I'm Still Around!

Boy, it's been ages since I've written. Part of that has been intentional. I was bound and determined not to lose this summer!!!

For the last four years it seems I've worked harder in the summertime than any other time of the year and this year I decided maybe 40 hours a week was enough.

I've done pretty well at sticking to that but my business is growing by leaps and bounds lately so things are busy. But in a good way.

I hope you're enjoying your summer!

Obama's Proposed Changes to Financial Rules and Regs

The government is proposed the largest group of changes to the current financial rules and regulations since The Great Depression.

While I'm not going to go into too much detail right now (this all has to be discussed and voted on by Congress), as these rules get hashed out and voted on I'll be writing more on how some of these changes may affect you.

I'll suffice it to say right now that I'm feeling good about some of the changes that are being proposed -- more later!

Do you have some of your investments allocated to emerging markets? I hope so. The fund my clients are in is up over 42% so far this year.

Someone sent me this link.  I don't know how accurate it is but it's certainly worth a look.  Very sobering!

http://www.usdebtclock.org

Smelling the Roses, Literally

Well, I must have manifested roses in my last post because my wonderful husband bought me a dozen, beautiful yellow roses with pink tips for my birthday. They're sitting here on my desk as I write.

In spite of the recent GM bankruptcy filing, the market is holding it's own, actually moving up a little since that announcement.

While I don't have a crystal ball, this gives me some confidence.

I'm also devouring a new book by Dr. Wayne Dyer called "Excuses Begone!, How to Change Lifelong, Self-Defeating Thinking Habits." More on that later............

Smelling the Roses

I'm taking some time off this week. If the spirit moves you may hear from me, if not -- till next time!

Are Your 401k Assets With Your Old Employer?

A recent study done by The Charles Schwab Corp. says that 43% of the 401k assets belonging to participants who were terminated from their jobs in the first quarter of 2008 are still sitting in their former employers' plans. (Schwab analyzed the transactions of nearly 10,000 terminated participants in its Schwab Retirement Plan Services division.)

Do you know that you can transfer your assets from an old employer's 401k plan to an IRA? Why would you want to do that? Because you want more control over how the money is invested. Most 401k plans limit the number of funds you can invest in. Why not have the whole universe of funds to choose from?

And if you don't want to handle this transition yourself and/or make your own investment decisions, hire a professional financial planner/investment advisor to help.

Just don't be complacent -- take control of your money and get it working for you in the best possible way! Do it today!!!

When Less Is More

As we have had maginificent weather the last two days, it has struck me that life got dramatically better for me when I made a conscious decision to "do less." I never used to have the time to smell the roses. I now move at a slower pace, am far less stressed, and get twice as much done. I'm not scattered. I'm much more focused. So when I work, I work. When I play, I play.

It's taken some effort to get off the adrenaline high of run, run, run, but has it been worth it. Is there something not serving you that you can say "no" to today and slow down a little? We only have so many summers in our lives and I intend to enjoy this one!!! How about you?

How to Choose a Financial Advisor

This is one of the best articles I've seen on how to choose a financial advisor (from the Wall Street Journal)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123913983139498483.html

If you've been following the Bernie Madoff soap opera, today the plot thickened.  The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that prosecutors are investigating eight of his investors who may have knowingly participated in his fraud, some requesting specific losses at times to offset gains in accounts they had outside of Madoff's management, and at least one getting allegedly fabricated returns of over 900% in a given year.  I'm sure more specifics will come out as the investigation continues but some of these apparent "victims" may not have been victims at all.

While my heart goes out to those who truly lost money by investing with Bernie, I think we'll be hearing about more arrests being made and more people going to jail over this. 

How do you make sure you don't become a victim of a ponzi scheme?  Ask questions!  Does your investment advisor custody money themselves (like Madoff) or do they use a third party, like Charles Schwab or Fidelity, where you get independent confirmation that your money is actually in your account?  This is really important!!!

Will your advisor disclose how they invest your money and in what investments?  If they won't answer questions like this and disclose how your money is being invested, that's a big red flag!

Most importantly, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.  No one in the investment world can get steady gains year after year in the stock market.  It just doesn't happen.

The good news is that most investment advisors are hard working, passionate, honest people who love what they do and truly want to help others succeed financially.  If you're thinking of making a change to a new investment advisor, look for someone who is passionate about what they do.  After all, would you trust a heart surgeon that was just in it for the money? 

Welcome to the JATAJ Wealth Management Blog.  We hope you enjoy!!!