Sunday, October 31, 2010

Self Reliant, Doers, Independent Thinkers

Below is a link to a website I frequently view. In principal this is how I live my life financially. While it's not right for everyone I thought Pamela Yellen's recent blog post was worth discussing.

What caught my attention is the focus on those who think for themselves and do not look for others (being people or institutions) to provide solutions in their lives. It got me thinking about those that I admire or whom I view as being successful. The trait that has separated themselves from the pack is that they were all doers who were self reliant independent thinkers. They didn't simply go with the flow, or do what everyone else told them to do. The difference was they blazed their own trail!

http://bit.ly/nationintro

Monday, February 1, 2010

What does the perfect plan look like and how do I get there?

Process over product


Listen to most advisors, radio talk shows, or television programs and invariably most will tell you (most of the time in five minutes or less) a solution to your particular problem is a specific product. This is a lot like being on the golf course and telling you the problem is your golf club (product), and not your swing (process). Could you imagine going to a doctor, when you were not feeling well, who just looked at you and without doing any other tests said you are going to need open heart surgery (I hope you would run for the hills)?

Go into any major manufacturing facility and you will see they have a system and process in place. These processes were developed over time to meet their specific needs to create a specific end product. Without these processes production could come to a screeching halt.

When planning for the future and working with an advisor it is critical that he/she goes through a process that will reveal the best solutions for your situation. There should be a process in place that helps you establish your own vision. Once your vision is created you then will begin the journey to assess your situation, make a commitment of what you are willing to do, implement your strategy, and determine how you will monitor your progress.

Friday, January 22, 2010

2010 The Year of the Roth IRA

A Roth IRA is a retirement account that is funded with after taxed dollars (as opposed to pre-tax dollars such as a 401k) and grows completely tax free. The best part is while in retirement there are no taxes due on any money pulled out from a Roth IRA. In the past many people did not consider Roth IRAs because either they were limited on the amount they could contribute, or because of their higher income, they were unable to contribute anything at all to a Roth. That is about to change in 2010.

In 2010 the government is allowing those with IRA’s or other pre-tax qualified plans to go ahead and pay the income taxes today and “convert” their retirement account to a Roth IRA. The regular income taxes will have to be paid on the amount converted to a Roth IRA. However, in 2010 the federal government is allowing individuals to pay the taxes equally over a two year period, following the year of conversion, where normally they would have had to pay in the year their account was reclassified to a Roth IRA. That means someone converting to a Roth IRA in 2010 would owe ½ the income taxes in 2011 and the other half in 2012.

Roth Conversions are good for those who believe taxes may go up in the future. Having a tax-free source of income in retirement could mean you have more income to enjoy while you’re alive because you are not worried about pulling out more money in a higher tax bracket. Also, there are other less obvious benefits to having a Roth IRA in retirement under current tax law. Some benefits include the possibility of the reduction of the taxes paid on social security benefits and also lower Medicare Part B supplemental health insurance premiums.

The Roth IRA is something everyone should at least consider. As always it makes sense to professional advice to see if something like a Roth IRA conversion makes sense for your particular situation.

Friday, January 1, 2010

New Year…New Equation…. Opportunity Costs= Unintended Consequences

As we have come into a new year most of us have made a list of resolutions. I am no different than many others. One of my professional resolutions is to teach as many people as possible about a term called “Opportunity Costs”, or as I like to say unintended consequences.

So what is an opportunity cost you ask? In simple terms it is an idea about money where if you put your money in one place you may be giving up something in return, many times without knowing it (i.e. unintended consequences). Many other people who give financial advice behave as if the only way to eliminate opportunity costs is to give up some part of your lifestyle (i.e. that cup of coffee in the morning at your favorite coffee shop). While this is true, I want others to know you can reduce or eliminate opportunity costs simply by where you put your hard earned assets. Knowing about opportunity costs and its unintended consequences can have long reaching effects in the future.

For most people it is still a difficult concept to get so I thought I would list some examples of where opportunity costs (or unintended consequences) of money might come into our everyday lives.

Money in a Savings Account/C.D./Money Market at a Bank…There are two opportunity costs most commonly found in these types of accounts:

1) Often we are earning little to no interest on these accounts.
2) Any interest that is earned is fully taxable as regular income.

As an example, using a 5% opportunity cost rate, a $100,000 saving account earning 4% will be worth $324,340 after 30 years. You would have paid $67,302 in income taxes, assuming a 30% tax rate (federal= 25% + State= 5%), along the way. However, the opportunity cost (or unintended consequence) is the money you could have earned on the taxes paid along the way. That total (Taxes + Opp. Cost) is equal to $129,425. Factoring all costs your left with a net balance of $324,340 - $129,425 = $194,914. So your account over those 30 Years compounds at a net rate of return of 2.25%, not 4%, when factoring in taxes plus opportunity costs

Putting Money In a 401(k)/IRA…The opportunity costs here is you lose the use of this money as a source of financing. So you are forced to pay someone else interest for the use of their money (most often a bank or finance company).

As an example say you are in the market for a new $20,000 car. Since you can not access your 401(k), due to your age and many other restrictions, you are forced to finance the car at a 6% interest rate. After 30 years the opportunity costs of financing just this one car is $86,823 in “After-Tax” dollars. In other word your 401(K) would have to be equal to $124,032 “Pre-Tax”, assuming a 30% tax rate (federal= 25% + State= 5%), just to equal the cost of financing one car after 30 years.

Buying Term Life Insurance…The opportunity cost here is the premiums you pay and the fact that less than 1% of all term life policies ever pay a claim. So in other words 99% of the people who have term life insurance are simply just giving away their money to an insurance company for nothing in return.

As an example say a young couple (husband and wife good health age 30) purchases (2) 30 year term policies worth $1,000,000. We will also assume they get the 2nd highest health rating, which lowers their cost. The annual premium is about $1,660/year. At the end of 30 years, they would have no life insurance and the term insurance would have costs them $129,577 net “After-Tax” using a 5% opportunity cost.

I hope these examples are helpful, and you are able to see places where opportunity cost may be affecting your life!