Are you expecting negative returns?
This year is on track to deliver the lowest share of
positive returns adjusted for inflation across 17 major asset classes since
2008, according to Morgan Stanley. Too bad. Our clients have stayed with their
balanced portfolios because we can’t predict the future of the markets. This is
a snapshot of their returns so far:
Total Return Fund Long-term
Return Longevity
YTD 2018* 2017
10.2% 21.7% 500
Index 11.1%* since
1976
7.9 3.2%
Energy 10.7% since
1984
10.4 17.9%
Extended Market 10.9% since 1987
13.2 19.6%
Health 16.5%
since 1984
3.5 42.9%
International Growth 10.8% since 1981
14.3 29.5%
PRIMECAP 13.9% since 1984
10.5 16.1%
Small Cap Index 10.7% since 1960
0.1 10.2%
Wellesley
3.1 19.1%
Windsor
6.3 16.8%
Windsor
8.0% 19.7% Average 11.7%
*9/26/18 Average
Annual Returns as of 12/31/17 .
We take Warren Buffett’s advice: https://www.amazon.com/Warren-Buffett-Your-Investment-Advisor/dp/1518690963
Is ‘interactive’ life insurance right for you?
Your annual physical is no longer enough for one
insurer. Now they want your ‘lifestyle’ data on a continuous basis or you can’t
be insured. Hancock says. The Hook: policy
holders are incentivized to adopt healthy habits and pay fewer premiums. On
the other hand, insurers may eventually use data to select the most profitable
customers, while hiking rates for those who do not participate. And can we
trust them to provide the discounts or even pay benefits? MetLife
and other insurers stopped looking for beneficiaries so they could keep the
death benefits. If the beneficiary does not keep in touch with the insurer,
they lose. Life insurance is NOT an investment anymore.
Make sure you need insurance first: https://www.amazon.com/Life-Insurance-Need-Save-right/dp/1480002178
Are you overpaying for car insurance?
This graphic shows the average costs per state for
min and max coverage. Are you where you want to be? You may be paying for
benefits you don’t need, like life insurance, towing, or full replacement. You
may not have claimed all the discounts you deserve. Unfortunately, insurers
don’t ask about the items you can qualify for since it reduces their
commission. You have to ask to have life and health care insurance removed. If
you have this coverage already, you’re wasting your money with a car insurer.
Some add accidental death and disability insurance to your premium. Do you know
when NOT to make a claim? If you don’t shop around, you never have the benefit
of new client discount. Securing your discount adds up year after year.
Which Medigap plan is right for you?
Look closely at your supplement plan. Plan F will
cease in 2019. The existing Plan G may be a better deal for you. Consult with
your doctor and your records to see what you really need. Plan G provides the
most benefits but at higher prices than others. For instance, you get limited
foreign travel medical assistance included. Frequent co-pays get expensive. Can
you switch to generic drugs? One agent says: “You save about $350 a year on
premiums, so it makes no sense to buy F to cover the $183 deductible.”
Do your research: https://www.medicare.gov/find-a-plan/questions/medigap-home.aspx
Is your
Medicare Advantage plan denying service you’re due?
Auditors have found “widespread and persistent
problems related to denials of care and payment in Medicare Advantage,” the
report said. The fixed per-patient rates the government pays may give plans “an
incentive
to deny preauthorization of services for beneficiaries, and payments to
providers, in order to
increase profits,” the report said. Enrollment doubled over the past decade.
One-third of Medicare patients are now covered by the private plans. In 2016, the
plans denied 4% of requests to approve treatment before it was provided, known
as prior authorization, and 8% of requests for payment after treatment. Only 1%
of patients disputed the insurers’ denials. Most disputes changed denials to
approve. Most plans provide additional coverage, such as vision, dental care,
and prescription drugs.
Always dispute a denial: some plans reverse 98% of
the time.
Who is this Mueller guy anyway?
He never speaks but his pen speaks for him. 35
so far. ‘Witch hunt’ has 191 criminal charges by this duly-authorized former FBI chief of the investigation.
What happened to get Trump elected will require a simplified 2 hour movie to
explain all that went down with this ‘Russia’r Trump’ thing. This investigation
may be more important than the Nixon termination event. As happened then,
our democratic principles are at stake. After all the voter suppression, can
the people of America
Will the middle class survive? https://inequality.org/facts/income-inequality/
Is a ‘Retirement’ bond right for you?
The retirement
bond would not pay back the principal; instead, after 20 years, it would
become more like a deferred annuity paying a stable, secure income—but
investors would get more bang for their buck. Martellini says the retirement
bonds could be offered as transparent, low-cost products that are easier to get
out of than a typical income annuity. Someone five years from retirement today,
a 61-year-old, would be buying 2023 retirement bonds. The bonds would start
paying cash in 2023, and continue paying for 20 years. If launched, the new retirement
bonds could be offered in lieu of bonds or annuities to investors. “Annuities
are opaque, costly and mostly irreversible unless you’re willing to pay high
surrender charges,” says Martellini. Most retirement investors want security
and a guaranteed stream of income, but they also want the flexibility to adjust
their investments and their potential income stream over time. But most bonds
lose value over time so buying a bond locks in low income payments.
Buy Income and Growth Combo: https://www.amazon.com/Combo-Annuity-Guaranteed-Income-Growth/dp/1493572237
How much emergency cash is enough?
Savings, CD, MM, credit cards or bond fund. Which is
best for you? Some propose an employer plan with paycheck
deduction like a 401k but with no penalties. Actually some can do this now
with a Roth 401k. You get tax-free growth for life and you can take your
contributions out anytime without penalty. A short-term
corporate bond fund like VFSTX will rise with rates. CDs are tricky since
rates are rising so keep away. Or perhaps your best alternative is a HELOC. If
you have equity in your home, you can obtain a line of credit for rainy day.
Home worth 300,000 and you owe 150,000 you may obtain 50,000. With no closing
costs and interest charged (current 5%) only when you use the line, this a
perfect ‘emergency’ fund. You can leave your retirement money alone to grow. As
long as you don’t misuse this money, you won’t lose your home—HELOC is a 2nd
mortgage.
Don’t fall for your broker/advisor illiquid products:
https://www.amazon.com/Avoid-Scams-Brokers-Advisors-Sender/dp/1726328023
Do we go backward or forward with wages?
Most Americans say they are NOT benefiting from the
$4,000 Trump promised. Most feel that Trump helped his class—giving
us higher tax bills in the future to pay for all the cuts in revenue in the
next 10 years. Corporations
got to keep all their subsidies, grants and special financial deals.
Average homeowners in CA, NY and NJ are not able to deduct their property tax
so anyone with a single family home will pay more. Those who own the mansions
have put the property in a legal entity to keep the deductions like The Don’s
home in Trump Tower America
Last time unskilled workers were left stranded, America
Another way the
wealthy avoid their fair share
Trump’s new tax law
changed the AMT—alternative minimum tax—so that many
rich people will not have to pay it. Treasury gave us this tax after it was
determined that 155 rich people paid no tax in 1966. Americans were
outraged and Congress added a tax. AMT was born in 1979. Millions of rich
people had to start paying their fair share under Reagan. Now Trump and his tax-credit class have got CPAs maximizing
retirement contributions, funding a health savings account and making
investment account adjustments where it makes sense to take the losses for use
against gains. “After that, we go for increasing charitable contributions,” an
observer added. You don’t need a CPA.
Use your
tax-credits: https://www.amazon.com/Tax-Credit-Class-your-credits-ZERO/dp/1539462382
Homeowners in Dem
states plan property tax limit workaround
****************
Two Americas
***********************
How Govt wastes our money: Congress spends $1.3 Trillion we don’t have!
Is Medicare for All
the answer? Obama Trump could NOT stop the rise in health care.
House
on vacation again: no work no pay! Save $ millions—half are
already millionaires.
SCAMS/SPINS:
Trump
tax cuts went to the wealthy—some middle class actually pay more: voters
wise.
Drug
prices manipulated due to shortage and shortage created by drug firms:
addiction.
Social
Security sends email; NOT call for information—never give callers your
info.
Non-bank lenders
playing the same role as in 2007: could
melt-down happen again?
Neil Maxwell CO caught
investing funds without telling clients he did it.
Voya caught giving
criminals passwords to 5,600 client data. Fined $1 million. Fees rise.
Philip Roesel caught
using
fake caller ID number to trick us 21 million times. No Jail.
Half
of cellphone calls scams: fake directed at most vulnerable of us. Feds
do nothing.
Suicide by cop:
Everyday people with guns kill co-workers and get cops to kill them.
----------------------------------
Why is Trump
surprised when the world laughs at his ridiculous narcissistic statements?
Trump:
I fear #METOO Movement. “It’s happened to me many times.” “I grab p__y.”
----------------------------------
Jobs:
$73,000 driving for
Walmart: Congress
changing law to age 18?
Are you sure you want to keep
out all immigrants? She is 7 and the next generation.
Who owns your account now?
Identity theft protection
is free: Freeze
your account so thieves can’t buy in your name.
What
to watch to avoid cyberattackhack/theft: think like hacker—what can go
wrong.
Genetic test: insurers can use it for genetic
discrimination : results vary by company.
Your business self-insured for health care? Cut
out the middle person.
OppenheimerFunds
to Invesco Ltd.
Miracle:
A
tiny clip in your heart can save you but it costs $30,000: doctors/hospital
extra?
Good
Samaritan helps stranded car but then evil comes.
Two
heads are NOT always better than one. Anything can happen and does.
IAN
41 Watchung Plaza,
B242
973.746.2014
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