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Jim Wood is a Wealth Strategist with Insight Financial Strategists LLC. he specializes in retirement planning.

Mar 12

Have you had a Second Opinion?

By Jim Wood | Financial Planning , Retirement Planning

Have you had a Second Opinion?

 

Second OpinionYou probably get a regular health checkup, you get your teeth cleaned twice a year, you get a second opinion for major health issues. You may even get a second opinion when you buy a boat or a vacation home!

But do you get checkups or second opinions for your investment portfolio? How long has it been since you have had a serious look at your investment portfolio? Is it more than 2 years? more than 5 years? If you look under the hood, you may find that your portfolio no longer meets your needs. You may find that changes in your life have evolved your risk tolerance and the asset allocation that’s appropriate for you.

You may find that the stocks, the bonds, the mutual funds, and the annuities that you have grown comfortable with, have reached a phase in their development that does not meet your needs anymore.

The asset allocation that worked when you were younger and carefree may no longer work

As you approach retirement your risk tolerance will change, and should be reflected in your portfolio . The asset allocation that worked when you were 45 or 55 and trying to grow your portfolio, may not work when you are 65 and planning for retirement income and other goals.

For a 65 year old, retirement can easily last 20 or 30 years or longer . Will your investment portfolio carry you through? Will your retirement income from investments keep up with inflation? Will you be able to meet the increasing cost of health care? How will you be taxed? Will there be enough to leave to your grandchildren?

Call today to get peace of mind with a Second Opinion on your investment portfolio from a fee-only advisor. You will be glad you did.

 

Previously published in the Colonial Times

 

Feb 16

Rolling Over Your 401(k) to an IRA

By Jim Wood | Financial Planning , Investment Planning , Retirement Planning

Rolling Over Your 401(k) to an IRA

 

401(k) rolloverChanging jobs or retiring are two life events that provide opportunities to roll over your 401(k) to an IRA . If retiring, many 401(k) plan sponsors allow you to keep your 401(k) savings in their company plan. However, there are good reasons to consider a roll over of 401(k) assets to an IRA .

The first is to gain better control over your investment portfolio, once the assets are within the IRA. Company sponsored 401(k) plans may have limited investment options and restrictive trading and exchange policies. IRAs generally provide a broader range of investment options and more flexibility.

The second reason is the potential to obtain better guidance in adjusting the asset allocation to a more appropriate level that takes into account your own individual goals and risk tolerance. Although 401(k) plans may offer appropriate investments and some educational information about those options, 401k plan sponsors do not usually make available truly personalized advice to plan participants.

Regardless, there are mistakes that you need to avoid in the process of rolling over your 401(k). To avoid those mistakes, it is important to be able to recognize them. (Click here to receive the Top Mistakes in 401(k) Rollovers fact sheet.)

What are your 401(k) rollover options?

If you are changing jobs, you may have the option to roll over your existing 401(k) into your new employer’s 401(k) plan – be sure to verify that your new employer plan accepts rollovers. Regardless, you always have the option to roll over to an IRA that you can manage. And for the reasons noted above, rolling over to your own IRA may provide you with a better result .

It should be noted that one reason to keep your retirement assets in your 401(k) plan is that costs are often, but not always, lower in 401(k)s.  However, without an appropriate investment plan, lower costs may not bear fruit.

In general it is a good idea to get advice from a Financial Planner who is a fiduciary. You may think that your financial advisor is obligated to do what is best for you, the client. However, not all are not obligated to act in your best interest (whereas a fiduciary would be), and may advise higher fee products, or proprietary products sold by the firm he or she represents or products that do the job.

In April 2016 the Department of Labor rolled out a new regulation that is to take effect in 2017 mandating that all investment professionals working with retirement plan participants and IRA owners shall adhere to a fiduciary standard for all retirement accounts for which they provide investment advice. For purposes of the DOL rule, retirement accounts include 401(k)s, IRAs, and Roth IRAs among others.  The Department of Labor estimates that the investing public would save $4 billion a year with the new fiduciary rule. As you might expect, the fiduciary rule is opposed by affected Wall Street interests that are seeking to water it down or eliminate it entirely.

The Trump administration issued an executive order on February 3, 2017 to review the rule. While the Trump administration would like to roll it back, the industry is moving ahead with implementation, potentially regardless of possible regulatory about faces. Hence the future of the rule is unclear at this time.

you always have the option to roll over to an IRA that you can manage

Of course, whether or not this regulation takes effect in 2017, you can still benefit from working with a fiduciary advisor. If the advisor you are working with is not working to a fiduciary standard – i.e., with your best interests in mind, seek out someone who is. It’s important: after all you are dealing with your money and your future standard of living in retirement.

In the current regulatory environment, fee-only Financial Planners at Registered Investment Advisor firms usually serve as fiduciaries, and are required to always act in your best interests – they must avoid conflicts of interest, and cannot steer plans and IRA owners to investments based on their own, rather than their clients’ financial interests.  In contrast, brokers, insurance agents and certain other investment professionals only have a responsibility to recommend securities that are “suitable.”

Making sure that the investment professional you are working with is acting in your best interest may help you invest your retirement funds more appropriately. Note that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not promulgated similar regulations for non-retirement investment accounts so if you are not dealing with a fiduciary advisor, you run the same risk of potentially higher costs or merely suitable investments. In fact if you have an IRA and a brokerage account with your financial advisor, he or she may end up being a fiduciary on one account and not a fiduciary on the other account.  How is that for confusing?

 

A previous version of this post has appeared in the Colonial Times.

Jan 04

PORTFOLIO RISK MANAGEMENT or Can you sleep at night?

By Jim Wood | Financial Planning , Investment Planning , Retirement Planning

Can You Sleep At Night?

Shy moon

When choosing an investment or an investment advisor we pay great attention to investment results. We all want the highest possible return on our investments . Most of us understand that the more risk we take the more gain we may make, but also the more we may lose. It is a wonderful thought to consider how much we might make, but it is very prudent and wise to consider how much we might lose if things go bad. What can YOU afford to lose? Does the risk in YOUR portfolio match your needs?

The average gain of the S&P 500 from the start of 2010 to the end of 2014 was 15.45% . Quite a nice average gain and one that most professionals believe cannot be expected to continue in the long term.

In the bear market of the recent Great Recession, the S&P 500 lost over 54.9% of its value from October 9, 2007 to March 9, 2009 . If you had stayed invested in the S&P500 throughout the same period, you would have needed an estimated 122% return for your investment to return to its pre-recession level.

If instead in the same period you had been invested 50% in the S&P 500 and 50% in the Barclays US Aggregate Bond Index, you would have lost approximately 23.84%. You would have then needed a return of only 31.35% for your investment to return to its pre-recession level.

Obviously, this example is hypothetical. There are many other factors that weigh into portfolio design. Although real life portfolios will often contain many more components, this simple example illustrates the benefits of diversification, and the importance of managing risk in a portfolio.

It is up to you and your financial planner to judge the risk that you can afford, and up to your financial planner to help you implement a portfolio that reflects that risk.

Jim Wood Graph

Percentage Gains Needed to Offset Losses

The bar chart to the left will allow you to estimate the amount of gain required to offset any loss that you might have experienced.

How did 2015 do for you? At the end of November 2015 the S&P 500 was up 3.01% for the year . Many investors with all stock , and therefore, high risk portfolios, are still down for the year, and perhaps still not sleeping well.

What to do? After a financial planner has assessed your risk capacity, he/she will be able to recommend a fully diversified portfolio that includes all relevant asset classes to match your financial objectives.

Note: The above hypothetical example is based on historical performance of the S&P 500 and Barclays US Aggregate Bond Index using Morningstar data. You cannot invest in indices. Trading and management fees are not computed in the example. This is not investment advice, which can only be given individually based on your risk tolerance and circumstances.

 

A previous version of this post appeared in the Colonial Times

Nov 01

Four Keys to Successful Investing

By Jim Wood | Financial Planning , Investment Planning

Four Keys to Successful Investing

Successful Investing

Warren Buffet

On September 8, 2015  Beverly Quick of CNBC “Squawk Alley” spoke with Warren Buffett about investing:

According to Buffett: “ I’m no good on what’s going on in the markets . I have no idea what will happen tomorrow or next week and sometimes they get very volatile like this and other times they put you to sleep, but the important thing is where they’re going to be in five or ten years. And I’m confident they’ll be considerably higher in ten years, and I really have no idea where they”ll be in ten days or ten months.”

an investment plan utilizing a systematic approach will eventually pay off

Warren Buffett is arguably one of the outstanding investing gurus of our age and if he does not believe that he can “time” the markets, why should we believe that we, our brokers, financial planners, stock market letter writers, and, especially, television market commentators can make accurate predictions about stock prices and market levels?

As has been demonstrated by Buffet, an investing plan, utilizing a systematic approach will eventually pay off over a long period of time regardless of all market perturbations if adhered to conscientiously.

The keys to successful investing are to

1) Determine your goals,

2) Determine the time you have left to accomplish these goals,

3) Determine a savings plan, and

4) Invest in a fully diversified portfolio.  

With the memories of the Great Recession of 2008 still fresh in our minds, it is understandable if the unsettling stock market of the past few months, would instill in us a sense of panic.

That would be the wrong move.

The right move is to make sure that your investing reflect your goals, your time horizon, and your means .  A Wealth Strategist with a steady hand can help you ensure that you get on the right path and stay there.

Please note: The above blog post is general in nature and not intended to address any specific person’s needs or circumstances.  Investment advice is specific to each individual and is provided only after detailed discussion and understanding of personal circumstances. The above article is general in nature and not intended to address any specific person’s needs or circumstances.   

 

Check out some of our other investment blog posts:

Market Correction? Hold On To Your Socks!   

3 Mistakes of DIY Investors 

5 Symptoms of Fake Portfolio Diversification   

4 Counter-Intuitive Steps to Make Your 401(k) Rock   

Sustainable Investing: Doing Good While Doing Well   

 

A previous version of this article appeared in the Colonial Times of Lexington MA

Sep 23

Planning for Long Term Care

By Jim Wood | Financial Planning , Retirement Planning

Planning for Long Term Care

Planning for Long Term Care

Long Term CareLiving Long.   We are, and that is the problem.

However, without early financial planning we may not” live long” in prosperity. Many of us will outlive our resources. According to the Social Security Administration, the average 65 year old woman will live to 86. The Federal Government says that 70% of people turning age 65 will use some form of long term care” .

Do you have an integrated financial plan that takes the high likelihood that you will need to cover Long Term Care cost into consideration?  

The need for long term care will affect all of us in one way or the other

The Cost of Long Term Care

If we do end up in a nursing home, the AVERAGE cost today is $76,000 for one year in a nursing home according to the American Association for Long Term Care Insurance (AALTCI).  In Massachusetts the average cost of a private room in a nursing home is $141,894 .

Long Term Care is not something that we rush to buy.  Before you delay it too long, you may want to consider how the denial rate goes up with age.  If you wait too long you may not be able to get it. Review the information at both the LongTermCare.gov and the AALTCI web site for a broader understanding of these topics.

  Age

Coverage Denial Rate

40-49 11%
50-59 16%
60-69 24%

 

In broad terms, there are four ways to fund long term care :

  1. Spend out of your own funds.  You need to make sure that there will be enough.  Consult a financial planner to make sure that this is the case
  2. Medicaid planning.  With this method you would be putting your asset in a trust that would shelter them from the government.  Medicaid would end up paying for long term are.  This is a complicated procedure that requires careful financial and legal planning.
  3. Long Term Care insurance. With this method, a senior can shift the responsibility for long term care  expenses to a third party.
  4. A combination of the above.  For instance many people end up using a combination of spending their own funds and long term care insurance.

What Does Long Term Care Insurance Buy?

Most Long Term Care Insurance Policies buy you a “Pool of Money” that can be used for home care or long term care facilities such as assisted living, nursing home and adult day care.  Importantly, most seniors prefer to stay home as long as possible.  Many long term care policies will pay for home care.  For example, 40% of people buying a Long Term Care Policy bought a policy with 3-year of benefits (with an inflation rider) valued at $165,000. Costs and policy benefits vary greatly from company to company and policy to policy so close attention to detail is required as is a financial soundness assessment of the insurance company under consideration.

Wealth Management often ties in different disciplines. Planning for long term care needs to ensure that all the other parts of the retirement puzzle (investments, cash flow planning, other insurance, tax planning, and estate planning) are tied together.

The need for funding Long Term Care will affect all of us in one way or another . Give yourself your best chance of a good outcome by starting your planning now to avoid what could become a crisis.

 

A Previous version of this post appeared in the Colonial Times of Lexington MA