Your Unbiased Advisor: IRA

Showing posts with label IRA. Show all posts

Friday, April 7, 2023

We waste $1,819 a year on being ‘tricked’ on the financials we buy

Get your teen started on their $ million tax-FREE fund

Make sure you teach your kids how to create wealth the easy way. My parents were not investors. At my first job, I had no clue which investment option to use for my 401k contribution and company match. The HR person told me to put it into the 'safe' stable value fund. That was the worst choice at my age I learned later when I got my securities licenses. If I had followed their advice I would have ended up with about $150,000 instead of a Wealth Reserve of $877,233 about 33 years later. I have used this 'Wealth Reserve' as I call it to have funds to buy low-cost insurance, to buy two homes and 5 cars with higher down payments or cash, and now to receive $2,500 a month in retirement supplement. Now your child can build an account that provides tax-FREE education and retirement income too. Market up 7.85% already in ’23.

Time is on their side: https://www.amazon.com/Give-your-child-leg-up-manage/dp/1096505355

Get your own retirement supplement fund going NOW

Social Security Retirement Fund on Track to Go Bust in 2033: Trustees Report is warning. If Congress does nothing to help, we will get about 25% less in retirement. If you have no other means, what will you do? Congress people earn $ millions extra from insider trading but that is illegal for us. The best way to be ready is to earn money on your money without any income taxes. That may give you an extra 20-30% when you need an SS boost. If you work for a living, you can put away $6,000 a year. If you have 15 years till you stop working, you can double your money by then using a low- cost market index. Buffett’s advice: “bet on America.” Over that time, the stock market returns vary but historically you will be rewarded. $3,000 a year (the average tax refund) will compound without tax to over a $100,000. For instance, from 1971 to 2022, the annual market total return was 12%. When you retire you can keep compounding your cash without tax and so spend every cent you earn without income tax.

Start now to cover SS shortfall: https://www.amazon.com/Your-ZERO-Tax-Account-Wealthy/dp/1482772795

When the media has bad financial news, look where we’ve come

I don’t sell and try to pick a bright stock. I look at the last 20 years’ returns: 9.71% per year. I look at this historical record by DALBAR’s Quantitative Analysis of Investor Behavior (QAIB). I look at the stats like this one. Timing the market ups and downs does not work. According to Standard and Poor's, the average annualized return of the S&P index, which later became the S&P 500, from 1926 to 2020 was 10%. At 10%, you can double your investment every seven years. In a less-risky investment such as bonds, which have averaged a return of about 5% to 6% over the same time period, you could expect to double your money in about 12 years. I see these charts in my mind’s eye when I hear a Wall Street guru tell me how to invest. If you are investing for a long-term goal, you are wise to follow Warren Buffett’s advice: you need only 2 low-cost mutual funds to retire comfortably.

https://www.amazon.com/Warren-Buffetts-Vanguard-Funds-Retirement/dp/1496148592

Will a financial course help you navigate your way to wealth?

There are many online courses about your debts, savings, and investing. Most will teach you something that can be helpful. You may have certain questions that are answered generally—not for your specific solution. On the other hand, you may feel more comfortable finding the answer yourself instead of giving money to a broker/advisor so you can ask them questions. My experience working at 3 brokerage firm was eye-opening. I never found an unbiased financial person until I started doing my own homework. I read Warren Buffett, John Bogle and a few other successful investors who DON’T sell products for a living. Making money is simple unless you try to outsmart the Masters. Mr Buffett says: “My wealth has come from a combination of living in America, some lucky genes, and compound interest.” His long-term investment strategy: contribute to just TWO funds for long-term goals like retirement.

Unbiased advice: https://www.amazon.com/Buffett-Bogle-Holy-Bible-Investment/dp/1523693045

Is it better to consolidate all 401ks in your employer plan or IRA rollover trustee?

You may have the opportunity to keep your employer plan options when you retire. Leaving your money in place is easier than transferring it to a mutual fund trustee. On the other hand some retirees like to transfer their 401k into an IRA rollover account because they have more investment options or rock bottom fees and charges or both. You can decide by comparing costs and the options available at a large fund complex. For instance, if you like a Target-Date Fund you may have more choices with a large fund complex. If you like using an advisor after you leave your employer, you have many more choices in the financial industry universe than with your employer. However, remember that advisors may take up to 63% of your total returns in fees over time. If you were using a market index offered by your company plan, a comparison of prices may be all you need to do. Some low-cost providers offer the S&P 500 index at low or no cost.

Choice is important: https://www.amazon.com/401k-IRA-Tax-FREE-Tax-Deferred-retirement/dp/1475057938

We waste $1,819 a year on being ‘tricked’ on the financials we buy

A new study shows financial illiteracy costs the average American $1,819 in 2022. If we invested this money instead of giving it to sales people, we could have over $100,000 in 20 years. We could buy financials like we buy stuff at Costco and Walmart. Most of those with money have learned to save on just about everything including insurance, our employer savings plans, our car purchases, our banking, mortgage and the rest. Saving by shopping for all our financial products is easier than we thought because we have the internet and “direct” sellers. Direct sellers like Vanguard, Fidelity, SBLI, GEICO, internet banks and mortgagers offer low-cost products so we pay less and keep more. One analyst estimates we could give up 63% of our total earnings in fees over time. Learning how to shop for financials is NOT rocket science. Some save $3,000 a year.

https://www.amazon.com/Tricks-Trade-Mutual-Insurance-Annuities/dp/1535497289

How much does it cost to start investing?

The easy and lowest cost strategy to start in the market is to buy SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF (SPLG) in a brokerage account. ETFs are index funds of a specific asset. This ETF consists of shares of the top 500 US companies so you get a little of everything. This ETF costs only 0.03% of your total investment per year. Its 5-Year Average Annualized Return was 11.0%. The SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF is the cousin of State Street’s SPY the famous fund. It has a lower expense ratio tailored to price-conscious everyday investors. The fund was only recently converted to track the S&P 500—prior to January 2020, SPLG tracked the SSgA Large Cap Index. SPLG’s average trading volume comes in substantially lower than SPY, offering somewhat lower liquidity—and its AUM are a sliver of the SPY’s total. For buy-and-hold investors, this shouldn’t be a concern. Assets under management: $15.9 billion. Each ETF share costs under $50. If you keep buying this security over time you should be able to amass a fantastic account in a few years. At 11% a year, over time you can double your money every 7-9 years. Just keep buying—don’t trade or quit. The Miracle of Compounding will make you rich.

https://www.amazon.com/Building-Wealth-Like-Brushing-Teeth/dp/1470141469/

?**********ACCOUNTABILITY**************?

Like 1776, this period is a test of democracy—We rejected an "American fascist" once

The Path to Dictatorship: 2010-2030

Parallels of this era in the past may hint at our future: democracy breaks apart legally

Jan 21 2010 Corporations’ election-spending unlimited

Billionaires paid $881 million for votes in 2022 midterm elections

Nov 2020 Wealthy discredit election process

Nov 21 2020 Trump’s Plans for a Coup: criminal

Nov 21 2020: Trump plan: US Marshals seize voting machines

Jan 6 2021 Direct assault failed: guns & bombs ready

Trump engaged in a "criminal conspiracy" to stop Biden

“I don’t f—ing care that they have weapons”

Trump was “detached from reality”

Trump used mafia-style intimidation on the defenseless

Trump still terrorizing election woman

Parscale: “a sitting president asking for civil war.”

Trump: “Just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me”

GOP fascism: “RINO hunt armed; no bagging limit” J6 comm threat

January 6, 2021 “A date which will live in infamy”

Trump’s Supremes END personal rights & state laws except for weapons WMDs

Fascism: GOP to stop women leaving state for abortion

It’s not a court. It’s a junta: Two Americas

Trump: President Biden is 'enemy of the state'

Christian Nationalist Party (CNP) replaces GOP

Nov 8 2022 Trump’s “national revolution” failed

Nov 15 2022 Trump announces for 2024 to avoid lawsuits

Dec 3 2022 Trump: cancel Constitution rules so ‘I win’

Mar 11 2023 Pence straddles his place in history

Mar 31 2023 Trump indicted misusing election money

Jan 2025 Dictator pardons himself: his Supremes agree

How Govt wastes our money:

ER gets full: Millions poised to lose Medicaid as pandemic coverage protections end

Killing way of life: ‘We’re NOT going to fix it’: The GOP response after Nashville

Floridians able to carry concealed guns without a permit: settle dispute easily anyone

IRS helps wealthy raise inflation: new planes/yachts are deductible so we pay their taxes

IRS: Average taxpayers "should not be worried" about more audits: ‘famous last words’

$27.2 billion NASA 7% increase funding for Artemis go around moon: we already did it

Biden blames Trump for Afghan exit mistakes: Biden made bad choices: accountability

SCAMS/SPINS:

Fake charity scam: Request donations for disaster common by phone, email and texts

Beware of abusive tax avoidance schemes: list is long and complicated

GOP tilts Supreme: Thomas accepted luxury trips of TX GOP without disclosure

Millions of dollars are going missing every single day thanks to crypto-related crime

Goldman Sachs caught marking millions stock orders as long instead of short: just fine

Merrill caught charging clients in undisclosed foreign exchange fees for transfers

Integrity Advance owners caught avoid paying back for illegal payday lending activities

Baby powder tainted with carcinogen: J&J kept that info hidden regulators/public: years

Only in US: bank managers get bonus for running bank into the ground: pay as stock fall

Scam: Employee Retention Credit claims; false claims generate compliance risk

Falsifying Business Records is a crime in NY: move/ rename money was regular event

GOP ‘freedom’ means men decide where you pee, your name, your health care, jobs

GOP ‘freedom’ means removing cities’ rights to set own policies, make dictatorships

TN GOP expels 2 elected Dems asking more gun control: deadly school shooting

MD Catholic Church abuse: 600 kids: chaining/whipping teenagers; abuses in hospital

Honda recalls 564,000 CR-Vs in cold states to fix frame rust: loosens suspensions

VW recalls 140,000 SUVs due to faulty passenger-side airbags: don’t ride

Bigger SUVs Pickups loved by driver but increasingly people killers

TX to become key gambling state despite Christian ideology

Americans in need of health care must now belong to correct ideological group for help

Pope Francis wearing white puffer jacket: Faked with the artificial intelligence

Fake: Ted Cruz tweet regarding kids killed by war gun

1 in 3 baseball fans can’t afford tickets this year: $58.61 avg cost + $51 food, park, etc.

Hair growth/loss products violate FDA FTC laws: lies, lies, lies

Jobs

Tesla pays Owen Diaz $3 million for endured racist discrimination as a contract worker

New jobs decline: Fed thrilled with fewer working but rich keep pushing inflation up

17 Worst-Paying College Majors

High-Paying Work-From-Home Jobs That Pay Well ($100K+ Salaries)

Who owns your account now?

Best used cars that fell in price starting at $19K: some down 13%

Best Full-Service Wealth Management Firms Ranked by Investors — J.D. Power, 2023

Time to shop: homeowners pay $2,825 for home insurance in 2023, up 30% in two years

Can assets in a “defective” trust receive step-up basis (no gains tax) on owner's death?

IRS explains their process delays: many returns still not processed from 2021, 2022: wait

Miracles:

Trump: great teaching lesson for white criminals: con men, scammers, vigilantes, terrorist

Crime pays: Trump’s fundraising after indictments pay off: $4 million raised in 24 hours

Somehow GOP Greene thinks Trump is like Jesus: “killed by government”

Revolutionary blood test that can detect over 50 genetic diseases: needs confirmations

Factory explosion survivor, on fire, fell into chocolate vat

Finland to join NATO on Tuesday, Sweden still waiting: 1300 miles Putin headache

87% of the cars sold in Norway last month were electric.

WI votes to put judicial decisions back on track: future on abortion and voting rights

WV transgender athletes can compete on female school sports teams: Supremes turn?

Our Universe is Mind-Blowing

Light is both a particle and a wave depending on how we look at the light.

I don’t think that there is any such thing as a position or a velocity of a particle.

Everything (galaxies to stones) in universe made of subatomic energy ‘vibrations’

A subatomic ‘particle’ is the smallest possible vibration (quantum) of a quantum field.

Mass–energy equivalence: E=mc^2. At the smallest level; Everything is moving

Energy into matter: scientists converted light energy directly into matter in one step

Physics Nobel Prize: “entanglement” 2 particles share info instantly at a distance

“It may be that gravity and quantum mechanics are exactly the same thing,” Leonard Susskind

Gravity might induce the collapse of quantum vibrations into 1 quantum state—our world

There is no TIME at this level because of force fields come and go in all directions.

Universe expanding: events may not come together like they did before.

Inside protons, neutrons, it is the fields of the virtual particles that creates its mass.

Gold made from neutron stars: collisions produce more neutrons:79 protons,118 neutrons

The proton is so complicated science still finds new energy entities/forces every year.

“Empty space is a boiling, bubbling brew of virtual particles that pop in and out of existence in a time scale so short that you can’t even measure them.” Space expanding.

The electricity we use comes from the field around the wire not from electron itself.

Scientists build 'baby' wormhole as sci-fi moves closer to fact: inside quantum computer

starts-with-a-bang/universe-expansion-not-accelerating/

We can apply for Medicare online: https://blog.ssa.gov/apply-for-medicare-online

We can apply for Social Security online: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/

We can apply for health care online: https://www.healthcare.gov/

IAN

973.746.2014

http://www.theinsidersguides.com/

Alerts available at http://dankeppel.blogspot.com/

Friday, August 12, 2022

Why investing the same amount of dollars each month is important

Best annuity for your retirement

Some annuities cost you nothing and the benefit increases automatically without you paying more premium. Some annuities are tailored to your age so that you receive more later and less earlier. Some annuities cost a lot. Some require no extra payments. Some annuities can provide a growing benefit and still provide a lump sum for emergencies. Some annuities provide a benefit only—the beneficiary cannot surrender the remaining principal. Some annuities are tied to an underlying high-cost variable account. Most annuities cannot be cancelled. Some annuities provide a periodic benefit for one or two lives. Some pay a benefit for a certain time period. Get the right one for your lifestyle.

https://www.amazon.com/Your-FREE-Annuity-Stream-Lifestyle/dp/1497438616

What is the New American Retirement System?

Protect your family and assets with your financial wealth. Borrow from your System to pay for large purchases. Buy whatever you need without going into debt to others. Self-insure manageable risks—invest the premiums saved. Buy financial services wholesale--save $3,000 a year. Manage your System in 1 hour per year. $2 million can produce $160,000 a year in retirement. There are no taxes either.

This book will show you how to:

Create a $2,000,000 tax-FREE Retirement System.

Use the best legal tax shelter: no taxes . . . ever.

Tax-favored over a 401k even with 6% match*

https://www.amazon.com/New-American-Retirement-System-Reserve/dp/1461030072

Retirement savings amounts very skewed to the wealthy

The average account balance was $141,542 for 2021; the median balance was $35,345. This disparity means that a small number of plans with very high balances skews this often-quoted average upward. The American middle class has a difficult time saving for retirement with low wages, high inflation and increasing housing expenses. Not everyone is benefiting from the tax deduction for contributions since many small employers do not offer 401k plans. The self-directed IRA requires starting early to obtain the maximum benefits of tax-favored savings. Very few high school curriculums offer a tax-benefit IRA course. It is up to parents/grandparents to get their offspring started on the journey.

https://www.amazon.com/Give-your-child-leg-manage/dp/1096505355

Is a money market account right for you?

This account, available at most financial institutions, is favored by anyone who says, “I don’t want to lose money in the market.” For instance, Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund’s investment objective is to seek to provide current income while maintaining liquidity and a stable share price of $1. However, maintaining a stable share price of $1 means that you cannot keep your purchasing power over time. Thus your money is not ‘safe’ and over time, your $5000 will buy less than it did before. Yes, you will earn interest but you will also owe taxes on any gain. A bank savings account may be a better vehicle for short-term savings. If you are saving for retirement, a ‘safer’ place for your money is a balanced (stocks and bonds) mutual fund. Over time you gain part of the positive market return in the form of share price rising and also stock dividends paid and bond interest earned. Some of my readers use such an account for their emergency short-term needs since they have accumulated quite a balance over time. “Borrowing” $5,000 from their $250,000 balanced mutual fund like the Vanguard Wellesley Income Fund costs them little. That $5,000 may be repaid to their account in a year or their gains on the $245,000 in a year may be enough to cover it. Remember, “never bet against America.”

Use Buffett’s strategy: https://www.amazon.com/Warren-Buffetts-Investment-Strategy-Forget/dp/1484822900

Why investing the same amount of dollars each month is important

Smart investors have learned the trick of investing to accumulate the greatest number of shares with the same amount of money each month. Over time, you receive fewer shares when the price is too high and more shares when the price is low. You are buying without overpaying for shares. Last December, for example, shares were expensive so your monthly investment of $250 bought one share of Vanguard Health Care Fund. But in June 2022, your $250 bought 1.358 shares (shares were cheaper). In this way, if you had started buying shares 10 years ago, your $250 would have purchased 1.689 shares. You can see that over the last 10 years, you would have more than 200 shares not 120 shares at the higher price. In 30 years, with more shares and the share price appreciation (dividends and increased value), your $250 a month investment may be worth over $500,000. This strategy is called ‘dollar-cost averaging’: you buy low and accumulate more shares. Over time, shares worth more. And you can make it all tax FREE.

https://www.amazon.com/Money-Ball-Investing-Winning-unfair/dp/1548831409

?**********ACCOUNTABILITY**************?

Like 1776, this period is a test of democracy—We rejected an "American fascist" once

The Path to Dictatorship: 2010-2030

Jan 21 2010 Corporations’ election-spending unlimited

Nov 2020 Wealthy discredit election process

Nov 21 2020 Trump’s Plans for a Coup: criminal

Nov 21 2020: Trump plan: US Marshals seize voting machines

Jan 6 2021 Direct assault failed: guns & bombs ready

Trump engaged in a "criminal conspiracy" to stop Biden

“I don’t f—ing care that they have weapons”

Trump was “detached from reality”

Trump used mafia-style intimidation on the defenseless

Parscale: “a sitting president asking for civil war.”

Trump: “Just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me”

GOP fascism: “RINO hunt armed; no bagging limit” J6 comm threat

Trump’s Supremes END personal rights & state laws except for weapons WMDs

Fascism: GOP to stop women leaving state for abortion

It’s not a court. It’s a junta: Two Americas

Nov 8 2022 Trump’s “national revolution”

How Govt wastes our money:

Drug makers win: threat to Congress: price controls not set, drugs not created for us

We are going into debt to pay oil’s record profits for gas and food: Exxon sets records

Few profitable corps pay 15%: Congress gives loopholes, subsidies: we pay 30+%

We pay salary; Congress makes fortune on insider information: we go to jail for same

Nebraska teen and mother charged with aborting and burying fetus: America’s future?

Manchin limited EV cars to slow change from gas: climate to get worse

Sinema saved wealthy taxes in Inflation Act to keep funding from hedge fund owners

Like mob boss, Trump takes the 5^th : can’t ‘self-incriminate’: NY AG proved fraud

Of course, FBI will take back stolen US secret documents: felony to steal US secrets

SCAMS/SPINS:

Suit outcome depends on his lawyers not justice: Alex uses his $45 millions to appeal

TX GOP taking lessons from dictator on migration and marriage and hate

GOP votes to let drug makers charge unlimited price for insulin: not pro life for illness

Informant tells where stolen US secret nuclear documents hidden in GOP HQ

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” 2020 vote

NC schools to pack AR-15 instead of waiting for Sheriff Buddy Harwood: 30 rnd/min

GOP denies election valid then claims win: supporters have lost their minds

GOP claims Biden uses Gestapo tactics: now they feel what it was like under Trump

GOP terrorists "tailgate" primary ballot boxes. This voter intimidation in red states.

IN drug firm moving jobs out of IN to keep, attract more diverse staff: pro choice

Tesla caught false advertising: false claims on capability of autopilot

SPIN:“Dietary supplement is not a substitute for a healthy, balanced diet,” study says.

RECALL: Lyons Magnus issued a massive recall for 53 different drinks a

Complaints: 2020 Ford recall front brake hoses rupturing prematurely adequate?

Lee Weiss PA caught advisor fraud related to a Ponzi-like scheme: fine 5 years prison

Hello Digit caught used faulty algorithm caused overdrafts and penalties for customers

SCAM: So-called wrong number/text: you get engaged and they pop you for cash

SCAM: PayPal invoice scam: give password to clear wrong debit and they pop you

Rent-A-Center caught deception, overcharging thousands: fine no jail

Celebrity promoted NFT artwork has no disclaimer: celebrity is part owner

BEWARE: Facebook traffics in hate group searches: ‘ban’ hate makes more searches

Walgreens helped flood San Fran with opioids: thousands of orders deemed suspicious

Covid test expiration date extended by FDA

Five Things Your Advisor May Get Wrong About Social Security: make appointment

Jobs

½ million get jobs July: market grows 14% a year last 5 years: inflation takes the extra

Educators: educator expense deduction rises to $300 in 2022

MetLife to hire 400 for Global Technology Hub Cary NC

Fastest growing occupations: projectionist, turbine techs, ushers, nurse practitioners

Who owns your account now?

Home buyers with “excellent” score (760+) pay $288/mo less than buyers with “fair”

Best hospitals in US: maybe worth the trip

Consumer Reports: 7 Hybrids to Save You the Most Money on Gas

Best truck rental firms: Uhaul, Budget, Penske

Best low-cost vehicles to own for 5 years: Kelly Blue

Best ideas for a lifestyle retirement: prepare for a future with others

Use your education credits for students and yourself

Miracles:

Floods bury cars in Death Valley: BIG change in climate is here

Speed up: climate change might affect the rotational speed of the planet: snow to ocean

Arctic is heating up four times faster than the rest of Earth:

“If the cost of standing up for the Constitution is losing the House seat, then that’s a price I’m willing to pay,”

Gas suddenly cheaper: did Russia war end, Saudis discover oil: Exxon needed bonus $$

One person makes a difference to KY community that comes together to save neighbors

McDonald's plans reopening its restaurants in Ukraine over the next few months

FBI raids Trump’s FL mansion: missing FBI & defense texts: unindicted co-conspirator

Light is both a particle and a wave depending on how we look at the light.

I don’t think that there is any such thing as a position or a velocity of a particle.

Everything in universe: galaxies to stones made of subatomic energy ‘vibrations’

A subatomic ‘particle’ is the smallest possible vibration (quantum) of a quantum field.

Mass–energy equivalence: E=mc^2. At the smallest level; Everything is moving!

There is no TIME at this level because of force fields come and go in all directions.

Inside protons, neutrons, it is the fields of the virtual particles that creates its mass.

“Empty space is a boiling, bubbling brew of virtual particles that pop in and out of existence in a time scale so short that you can’t even measure them.” Space expanding.

The electricity we use comes from the field around the wire not from election itself.

We can apply for Medicare online: https://blog.ssa.gov/apply-for-medicare-online

We can apply for Social Security online: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/

We can apply for health care online: https://www.healthcare.gov/

IAN

973.746.2014

www.InsuranceAdvisorsNetwork.com

Alerts available at http://dankeppel.blogspot.com/

Friday, January 10, 2020

We pay $3,000 to subsidize taxpayers who avoid paying what they owe

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and outside groups claim that the IRS isn’t effectively auditing corporations and high-income individuals with complicated returns. Even with Trump’s generous tax cuts to the rich, some are not satisfied and avoid paying since there is little downside. With fewer audits/staff, 14.2% of the taxes owed are never paid. On top of that, most corporations pay nothing. Actually, we give them our money in the form of subsidies, grants, deferrals and credits. Congress and its lobbyists are the beneficiaries and are unlikely to give it more money to do the tough audits. Actually, a poor parent with EIC is more likely to be audited. It is easier to garnish the wages of someone making $30,000 than sue GE, Boeing, or Apple. Two thirds of corporations pay NO tax. They use shells, non-US headquarters and asset manipulation to avoid taxes on income earned in the

. Even the president uses tricks to pay nothing.

https://www.amazon.com/Most-U-S-Corporations-Pay-Zero-Taxes/dp/1514274116

Does it really make a difference to cut advisor commissions/fees?

Is it really important to move your investments to the lower priced generic? For instance, Trader Joe employees are suing because they are paying more for their 401k retirement than needed. It may not seem that the 2% you pay for managing your money and keeping a record of your shares and earnings is a problem. If you earned 25% every year like you did in 2019, then of course it isn’t worth suing your employer. However, they don’t earn 25% every year for you. The 2% of your balance EVERY YEAR is a big deal when you earn only 4% average over time. Let’s say you add $250 a month to your retirement fund. If your firm or advisor offered a low-cost stock index fund at 11% average for 40 years, you would retire with $2,169,740. If they charged 2% a year over time, you would retire with only $1,179,107. You gave about HALF to your employer or advisor just because they did not offer the best options for you. They chose the best options for themselves.

Earn 11% over time: https://www.amazon.com/You-Can-Beat-SoCalled-Wall-Street-professionals/dp/1986031373

Reducing income tax by contributing to traditional IRA

Congress passed laws changing the IRA rules: you can contribute $6,000 ($7,000 over 50) to your traditional IRA and take a deduction from income. The law ends the prohibition on contributing to an individual retirement account (IRA) after 70½. Individuals may continue contributing to an IRA at any age, as long as they have ‘earned’ income. BEWARE NEW LAW: If you were pumping up your Roth IRA so your heirs could have tax-FREE income for life you may have to change your estate: NO stretch ROTH. All IRAs must be exhausted in 10 years unless disabled/illness. Even though you have paid tax on this money if you converted your IRA, you may have to use a trust to create legacy income for them. You may also want to use your lower income years to convert your IRA to a Roth since your rates may be lower now with a deductible IRA. Also new: Part-timers can make pre-tax contributions to a 401k and an IRA.

Which is best for you? https://www.amazon.com/401k-IRA-Tax-FREE-Tax-Deferred-retirement/dp/1475057938/

MA fighting lobbyists to re-install fiduciary standard

The broker-dealer and insurance industries agree: They don't like the broad-based Massachusetts fiduciary proposal, which would blanket their respective industries with a fiduciary standard they’ve been successful in avoiding up until now. Trump responded to the industry lobbyists immediately after election to kill the Obama version of the duty that sellers must give us the best deal regardless of size of commissions. Now MA Galvin wants bad products to be off limits: MA would “deem it an unethical or dishonest conduct or practice for a broker-dealer, agent, investment adviser, or investment adviser representative registered required to be registered in Massachusetts to fail to act in accordance with a fiduciary duty to any customer or client.” Lobbyists claim small investors would be hurt by this rule because industry would avoid helping those with limited funds—folks who need help the most. MA GOP Gov caves to lobbyists.

We need sellers to follow fiduciary duty: https://www.amazon.com/Fiduciary-Rule-BEST-dont-anymore/dp/1530980275

Is your ex still the beneficiary of your pension, insurance, etc?

This is important. When you forget to change your beneficiaries on your pension, brokerage or life insurance, you may have a long legal fight to fix it. And your current spouse and children may hate you. Choices made in your former life may come back to bite you. Most people are not always completely thorough during their separations/re-marriage/divorce. They miss changing beneficiaries they named 20 or even 10 years ago. It could be a pension account at a former employer that is due to go to your ex at age 65 or a forgotten paid up policy with last marriage kids as beneficiaries. Sure, with a legal fight you may get it changed but who needs the fight. This new tax season is the perfect time to look at your overhanging past life choices. Safe than sorry.

Check your benes: https://www.amazon.com/Personal-Finance-Smarties-Not-Dummies/dp/1469973030

Advisor trend: retainer fees to avoid ‘hawking proprietary products’

Is your advisor acting as a fiduciary? Are they recommending what’s best for YOU or maximizing the leverage they have over you? How do you know the difference? As your portfolio grows, does your advisor reduce the standard AUM fee? 1% of $1 mil is better for you than 1% of $1.5 mil this year: the market went up 30%; not their IQ. Advisors use much more automation and model portfolios now. Subscription-based services are becoming common for clients with large non-tradable or business assets or the need to offset market volatility. Time to ask for a better price for ‘advice.’

Shop Advisor costs: https://www.amazon.com/DIY-Financial-Independence-Freedom-Workbook/dp/1088908500

Why most investors don’t need an annuity

Many are DIY investors—they have jettisoned their advisors since learning the John Bogle and Warren Buffett investment lessons: advisor costs detract from your earnings. Advisors and annuities can take up to HALF your earnings in fees and trading costs. Here are DIY's results for 2019. They are total return investors—selling shares equally across all 10 funds for their monthly RMD income in retirement. Some want protection from a down market and so they overweight Wellesley Income instead of buying an annuity: Wellesley’s 9.7% a year is not too bad to live on.

2019 Total Return Fund Long-term Return Longevity

31.5% 500 Index 11.2% since 1976

13.2% Energy 9.9% since 1984

28.0% Extended Market 10.7% since 1987

22.9% Health 16.2% since 1984

31.4% International Growth 10.6% since 1981

27.9% PRIMECAP 13.4% since 1984

27.4% Small Cap Index 10.6% since 1960

16.4% Wellesley Income 9.7% since 1970

30.4% Windsor 11.3% since 1958

29.0% Windsor II 10.7% since 1985

25.8% Average 11.4% *