by Jeff Rose
John and Kate Divorced
Nobody gets married to then get divorced, but things change. People change. It’s an unfortunate reality of today’s generation. Recent headlines of reality TV sensations John and Kate Plus 8 and their divorce filings is a sad reminder that it can happen to the best of us. I’ve been fortunate as a financial planner to not have been involved in many ugly divorce cases, and for the few that I have been involved in, that’s more than my share than I want to have. After the divorce is final is where the fun begins.
In an easy divorce, the assets are split down the middle, and for the most part, everybody walks away happy. But in some cases, it gets much more complicated. For example, let’s say that the ex gets the house and some of the stock holdings, and you’re left with the rest. If the overall portfolios were allocated appropriately, the drastic market swings have probably left them completely out of whack. For a financial planner like myself, there’s nothing more troubling than an out of whack portfolio. In a common market, the impact might not be as severe, but it’s no news to anybody that we are not in a common market. After the assets have been split, it’s important that the portfolios be realigned as soon as possible. In addition to that, here’s a few more things that you want to consider.
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by Jeff Rose
As a kid, there’s no greater comfort in having your parents there to pick you up when you fall. But what happens when the role reverses, and now you become the care taker of your elderly parents? Most parents will never admit to you that they need help keeping track of their finances. Admitting help is a sign of giving in and succumbing to their elder age and for many seniors is a hard pill to swallow. Down the road it may be a necessity to assist them in their finances, but it’s not too early to start the money discussions today.
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by Jeff Rose
This is another guest post from Joe Plemon. Joe now has a brand new blog Personal Finance By the Book. Be sure to check it out and subscribe today!
Just as the Obama Administration has given a stress test to the nation’s largest banks, it behooves us to take our own personal stress test. The bank test was given for the purpose of determining how well these institutions will hold up if the economy further deteriorates. Your personal test will give you a snapshot of how well your personal finances will do in tough economic times.
CNNMoney has put together such a test (find it at here). I tried it and I liked it for these reasons:
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by Jeff Rose
What's your best rate on Roth IRA's?
One of my most favorite questions that I often get as a financial planner is
“What’s your best rates on Roth IRA’s?”
Coming in at a close second is,
“What’s the best stock to buy right now?”
So how would you explain to somebody concerning rates on Roth IRA’s? Initially, I explain what an I-R-A stands for: Individual Retirement Arrangement (emphasis on arrangement), not Investment that Returns A lot or Interest Rate Account.
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by Jeff Rose
In 1982 the Violent Femmes released the title track to their debut album “Gone Daddy Gone” that went on to be an epic album. Almost just an epic event is the lifting of the $100,000 AGI (Adjusted Gross Income) restriction for individual or couples that are looking to do a Roth IRA Conversion. As it stands right now, for any tax payer no matter your filing status, you are unable to do a conversion if you exceed this limit. Most everybody knows (if not, then you know now) that in 2010 these restrictions are lifted and anyone and their brother will be able to do the Roth Conversion. If this applies to you, here are some tips to get you prepared for the Roth IRA Conversion event when the restrictions are officially “gone daddy gone”.
2010 the AGI Limits are "Gone Daddy Gone"
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by Jeff Rose
The theme of this post is “Freedom Isn’t Free”. I learned that recently when I lost a brother in arms a few weeks ago. SSG Melton’s death in combat was a shrilling reminder of what it means to truly love your country. The following is an email the wife of a soldier who is over in Afghanistan fighting the war right now with the rest of SSG Melton’s brigade. He also served with me and SSG Melton in Iraq and is currently on his third deployment. I’ll let her words speak for themselves…..
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by Jeff Rose
In my hometown, one of the things that my wife and I enjoy doing is going to see our former alma mater the SIU Salukis, battling it out on the basketball court. I’m sure most can relate to attending a similar event, whether it be your former university, maybe it’s your local sports team, or maybe you live in one of the prime time markets where you’re going to go see a professional team play. Those that are familiar with this and attend games have realized the cost implications by attending one. Not only do you have the price of the ticket, you may also have a parking cost. We haven’t event talked about food yet. Heading to the food counter to get a soda, hot dog and nachos and you’re probably out a good $10-$15 bucks. For bigger cities, I’m sure you can pretty much double this. For a couple, the cost might not be so bad; but a family of three, four, five, or six? Imagine John and Kate Plus 8 Going to a game? Yikes! The cost adds up pretty quick. Here are a few tips for you and your family to save money while attending one of these fantastic events:
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by Jeff Rose
This report was prepared by my firm LPL Financial.
Bond investors have always worried about the impact of rising interest rates on their portfolios and rightly so. So, higher yields in the market translate to lower prices for existing holdings and investor worries about rising interest rates. Their worries have increased over the second quarter of 2009. As we
approach the midpoint of the year, many investors are no doubt concerned over the rise in the benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield from 2.2% to 3.5% (through June 29). Worries over higher yields (lower prices) and potential losses may resurface as investors look to the second half of 2009
and beyond.
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by Jeff Rose
This report was prepared by my firm LPL Financial.
At the heart of it, all markets come down to buyers and sellers. Taking a look at who is buying and who is selling can tell us something about the durability of the stock market’s recent performance and what may lie ahead. Presently, there are three notable trends in buying and selling in the stock market:
- individual inflows to mutual funds and ETFs
- corporate stock issuance
- insider selling
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by Jeff Rose
Avoiding Investment Fraud
This is another guest post from Joe Plemon from Plemon Financial Coaching. Joe is the Money Columnist for The Southern Illinoisan.
Q: I read about how Bernie Madoff cheated investors out of billions of dollars through a Ponzi scheme. What is a Ponzi scheme and how can I avoid investment fraud?
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by Jeff Rose
Rolling Over Your Pension Plan Into IRA
Are you considering rolling over your pension over to an IRA? Before you do, make sure you’ve explored all your options. Use my
contact form for a free pension rollover consultation.
Lately, I’ve had several clients that had a very important decision to make. When you retire and you have a 401k, then the choice is usually pretty simple- roll the 401k over into an IRA. There are some exceptions to the rule -under age 59 1/2 and if they hold employer stock- but usually that’s the way to go.
What happens if a pension is involved?
Pensions will typically pay you an income for the rest of your life and then pay your spouse half of the amount for the rest of her life. If you don’t choose the annuity option, then the only other choice is to take the the lump sum option. The lump sum option will allow you to take a big chunk up front and then roll that over to an IRA. You then are in control of how much you take per month as your retirement income. Let’s take a look to see if it makes sense to roll over your pension into an IRA.
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by Jeff Rose
Is now the time to buy Muni bonds?
This report was prepared by my firm LPL Financial
The municipal market may soon garner negative headlines if an expected large number of states and municipalities announce budget deficits with the July 1 start of their fiscal year. Municipal bond credit quality may therefore come under question, and investors need to be prepared. Budget strains were expected but are becoming more widespread, and none are more high profile than California’s. Last week, State of California general obligation bonds were placed on credit watch for a potential downgrade by all three major rating agencies, citing the lack of a budget resolution.
- Although news of budget strains may peak over the coming weeks, municipal credit quality questions will likely persist for some time.
- However, the municipal market has historically held up well in response to credit quality challenges.
- Municipal bond investors can take preventative measures but should stay the course and use weakness to add to positions.
The Rockefeller Institute of Government, an independent researcher of state and local governments, reported June 18 that states’ personal income tax collections declined by 26 percent during January to April of 2009 versus the same period in 2008. Among the three sources of state revenues, personal income tax, corporate income tax, and sales tax, personal taxes are typically the biggest share of state revenues. Although states and municipalities do their best to forecast revenue shortfalls, mismatches can occur with budget shortfalls as a result.
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