Wall Street Journal reports trend changing Financial Advisors

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

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

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

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

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

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

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