Friday, February 14, 2020

Does your child know enough to invest for their future?


Does your child know enough to invest for their future?
High school students in 21 states must now take a personal finance course in order to graduate. Five states — Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio and South Carolina — added the prerequisite. One state, Florida, dropped its requirement. One in five American 15-year-olds doesn’t understand basic financial concepts like budgeting, borrowing costs, saving and compounding. Without some educational help, poor students had far less access to financial education, compared to wealthier students. “If you teach the kids,” one educator said, “you teach the parents.” Remember, SS benefits will be cut by 20% in 15 years. Kids must start SS benefit supplement TODAY.

How to double your savings over time
The most important fact about saving money is compounding. Only the rich have learned this concept because they see how it works in their lives. Most of us don’t see it in our lives because we don’t think in terms of the outcome over time. Most of us experience the opposite of compound interest: debt. We don’t realize that we will have to pay about FOUR times the amount of a credit card debt IF we pay only the minimum required. If we pay the minimum on the average debt of $8,398, it will take us 20 years to pay it off. We will have spent about $30,000: $23,000 in interest. But if we invested that same minimum payment in a simple index fund and earned compounded interest over time, we would have $115,000. We could easily buy more stuff for that same $8,398. Long-term investing: put $250 per month ($3,000 a year) in a low-cost stock market index fund. It would grow to about $65,000 in 11 years: $33,000 + interest $32,000. Our savings can double in about 12 years IF we invest it--compounding the earnings every year. This is how the rich stay rich. Show your child how to double their savings.

Why did your advisor provide you with less than 31.5%?
Yes. You know why. In fact your fees resulted in 5 managers taking over $1 BILLION of your dollars last year. These unconscionable fees are especially notable, especially given only a third of the 15 managers on the top manager list beat the S&P 500 Index. And the same one does NOT do it every year. It also comes as the hedge fund industry has been grappling with closures and mediocre returns. Very few managers can beat the index over time. Buffett put his $1,000,000 bet on the Vanguard 500 Index when a manager with 5 different funds challenged him 10 years ago. Buffett advises the hedge fund crowd to avoid the 20% fees and use index funds like the gigantic pension funds. The manager and their firm need your fees to exist. Vanguard is owned by those that invest in Vanguard funds. There is no outside owner needing profits. Since no manager can beat the index consistently, you could be earning 11% a year instead of the average equity managed account earning you 3.79% over time. Can they tell which stocks will soar nest?

Why most investors don’t need an annuity
Many investors are DIY investors—they have jettisoned their advisors since learning the John Bogle and Warren Buffett investment lessons: advisor costs detract from your earnings. Advisors and annuities can take up to HALF your earnings in fees and trading costs. Here are DIY's results for 2019. They are total return investors—selling shares equally across all 10 funds for their monthly RMD income in retirement. Some want protection from a down market and so they overweight Wellesley Income instead of buying an annuity: Wellesley’s 9.7% a year is not too bad to live on.

2019 Total Return Fund                    Long-term Return      Longevity
31.5% 500 Index                                             11.2% since 1976
13.2% Energy                                                    9.9% since 1984
28.0% Extended Market                                  10.7% since 1987
22.9% Health                                                   16.2% since 1984
31.4% International Growth                              10.6% since 1981
27.9% PRIMECAP                                         13.4% since 1984
27.4% Small Cap Index                                    10.6% since 1960
16.4% Wellesley Income                                    9.7% since 1970
30.4% Windsor                                                11.3% since 1958
29.0% Windsor II                                            10.7% since 1985
25.8% Average                                                11.4% *
            *Average Annual Returns as of 12/31/19.


Are cheap life insurance ‘upgrades’ right for you?
Your agent/broker/salesperson has 12 ways to ‘upgrade’ your policy once they have you talking. But are they just premium add-ons that cost you big dollars over time? Most premium increases are not needed: add-ons are cheap because they don’t add much value. For instance, paying more for a child rider so they can buy a policy later or cover death expenses is unnecessary. No parent wants death insurance and very few young adults are denied coverage. Do you really want to give your spouse a windfall because you die by accident? The chance of that is almost nil. You are better off buying a higher death benefit in a 10-year term policy than any rider. You may not even need life cover later.

Is life insurance a good alternative to the Stretch IRA estate plan?
Advisors are coming up with ways to get your IRA to your heirs after you’re gone. Life insurance has always been a favorite since it pays much more commissions than the previous Stretch IRA plan. But does a lump sum death benefit to your kids or grandkids really address your concerns about taxation and spendthrift beneficiaries? What are viable alternatives to the Stretch which allow a bene to take the RMDs over their lifetimes instead of at once or over 10 years? Each situation is different so you may need a more elaborate plan with an estate attorney than you had before. Perhaps time will provide additional choices. Lifetime gifting may be our best choice.

File for the quickest refund FREE
If you meet certain criteria and have your documents already, federal and state can cost you nothing at https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/. Another site has no income/forms restrictions: https://www.creditkarma.com/tax. The software helps you avoid common mistakes before you file. Even if you make a tiny mistake, the IRS usually catches it without penalty. I have used most of these programs for years even though my income is above the limits. Most charge nothing for the federal and state. Some charge only $12.95 for the state. For 2019, six states have kept the health mandate tax if you don’t have health care cover so that state return may get complicated. Once you file your first year, your previous years’ data is there and pre-fills your forms: Saves a lot of time and money. Try it before you spend $200-300 at a for-profit preparer. No refund due? File to keep your ID from scammers. Your W-2 should be sent to you by Jan 31 according to IRS. Your refund can be in your direct deposit account in 10 days. Check mobile: IRS2Go within 24 hours after IRS receives your e-filed return for status.


**********ACCOUNTABILITY**************

Like 1776, this period is a test of democracy—do we really want ‘low-IQMobster?

“…all of his tormentors are being whacked.” He can’t be indicted for crimes now.

Trump—Judge and Jury: I “cannot allow this miscarriage of justice.”


Utah national monuments to be drilled by his friends for oil gas coal open grazing: sacred ground?
We pay $millions to buy phone data about our movements, activity, from spy firms.      



SCAMS/SPINS:
Trump missed his morning elixir so he rehired Hope Hicks as the ‘prince’s liaison.

Tesla recalls 15,000 Model X SUVs for power steering failures
E-cigarette Juul bought adverts on Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network: MA sues to stop.

Criterion Wealth Management Insurance Services caught taking hidden kickbacks
Elias Herbert Hafen CT caught stealing $1.6 million as promised invest in own account

Balance transfer trap: 0% rate 21 mo/ 5% fee; VIG 26.24% after. Mafia charges less!


Which cash fund will win American presidency? Election for sale to highest media spender.
Fox tells Trump’s voter: Stone is victim of Mueller probe which was Dem fantasy Putin control.
School bullies channeling Mobster attacks on Hispanic, black and Muslim people.

Too late to do any good: Credit monitoring service charges fees for notices 24 days later!
Myth: filing tax return in April avoids an audit: IRS too busy to pick yours is myth.

Jobs
Biden to voter: “You’re a lying dog-faced pony soldier,” drawing laughter from crowd??
Is Uncle Joe done? I get no answer to my question about what his ‘joke’ above means.



Who owns your account now?
Which insurer is best at taking care of your car body when it gets hurt?

Fountain Financial Associates to Captrust Financial Advisors

Miracle:
January was hottest in 141 years of records. Takes miracle to convince deniers.
Antarctica’s Trinity Peninsula hit 65 F on Thursday: highest ever! Glaciers retreat!
Some Iraqis never saw snow: now they stare at the snow NYC used to get.
Pope is fallible: reverses course on Amazon married priests! It’s all politics.


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