Polaris Financial Services Blog

New 401 K PLan options

2012-02-03T15:26:00.000-08:00

USA Today in an article written by Christine Dugas talked about a new proposal from the government which would add an option to include Annuities when they are ready to retire.

This really isn't news. I have been offering my 401K Plan clients the ability to do just this for several years. All of my plans include a client option to save during their working years and to handle either some of their retirement assets or all of their assets utilizing Fixed Indexed Annuity (FIA) Products when they actually do choose to retire.

All annuity products are not equal. Not all annuity products offer protection from market risk combined with lifetime income streams that a client cannot outlive. Only an independent licensed insurance professional can truly help you find the ideal Annuity Product or in many cases offer you the right combination of Annuity products that meet your strategic retirement goals. Independent agents can select the best product from multiple carriers that address different parts of your long term goals. We need money in retirement at different times and with different liquidity requirements. We will talk more about this later.

Affluent Investors not happy with 401 K Plan providers

2011-05-13T12:53:00.000-07:00

A recent study released by Cogent Reseach says that only 45% of them are happy with their companies 401K Plan. If thats the case why are they dissatisfied? Obviously they are not happy with the plan financial strategies options available, or the ancillary services provided by the monster plan platform providers. That is a problem we can help with. The companies that use us to design and run their retirement plans do not switch to save money on fees. They switch because we offer them services they are not currently getting from their current plan platform provider. In fact, we do try and remain competitive on fees. However, we are not the lowest cost provider. We are however able to offer a range of products that the former plan providers are not willing or are not able to provide. Offering a more flexible plan requires both an expenditure of significant amounts of time and administrative resources. We offer that personal touch.

A more flexible plan has a number of advantages. We offer many employees a decent rate of return while minimizing market risk. We can help minimize corporate fiduciary risk, and we can help increase employee participation. An increase in participation rate often means that higher paid employees and officers or owners can contribute more to the plan without the plan becoming top heavy. That of course is a good thing. This lets senior employees accumulate more for their retirement.

Of course, we may not be able to help everyone but we may be able to help you!

Where does Ben Bernanke invest his own personal assets

2011-04-29T13:24:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder how the Federal Reserve Chairman chooses to invest his own money. In fact its a matter of public record. The bulk of his assets are invested in several annuity products with some mutual funds tossed in for good measure. I will say that he has spread his risk and some of the products are designed to eliminate market risk for at least a significant portion of his assets. About 1/3 of his assets are protected from market risk. Is there a lesson here for you and I?
I think there is! How can we help you reduce your risk and offer solid performance besides.

I wont go into detail abut what funds or which annuities. I do want to add this thought. He could have done better in his annuity selection to get better performance without an increase in risk. Of course, if Ben is interested I'd be more than happy to show him how!!

Hope to Receive A State Pension Read This

2011-04-26T21:33:00.000-07:00

Just read an aticle talking about State funding of their pension Liabilities. 16 state are seriously underfunded. They have reserves in their pension funds covering only 75% of their obligations. f That is down even more than the 77 % of their pension obligations when evaluated just two years ago. Looking for a state funded pension. What does this shortfall mean?

There are only four possible alternatives.
First,These states can increase taxes significantly on all taxpayers to correct this deficiency.
Second, the state can try and reduce the value of the pensions for current or future retirees.
Third, states can combine one and two.
or Last, they can stick their heads in the sand and pray it will resolve itself.

What do you think will happen?.
I think these states will try a combination of options one and two. They may also increase the retirement age.

There is a message here for state employees. You need to be looking for ways to cover a possible pension shortfall with your own savings or retirement assets. We can help! We specialize in Safe Money Financial Alternatives.

Are Your Retirement Savings Adequate?

2011-04-08T09:38:00.000-07:00

Many people Today are very concerned that they have not saved enough money for their retirement. Unfortunately most of them are right! They have not yet saved enough for a comfortable retirement. A lucky minority have already saved enough for retirement. We can still help this group by protecting their assets from market risk or market loss.

If you have not saved enough for your retirement that means one of two things will happen. Both alternatives are very bad. First, you can run out of money while you are still alive. Many people fear this even more than death! Second you will have to significantly cut back on you cost of living which will make retirement a very unpleasant experience, at best. This group REALLY needs professional help. There are financial products that help accomplish two critical goals. They protect you from all market risk. They can guarantee you an income stream that you can not outlive. Sounds nice doesn't it!

To find out which category you fall in we have found a very nice Retirement Calculator. By the way its FREE! Its on the MSN Money website and I am giving you the link. Check it out!

http://money.msn.com/retirement/retirement-calculator.aspx?GT1=33013

After you have checked it out if you would like some help protecting you assets or increasing your saving for retirement let us know if we can help.

Shopping for Long Term Care

2011-04-05T12:45:00.000-07:00

In the most recent copy of USA Weekend Dated April 1-3 2011 there was a brief article about shopping for Long Term Care Insurance (LTC). The article quoted Genworth's study that median cost for assisted living are now over $3,000 per month. Nursing home care is a lot more expensive and in many areas Assisted Living costs are much higher as well. One of the key points made in that article is that you should not overbuy protection. They appear to define that as a recommendation to only buy a 3 year coverage program. However that recommendation is flawed when one does not take into account the state of residence of the insured, the health history of the insured and the financial status of the insured. Only a consultation with a LTC professional licensed to sell LTC can help you determine the right amount of coverage for you and the ideal length of coverage that you should purchase.
One of the other key points in that article is to Shop for coverage early. That is very true. The author says start in you 50's. Unfortunately for many clients they already have medical conditions that could make them medically uninsurable by their early to mid 50's. So many potential LTC clients waited one doctors appointment too long, to make a decision to purchase LTC insurance. Many clients that are still insurable in their 40's will not still be insurable in their 50's. The risks of going without a comprehensive coverage plan are almost unbelievable and are growing faster than the rate of inflation. Everyone should talk to a licensed professional LTC agent like us.

IS a 529 Plan Right for your situation

2011-04-05T12:36:00.000-07:00

529 College Saving Plans

529 Plans for college saving. There are numerous questions about saving for college. I believe that for many people the best ways to save for college are not in a 529 Plan. Many State plans have produced DISMAL results.. Previous news reports in the Columbus Dispatch have detailed poor performance in the Ohio plan even before the recent Market meltdown. Many states plan participants tend to invest in age based formula driven plan options with less risky products receiving a greater percentage of the funds as the students get closer to College age. That is a good idea but it may not be enough. With a 40% loss or more some plans are not likely to have enough time to fully recover before the funds are needed. She also adds that many families have had to cut back on funding the plans because of tight budgets in general.

It is important to continue saving something every month even if it is only $25 a pay period. You cannot alter investment allocation for existing funds in the plan more than once per year. Even though you may not be able to reallocate the existing funds you can immediately allocate the new contributions however you wish.

529 Plans have high funding limits. You can actually set aside $250,000 for your childrens education Tax free. Unfortunately if your children do not use the funds you will get penalized when you withdraw the funds. In some ways using a ROTH is better but the maximum contributions are much lower. You also have much more investment or savings flexibility with the ROTH

Seniors and SS benefits before retirement age 65

2010-12-21T22:53:00.000-08:00

Seniors and SS benefits before retirement age 65

A recent survey of over 600 seniors shows that many people are planning on accessing their Social security benefits before age 65 to cover routine living expenses, healthcare, mortgages and utilities. This is a serious concern to me because it will reduce the SS benefits paid for the life of the senior. Tapping into SS benefits significantly reduces the amount you receive every month for life. It should only be utilized as a LAST RESORT in an Emergency situation. Several other measures should be evaluated before this drastic action is taken. Several steps we can evaluate include a HUD HECM Reverse Mortgage which improves cash flow by stopping mortgage payments as long as you and or your spouse are able to remain in your home. Another step is to review your existing life insurance policies, or increase income from your current assets.

If your assets are not currently growing by 6-7.2% per year you may be positioning your assets unwisely. If none of your assets are positioned to guarantee you a lifetime income stream you cannot outlive I Must ask Why not?? If you have lost money in the market turbulence of 2008 Let me ask why put up with that? None of the assets I manage for my clients have lost money this year! Let me repeat that NONE of my clients assets under management have suffered a market loss of value!

We can help clients with all of these things. How can we help you?
financial-services@live.com
polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com

Inflation rearing its ugly head - What should you do about it?

2009-09-16T11:54:00.000-07:00

There are several things every investor or saver needs to keep in mind as we move forward. Over the past 18 months inflation has been at above average levels it actually peaked at 5.6% back in July 2008. That represented a 17 year high. But even though it has dropped since then there are 8 months with a rate at or above 4%. The statistics show a 3.8% inflation rate for the CPI for all of 2008. Obviously we don't yet know the total inflation rate in the CPI for all of 2009. That means that any one using a bank for a safe money resting place has actually lost money while searching for a Safe Money Haven. Banks are still failing and they are still Failing to pay you a fair rate of return on the money you place in the bank at the same time they are charging a Record high rate on the money they loan out.

There are excellent Safe Money alternatives that can provide a better rate of return with excellent safety. They can even include upside potential if the market climbs while offering protection from market declines. Ask us how this can work and fit into your financial strategy
for the future. Non Bank Financial Alternatives still make excellent sense today. Protection from market risk makes just as much sense today as it made one year ago. We can help on both counts!

Are you interested in a Second Opinion about you financial nest egg. We can provide you with a no charge Second opinion and also help you position some of your assets in excellent safe money financial alternatives.

2009 Bank Closures now at 74

2009-08-16T13:17:00.000-07:00

Two more banks have been closed down by the Federal regulators. This is a sign of continuing financial difficulties and the need for smart savers to implements Safer Money Financial Strategies. Colonial Bank is a medium size bank with about $25 B in assets. This represents the largest bank to be closed this year. The other institution was a small Savings and Loan in PA.
In addition to this bad banking news all of the major indexes ended the week with a loss. The S&P finished the week down by 0.85%, the Dow ended down by 0.82% and the NASDAQ ended the week down by 1.19%

Considering the continuation of bad financial news does it make sense to take some portion of your financial assets and position them so you are protected form all mark risk but still get some upside market potential. Contact us to find out how to accomplish both of these things without assuming any market risk.

Visit the website for more information at www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

or our e-mail at

How To Avoid Financial Meltdown

2009-03-20T16:33:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share an experience I had this week with a Revocable Living Trust client. This client is a retired physician and his wife's estate. They had set up a Revocable Living Trust. I was working with them on a Trust and Estate planning review. Here is what we found with the review we just completed. The trust was properly executed but not properly funded. The result of not having funded the trust properly before now could have been a Disaster for the heirs if the couple had died before the review or before they complete the implementation of these strategies. They hold real estate in three states leaving potential probate liability in all three states. They have approximately $2 million in real estate value. Conservative estimate of current probate risk is anywhere from $150-400K. It actually could go higher but it is unlikely to be less. This is unnecessary and avoidable risk for the estate. Our attorneys tell us that Properly funded trust owned real estate avoids the probate process and all of that unnecessary expense. Saving for the estate if they complete the funding process would equal$140-390K using the recommendations identified through the review process. The attorneys we work with can take care of all the legal paperwork for a very reasonable price. Failure to complete the process is likely to result in the need to sell the beach condo and ski condo in order pay the probate costs on both properties.

Then with the financial portion of the review process we identified other potential problems and offered other suggested solutions. The financial assets are currently exposed to far to much market risk considering the clients ages. In fact like many potential clients they have lost over 35% of their liquid assets to this market turbulence. Repositioning of assets into more age appropriate categories will protect the clients assets from virtually all market risks. Some percentage of their assets will still remain exposed to market risk or to inflation risk. You can not avoid 100% of risks with all assets and still maintain adequate liquidity. The financial review process is designed to help determine the right mix or risk money, safe money and liquidity ratios need to protect the clients best interests. When this is completed the clients will never again have to worry about the impact of market turbulence on the majority of their assets. We can actually guarantee this family the prospect of roughly doubling their money over the next 10-11 years with additional upside potential if market conditions turn around. We can do this at the same time that we protect the bulk of their assets from risk

A fairly recent study discussed in the Wall Street Journal indicated that approximately 75% of high net worth individuals are either moving all or most of their assets to new financial managers. It is no surprise considering the losses suffered by most individuals. However, NONE of the assets I have positioned for my clients have lost money!!! We have never lost money for any of our clients.

All in all we would say that was a nice days work! How can we help you protect and grow your assets, increase your income, and or increase your legacy for your loved ones. Feel free to contact us. How can we help you to find out what strategies are right for you and your unique
situation?

website address www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com
email address polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com

Your 401K Performance

2009-02-18T07:29:00.000-08:00

Most peoples 401K plans lost between 25-39 % last year. However that is not necessary. It is possible to have a 401K plan that cannot loose money. Obviously it has to be a Company decision to offer performance options that can give you reasonable growth without market risk. We can actually design a 401K Plan that does just that!

Retired employees have the option of taking their entire balance out of an existing 401K plan and putting it into a rollover IRA that allows you to to utilize Safer Money Financial Alternative products that do not loose money in market downturns and in fact can guarantee an annual increase of over 7% in the income account value. In addition to market protection from downside risk it can also give you the ability to create a lifetime income stream with your assets. Lets find out if these products are right for you.

We can also help protect you or minimize your risk due to inflation risk. This is something a bank deposit, or a bank CD does not accomplish. Often times when you subtract the tax rate and the inflation rate from a bank interest payment the ACTUAL Rate of Return is a net negative number. This means you gave them the use of your money for years and you actually can end up with less buying power than you started with!!! Do you think this is fair? I Don't!

Lets talk about your reasonable alternatives!

Current market conditions review

2009-02-05T10:56:00.000-08:00

We just finished the worst Jan ever recorder in the Dow and the S&P 500 indexes. The Dow was down over 8.8% and the S&P was down over 8.5%. Banks are still being closed by the FDIC. Six new bank closures in January 2009. The only good news is that we have not fallen below the market lows set in November 2008. That trend has convinced many analysts the worst may be over. Most Economists are still predicting a weak economy throughout 2009.

With this continued market weakness is now the right time for you to be looking for Safer Money Financial Alternatives for your assets. My average new client from early 2008 will see a 6-12% increase in their Income Account Value on their 12 month aniversary. This is not a home run by any means but consider what has happened top those invested in the market. Are you ready to join the better than 75% of the high net worth individuals who a recent study found are ready to change their financial advisors. If you are interested in protecting your assets from market downside risk while participating in upside potential contact us. We can help!

Women on their own struggling financially

2009-01-15T13:09:00.000-08:00

A recent study on women and finance from the Consumer Federation of America reported the following facts.
-Women heading households have only half the income of families headed by males or couples. $22K vs $43K. Not really a surprise since many couples have 2 incomes.
-Women headed households also have only 1/3 of the family assets compared to the overall average for all US households. Also not entirely surprising since lower income means less disposable income.
-What is somewhat disturbing is that 1/3 of women headed households are not saving for retirement. This is a critical mistake.
-Another finding is that almost 25% of all families have no retirement program or plan whatsoever.

Whatever the amount every family needs to be saving something for their future. There are some retirement plans that permit small starting contributions and allow small regular additional deposits.

We may be able to help! Contact us to find out how!
website www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com
email polarisfinancialservices@live.com

Have we passed the worst of this drop in the markets.

2009-01-09T10:51:00.000-08:00

Have we passed through the worst of the market doldrums?
Unfortunately no one knows for sure whether we hit bottom in November or if we are in a dead bear bounce rally. History shows us that you cannot time the exact bottom. What I will say is this. When the markets collapsed almost 40 percent the common investor took more of a beating than they needed to take. They had too much money at risk of market declines! There is an answer which can protect you from market risk and let you participate in market growth whenever that turnaround happens! That's what Safer Money Financial Advisors recommend. Everyone over age 35-45 should have some percentage of their assets allocated in this manner!

Markets that can drop 40 % in a matter of weeks are not safe places for the bulk of your financial assets. The recent 25 % upturn is a good thing but it does not guarantee you will not see another 25 % or greater downturn in the near future. Furthermore all of the bragging about the 25 % upturn ignores the fact that even if we add another 25% upside bump that you probably are still not even with where you were in September 2008. Do the math a 100 start point drop 40% leaves you with just 60 getting you back to 100 (your start point takes a 68% jump from the bottom.

Instead take some portion of your assets and allocate them so you are truly protected from both market risk and inflation risk. The result is that when the markets go south you do not loose and when the markets start going up you will realize some of but not all of the market gains. For most individuals this is a superior financial strategy for asset diversification and it is something we would be glad to help you implement with a portion of your fiscal assets.

These products may not be right for everyone. A suitability review will be conducted when we get to talk about your specific situation. However consider the alternatives. You are left to the whims of the market and its downturns or you use treasuries, or Bank CD's which protects principal but leaves you with inflation risk. Our alternative on the other hand beats bank CD rates, typically will beat inflation rates, and will give you the upside potential while protecting you from market risk.

Wall Street Journal reports trend changing Financial Advisors

2008-11-21T09:55:00.000-08:00

A Wall Street Journal article reports that " Fully 90% of investors with over $1 Million or more in investable assets plan to take money away from their current financial advisor and 70% plan to leave their (current) advisor altogether." The Wall Street Journal October 2, 2008

This makes sense now even more than it did in October since we have continued to see market drops almost daily. Why would anyone stay with a financial advisor who has contributed to your loss of as much as 30-40% or even 50% of your financial portfolio? There is a better way! Have you suffered enough to justify a one hour investment of your time in order to find out?

Some people have said why move assets now? The answer is the same answer I have been giving to my clients and potential clients since early September. Any assets that you reposition now are protected from future market turbulence. You still get to participate in any market rally. You have the possibility of double digit gains of as much as 20% or more depending on what product we select for your needs. Some products even offer a bonus of from 5-15% to help ease the sting of the market beating you have suffered. For people consumer with fear take control of your future. We can set up a program to dollar cost average by committing some cash now and more later.

None of the client savings assets that I manage have lost a dollar due to market risk in two down market cycles since 2001. That is an achievement I am proud of. Can you say that about your current financial advisor or banker? Even a bank CD today is suffering a loss due to inflation risk! My average client over age 40 has seen a gain in their income account value of 6-7.2% in the last 12 months. My average new clients have seen a total return of 11-12.2% in the past year. I choose, to only offer my clients Safer Money Financial Alternatives that can provide most or all of the following benefits.
1. Protection of principal from market risk.
2. Minimum performance guarantees protecting you in market downturns.
3. Upside earning potential in good years.
4. Long term earning growth that outpaces inflation.
5. The possibility to create a lifetime income stream you or you and your spouse cannot outlive.
6. Limited penalty free liquidity provisions may apply
7. Some products offer client bonuses of from 5-15%
8. The ability to sleep well at night because you are protected from market turbulence.

These products are not right for every client. There are minimum dollar contributions needed to participate. These products have a long term focus. Surrender charges may apply if you withdraw more than the penalty free amounts in any given year before the Surrender period expires.

We offer a free initial consultation. There are a range of helpful products and services available.
All products are offered by licensed professionals. Does this sound good to you? How can we help you better weather the financial storms??

polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com
www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

Indexed annuities beat Bank Cd and S&P 500 indexed fund

2008-11-16T20:56:00.000-08:00

A recent study completed by the advantage Compendium was quoted as reporting that over a 5 year period the performance of a fixed Indexed Annuity tied to the S&P 500 outperformed bank CD's and S&P 500 index funds. The five year study found that indexed annuities overall increased by 5.4% per year over the 5 year time period. This beat inflation and resulted in a real growth of asset value in the study period. The Bank CD rates averaged 2.78% per year over the 5 year period. The comparison was based on sequential one year CD's. A 5 year CD would have improved on the Bank CD yield but would not have doubled the effective yield. So even compared to a five year CD the indexed annuity out performed the CD. According to Bankrate.com website the most recent national average one year CD rate is 3.48% and the most recent 5 year rate is 3.88 or a 0.4% difference in annual yield.
The study went on and pointed out that the 5 year performance of an S&P indexed fund with a 0.15% management expense ratio performed at a rate of 5.05%. The study data actually was generated before the most recent market turbulence. What would the data look like if we went back 5 years from todays date?

Why might a smart client want to consider a Fixed Indexed Annuity for some portion of their Safe Money Assets? Several key reasons come to mind Inflation beating performance. Market Risk Free financial growth. Tax deferred growth.

How can we help you?

Current Hot Interest Rate Deals

2008-11-13T08:22:00.000-08:00

Periodically we update clients and readers on great current interest rate deals. These are guaranteed rates for the term listed and are subject to change. Contact us for details or to determine minimum amounts required and determine suitability to meet your needs. These rates apply for both qualified and non qualified money sources.
10 year 6.5%
7 year 6.0%
5 year 5.7%
3 year 4.8%

Now lets compare these rates to those listed at bankrate.com Please remember that although FDIC Insurance protects you principal it does not guarantee the earning rates if the bank gets into financial difficulty. This little know fact was reported in an article in the Columbus Dispatch earlier this fall. The first set of interest rates are approximately 50 % higher than the rates listed below which are the bank rate national averages listed today on the bankrate.com website

5 year non qualified money 3.88%
5 year qualified money 3.67%
1 year non qualified money 3.48%
1 year qualified money 3.12%
The first set of interest rates are approximately 50 % higher than the bank rate national averages listed today on the bankrate.com website. Why would anyone want to earn a 50% lower rate of return than they can earn.

How can we help you prepare for your financial future?

polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com
www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

Current Top Interest Rates Available

2008-11-06T10:11:00.000-08:00

Best Interest Rates Available For Savers

Here are the national bank CD rates from the bankrate.com website

1 year 3.49% non qualified money

1 year 3.22% IRA CD rates

5 year 3.87% non qualified money

5 year 3.68% IRA CD rates These rates are not very attractive. Would you like the opportunity to earn a greater rate of return and do it safely?

Periodically I like to report on high interests rates available for savers. I do this to keep you aware of viable and safe options.

Multi year interest rates best deals this week

3 year fixed rates 4.37%

5 year fixed rates 5.46%

7 year fixed rates 6.1%

10 year fixed rates 6.36%

All of these financial products offer you protection of principal and guaranteed interest rate.

Rate change weekly and minimum initial $ amounts apply. Unlike bank CD rates it does not matter whether you commit tax qualified or not tax qualified funds. These products may not be available in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Contact us to find out if they are suitable for you in your particular situation.

The second set of interest rates look more interesting to us. What about you?

How can we help you achieve your financial goals and objectives.

polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

Current rate guarantees

2008-11-01T14:05:00.000-07:00

Periodically I provide updates on current high interest rate available on products offering protection of principal and multi-year interest rate guarantees.
$15,000 + 5 year fixed term guarantee rate 5.65%
$100,000+ 5 year fixed term guarantee rate 5.75%
$100,000+ 10 year fixed term guarantee rate 6.11%

Other products for clients over 40 years of age saving for retirement offer 6% or even 7.2% increase in Income Account Value when used for creation of lifetime income.

Products may not be available in all states or may not be suitable for every saver. The only way to determine if they are suitable for you is to contact us. These rates are subject to change until funding is completed. How can we help you plan for your financial future?

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com
polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com

Why Tolerate Low Current Yields

2008-10-24T11:40:00.000-07:00

In Jan 2009 Social security payments are increasing by 5.8 % Remember that this is linked to partially compensate for the general inflation rate. It is not designed to increase the spending power of SS recipients. This means that the inflation rate is actually higher. When we look at the government Consumer Price Index data there are several possible numbers for the past
12 months they range from about 4.5-7.6%. Lets take a mid point at something like 6%

Now lets consider some current Yields on Traditional safe money Financial products
6 Month Treasury Bills Currently paying 1.44 %
30 year Treasury Bonds Currently paying 3.96%
10 year Treasury Bonds Currently paying 3.66%

This weeks Average Bank Cd yields
6 Month Bank CD---------Currently paying 2.17%
1 Year Bank CD ----------Currently paying 2.70%
5 Year Bank CD ----------Currently paying 3.46%

Investment in any one of these products means that you have less buying power than when you started at the beginning of the year.Even with the highest yield you will still have 2% less purchasing power after you hold the product for one year.

John Waggoner wites for USA Today . His article titled "Whats so great about Bonds? They Are not Stocks" appeared in todays paper. It is a nice overview of Bonds and how they work and why the are different from Stocks. He quotes numbers from Morningstar about this years performance averages. Short Term Bond Funds have lost 3.5%,Intermendiate Term bond Funds have lost 6.4%, and Long term Bond funds have lost 12.3% this year. Junk Bond are down an average of 22.8%.All of these numbers are quoted from Johns article. he also makes a point that when stocks do poorly bonds often do better.

The Ideal Safe Money Financial Alternative products Must do two things. They must protect your principal from risk and also has to have the chance to beat inflation!! Do any of the products listed in this article do both? There are other thing the Ideal Safer Money Financial Alternatives should do as well. They should have a minimum guaranteed rate of return. They should be able to participate in strong economic growth cycles. They should help insure potential lifetime income streams that you can not outlive.

Smart Retirement Options

2008-10-22T11:59:00.000-07:00

There was an article in the Columbus Dispatch yesterday about managing your retirement assets. It was titled "Panic Is A Mistake In A Bear Market" The author is Mark Miller. He recommends sitting tight through a bear market. Although panic is not a good thing taking steps now rather than waiting may be a smarter strategy to implenment to insure your financial future. He identifies a problem made by many people with their retirement assets. He says that many people were overly aggressive in their asset allocation with some having 80% or more of their retirement assets invested in stocks. and not enough invested in financial products offering more safety. He shares some general wisdom when he says people should reduce their holdings in stock as they age and approach or enter retirement. He basically only talks about two alternatives Stocks and bonds. Stocks offer tremendous upside potential as well as awful downside risk, Bonds generally have less upside and may counteract modest market declines, Treasuries offer modest rates of returns and when they run out of money they go and print more, Banks offer miserly low rates of returns that may not beat inflation and offer no upside potential.

This is where I strongly disagree with his philosophy. He ignores Safer Money Alternatives. He does not say he dislikes them but he just does not even bother to mention them. Maybe he does not understand them and what they can do for any individual. I believe there is a logical place in every portfolio for Safer Money Alternatives. Young savers might start with 25-30% and increase the percentage as they age reaching 50% in their 50's, 60% or more in their 60's and as much as 70-80 % later. You need to always keep some liquid assets for future needs.

Safer Money Alternatives: How do they work and what do they do? They must offer protection of your principal. They need to provide some measure of income guarantee. They need to allow for upside potential to capitalize on improvements in the market conditions. You must have the possibility of growing your purchasing power after correcting for inflation. Some of these products pay you a bonus of 5% or 10% when you purchase them. All of the money you commit immediately goes to work earning interest and growing for you. Some of these products even allow you to create a Lifetime Income Stream that you cannot outlive. There are financial products that can do all of these things in the same product. If your current financial advisor has not told you about them are they really looking out for your best interests or retirement assets? Perhaps its time to talk to an advisor who will look out for your financial interests.

Back to the article. He asks what if you sell the stocks and invest in Bonds. You only have a 5% chance that your assets will last 30 years in retirement. That is the result of relative safety but low rates of returns. He Says if you keep the stocks in the portfolio only withdraw 4% or maybe less of your portfolio value per year your chance of having your assets last 30 years increase to 89%. Thats pretty good. Now look at the numbers if a portfolio is worth $100,000 you get $4,000 per year maybe for life and maybe not. Is there a better way? I think there is! I can help you sleep better at night and improve your cash flow in retirement, in the process. Lets take a 60 year old retiring at 61. Give me the same $100,000 to manage. At age 61 they can have an income stream of not $4,000 per year like the stock and bond balanced plan, but an increase in annual income of $1,200 dollars more, for a total of $5,200 per year for the rest of their life Guaranteed! Which sounds better to you? $4,000 per year maybe for life, or $5,200
per year for life! what if you retire at age 65? The great news is it only gets better with age!
Retiring at age 65 increases the annual income to $5,720 per year. Want more income give me more assets to manage or give me more time to grow your assets. For example at age 55 give me $100,000 to manage and retire at 65 you will have at least $200,000 in Income Account Value guaranteed and you will be able to take over $11,000 per year in income guaranteed for your life!!

Does This sound interesting?

How can we help you?

Contact us
polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com
or visit our website
www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

Positive Economic News For A Change

2008-10-20T11:42:00.000-07:00

The Associated Press wrote a news article today titled "Leading Indicators Rise For First Time in 5 Months" Unfortunately this was September data not October data but it is still good news. Deliveries and orders rose by a very modest 0.3% but an increase is still an increase. This shows the economy is trying to grow!! Lets compare that to July with a 0.7 drop and August with a 0.9% drop. However we will still be down between 3-4% for the year.

AP out of DC also had some serious economic news and it wasn't as positive as that from the NY report. They found that only 15 % of those surveyed believe the economy is moving in the right direction compared to the 28% who felt that way just a month ago. With all the Economic turmoil less than 60% are happy with what is happening in their own lives. Everyone from all levels of society are concerned with the economic developments. 1/2 are concerned about their mortgage and credit cards, 1/3 are concerned about keeping their jobs and 70% are concerned about their investments falling and the impact on things like their retirement, medical bills and college costs.

In spite of all the bad news or maybe because of it you need to take positive steps to minimize the impact on you! Protect yourself from any further drops in value. No this does not mean putting everything under your mattress. You need to look at products that do the following things. Protect your principal at all costs, Get guaranteed growth from at least some of your assets currently its possible for a 40year old to get a minimum of 6-7.2% per year increase in Income Account Value, Maintain the upside potential of making more when the economy starts to recover, Make sure you have a chance of beating inflation with your assets so you don't loose buying power over the long term.

We can help you achieve all of these things in you financial arena! Does that sound interesting?
How can we Help you? Get in touch with us or send an email.

website www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com
e-mail polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com

Americans Need Help Preparing For Retirement

2008-10-19T13:48:00.001-07:00

Americans are loosing confidence in their readiness for retirement. We are not talking about a small drop we are talking about a major shift. Almost half of Americans surveyed are less confident in their ability to retire tody than they were one year ago. News reports tell us why. Markets down 30-40%, 401K Plans assets have lost well over 20 % and now approaching 30%. Less than 15% were more confident than they were one year ago. I have to wonder what planet that 15% are living on!! Only 12% of the study participants say that saving for retirement is a major priority right now. Why is this number so low. It must be related to the following number that 57% of respondents are "Struggling Just To Get By." Almost 60% want the government to get off their fannies and fully fund Social Security.

Another interesting point that they made is that more than 25% want their 401K Plans to offer them the option of providing investment choices that guarantee lifetime income. Traditional 401K Plans do not offer this option. traditional brokerages do not generally recommend this option. Employees in companies with 401 K Plans tell you employers that you want this option! Employers reading this we can help you modify your 401K Plan and move your plan to a TPA that Encourages this kind of Safer Money Alternatives. We can do it in qualified plans, SEP, SIMPLE Plans and both Traditional and ROTH 401K Plans. We also do it cost effectively.
Employees over age 40 can actually get a guaranteed rate of return of 6 or even 7.2% increase in your Income Account Value. employees under age 40 have a lower guarantee but both have the potential to make more than that 6% or 7.2% annually in good years. We also can create a lifetime income you or your employees cannot outlive. WOW! Protection of Principal, Safety, Above average rate of return, and Lifetime income when you want it. It may even be possible to get a 5% bonus on all assets switched into the program, or on new contributions made during the first year. This is applied to the employee contribution and the employer match.

Economy Impacts Students College Plans

2008-10-19T12:44:00.000-07:00

In tough economic times students may be tempted to cut out or scale back
college plans. That's a tough nut to swallow and not necessarily the best alternative
to follow. Certainly one should investigate all possible funding alternatives before
canceling or scaling back college plans. Dropping the level of the schools you apply
for may be a good strategy alternative especially if the career choice is not going to
be a top level income career choice. As an example if your goal is to be a corporate
lawyer the top schools may help you achieve that goal. On the other hand if you
want to work in company in a department full of computer programmers a local
university or even community college may meet that goal with a substantial
reduction in the total cost of the education.

Cappex.com LLC just completed a study of almost 3,000 prospective college
students. Over 15% have indicated that they are putting their college plans on
hold because of the concern that they won't be able to fund college. Over 55% are
considering downgrading the quality of the school they will be applying to in an
attempt to make their college costs more affordable. An even larger percentage
are increasing the amount of time spent on searching for scholarships in an
attempt to reduce the costs. All of these were strategies included in the study.

All of these are valid strategies. One should also consider seeing if alternative
strategies may be able to increase your college affordability. This is an area where
some professional help might be appropriate. We have two different alternatives
that may help.
First lets find out if we can increase your eligibility for need based financial aid. We
utilize the information needed for the (FAFSA) Free Application for Federal Student
Aid. This information is what is used to generate your Expected Family Contribution
or (EFC). This is the dollar figure that you have to come up with before you are eligible
for financial aid. We can often lower your EFC and that makes you eligible for more
financial aid.
Second there are a number of Corporate programs available that can help you pay for
school. Some of these programs are not need based and do not discriminate against
families with significant financial resources. Some of these are available to our clients.

Critical Economic and Financial Trends

2008-10-16T10:36:00.000-07:00

The Bloomberg News Service listed headlines on October 6, 2008. It read "Broken Wall Street Means Merrill Model Succumbs to Independents"

Are you are frustrated and looking for a Safer Money Alternative?

Prince & Associates INC. completed a market survey in September 2008. Obviously this is before the most recent Blood letting happening in October. There are two very interesting qoutes from that survey that I want to share.
"70 percent of customers say they want to fire their broker"
"90 percent of customers of major brokerages say that they plan to withdraw at least some of their money"

Are you part of that 70% or 90%?

The Bloomberg News Service and the market survey actually have a related message. It would appear to be that the people currently managing my money are not doing a satisfactory job protecting and growing my money. Remember almost everyone has lost 20%, 40% or more in this economic turmoil.

You may or may not agree that that is the take Away message. If that is the way you feel
we would be happy to talk to you about Safer Money Alternatives offering protection of principal and the chance for significant upside growth. For Clients over 40 or 50 years old the minimum performance can be as high as a 7.2% increase in Account Value annually over a period of 5-10 or more years. These products are not right for everyone. They may not be available to people in all states. The only way to determine if this approach is right for you is with a brief no obligation consultation. This can be done face to face, by phone or by email! If its right for you and you qualify we would be happy to help you protect and grow your assets.

Lets find out how can we help you?

polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com
www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

Economic Roller Coaster Ride Continues

2008-10-15T22:07:00.000-07:00

Market plummet almost 800 points recovering over 900 the next day then plummeting again today by another 733 points. You need to understand something.The upwards bounce we saw the other day is a good thing but the markets fall today is a reminder that FEAR RULES. No one know when or at what level the markets will hit bottom. What we can all count on is that it will continue to be a rough ride. The Asia Pacific markets also dropped again today. We don’t know when it is going to be over. No one Knows! You must decide to protect yourself!

How can you protect yourself. Take action now to set your own bottom limit below which your assets can not fall. Equally important is taking steps to allow yourself to participate in the upside. In most States if you are over 40 or 50 years old I can get you a 5% bonus to help compensate for your losses with a total guarantee of 12.2% increase in your Account Value during the first year. You need to act now! Why wait for the markets to drop another 1000 points or more! In future years you can get 7.2% per year increase in Account Value. This will double your money over the next 10 years regardless of the ups and downs in the market. You might get more but you won’t receive less. Haven't you suffered enough losses already?

Does it make sense to take at least some of your assets and protect them? We believe it does!

How can we help you protect you and your family?

polarisfinacialservices@gmail.com

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

The Columbus Dispatch: How Low Can Stocks Go? Article

2008-10-10T10:57:00.000-07:00

Thursday October 9th Lead article in the Columbus dispatch was an article titled "How Low Can They Go?" The bad news is that they could go a lot lower before they correct and start to recover. Recoveries usually take longer than market collapses. The average Bear Market has lasted 16 months and an average decline of 31%. The great depression recovery took over ten years and the tech bubble / Sept 11 drop recovery took over 4 years to recover. We are now back close to that level again.

The good news is if you are interested we can eliminate your downside market risk! We can do it while protecting you principal and giving you upside market potential whenever the market recovers! Depending on your state of residence, your age and financial situation we can guarantee no loss due to market risk or as much as 7.2% per year increase in Income Account Value.

How do you win? One great way is to protect yourself from the downside risk. Make sure you participate in the upside market recovery. WE CAN HELP YOU DO THAT!!! We CAN DO IT SAFELY!! We specialize in No Market Risk Financial strategies! Still accepting some new clients.

How can we help you meet your goals?

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com
polarisfinacialservices@gmail.com

Safe Money and Safe Money Places

2008-10-10T10:40:00.000-07:00

We were reading industry finance information and found a really interesting web Site. We decided to share it with you our readers. It is http://www.safemoneyplaces.com/default.asp
It talks about the concept of Safe Money defining it as money you cannot afford to loose and the places where you should consider holding your safe money assets. It basically identifies three major categories and the advantages and disadvantages of each. The three broad types of safe money products identified are, Insured Deposits in FDIC Insured Banks or S&L Associations, Treasury Securities, and Fixed or Fixed Indexed Annuities. It talks about the levels of protection each entails including FDIC Insurance, Taxing power of the US Government and the State Insurance Guaranty funds. All three are identified as very secure places for your funds.

Of the three the one which probably can deliver the greatest rate of growth is the top Fixed Indexed Annuity products. None of our clients have ever lost even one dollar of their money to market risk while those funds were under our care.

We can help you to meet your twin goals of safety of principal and optimum growth rates.

How can we help you Grow your assets?

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com
polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com

Indexes hit 5 year lows.

2008-10-08T17:43:00.000-07:00

All three major indexes reached 5 years lows. S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrials have fallen too the level not seen since October of 2003. The S&P 500 sunk to 984 and the Dow fell to 9258. The Nasdaq has fallen to 1740 this is the level it was at in September of 2003. This is almost the level of the days following 9-11.

Are you tired of the Roller Coaster? How can we help you ??

polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com
www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

Retirement plans have lost $2 Trillion

2008-10-08T16:06:00.000-07:00

Headlines for USA Today read "$2 Trillion wiped out in retirement funds." This article is written by Sandra Block. I generally like her writing but am surprised that she does not get a little more supportive of Safer Money Alternatives. It may be licensing or it may just be a limitation in her background. In the article Kurt Brouver was quoted as saying "This is a financial panic right now, and one reason it feels so bad is that everything is going down." Another quote rightfully pointed out the need for upside potential in the financial strategy you utilize. We offer both Safety and upside potential!

You need to know that there are alternatives. We can help you with Qualified and nonqualified money. We can offer Safer alternatives for your retirement plans including company 401K Plan assets, SEP Plans, ROTH and Traditional IRA Accounts.

We can take new clients today and if they are over 40 guarantee them either 6 or 7.2 % per year increase in account value per year or more. Over a 10 or 12 year period that guarantees that they will double their money. That is the minimum performance guarantee. They can make more even double digit returns of 10-20% if the economy rebounds. We all know that eventually it will rebound. The only question is have we seen the bottom or do we have another 10-30% downwards ride before things start to get better. We don't know if we have hit bottom yet. We have chosen to protect the majority of our assets from market risk!! This is also what we recommend. we only recommend Safer Money Alternatives

We can deliver at least a 10-12 % total rate of return on new money in the next 12 months for all new clients we agree to take on and offer the protection of principal besides. These products are not right for everyone and we need to discuss their suitability for your particular financial situation. You might not make quite as much as you would make if you are fully in the market, and assuming that the market has already hit bottom and starts back up immediately but we can guarantee that you will sleep better at night. If you look at the indexes over history recovery almost always takes more time than the declines. The declines are the result financial weakness and of panic selling wheras the recovery requires the rebuilding of confidence. Which do you think takes longer.

How many of you readers know of Wil Rogers the famous humorist. He was once quoted "I am more concerned with the Return Of My Money than I am with the Return On My Money" Return Of My Money is SAFETY and The Return On MY money is GROWTH. We can help you with BOTH!!!

If your current financial advisor has not told you about them I have to ask just one question. WHY NOT??? Whose interests are they looking out for?? How can we help you protect and diversify your assets??

polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com
www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

Current Hot Interest Rate Deals

2008-10-06T21:41:00.002-07:00

Periodically I include an update on recent top rates for guaranteed products
Here are some of the highest rates currently available. These are Safer Money Alternative products and are guaranteed rates. Rates are subject to change until confirmed at time of order placement. These rates typically are subject to change at least monthly and sometimes biweekly.
Products may not be available in every state and minimum commitment is required.

10 Year 6.0 %
7 Year 5.7 %
6 Year 5.55%
5 Year 5.5 %
4 Year 5.2 %

Contact us for details and to determine if this is right for some part of your financial assets.

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com
polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com

2008-10-06T21:41:00.001-07:00

College Funding

2008-10-05T19:34:00.000-07:00

Would it be worth one hour of your time to learn about a scholarship program that does not penalize you for too much income. That starts at $5,000 for a single parent or at $10,000 for a couple. It also grows every year until you begin using it by $2,000. It is available with no cost too the family or the student. The funds can be used at over 200 private schools in about 30 states including 15 private schools in the State of Ohio. No public schools participate in the program. To participate a student must be enrolled by June 30th at the end of their Sophomore year. You can enroll earlier. Schools vary in the allowable amount you can use but it can be equal to 25% of each years tuition for a 4 year scholarship. It does not apply for graduate studies.

In addition to this scholarship program we work with families to improves their eligibility for need based financial aidthrough the use of the FAFSA Application. We help you estimate the Expected Family contribution (EFC) and in many cases we legally help clients increase their eligibility for financial aid by reducing their EFC.

How can we help you and your family? Please contact us to find out.

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com
polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com

FDIC Insurance Limits

2008-10-03T10:39:00.000-07:00

FDIC limits may be increased. USA tToday ran an article By Sandra Block. The article title is "FDIC Limit could bump up to $250,000"
both presideental candidates are in favor of the change. As is typically the case with Congress there is a flaw. The article says "the FDIC Insurance limit would be TEMPORARILY increased to $250,000." I don't like Temporary fixes when it comes to my money. The article goes on to talk about the 13 banks that have failed this year. We have been blogging on many of those stories this year. The article further states that 37% of bank deposits are uninsured. I need to ask whats wrong with those people?
First of all the banks generally don't pay a fair rate of return on the money you keep at the bank. They load you to death with excessive bank fees, and they charge most people way to much interest when they loan money to customers. The Large banks overpay their officers using the excessive profits generated on the spread between the interest rates charged and offered. And then they dont even practice reasonable levels of financial responsibility in managing our assets in their care necessitating this massive bailout.

There are Safer Money Alternatives for your funds that will earn you substantially more interest over time and do it with guaranteed performance and principal protection.Does that make sense for at least part of your money.

How can we help you earn more and protect your assets? Contact us for a free initial consultation

polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com
www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

Bank CD alternatives

2008-10-01T16:59:00.000-07:00

W came across several alternatives to Bank CD's that might be right for some clients and wanted to give you the nuts and bolts summary to review If this peaks your interest we would be happy to discuss it in more detail and determine if it might be right for you.
The first product offers.
4.63 % guaranteed for three years. Compatible with Qualified retirement plans like IRA
or Roth IRA. Purchase minimum for retirement assets is only $2,000 but obviously you can contribute much more. Non qualified money contribution requires a minimum of a $5,000 contribution. Product is tax deferred until funds are withdrawn. If you want to move to a no
risk financial product for a short term period this is a good choice. Penalty free withdrawals are available under certain conditions including Nursing Home need, Terminal Illness diagnosis, unemployment or death. Suitable forages up to 90. Product not available in every state. Interest rate subject to change until issued.
The second product offers.
4.73% interest per year for three years. In exchange for the slightly higher interest rate the free withdrawal provisions are not offered. Low minimum amounts to purchase $2,000 qualified and $5,000 with non qualified money. Also available for people up to 90 years old. Not available in every state. Tax deferred until funds withdrawn.

There are also other financial options available to meet your specific needs. We would be happy to discuss your needs and particular situation.Some products have current rates approaching 5.0 %. Rates are subject to change until purchase. Different lengths of time, amount of purchase and other features are available.

How can we help you meet your financial needs in these very difficult financial times.

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com
financial-services@live.com

What Happens To Bank CD Rates In A Bank Takeover

2008-09-29T14:16:00.000-07:00

I read an interesting article today in USA Today September 29, 2008. It was titled Whats next for failed WaMu's customers? Several interesting points were made in the Q and A style article. First point as you know qualifying accounts under the $ 100K FDIC limit are federally insured. What you may not know is the point made later in the article by Charlie Scharf JPMorgan Chase Bank's head of retail business was quoted as saying Cd rates for WaMu products will remain the same "as we figure out how to merge the companies". The article goes on to state "But it is unlikely that Chase will honor the rate on WaMu's 5%CD rate through maturity" said Bankrate.com senior analyst Greg McBride. The key point here is that although the principal is guaranteed the INTEREST RATE PAID IS NOT GUARANTEED!!! OUCH!! not only do banks not pay the best rates available but if they screw up you may not even get the promised rate.

If you are thinking about buying a Bank CD or facing a rollover date now might be a very good time to consider non bank alternatives. If you are looking at 1-5 year terms guaranteed rates of close to or over 5% are available and if you are over 40 years old we can offer products with a superior guaranteed yield of 6-7.2% in a five year, a ten year or longer timeframe with the additional benefit of a 5% initial bonus credited to the principal on day one if you choose the 10 year product. These interest rates are the contractually guaranteed minimum rates and the rates can be as much as two or three times as high in good years. A percentage of the funds are available annually without penalty. At any time you can convert the account balance into a lifetime income stream you cannot outlive. In effect you can convert this into a personal pension plan at your option any time you wish. No bank CD offers you these three things Competitive minimum interest rates, significant upside potential earning and a lifetime income stream. Does this make sense for some percentage of your assets?

This product should be in your portfolio for some portion of your assets if you are qualified to purchase these products. You have to meet suitability and minimum initial contribution limits. It is not necessarily available in all 50 states. Contact us if interested.

How can we help you prepare for difficult financial times or for retirement?

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com
polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com

Outlook On Low Risk Investments Not So Bad- Says USA Today

2008-09-24T10:39:00.000-07:00

Sandra Block writes for USA Today in the Money section. This weeks article reflected in the title above "Outlook On Low Risk Investments Not So Bad" She is a supporter of lower risk investment strategies and her picks seem to include money market funds,Fixed Annuities, variable Annuities, and Insured Deposits. She admits that "several money market funds have suffered a principal loss due largely to investment in Lehman Brothers" that tanked. HER view is that risk here is minimal.
IN Annuities she talks about Fixed and Variable Annuities. She admits that "variables are not covered by the State Insurance guarantee funds and that. Fixed Annuities are protected up to state limits."
Insured deposits are bank deposits up to FDIC $100,000 limit. One should never have more than that in a bank! My reasoning is that then you have no insurance and you are also getting an inferior interest rate. We specialize in Safer Money alternatives.

If you are looking to diversify we can help. How can we help you?

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Now Who Is Next?

2008-09-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

Two of the last major investment banks are being reorganized to try and avoid their collapse. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are being reorganized and commercial banks and will now fall under traditional bank regulators and will have to change the way they do business as a result. These two monsters have helped drive our market economic engine in good times and have helped cause some of the bad times as well. This will make it more difficult for small firms or less known firms to raise venture capital in the stock market.

I still say there may be more bloodshed in our future and diversification is the key to riding out this mess we are in. Diversify and do it with guarantees. We can help you!

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

Pick a Retirement Plan

2008-09-23T10:31:00.000-07:00

Money Magazine in the Octber issuehad a short article by Mina Kimes. She talks about the diferent options for small business retirement plans. She ranked them from the simplest and least expensive to the most complicasted and most expensive plans. Her ranking starting from the simplest first. 1 SEP-IRA Simplified Employee Pension, 2 SIMPLE IRA Saving Incentive Match Plan, 3 Solo 401K Plan, 4 Traditional 401K Plan, 5 Defined benefit Plan. She also left of two more versions The ROTH Solo 401 K Plan option and the ROTH 401K Plan for multi-employee companies. All seven of these options have their own individual advantages for a business owner. For example the largest ammount you can set aside is with a defined benefit plan and the least expeensive plan to set up is the SEP-IRA.They also have their own downsides. SIMPLE plans are the most limited in the amount you can shelter, and the 401 K Plans, and defined Benefit plans are the most expensive to run administratively.

Polaris Financial has Saving vehicles that work with each of these plan options and has plan administrators set up to do the federal paperwork for your business. We also offer very cost effectiive administration of your plans. In addition we work with you to determine which plan is the best for your particular situation.

How can we help you?

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

College Financial Aid

2008-09-20T12:57:00.001-07:00

Friday in the USA Today Newspaper Money section there was a short piece about Financial aid policy experts fears that the system is too complicated for many families to even consider or navigate. It is true that the system is complicated. They would like to eliminate the complicated FAFSA Application I do not believe that they will be successful. When has the government ever simplified anything related to Taxes or income? I believe they would be lucky to shorten the form. If it gets to simple than the colleges will probably institute their own forms which would mean many conflicting forms and systemss and that could acttually make the process MUCH MORE COMPLICATED. Right now its obligatory just for the government programs but most private funders use it as the basis of their decisions as well. I do not believe that that would continue to be the case if they eliminate or overly simplify this current application process.

There are people or companies like ours that can help families navigate the process and even estimate what the financial aid picture will look like under the currents situation. We can even help a family determine not only what they are currently eligible for but we can also help determine what we might be able to reduce it too by making some legal changes to a family's financial picture. It only takes a bout 10 to 15 questtions to analyze or estimate the current situation and then we can do a series of what if analyses to determinge if we can improve on that current sitiation. The estimate of current eligibility is done at no cost and the what if analysis is an option.

How can we help you?

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

A Tough Weekend for Financial Markets

2008-09-15T09:15:00.001-07:00

This was a really bad weekend for the US Financial Markets and the economy. First we had Hurricane Ike hitting the Texas Coast and whipping a stretch of the USA all the way to the great lakes. Second we had the financial melt down of Lehman Brothers who were turned down by the Federal Reserve in their bail out request. There only alternative after that was the declaration of bankruptcy. This was followed almost immediately by the Merrill Lynch announcement of their sale to Bank of America. Im not convinced that this is a good thing for the investment community. This is beginning to look like a monopoly but that's a topic for another day.

A local radio station told about a man at a gas station saturday. When he arrived at the station the gas was priced at $4.01 per gallon. while he was pumping his gas the station changed the price to $4.16 per gallon. He was forced to pay the new HIGHER price even though the contract ie gas purchase was initiated at the lower price.

How can we help you weather this financial storm?

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

Struggling with Finances

2008-09-11T19:58:00.000-07:00

An article this week in the Columbus dispatch make me think about all of the seniors out there struggling to pay the energy bill their gasoline bill their RX costs and even their food bills. On a fixed income this has got to be a very difficult year. Inflation in the Consumer Price Index is now 6%. The cost of fuel is up 100% in two years. Heating and air conditioning costs are expected to be up between 30 and 50 % this year alone.

What is a retired couple to do? Here are a list of things to consider beyond using less heat and air conditioning energy, considering more energy efficient appliances, using CFL light bulbs wherever possible, buy a more fuel efficient car and consolidate your trips. and shopping for bargains at the grocery store and buying generic medications if available and if you doctor believes it will be ok for you.Once you have considered these things lets look at the next steps.
1.Where is you emergency money kept? What interest rate are you currently earning? If less than about 3% you are making a mistake.
2.Next level are you parking some money in a bank CD? What interest rate are you earning? If you are making less than about 5% you could be making more!
3.Where have you positioned most of your retirement or long term assets? Have you every lost money where you are currently parking you growth assets? Do you have less assets there today than you did in 2006 or in 2007? Would you like to stop the bleeding in your financial assets or at least protect some portion of those assets from market risk? Would you be interested if you knew that you could earn a guaranteed 6-7.2% rate of growth in your income account value each year over a ten year period and still retain reasonable access to those funds with penalty free withdrawals meeting certain conditions? Would you like to be able to create a lifetime income stream with some portion of your total assets? If you have answered yes to one or more of these questions we should talk about a safer financial alternative strategy.
4. Do you need to significantly reduce your expenses and improve cash flow? Are you still making mortgage payments? Are you and your spouse if married both over age 62 years of age?

Are you willing to reallocate assets to improve your financial conditions? Would you like to arrange an initial no fee consultation to assess your current situation and determine if we could help you improve your financial health. How can we help you?

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com

Newspaper Article on Rolling Over 401 K Plan

2008-09-10T12:08:00.001-07:00

Yesterdays Columbus Dispatch had an article by Mark Miller called "Rolling over 401(K ) might not be best." Mark's article talks about a hypothetical investment scenario in which an employee quits their former employed and either leaves the funds in the 401 K plan or removes the funds and rolls them into a self directed IRA. In this hypothetical situation the funds have grown to $1.13 /M in the self directed plan and $1.25 in the Employers plan. It is conceivable that the employers plan will outperform the individual plan, however it is equally conceivable that the employers plan will underperfom the individuals plan. This would appear to be a coin toss to me.

What is certain is that you have far less control over the plan assets if you leave it in a former employers 401 K Plan. The Employer may at some future date decide to toss you out of the plan as once happened to me. This was a purely arbitrary decision on their part and had nothing to do with anything I did or said within the 401 K Plan. Secondly they may decide to arbitrarily impose fees on your plan participation which we have seen happen. Third, depending on how you left or were forced out you might or might not want to provide any benefit to the former employer by helping them get more discounts in fees because of the larger asset base under management. Fourth, the employer may not permit you to utilize some very attractive product options that are not currently offered in most corporate 401 K plans.

Federal rules require that they give you several plan options. Some low risk usually low growth option, some moderate risk moderate growth options, and usually some higher risk high potential growth options. What these plans generally do not provide is a no risk of market downturn product with a guaranteed rate of return that also offers significant upside potential for double digit returns. Clients over 40 can guarantee themselves an increase in their Income account Value of 6 or even 7.2% per year as their worst case scenario. This is independent of market increases or market decreases. Every years gains are locked in and the worst case is that you double your money in 10 years and quadruple your money in 20 years. I have never seen this offered in any of the corporate plans that I have had a chance to review. It is available for small corporate plans or for individual 401 K Plans or rollover IRA plans. In addition a separated employee who is consulting during a time of transition or permanently after a corporate downsizing can utilize these products. Notice I say downsizing not rightsizing because these corporate barons never seem to be able to get it right. Why would you want to let them continue to have any control over your hard earned assets anyway?

One more set of benefits if we set up a small business 401 K Plan.
1 The Plan costs are reasonable.
2 The client can add much more to their own 401 K or SIMPLE Plan than they could ever save in an IRA
3 The client can set up a hybrid plan that combines funding both a ROTH and Traditional version of their very own 401 K Plan. Although this is legal most corporate plans do not offer this option.
4 If you choose to set up your own plan a direct rollover is a tax free event.
5 It is possible to set up a plan where you will never see a loss in principle due to market turbulence
6 You can split the assets into two categories one with Zero risk of market loss, and the other can be invested as you wish.
7 YOU DECIDE! You are in control!

If any of this is interesting to you feel free to contact us to determine how we can help you implement this alternative to leaving your funds in a former employers plan.
How can we help you?

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com
polarisfinancialservices@live.com

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae Failure

2008-09-07T13:08:00.000-07:00

Both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are expected to go into US federal Receivership. The cost for the US Taxpayer is expected to top $25 B. The current value of Mortgages owned or guaranteed is over $5.3 Trillion. They are the two largest guarantee holders or owners of US mortgages. Beside the Taxpayer cost what is the expected cost for US investors. The Columbus Dispatch on Sunday indicated that the Shareholders are expected to loose virtually everything! Ouch! Talk about Market Risk! Many financial analysts, brokers or writers have historically considered Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to be safe investments. I think I have heard that before! I wonder what the shareholders are thinking tonight!

We specialize in Safer Money Alternatives without market risk. Sound interesting? Want to learn more? If you are looking for safer ways to position your assets or part of your assets for your future we might be able to help you.

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com
polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com

Long Term Disability Benefit for Small Business

2008-09-02T09:47:00.000-07:00

Long Term Disability LTD coverage can be a great benefit and group LTD can sometimes be purchased for groups of as few as 2-9 employees. This protects the employer owner and the employees. Most employees don't have enough assets to get through an extended period of Disability. Social Security may not cover all the costs. Both Group Disability and individual Disability policies are available.

Did you know that the risk of an employee becoming disabled is greater than the risk of death? The employer does not need to cover 100% of the cost of the premiums.

We work with the top LTD carriers in the industry. How can we help you find out if this benefits makes sense for you and your employees.

Website
www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com
email
polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com

Update on Multi Year Interest Rates

2008-08-25T20:14:00.000-07:00

Periodically we give an update on some of the top interest rate deals available in the USA. All of these rates are for products that offer the protection of principal against market loss. We always want to compare it to national average rates for Bank CD's. These figures are found at Bankrate.com and are the most recent rates available.
1 year CD 3.63% 1 year IRA CD 3.26%
5 year CD 4.16% 5 year IRA CD 3.93%

Now lets look at some safe rates with bank alternatives. You tell me which you would rather have working with your money.

3 year guaranteed rate 5.00%
3 year staggered rate 1st year 5.80% year 2-3 rate 4.80%
5 year 5.20%
5 year staggered rate 1st year 6.10% years 2-5 rate 5.10%
7 year 5.45%
7 year staggered rate 1st year 6.25% years 2-7 rate 5.25%

Contact us for additional information and to determine if they are suitable for your financial situation. Minimum $ contributions apply and so do surrender charges for early withdrawal beyond any authorized amounts. Not all products are available in all 50 states.

How do these rates sound to you?
How can we help you?

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

Invitation to Small Group Financial Seminar

2008-08-25T14:04:00.000-07:00

In September We will be hosting two small group seminars on Financial Topics. If you like what you read in our Blog entries or on our website we would like to invite you to join us in person for a seminar or seminars on various financial topics. The first mini seminars will be held in the northern suburbs of Columbus, Oh. Future seminars will be held in other areas depending on the interest shown. Initial topics for the first two seminars will be the following.
1 Safer Money Financial Strategies
2 Increasing Seniors Financial Security Through Asset Reallocation Strategies
future topics will include
College funding
Reverse Mortgages
Alternatives for Long Term Care
Other topics as selected by readers

Please note:
These will be small groups probably 10 or less per group. If we get 28 people We will do 3 small more personal groups rather than 1 large group. Its my personal choice and is less intimidating for the attendees.
No money will be accepted at the seminars. Leave your checkbook at home
If you want to schedule a follow up face to face meeting we will arrange that following the mini seminars
You have no obligation to attend a follow up meeting
Being invited to attend a seminar is no guarantee of being accepted as a client
If interested in being invited to attend a seminar please respond by e-mail or through the website

Website
www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com
email
polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com

Retirement How Much Can I Withdraw Yearly

2008-08-25T09:52:00.000-07:00

A recent survey showed how little the typical American knows about retiring within their means. It was frightening to me. The survey showed that the average person believes that they can safely withdraw 10% per year and still retire safely and comfortably. How Wrong Could they Be!

Very Wrong!

A reasonable rule of thumb passed around the financial industry is that 4% is safe. Even that is sometimes dangerous. In periods of high inflation like 2008 and in periods of market turmoil like 2008 even 4% may be too much with a typical asset allocation strategy. Is there a trend here? Is 2008 turning into The Perfect Fiscal Storm? This is a play on words related to the Warner Brothers movie The Perfect storm released in 2000. the movie starred George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg and deals with the synergistic impact of two storms colliding and turning into "The Perfect Storm" a real monster.

What can you do about it?
We have products available that help you create a lifetime income stream that you or you and your spouse cannot outlive. In effect we can help you turn some portion of your assets into a personal pension. Sound interesting?

How can we help you? Contact us for a no charge initial consultation.

Business Owners and IRA holders and Loss In Asset Value

2008-08-24T11:13:00.000-07:00

Business owners, Self Employed business owners and IRA savers.

We have a question for you. Have your retirement funds decreased in value over the past year or two? Does this upset you? It should! Would you like to prevent that from happening again in the future? We can fix it without the financial risk of market losses. Shouldn't that be your goal? Would you have more assets today if you never had suffered a market loss? In almost every case the answer is a resounding YES!

We can help design or modify a retirement plan to eliminate the risk of market loss and still provide a reasonable rate of return on your retirement assets. Initial bonus on your starting contributions or rollover contributions can help replace some or all of the losses suffered due to market volatility. Does that sound interesting? It doesn't matter whether your current plan is a 401 K Plan, a SIMPLE Plan, a ROTH or Traditional IRA Plan or even a KEOGH plan.
Would you be interested in offering as a plan option a ROTH 401K Plan? If we can't work with your current plan administrator we can switch to a Safe money friendly plan administrator. Why not permit your you or you and your employees to select a plan option offering a reasonable rate of return with no risk of loss due to market volatility. By the way we can also guarantee you and your employees a lifetime income stream that you cannot outlive all within the same retirement plan.

Contact us for a fee free initial consultation about your specific situation!

Savings and Inflation

2008-08-24T10:41:00.000-07:00

There was an article in the Dispatch today August 24, 2008 talking about "Who's helping savers fight inflation"
The answer is it's not the banks or money markets. The article states the average inflation rate is close to 5%. More updated figures actually show that for the past 12 months the rate is actually 9.8%. This ties into some other blog topic I wrote about on August 21st. Bank CD rates were averaging 3.6% and average bank saving rates are 0.37% that is actually down from the 0.46% rate of last summer. It never ceases to amaze me that people will give banks their money for that poor a rate of return. You might as well burn 6-9% of your money per year if you insist on keeping large amounts of money in a bank. FDIC insurance up to limits exists but what about inflation risk? The comment I made about burning money is real and it represents the inflation risk! FDIC Insurancedoes not protect against inflation risk. That is your responsibility together with a good financial advisor who understands and endorses safe money strategies to PROTECT YOUR MONEY.

Almost no one is speaking out for the savers. Greg McBride an analyst for BankRate.com was quoted as saying "for the past 12 months there has been a double whammy for savers as interest rates have fallen and inflation has increased"

He is absolutely right. There are alternatives for smart savers or investors! It is not possible to properly plan for or take care of your retirement at these rates!!

How can we help you?

website
www.columbusfinancialplaanningpros.com

How To Minimize the Damage From A 9.8% Inflation Rate

2008-08-21T09:08:00.000-07:00

Over the last 12 months the USA inflation rate is up 9.8%. Investing at a bank with an average yield of 1-4% means that before taxes you have a net negative return of 5.8-8.8%. Your buying power has actually decreased by that 5.8-8.8%. To make it worse you are getting taxed on the rate paid by the bank at a 15-33% rate even if you leave the money in the bank account. OUCH!! To asses the damage start with your earning rate subtract the tax rate you pay, then subtract the 9.8% inflation rate. This year that number looks like it will be a negative number for almost everyone. Minimize the damage! Protect your principal! Some years just staying even is a great place to be. Its better than a 20-30% market loss! Efficient money management is even more important in a bad year than it is in a good year. The impact on most people from 2001-2002 took 5-6 years to recover.

Let's repeat it again. Protect your Principal! Balance your assets with at least some no risk financial products. We can even create a lifetime income source that is not subject to market risk.

There has to be a better way! There is a better way! As long as the inflation rate stay this high there is no safe way to beat inflation and remain risk free. You owe it to yourself to get the best rate of return you can and maintain the highest degree of safety that you can in the process.

A 7.2% guaranteed rate of increase in an Income Account value with the potential of a higher rate of return depending on economic conditions seems to be about the best combination of risk-reward ratio I have seen in the last year. Hopefully the gas prices and commodity prices will continue to ease a little bit and the inflation rate for the next 12 months will be more moderate. Perhaps we will get back to a 2-3% increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). At that level you can actually grow your assets but until then most people will do well just to minimize the damage to their assets.

Contact us to arrange a no fee initial consultation. We can help you protect yourself in the bad years and take advantage of the good years all with little to no risk. If this is a philosophy that appeals to you we should certainly talk. Business owners and individuals can all benefit from these strategies. We can structure safer money planning into your retirement plans.

We can not help everyone, but how can we help you?

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

5 Year Rate 5.10% Guaranteed

2008-08-20T09:50:00.000-07:00

new higher rate on 5 yr MYGA

brand new higher rate has been released for 5 year single premium deferred annuity. Current best rate available. Year one to year five guarantee rate 5.10 %. This is a tax deferred product so you get no 1099 form until you begin to withdraw money.

Understand that the rate is subject to change until policy is written. Rate usually change once a month but may occasionally change more often.

How does this compare to national bank CD rates. I checked Bankrate.com today and found the national overnight rate on a 5 yr CD was 4.16% and for a 5 Year IRA CD the rate is 3.91%. The 5 year CD non IRA rates are taxable rates and you get a 1099 form for this years taxes. The annuity rates are almost 20% higher than the regular Bank CD rate and 30% higher than the Bank IRA CD rate. Why would anyone ever go to the bank for one??? We can get you the same rate on qualified (IRA money) and non qualified money.

How can we help you?

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

MSN Money video article Family In Financial Crisisn

2008-08-19T16:02:00.000-07:00

MSN had an article and video on a woman and her family in financial crisis. Laurie Cook has been caught between a rock and a hard place. Her Mother has Alzheimers and her brother has significant medical problems as well. I had a client in St Louis with a similar situation.
They were facing foreclosure. The solution for my St Louis Client was a HUD HECM Reverse Mortgage. We stopped the foreclosure, paid off back taxes and set up a cash reserve to help pay the next couple of years taxes and condo fees. As a bonus they got to stop making mortgage payments as long as Mother was able to stay at home. This same approach might just work here as well. It is not perfect and only about 60-70 percent of people who want one are able to qualify for a reverse mortgage, in my experience.

If you know anyone in this type of situation there may be an alternative.
We can help!

website
www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com
e-mail
polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com

Small Busines Retirement Planning

2008-08-19T10:02:00.000-07:00

Business owners and self employed professionals. Cost effective 401K ROTH or Traditional plans are available. With Safe harbor plans you can maximize your contributions with minimal employee contributions. Self employed 401 K plans start at about $400 per year in administrative fees. Fees are higher if you have non owner employees. We can also help you implement no fee SIMPLE Plans as well.
Plans are available with guaranteed no market risk. Some options offer a minimum of 3-7.2% annual growth as a worst case alternative. There is substantial upside growth potential above the floor. We would be happy to discuss your plan needs in detail. Business owners can shelter as much as $45,000 per year from personal tax liability. The exact amount you can shelter is formula driven but we can get you a detailed quote.

How can we help you?

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

Earn a 12 percent Bonus

2008-08-16T16:16:00.000-07:00

If someone said that they would give you a 12% bonus when you decided to save money would you talk to them? Lets say you decided to save $20,000 for the next 10 years or longer. Your day one account balance would be $22,400. Would that get your attention? Every time you decided to put money aside for the next 5 years you can get an immediate 12% bonus. This works for your long term needs whether it is for your retirement or for college saving. This is in a ten year or longer saving vehicle, with a surrender charge if you decide to take your money and run before the surrender charge period expires. It does permit penalty free access to a portion of your funds annually.

You get a tax deferred growth strategy. No IRS 1099 form is generated until you withdraw money. You have a chance to make about 7% in an average year and the possibility of double digit gains of up to about 20 % in a great year. In a really bad year when many people are loosing 10-25% you won't lose a nickle! Each years gains are 100% vested. You have zero market risk of loss of principal. This is one option available from one of the top financial companies in the world. Oh by the way how about the ability to create lifetime income that you cannot outlive!

This is not too good to be true. It is available now but not for long. Numerous other products are available with similar features. A brief discussion can determine which is right for you.

Has your local bank offered you this? Probably not but maybe a toaster! Maybe 3-4.5%.
How about your local broker? Have they ever lost some of your money? If you are ready for diversification with safety we should talk. I am not saying do not put any money in a bank or a brokerage account. I have both. Banks pay low rates and brokers generally sell risk! Where is your safe money? Thats where we can help!

How can we help you!

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com
polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com

new higher rate on 5 yr MYGA

2008-08-14T09:55:00.000-07:00

brand new higher rate has been released for 5 year single premium deferred annuity. Current best rate available. Year one rate including bonus 6.70% years 2-5 guarantee rate 4.70 with a combined 5 yr rate of 5.09%. This is a tax deferred product so you get no 1099 form until you begin to withdraw money.

Understand that the rate is subject to change until policy is written. Rate usually change once a month but may occasionally change more often.

How does this compare to national bank CD rates. I checked Bankrate.com today and found the national overnight rate on a 5 yr CD was 4.15% and that compares to a rate of 4.16 last week. These rates are taxable rates and you get a 1099 form for this years taxes.

Long Term Care Educational Video

2008-08-12T14:33:00.000-07:00

Our apologies. This blog entry is being repeated because the content very important and the original entry was lost as a draft.

Kiplinger Magazine and John Hancock Insurance Company have created a very informative 22 minute educational video on Long Term Care (LTC). It discusses who need it , where care is or can be provided, how much it costs for care, how much Insurance costs, and how to pay for it.
The link for that video is included on our website. Once in the website go to external links

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

Caring For Your Aging Parents

2008-08-11T14:54:00.000-07:00

There is a new book out . The title is "Stuck in the Midddle: Shared Stories and Tips for Caregiving Your Elderly Parents" It is written by Barbara McVicker.
She shares some of her own experiences in dealing with her aging parents. Any book like this can give you some ideas to share with your siblings and your parents in the context of starting a discussion of preparations for death or infirmity. It should be worth the read!

I wont agree with everything she says but I do agree with several key points that she makes.
First get your own papers in order and make sure that your parents have their papers in order.
Second make sure that you have a Durable Power of Attorney set up with some one that you trust absolutely.
Her suggestion about changing a will just because you move makes me nervous especially if there is any hint of memory impairment on the part of either partner. Even if your state only requires two witnesses I would think that three would be safer.

Financial records, Brokerage account statements, bank statements birth certificates, marriage certificates, Wills, Powers of Attorney, Living will, a personal list of special bequests for heirs Mortgage documents, property title, vehicle titles and Trust documents if you have one..
If you have more than a modest estate I would have to ask why do you not have one.

We work with Attorneys in Ohio to deliver Wills and Trusts for Ohio residents. We can also take care of general financial needs and planning and can help with LTC planning and providing LTC Insurance.

How can we help you??

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

Why Gen Y is Broke

2008-08-08T09:33:00.000-07:00

Here is an interesting link to an MSN internet article
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/HomeMortgageSavings/WhyGenerationYIsBroke.aspx?GT1=33011

The quick summary is that many in generation Y are being swallowed in debt, student debt, credit card debt, expensive car loans, etc. They often don't know how to budget and they are not saving. It seems to be that this is a generation largely characterized by "I want it now, and I'm entitled to it" Please understand I know that not every one in this generation is so materially focused! I know that many are committed to worthwhile causes and volunteer efforts. However in general there is a spoiled attitude.

The cartoonist Stahler for the Columbus Dispatch pointed it out in a cartoon on July27th.
Two young Generation Y ladies are walking by a newspaper vending machine. The papers headline reads "Americans Don't Know how to save" The two ladies are carrying bags full of miscellaneous stuff the just bought at their favorite designer stores. One says to the other
"But I've got necessities: iphone, Wii games, My latte with a double shot..."Etc

I know of one young high school student that has wrecked 3 cars in under two years. Why would a parent continue to provide cars for that irresponsible idiot child? The child isn't paying for the cars. Why would there be a need for so many Starbucks stores selling overpriced $4-5 coffee drinks. Within 2 miles of where I am writing this there are at least 5 Starbucks locations. Who needs Starbucks at that price with 5 locations within 2 miles?

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

College financing and Keno Cartoon

2008-08-06T10:25:00.000-07:00

I like Stahler the cartoonist from the Columbus Dispatch. On August 5 his cartoon dealt with several financial issues. College finance, gambling, and the new KENO game from the lottery.
This cartoon has two college students looking at KENO Tickets. One asks the other how did you pick your 10 numbers. The second replied its how much he owed on one college semesters tuition. Very funny and scary too!

I am not a big fan of Lottery programs. They promise great things for education but the states schools have not gotten significantly better. Any of the lottery funded education $ have been counter balanced with a reduction in state funding from general revenues or at least thats how it looks to me. Net benefit is almost $0. A couple of people get instantly rich and often end up almost broke within 2-3 years. The companies and departments that run the Lotteries are the biggest beneficiaries. Many people who can not really afford to play spend way too much money on lottery tickets. It is different if someone with significant cash flow decides to spend $5 on lottery tickets for entertainment value.

College funding is really important and many people need some help with it.
We put together college saving strategies that work. It is a combination strategy, save more tax defer the interest earned, guarantee a reasonable rate of return on the funds committed.
Many times, we can also improve a families eligibility for college financial aid.
We can help!

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

Annuity VS Bank CD

2008-08-06T09:26:00.000-07:00

Single Premium Deferred Annuity Rates

offered by an A++ rated Company

5.o% Five Year
Guaranteed (years 1-5)

5.25% Seven Year
Guaranteed (years 1-7)

5.45% Ten Year
Guaranteed (years 1-10)

According to USA Today on August 5th the consumer
Bank CD rates
are 2.29% on a one year CD
and 3.46% on a 5 year CD
Bankrate.com on August 6 shows the following rates
3.5% one year CD rates
4.2% five year CD rates

In either case the SPDA rates look really good by
comparison.
If you are tired of low rate paid by your bank on the
money you let them use we have an alternative!

how can We help you?
www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

Loans Without Banks

2008-08-04T13:49:00.001-07:00

There are several internet site that help structture small to medium sized loans with the use of a bank. The concept is called "Peer to Peer Lending" This can be used for family loans or other network members to loan you money. Its an interesting concept! Some people can not get a bank loan and sometimes the bank rates are just too high to be realistic. These Peer to Peer loans can have competitive rates for the borrowers and improve on the money earned by the lender on the loan. There are almost certainly some risks as well that need to be taken into account. I do not know anyone who has ever tried these programs. I do know of business funding that has been done by Angel Investors. From a business standpoint I do know businesses that have used this informal Angel network to get operating funding or cash to expand when banks will not write the loans. I even used one almost 10 years ago when we were working to acquire a business.
You can learn more about the program through any of these three websites.
US.ZOPA.COM
PROSPER.COM
VIRGINMONEYUS.COM

Our website is
www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

401 K Cartoon

2008-08-01T20:57:00.001-07:00

Stahler is a great cartoonist who draws on life events for the Columbus Dispatch. This one appeard on July 29th 2008. Like the Doonsbury cartoon strip and the Dilbert cartoon strip they all draw on the corporate quirks, and political mismanagement in wonderful satire. I keep particularly pointed cartoons to remember painful or very funny life lessons. This is a painful life lesson! Painful lessons repeat themselves until you learn from them and CHANGE something. Id like to share this one.

First lets set the stage. Scene one Cinderella was riding to the
ball with her glass slippers beautiful retirement ball gown, riding in a golden horse drawn carraige. You all get the picture. It was not that long ago.
Now to the present!
The retirement is a mess the clothes are in tatters, Cinderella is dizzy and has lost her shoes . The golden carriage has turned into a very small pumpkin called 401K. If that is your Cinderella story we should talk!!

Business and individual plan help is available. Growth without risk is a possible option. How can we help you???

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

Health Insurance

2008-08-01T20:44:00.000-07:00

Basck in May we commented in the blog about the irresponsible posturing of a health insurtance carrier try to force insurance customers to pressure their doctors, or to switch doctors because of a contract dispute with health insurance providers. You can see the original blog string in our archives for May 2008 on this site.

Obviously the Ohio State Insurance Commissioner has agreed that this was not responsible behavior but was part of a business tactic not in the insured patients best interests. The State took action and justifiably so. They fined United health $250,000 for their actions. enough said and case closed!

Financial Crunch Hiitting Seniors

2008-08-01T20:17:00.000-07:00

There was a great article that I just came across. I meant to include it in my blog over a week ago. My apologies for the delay in commenting on it. The article by Steve Wartenberg appeared in the Columbus Dispatch on july 20th, 2008. Many of you already know the financial difficulty he speaks about that is hitting seniors. In fact it is significantly impacts most of us. It is especially hard for those of us who are not at the peak of their earning years. It hurts the seniors most because of fixed incomes, The surplussed generation being discarded by irresponsible corporate management, and the young just starting out.

In any period of rapid price increases, like 2008, without a rapid rise in income much of the population is going to get creamed by the inflationary spiral of rising gasoline, rising home energy prices rising food prices etc. The article talks about the increasing percentage of bankruptcies that are filed by seniors over age 55. The percentage has actually doubled since 1991. General filings are up almost 18 % in 2008 alone. Inflation is eating them out of house and home!! Then there is the impact of medical expenses which another study not mentioned in this article indicated is responsible for almost 45 % of bankruptcies in the US.

If you know someone who is struggling let them know that seniors over age 62 years old who own their own homes may be able to get some relief. It might be possible to reduce their home expenses and even free up some of their income to help pay for unexpected medical expenses or repairs.

In many cases we Can help.

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

Bank Instability and Your Alternatives

2008-07-28T09:23:00.000-07:00

Recently in the news from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) Thairman was quoed as saying They do not expect any more large bank failure on the magnitude of IndyMac Bank. IndyMac Bank was a top ten mortgage lender in the USA. The FDIC at the same time said they do expect numerous smaller bank failure in the short term.

If I kept a significant amount of money in a bank what message would I take from this announcement. I should add that the bulk of our assets are never in a bank. The take away message is that you should never have money in a bank in excess of FDIC insurance limits. Perhaps the prudent will actually deal with lower personal limits than the FDIC limits. There are Bank alternatives that can do the following things. Earn a higher interest rate than banks will pay. This is usually easy to do. Find a financial product with a very high degree of safety. There are financial products available with no risk to principal due to market risk. There are even products available that do all of these things and can providetax deferred growth if you don't need the income immediately. Utilizing the tax deferred benefit may even reduce your current tax bill or if you are on social security may even reduce or eliminate taxes on your social security benefits.

Wee can help you achieve these goals with safety of your principal. Will Rogers once said "I am much more interested in the safety of my money than I am in the interest on my money". Long term financial products that protect your money.

How can we help you?

polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com
www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

Long Term Care

2008-07-25T09:57:00.000-07:00

Kiplinger Magazine and John Hancock Life Insurance have put together a very informative 22 minute video on key topics of Long Term Care. It talks about who needs care, where can you get care, how much care costs, how much insurance costs and how to pay for it. The link is on our website. Starting from the home page follow links to external pages and click on the link to Kiplinger LTC Video.

Our website address is
www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

We can help you with your LTC needs and help you decide which policy and how much coverage is right for you.

Long Term Care Video

2008-07-25T09:50:00.000-07:00

Kiplinger Magazine and John Hancock Insurance Company have created a very informative 22 minute educational video on Long Term Care (LTC). It discusses who need it , where care is or can be provided, how much it costs for care, how much Insurance costs, and how to pay for it.
The link for that video is included on our website. Once in the website go to external links

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

Long Term Care Options

2008-07-23T08:21:00.000-07:00

Occasionally a client tells us that they do not want to buy Long Term Care (LTC) insurance.

They may feel that they cannot afford the coverage. This is often a erroneous perception. Especially if they buy the policy when they are still relatively young and healthy the premiums can be rather modest considering the massive amount of risk that the insurance is designed to protect the client from! It is relatively easy for a client or a couple to have a LTC risk of $1 million or more.

They may know that their medical conditions make purchasing a policy cost prohibitive if not impossible. There is a real risk here! The best solution for this risk is to buy the product early when you are still in good health.

Some clients want to self fund the risk. The funny thing here is that most of the clients who can truly afford to self insure the risk are also generally smart enough to know that they should not try and self insure a potential multi million dollar risk. When one self insures they are betting that they have decades for their assets to grow enough to be able to cover the costs. Unfortunately our collective crystal balls are less than perfect. We simply have no way of anticipating when we will have the need through disease, or accidental causes. A partially funded program without enough years to compound the growth of assets is just plain not good enough.

If you are one of the lucky ones that truly has the assets but just hates the thought of paying premiums for the next 10 years to life there are alternatives designed for you. These are asset based product and several types are available. Some of these actually include a money back guarantee. you can't loose with these. You get long term care coverage and your money back if you never need it.

Some clients just don't have the assets to protect and for these clients a Medicaid spend down leading to Medicaid covered Long Term Care is a reasonable option.

Regardless of your situation specifics we can help you!

visit our website or contact us directly

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com
polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com

Can you still retire

2008-07-21T06:22:00.000-07:00

In friday July 11 issue of USA Today there was a good article about retirement written by Kathy Chu. The article talks about retirement and determining if your assets are adequate to last as long as you live in retirement. Although it is a good article thare are some key points missing and we will get to them in this blog entry. Kathy makes a number of excellent points about how important the early years are in permitting the asset base to grow and the terrible detrimental effect a couple of bad early years can have on your ability to have enough money to get through many years of retirement. She also shares the traditional rule of thumb that says take out no more than 4-5% of the assests per year if you want to maximize the length of time the assets will remain. She also talks about adjustments to withdrawals in the rule of thumb during one or more bad years.

It talks about postponing retirement if your assets need more time to grow and postponing Social security to get some additional monthly income. She adds that it is important to keep assets positioned in such a way that you have the ability to out perform the inflation rate. there are a number of references to food prices, gas prices, energy costs and healthcare costs. We all know the impact that each of those is having on our budget.

She also mentions diversification of assets and asset allocation strategies. All of these are good things but nowhere does she talk about the single thing that a boomer or retiree can do that will guarantee that the retirement asset pool will never run out as long as you live. She acknowledges that inflation adjusted pensions like Social Security are a good thing but she fails to tell the readers that they can create that for themselves with their own assets. This is something everyone with assets should be doing with at least a significant percentage of their retirement assets and their general assets.

The key points in the strategy we recommend are the following. Position a majority of your assets where there is NO risk of market loss due to economic market turbulence. Lock in each years gains protecting them from downturns in subsequent years. When possible shelter your assets during the growth mode from current income taxes. Deferred income taxes allow you principal and your previous years earning growth to continue to grow without creating a tax liability that you have to pay off when you file your annual taxes. You need to insure that your assets have the opportunity to grow at a rate that can beat the rate of inflation consistently. Remember that this year the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has risen at a rate of 5%. This is the highest CPI adjustment in a number of years. The products we are talking about do usually have early surrender charges on a sliding scale. These can be 10-15% but you have control over when you take the money out. Many clients never have to pay a surrender charge at all. By timing your withdrawals to the surrender charge free withdrawal schedule you can almost always avoid paying any fees at all! You are in control! Finally do all of these things usually without a collection of annual fees and charges that typically run 2% or more of total assets per year. Remember that if you hold those types of assets for 20 or 30 years the fees continue to add up and may have generated total fees that cost you an amount equal to 40-60% of your initial contribution. These fees certainly will reduce the asset value that you get to keep or walk away with.

What single product can and has consistently met all of these criteria? The answer isn't found at your bank and isn't generally offered through your local broker. There is only one type of product that offers all of the positive things discussed and doesn't have the annual fees and charges listed above. The products we are talking about are long term saving vehicles. Only Fixed indexed Annuities do all of the positive things listed above and usually, avoid the annual fees on the downside. When you do add a rider to a fixed Indexed Annuity the maximum rider charge is usually 1/2 of 1% or less. There are currently products that will guarantee an increase in Income Account Value of up to 7.2% per year. This doubles your income every 10 years and quadruples your assets in 20 years. When you do decide to begin withdrawing income from the product you can create a Lifetime Income Stream that you cannot outlive.

We can help!

polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com
www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com
I

How to Increase Eligibility for Student Financial Aid

2008-07-17T11:57:00.000-07:00

We work with clients to improve financial aid eligibility for college The amount of financial aid your student may qualify for is based on family assets and income. Saving in the form of stocks, bonds,mutual funds,savings and checking accounts,bank CDs, investment real estate and money market funds are all considered assets. Consequently, your net worth in these products count against you in financial aid eligibility determination used in the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
We can help you reallocate your assets so your financial portfolio is treated favorably in the FAFSA process. We offer several financial instruments that provide safety and protection of your principal while also reducing FAFSA qualifying assets. You have absolutely no risk of market loss with these products!
If your family income exceeds FAFSA guidelines, we offer long term investment strategies that provide safe, secure growth. Products such as Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, 529 Plans, ROTH IRA Plans, and other general tax deferred savings vehicles all are available to help pay for college costs.
We look forward to assisting you and your student with college funding. How can we help you?
Please contact us here or on the website.
www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com
polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com

Health Insurance Will Your Former Employer Cut Back On Benefits

2008-07-16T09:52:00.000-07:00

The AARP Bullletin newsletter for July August 2008 had an interesting short article on a growing benefits problem for retirees. They talk about companies that had committed to providing health insurance benefits for their retirees. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) passed a regulation that permits companies to cut back on health insurance benefits when the former employee becomes eligible for Medicare at age 65. For many retirees Medicare plans are not equal to the benefits through their former employers plans. Understand that although employers have been given the right to modify plans not every employer will do so. However the economic pressure will continue to encourage employers to do so. Make your voice heard to your current and your former employers.

We all need to be planning to take care of ourselves for retirement income, retirement planning, health insurance and Long Term Care needs. The trend for companies to cut back on health benefits and pensions continues. I can help with planning and implementing your financial strategy.

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

VA LTC Benefits VA Aid and Attendance Program

2008-07-15T09:45:00.000-07:00

Under certain circumstance long term care coverage is provided
without cost to those of our veterans or their spouses who qualify.

Called the Aid and Attendance benefit, this program is an under-utilized
benefit that can provides upwards of $2o thousand per year to help
a veteran or the surviving spouse of a veteran pay for long term health
care costs including home health care, assisted living or even nursing
home expenses. The benefit is paid regardless of the need for care,
provided the veteran or spouse is older than the age of 65. There are
income and asset restrictions that apply so not all veterans are eligible.
Even if they do qualify a suppleemental LTC policy may make sense.

There are millions of veterans who served during WWII, the Korean
War, the Vietnam War, or the first Gulf War who fall into the category
of needing help with at least one activity of daily living (ADL). There is
no requirement that the veteran actually served in the war zone. It is
just required that they served in the US military during the time of the
conflict. I have two brothers one served in Vietam and the other did his
duty stationed in the US. Both of them may be eligible for coverage if
qualifying conditions are met. Neither has a military related disability
but they may qualify because they served during a period of war,
served a total of 90 days of active duty and received an honorable or
general discharge.

Neither Medicaid nor Medicare will provide a private nurse for home
care. The Aid and Attendance benefit may be available to help pay the
cost. This benefit may provide enough extra income to allow them to
pay for care while avoiding Medicaid spend-down. Reimbursement for
care does not require that care is to be provided by a licensed
professional. It may be provided by a friend or family. For more
information on the VA Aid and Attendance benefit visit you local VA
office, your veterans organization or go online,

www.vaaidandattendance.com
http://www.vaaidandattendance.com

We would be happy to help

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

Does your advisor have skin in the Game

2008-07-14T09:42:00.000-07:00

I was reading a number of industry articles and blogs today. One in particular struck a cord for me. It is a blog authored by Kim snider of Texas. http://kimsnider.blogs.com/
She was citing some work done by Kinnel who works for Morningstar.
She points out that many fund managers Don't have any skin in the game. That means that they are not buying what they are selling. The study showed that 59% of foreign stock fund manager had no skin in the game, 65% of Tax bond fund managers had no skin in the game, 70% of balanced fund managers had no skin in the game, 78% of muni fund managers studied had no skin in the game! WOW! How do you like those numbers!!!
I promise I will never sell a client a product I would not want to own or have my parents own!

Should you trust a financial fund manager that does not own a significant amount of the products that they manage. I would expand on that and apply it to brokers, insurance agents and advisors. Should you use any professional who doesn't put his skin in the game. I for one believe in what I offer my clients and have always put my skin in the game.

I thought it was great because it really made me think. Whats the difference between just being a salesman and being a really great advisor. A mere salesman is only concerned with selling you something. A great advisor or planner views themselves as a partner helping you grow your assets and meet your goals. I strive to be a great advisor. I view myself as a partner in helping you meet your goals. If you agree that that is what you want in an advisor I'd definitely be happy to speak with you about working together to HELP you meet your most important goals. For a great advisor its not just about the money. Frankly, I made more money before I became an advisor. You know what, I'm definitely happier doing what I am doing now! I spend a great deal of my time ,energy and assets on educating my clients. Sometimes it pays of financially and frankly sometimes it does not pay off. This is the way I would want to be treated so it is the only way I will treat my clients!!

Feel free to visit the website. Take our survey and let us know how we could help you!
www.columbufinancialplanningpros.com

Struggles saving for retirement and college

2008-07-13T20:23:00.000-07:00

A recent Putnam Investments Reseach Study has confirmed what many of us already know. In the absence of a true pension plan at work saving for a young childs college education at the same time we are trying to save for our own retirement is a daunting challenge! To make matters worse, almost 50 private lenders and non profit lenders have quit writing student loans in the past year. Some of this is aggravated by the bank lending mess we are currently in. Some of todays headlines suggest that the mortgage lending mess is not yet at the bottom.

Now more than ever we need to be able to look at all possible avenues for obtaining college funding. We need to be thinking scholarships and grants first, followed by maximizing our eligibility for Need Based Financial Aid. Some forms of Financial require repayment and some do not require that the money be repaid.

Several dozen extremely well endowed colleges and universities are prepared to guarantee that if you are admitted. you will be able to graduate Student debt free. You will still have to contribute the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) but after that the College or University is prepared to kick in enough Financial Aid or Work Study income to allow the student to graduate without student loans.

There are perfectly legal techniques that we can often use to increase a students eligibility for Need Based Financial aid. That is one of the services that we offer our clients.

Interest Rate highlights and Long Term Disability

2008-07-09T13:13:00.000-07:00

Two topics for today

Several Interest Rate updates to add
several new interest rates for various terms of product have just been added. These are guaranteed rates for the full term. Contribution minimums apply, and early withdrawal rules also apply.
4 year term 5.0% per year
6 year term 5.3% per year

Disability Risk and how to pay for it
I just came across a recent summary of a study sponsored by the Life foundation.
Long Term Disability is considered to be a disabling injury or illness making it impossible for a worker to work for a period of 90 days or longer. Short Term Disability is defined as an injury or illness making it impossible to work for a period of less than 90 days. between 35-40 % of workers have some form of short term disability coverage and only about 30% of companies employees have access to LTD coverage. Not all eligible employees have elected this coverage.

Out of 140 plus million employees in the US only about 5-6% have comprehensive Long Term Disability income policies in place through work or through private policy purchase of Long Term Disability (LTD) coverage. Many employees have coverage through Workers Compensation which will provide coverage for a work related injury but provides no benefit for illness or non work related injury. These facts mean that most employees have no protection or at best inadequate coverage for Disability risk.

Employers take note this is a desirable benefit. Providing coverage can actually help the company save money on their Workers Comp premium. Employees take note. tell your boss or HR department that you would be interested in a benefits package including some LTD coverage. Especially in a group setting this coverage is relatively modest in cost.

On a recent visit to a Hospital based Rehab facility visiting a family member I met several young patients one as young as 25 years old. They were not disabled due to a work place accident and therefore were not eligible for Workers Comp.

Policies are available to cover a period from 2 years, 5 years or up until the patient reaches age 65. One of our clients wanted coverage to age 65 but with his medical history we were able to get him coverage for a maximum of 5 years. Some occupations are difficult to get through underwriting. Occasionally by working with multiple carriers we can get coverage for hard to insure occupations.

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com
polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com

Planning for Retirement

2008-07-07T12:51:00.000-07:00

Hewitt Associates has just completed a study where they project that a retiree will need 126% of their pre retirement income in order to maintain their quality of life into retirement. This is a long term projection factoring in inflation, increasing lifespan and increasing medical costs in retirement. This number is higher than most of the other studies indicated. The exact number needed is subject to interpretation or estimation but what is certainly clear is that workers are not saving nearly enough to provide for a comfortable retirement. Social Security is likely to meet no more than about 30% of a retirees income needs. This assumes that the post babyboomers or late boomers will have any solvent SS benefits available at all. This gets even worse as income rises. 2/3 or retirees are saving less than 80% of their income needs. Only about 1 worker out of 5 will be able to retire comfortably without needing to significantly alter their standard of living.
The remaining 70-100% of income needs to come from savings, investments,IRA's, 401K or pension plans or equity harvested out of their home utilizing reverse mortgages.

We help clients determine where they are today and improve the picture for their future.

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

VA Education benefits

2008-07-03T13:08:00.001-07:00

July 3 2008 Subject improvement in Education benefits for Veterans

Veterans having served in the military after sept 11, 2001 are entitled to an improved VA education benefit for college funding. This will cover college cost for up to 4 years of education. The maximum reimbursement will be based on the cost of a year in the most expensive public school in your state of residence. Additional money will also be available for housing and for books.
If you have completed school yourself you may be able to share this benefit or part of this enhanced benefit with your spouse or your children. The benefit period expires 15 years after you leave the military.
Contact your VA center for additional clarification or details.

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

College Funding with Federal Need Based Programs

2008-06-29T14:06:00.000-07:00

Since 2001 College costs have risen by well over 50-60% The most expensive Colleges now cost $50,000 per year in room and tuition. It is obviously higher when you factor in food, transportation, entertainment and books. Ouch!! This is for undergraduate programs.
Need Based Federal loans and grants are available to help pay for college
Federal Money comes in several forms. Grants do not need to be repaid.
Loans need to be repaid unless you qualify for an exeception. The most notable exception is the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. Students willing to commit 10 years to a qualifying Public Service Job may be elegible for forgiveness of their remaining federal subsidized student loans. This won't waive private loans or bank loans.
Pell Grants are for Low income students and do not have to be repaid because they are a grant. The maximum available is currently $4,731 per year.
Student going into teaching careers may be eligible for an additional$4,000 per year in federal grants.
Stafford Loans are need based federal loans. The good news is the interest rates are set to drop to 6.0% for the 2008-2009 school year. Maximum loan amounts are on a sliding scale starting at $3,500 for freshman and as much as $5,500 for college seniors. Up front loan origination fees of 2% of the loan amount are required.

One of our many services involves helping families increase their eligibility for need based aid.
www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

Current Best Rates Available

2008-06-27T08:22:00.000-07:00

June 27th 2008 Subject: _____________ Current Top Interest Rates Available
Bank CD rates are Dropping. Why? Our Best rates are increasing!
We specialize in Risk Free SAFER MONEY financial products
A possible retirement strategy for a portion of your nest egg
with a 10 year product you could withdraw 5.6% per year for 10 years and still be guaranteed
to have as much at the end of 10 years as you contributed day 1
Example 1 Contribute $200,000 day one
On anniversary date year 1-10 withdraw $11,000 per year. This equals $110,000 withdrawn.
Then Walk away with over $200,000 guaranteed!
Then we could take another portion of your nest egg and put it in a tax deferred vehicle and just let it grow for 10 year
Example 2 Client currently 45 yr old
$200,000 growing tax deferred for 10 years = Income account Value $400,000
$200,000 growing tax deferred for 20 years = Income account Value $800,000
then at age 65 take the $800,000 and turn it into a lifetime income you cannot outlive!!

Our best fixed rates are increasing
For $25,000 and up
5 year guaranteed rate 5.2%
6 year guaranteed rate 5.3%
10 year guaranteed rate 5.6%
Also offers 10% liquidity per year penalty free after year one
Earning grow tax deferred
Inquire about Product availability in your state

How can we help you?

All products offered are only offered after review of product suitability for your needs, consumer brochures and appropriate disclosures
Contact us by visiting our website
www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

Estate Planning Study

2008-06-26T06:37:00.000-07:00

USA Today June 24, 2008 Money Section

They reported today that approximately 1 in 4 Family owned Business owners do not have an estate plan in place. Actually, every one has one, its either one that you set up to best serve your needs and goals or it is one set up by the government to maximize taxes and probate fees. Thats the bad news. The true key question is which would you rather have?

The good news is that approximately 3 in 4 have some sort of plan in place. Which side are you on? Even if they have one, how recently has it been reviewed? If you would like some help contact us!

The most common stated reasons listed for not having one are
Complexity- Too difficult 55%
Not enough time to implement 24%
Mistakenly believe they don't have a need 17%
Too expensive 4%

The truth is all of these are just poor excuses. They do not have to be outrageously complex or massive time sinkholes. Costs in many cases are relatively modest.

What about business continuation planning? What happens when one owner dies?
We can help in all of these areas and more.

Please feel free to contact us or visit our website.
www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com
polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com

Planning for retirement

2008-05-30T10:36:00.000-07:00

Indexed annuities vs other savings alternatives

Let's examine the five most common options for retirement savings: CDs, money market funds, bond funds, stocks and real estate funds. On the Annuity side we have never had it so good. Lets look at why I can say that.

CDs

According to www.bankrate.com, the average 5 year CD rate is 3.6% whereas the highest rate is 4.75% (from a few internet banks). Caps on some point to point indexed annuities are as high as 9%. Rarely, has current cap rates been twice as high as the highest CD rates. Its' a good time for indexed annuities or Multi Year Guarantee Annuity (MYGA). 5 Year MYGA rates are between 4 -5%.

Money market funds

According to www.bankrate.com, the average money market fund yields 2.6% whereas the highest rate yields 3.4% (from a few internet banks). Caps on annuity products are almost three times money market funds. Average inflation rates have been between 2-3% and are trending higher due to gas prices, food prices, transportation costs and almost everything we need to buy.

Bond funds

Here's what we know. The 10 year bond yield is 4.07%, close to all time lows. We also know that rates have climbed in the last few days concurrent with new inflation reports. Oil of course is a record high around $133 per barrel. Looks like higher rates are certainly a real possibility making the purchase of bonds and bond funds very risky. The next few years may see bond true yields approaching 0% as interest rates rise and yields on current bonds fall.

Stocks

Do you feel lucky? Most investors have seen losses in the last year or two. Stocks are for risk money. Diversify part of holdings into Safer Money Alternatives. Enough said.

Real estate related

Can you say the word foreclosure? How about falling real estate prices. Last year I was told by a client that he didn’t need to invest in anything but real estate. Today he is wrapped up with assets he can’t sell that have a falling real values even if he could find a buyer. Lets not forget that he has to pay a 5-7% sales commission when he sells compounding the loss. I am not suggesting one should not hold real estate investments but I am suggesting it should be balanced with a Safer Money Alternative.

Inflation and Taxes impact on taxable earnings

Average inflation rates have been between 2-3% and are trending higher due to gas prices, food prices, transportation costs and the cost of almost everything we need to buy. When you combine the inflation rate and the income tax rate many years see a real loss of buying power with the typical yield of money market funds or bank CD’s. That is not a successful long term or retirement plan!

Are there any alternatives avoiding this pain

Everyone should have diversified some of his assets into a Safer Money Alternative like Fixed Indexed Annuities (FIA) or Single Premium Immediate Annuities (SPIA) that produce a lifetime income stream that an individual or a couple can not outlive. Some of these alternatives can even increase your income over time offering some inflation protection. Contact me to discuss your Safer Money Strategy for part of your assets.

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com

United Health CareRestriction of Medical network

2008-05-28T12:46:00.000-07:00

May 28 th 2008 Subject: Healthcare
Why would United Health Care restrict access to physicians and facilities with approximately 2 weeks notice. they are trying to force their insured clients to switch professional service providers.
If you don't want to go along for an enforced ride see our website for options for health
insurance
It may still possible to switch insurers without the need to change all of your doctors.
This is a terrible thing for an insurer to do to their clients and providers given the inadequate amount of notice given in the letter to the insured clients.

Business website
www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com