Category: Culture

Retirement: The Good News and the Bad News

First, the good news. According to a leading investment firm, current retirees are doing just fine. They studied a large group of retirees. They’re doing very well.  The group that retired about 20 years ago have about 80% of their retirement savings intact. In fact, one-third of these retirees have more money than when they retired.

But here’s the bad news. These retirees are different from those retiring today or those just beginning their careers. Their experiences are different and so are their resources.

If you have been retired for 20 years that makes you about 85 years old. These older retirees grew up during the “Great Depression” and that had a lifelong impact on them. Their experience made them lifelong savers. Many also worked for companies that provided their employees defined benefit pension plans.

This means is that many of these pensioners have two sources of income: a company pension and social security. Living within their means, they were able to leave their personal retirement assets untouched.

Some of the more affluent may have bought vacation homes which have appreciated in value. Others have begun gifting to their children and grandchildren.

We can’t infer from their success that newer retirees will do nearly as well. There are several reasons why. Except for government employees, few private sector employees have defined benefit pension plans. Social Security is under pressure and will simply not have enough in the Trust Fund to continue to pay retirees at the same rate as current retirees. Medicare is also running large deficits which will result in higher medical expenses for the elderly.

New and future retirees will not have private pensions, face lower social security income and higher medical expenses. Only saving and investing wisely will save them.

For more information contact us.

The Financial Planner as a Healer

[This is the most popular post we have published; it’s worth posting again]

Money is a significant source of stress for most people.  In many studies, it ranks above issues such as work, children and family.  Chronic financial stress is often the leading cause of family break-ups.

How A Financial Planner Can Help You Physically and Emotionally

Chronic stress is also associated with all sorts of health problems, psychological problems, marriage conflicts and behavior issues such as smoking, excessive drinking, depression and overeating.

Men and women under stress have often relied on medical and mental health professionals.  However, financial planners are uniquely positioned to help people address what is likely the number one source of stress in their lives – their relationship with money.  Dealing with these issues head-on with a financial planner can lead to improved emotional and physical health, an improvement of work-related problems and improved relationships with family and friends.

A competent and caring financial planner does a great deal more than manage investments or create a financial roadmap.  He listens and empathizes with the conflicting issues that people face when attempting to manage their personal finances.

Discussing the issues that cause worry with a financial planner can lead to setting realistic goals, analyzing alternatives, prioritizing actions and implementing an easy-to-follow plan.  Just as important, it allows the client and the planner to review progress on a regular basis.

As a result the client gets a sense of personal control over his or her finances.  Someone who is in control of their life has much lower stress than someone who feels that events and outside agents control them.

For a relationship between a client and a Virginia Beach financial planner to work well together, they must have shared views and expectations of financial planning, financial markets, investment philosophy, and managing risk.  An initial meeting between a client and a financial planner should establish a comfort level and determine whether the planner is actually interested in the client, or just the client’s money.

Financial Planner’s Goal For You

The planner’s goal should be to help their clients organize their financial affairs, and to discuss the client’s past, present and future – including death.  The planner should create a level of trust that allows him to keep the client from self-injury, which often results from fear surrounding money.  The financial planner should provide a sort of reality check to the client, reducing both excessive pessimism and irrational optimism.  A client should feel able to discuss money honestly and openly with their planner without a fear of judgment.

In many ways, a financial advisor can be the confidant to whom you can take your financial concerns … and make it all better.  For more information or to speak with a financial advisor, contact us today!

Getting Financial Help

When people have financial questions, what do they look for?  According to a recent survey most people are looking for someone with experience.  We want to take advice from people who are familiar with the issues we face and know what to do about them.  We all know people with experience, but financial problems, like medical problems, are personal.  Most people we know would rather not go into detail about their personal finances with family or friends.  They are more comfortable sitting down with a financial professional to discuss their finances, their debts, their financial concerns, and their financial goals in both the short and long term. Professionals will provide advice without being judgmental and are required by their code of ethics to keep your information confidential.

Once people find someone who has a track record of giving good, professional advice, they want personalized advice and “holistic” planning.

No two people have exactly the same problems.  A good financial advisor listens attentively to learn the goals, the concerns and personal history of the people who come to him for advice.

People have specific issues and questions.  For example: a couple, aged 39, is seeking advice about their path to retirement.  They give their financial advisor a laundry list of their assets, their investments, their savings rate, their debts, and the ages of their children and ask if they should be doing something different or are they on the right path.  That’s a very specific question and the advisor’s response is going to be personalized for them.

The plan that the advisor comes up with is going to involve much more than money.  It’s going to take their personal characteristics into account.  This includes personal experience with investing, their risk tolerance, and their closely held beliefs and ethical values.  This is what is referred to as “holistic” planning; taking personal characteristics into consideration.

There is a fairly big difference in the advice sought by

  • “Millennials” (those born after 1980 and the first generation to come of age in the current century),
  • “Generation X” (the children of the Baby Boomers) and the
  • “Baby Boomers” (children of the soldiers returning from World War 2)

“Millenials” say that among their top three concerns are saving for a large expense such as a car or a wedding.  Too many are saddled by debt acquired to pay for higher education and are finding that their degrees are not necessarily an entry into high paying professional jobs.  Their next largest concerns are saving for their kids’ education and putting money aside for retirement.

“Generation X” is primarily focused on saving for retirement.  They are married, own their own home and may have children in college.  Concerns two and three are tax reduction and paying for their children’s education.

“Baby Boomers” have finally reached retirement age.  More than a quarter million turn 65 each month.  As a group they are a large and wealthy generation, but a vast number have not saved enough for a comfortable retirement.  Many are forced to continue to work to supplement Social Security income.  Their number one concern is the cost of health care.  Concerns two and three are protecting their assets and having enough income for retirement.  The three concerns for Baby Boomers are inter-connected.  For many Boomers, Medicare helps them with the costs associated with most medical issues.  However, as people live longer, there comes a time when they are unable to care for themselves and live independently.  Long-term-care insurance was once believed to be the answer but insurance companies found that costs were much greater than anticipated.  The result is that many insurers have stopped offering the policies and those remaining have hiked premiums beyond the ability of many to pay.  The cost of long term care is so high that many Boomers are afraid that their savings will soon be exhausted if they are forced into assisted living facilities or nursing homes.

Each generation has its own problems and at a time when the world has gotten much more complicated.  Getting experienced, personalized and holistic financial advice is more important than ever.

The Biggest Problem for Wealthy Families

I recently visited a house that was once the largest private residence in the country: the “Biltmore” mansion. It was built by the grandson of the founder, “Commodore” Cornelius Vanderbilt, who built the original family fortune. His son doubled the fortune which, in today’s dollars would be worth $300 billion, making the family one of the ten richest in human history. But the heirs managed to run through this immense wealth.

Biltmore

Within just 30 years of the death of the Commodore no member of the Vanderbilt family was among the richest in the US. And 48 years after his death, one of his grandchildren is said to have died penniless.
In less than a single generation the surviving Vanderbilts had spent the majority of their family wealth!

No one today is that wealthy, but there is a lesson here for those who have accumulated multimillion dollar fortunes. While families today will openly discuss formerly taboo subjects like same-sex marriage and drug use, talking about family wealth seems to be harder to discuss.

Most wealthy people have wills and trusts but a substantial number of children have no idea of how much money their parents have. I have experienced this frequently in our practice when we disclose to heirs how much money they are actually inheriting. This applies not just to the wealthy but also the moderately “comfortable.”

According to a recent study, approximately 80{030251e622a83165372097b752b1e1477acc3e16319689a4bdeb1497eb0fac93} to 90{030251e622a83165372097b752b1e1477acc3e16319689a4bdeb1497eb0fac93} of families who have inheritable wealth have an up-to-date will. Only about half have discussed their inheritance with their children.

The reasons why parents don’t talk about money with their children range from not thinking it’s important, don’t want children to feel entitled, or they just don’t talk about money.

The problem is that the receipt of sudden wealth can have a deleterious affect on people. Too often a family fortune that has been created with great effort is squandered by people who have no idea that their inheritance is finite.

What can be done? Creating an environment and venue where family wealth can be discussed can be facilitated by a family’s financial advisor, ideally a Registered Investment Advisor – rather than a broker – who has the best interest of the family at heart.

If you need someone who can help you talk about money with your heirs, give us a call. We’ll be happy to help.

If you’re rich, will your kids stay rich?

Different countries have different ways of expressing the same beliefs about wealth: “Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations” is the one I most often hear. In Japan, it’s “Rice paddies to rice paddies in three generations”. In China, “Wealth never survives three generations.” In fact, for 70% of all wealthy families, the money has been spent, or otherwise lost before the end of the second generation.

People who have enough money to consider themselves, ‘rich” – those with at least $10 million — worry about their kids squandering the money they’re given or inherited.

According to a study by U.S. Trust, 75% of families worth over $5 million made it on their own. In other words, they built it, mostly by starting a successful business.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that their kids are equally smart or hardworking. And it doesn’t mean that their parents are wise investors.

That means there’s a market out there for advisors who can teach the kids (and often the parents) the ins and outs of investing. This provides these families with the means to keep the wealth they have earned and keep it for the next generation, and the next after that.

But just as important is passing on the social, intellectual and spiritual capital that created the wealth in the first place. Too often the children of wealthy families fail to appreciate the work and sacrifice it took to create that wealth, and assume it will always be there for them.

At Korving & Company often serve several generations of the same family. If you have concerns about your children’s ability to manage money, call us for a consultation.

What do younger investors want?

Schwab did a study about affluent investors aged 30 – 45.  The study wanted to determine what matters to this group, how they make decisions and their attitude toward investing.  That age group controls nearly $3.5 trillion in investable assets.  Schwab is interested because they are the top custodian for independent Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) like Korving & Company and believe that RIAs are best able to service this group.

So what do these investors have in common?

  • The study revealed that they are anxious and insecure about the future because they have already experienced a couple of major economic crises, domestic terrorism, unemployment and several financial bubbles.
  • They don’t trust the industry, believing that they recite corporate talking points and don’t really care about them.
  • They are short-term focused and like to keep large amounts of cash as a safety net they can trust.
  • Success for them is “having the freedom to avoid hardship and to not be a burden to others.”

I should add that people in this age group are less likely to work for a company that offers a pension, making them more dependent on themselves for retirement.  Except for that, in many respects, this generation is not very different from preceding ones, except that they are more apt to rely on digital communication and the Internet, having grown up with computers.  Many in this group cannot differentiate between types of financial advisors, and do not understand the difference between the independent RIAs and the brokers that work for the “big box” stores.

Schwab’s conclusion:

“Our findings reveal that Generation Now investors want a trusted guide with expert knowledge who deeply understands them and their unique needs.  We believe independent advisors fit that need, but this generation just doesn’t know it yet.”
“Their ideal financial advisor relationship is with one whom they can build a trusted and transparent relationship, based on empathy and understanding of the whole person, not just their financial goals,” Schwab says.
“They want their advisor to provide planning and financial advice alongside expert advice in other related areas, such as tax or insurance.  Generation Now also expects to be heavily involved in decisions regarding their investment strategy.
“Advisor accessibility is important to this group.  They want to be able to communicate with advisors whenever, wherever, through a combination of in-person meetings as well as voice, text, e-mail and videoconferencing.”

It sounds as if this generation is looking for firms like ours.  Check out our new website.

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9 Must Have Status Symbols that Say "I’m Rich"

To show that we’re not fixated simply on making money (and keeping it after it’s made) we though we would share this list of things that say “I’m Rich” from the Fiscal Times.

  1. A swanky stroller.  Of course it helps to have an infant to put in the stroller, but that doesn’t require you to be rich. Fancy strollers with leather seats  and iPod speakers can be had for a mere $3500.
  2. Designer fashion.  One happy designer tells the paper that her $7990 grey sequined ball gowns are selling like hotcakes.
  3. Fine wines.  Forget two buck chuck, when you’re rich the price of a bottle of wine isn’t an issue and you would not be caught dead buying anything under $50 a bottle.
  4. Specialty bikes.  The rich don’t go to Wal mart of Target for bikes.  They go to specialty shops where they spend about three hours being “fitted” for a bike that sets them back around $32,000.
  5. Thumbing their noses at PETA, the rich wear fur.  And not just fur coats and capes but fur sandals for $895.
  6. Expensive pets.  One Chinese mogul set what may be a record recently by spending $1.5 million for a Tibetan mastiff.
  7. Fast cars.  Enough said.
  8. Cruises.  The rich mingle on international cruises that are becoming increasingly popular.  The really, really rich cruise on their own private yachts.
  9. The Bling.  Wearing a Rolex along with chains, diamonds and gold on neck, wrist and ankle show that you really don’t have to look at the price tag before you buy.  If you really want to separate yourself from the middling millionaire, get a watch that sells for about $300,000.

Once you have it, it helps to know what to do with it.  One thing that’s not listed, but should be at the top is charity.  Once you have enough, there are many out there who could use your help,and individuals do a much better job of helping their neighbors than government programs and impersonal charities.

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