Staying Diversified Through Volatile Markets By Rob Wrubel, CFP®, AIF® From end to end (and from a few weeks perspective) last year looked fairly benign to US investors. The S&P finished positive, bonds continued to perform well, inflation did not surge and the economy chugged along at a decent rate. As we remember, the story beneath the surface did not look so smooth. According to Yahoo Finance, the S&P 500 closed on October 3, 2011 at 1,099.23. It had been at 1,363.61 on April 29, 2011. The return from the high to the low of the year was down close to 20%. The return from that low moment to the end of the year was about 17%. In October, it looked like the markets were going to get worse by the day, not better, and many investors kept leaving the markets in search of lower volatility and perceived safety in
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Save A Penny, Lose Your Dollars? By Rob Wrubel, CFP®, AIF® Do you know that you could be savings pennies every day for your special needs family member, but setting yourself and family to lose thousands of dollars? If you do not fund your trust the right way, you could potentially lose expected Supplemental Security and Medicaid benefits. Regular readers of my Blueprints newsletters know that I generally recommend a special needs trust be considered (and most families choose to use this technique) for families with a special needs member. The trust can be used to hold assets that can be used to improve the quality of life for our special needs family members while protecting available government benefits. Funding the trust requires special care as tax and other government driven rules are complicated. My recommendation is to build a strong financial team to work with you to make sure
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“With American Airlines stock at 20 cents per share, I can’t decide between paying for 2 checked bags or buying half of the company” — Tim Siedell (The Bad Banana) Dear Clients and Friends, In less than 15 days, 2011 will be in the history books. At times, it seems like the year has flown by again. At other times, the year seems like a scene from “Groundhog Day” where Phil the weatherman (played by Bill Murray) wakes up each morning only to live the same day over and over again. We will carry the ineptitude and inaction of our as well as Europe’s political leaders, into 2012 where the litany of uninspiring news from Capitol Hill and the European front will continue fuel volatility in the global markets. However…..what we will also carry into the New Year is a U.S. economy that is expanding under its own power (how
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Some Last Minute Planning Thoughts As You Celebrate The Holidays By Rob Wrubel, CFP®, AIF® Thanksgiving has come and gone and we are in the homestretch for the end of the year. Christmas music fills the shopping centers and the radio stations. The Colorado weather has turned to winter with freezing temperatures and some snow and we wait for more. For many of us, it means time with family, gift exchanges, celebrations and maybe even a little bit of reflection. This is a busy time of year for us as we assist families and companies with investments, wealth management and advice. In addition to the end of year celebrations, there are a number of planning issues that must be done before December 31st to count for the year. Gifting Do you plan to make a gift to a family member this year? Gifts can take many shapes and look different
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Consider a different gift this holiday season The holidays are a very fun time of year for me and my family. It is all about spending time with family, reconnecting with old friends and eating lots of great food. The other element that exists in the majority of holiday traditions is gift giving. We did most of our gift buying online this past weekend, but I headed out on Black Friday, partially to see the action. I went to make a return at Best Buy, thinking the “return” counter would be slow… but I was wrong. I was amazed at the wall to wall people in every retail shopping center I passed. I must confess that up until this year, I had never really been out shopping on a Black Friday so I was excited to see what the fuss was all about and thought I would be able to
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“Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be well seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly……and one by one”. – Charles MacKay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds Dear Clients and Friends, I don’t know what I have grown wearier of reading, “Stocks decline on renewed Euro Zone fears” or, “Is Tim Tebow capable of being the Denver Broncos next starting quarterback?” I am pretty sure that one of the headlines is more of a market mover than the other and therefore, continues to be required reading. Tim Tebow is a positive role model, not to mention, a hard working and very competitive athlete, but his success or failure will not determine the direction of the global economy. Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan gets to the heart of the matter when he says,”At the outset of the
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Pursuing tax-advantaged savings in special needs planning By Rob Wrubel, CFP®, AIF® Do you know what keeps me on edge and worried about the planning work that I do with families with a special needs member? Where do I start? The list is fairly extensive. The biggest worry is making a recommendation that could damage a person’s ability to qualify for Supplemental Security Income or Medicaid as a result of their income or resources. I have seen this happen from the work of advisors who are not aware of the special issues facing families like ours. Fortunately, reasonable planning steps can be taken to help create long-term financial resources and keep those assets protected from counting as a financial resource for qualification. One of the great difficulties facing special needs family members is to find tax advantaged savings and education planning accounts that could be used to support the special
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Retirement Readiness – Three Simple Steps By Rob Wrubel, CFP®, AIF® Investment News recently ran an article highlighting a survey undertaken by Putnam Investments and Brightwork Partners to better understand retirement readiness and the variables in place that lead some people to be able to retire with 100% of their working income and others to retire with 46% of their working income. The study does not analyze returns, specific funds or market cycles – it reinforces the message that money invested over time (most likely in a reasonably balanced portfolio) will earn money. Retirement is one of the key factors we address in working with our individual clients. Each plan must include some version of paying for life expenses after the primary working years are over. As individuals, we have plenty of choices to make about retirement. What age do we wish to target? Will we continue to work after
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“When you are on the Titanic, you don’t take a vote before you abandon ship” — Ralph Silva on the Greeks decision to put to a vote, the EU requirements for tougher austerity measures in that country. “The situation in Greece is akin to a drowning man rejecting a life preserver while at the same time, complaining about its quality” — Ed Ponsi Dear Clients and Friends, The last time I got sea sick was 27 years ago when I took a boat in Greece, from Santorini to Crete. I will never forget it because it was a miserable trip. Well here we go, déjà vu, 27 years and 29 days later…..sick again and held hostage by a country that’s total GDP (33rd ranked) is less than that of Thailand. What in the world were the Greeks thinking with this decision to put the EU bailout plan to a vote
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“They’ve got the wrong place and the wrong people. They should change the name to “Occupy Congress” and get 2 million people down to Washington D.C. where Congress rarely does any real work and lets the lobbyists decide for them.” — Matt Horween (Real Money.com) Dear Clients and Friends, The “Occupy Wall Street” movement has in a few short weeks, gone from a sideshow to the fulcrum of a national debate about wealth, greed, joblessness and a sense of despair that is palpable among many Americans. You can’t be indifferent on this one, you are either with ‘em or against ‘em. The ever insightful and rarely wrong Doug Kass (Managing Partner of Sea Breeze Investments) has recently written a piece that gets to the heart of the movement. With his permission granted, here is the entire text of the article: Doug Kass – “On Occupy Wall Street” Monday, October 17,
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