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

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

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

polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com

How To Avoid Financial Meltdown

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

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

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

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.

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.