chris Kubiak caught stealing from elderly clients in Ponzi-type scheme: 2 yrs jail time.

Sprint caught taking subsidies for low-income Lifeline service not being used
Chrysler Fiat caught lying about emissions AFTER gov indicted VW

Boeing 737 inspectors were NOT really qualified to test pilots: led to 346 deaths

BEWARE: your ETF could disappear: 25% have folded; 7% lost big; fees hurt
Joseph Pratt caught insider trading on clinical trial info w/o notice to Wells
Trump to cancel $235,000 Duke grant: not enough emphasis on his fav religions!

Jobs
Community College for the 1st year to get used to the routine of costs, class, study, work.

Who owns your account now?
ME to let customers decide which cable channels to buy: industry horrified by choice
Trump to end CA IRA: employers want to help workers save but broker fees left out.
Review: Vanguard new robo investing service is low-cost automatic investing

IRS is looking for your amended tax return: virtual currency needs new reporting.
Trump: broker/advisors beat you in any dispute: you can’t sue if you are mistreated
But Trump sues NYState—no mandatory arbitration for him! No rights for us!



Miracle:
Another 16 year old picks up VW for life: "I just thank God for putting me in the position and giving me the strength to do that."
Teach kindness: mindfulness and kindness actually alter the behavior of genes: mind therapy?

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