Affluent Investors not happy with 401 K Plan providers

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

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

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?

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

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

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