Ask Gene

2009-01-12T12:45:00.000-05:00

IRA Owners – No RMD in 2009

The IRS recently announced that IRA holders who are age 70 ½ or older will not be required to take an RMD (Required Minimum Distribution) in 2009.

You may (as always) take withdrawals up to 100% of your account. All withdrawals must be reported as taxable income. You may or may not pay federal income tax (PA residents do not pay state income tax) depending on your federal tax bracket. If your cash flow requires withdrawals you should continue on that course.

If your cash flow does not require withdrawals to meet your living expenses you might wish to skip your RMD this year to give your IRA investments the opportunity to rebound. In either event, this is an excellent time to review your IRA investments. You should determine an appropriate investment strategy and use the highest quality assets you can find. We provide free portfolio reviews should you wish some help with this assessment.

It isn’t often the IRS gives us some options.

Make sure you choose the RMD option that’s right for you.

2009-01-07T12:13:00.002-05:00

Bernie Madoff - Made Off with $50 Billion
Could Your Advisor Make Off with Your Life Savings?

Maybe.

Madoff is being accused of bilking hundreds (maybe thousands) of investors (real people, foundations, companies, charities, the list goes on and on) out of more than $50 billion. Many of these people were very smart, very successful, and very savvy - and they got taken to the cleaners. What chance does an average joe have?

Pretty good actually. Take three steps to protect your investment accounts:

- Work with an advisor you trust - if you're not one hundred per cent sure - get out of there
- Only allow your assets to be held by a third party custodian (Schwab, Pershing, Fidelity, etc.)
- Confirm (regularly - by phone or on-line) that your funds exist in the amounts and assets you expect

If you want a no cost review of your accounts and a

2009-01-05T14:19:00.002-05:00

New Year - New Investment Resolutions

The two biggest mistakes investors make are:

Wrong investment allocations
Wrong financial advisors

And these two are often directly related. In fact, if you employ the wrong financial/investment advisor you almost certainly suffer with the wrong portfolio allocations.

The right financial advisor for you is the one you trust. The right advisor listens and crafts a plan to meet your specific goals. The right advisor communicates with you well and often. The right advisor is flexible enough to make course adjustments during your journey. If you have the right advisor, it is very likely you have the right (or nearly right) allocations.

It's not enough to just have lots of baskets for your eggs - they must be the right baskets - and you must put the right eggs in the right baskets - and you must balance out the baskets to keep on an even keel. Fortunately, with today's available research and technology a good advisor can do all of this for you and more. If you are a do it yourselfer (bless you!) there are a number of excellent on-line resources to help you get the same investment advantages - you just have to do all the work yourself - and hope you got it right!

If you need help with your allocation or a check up on your current advisor - let me know.

Holiday Open House

2008-12-01T15:29:00.001-05:00

Please join us this Saturday, December 6th at the MtM Financial Group World Headquarters for our Holiday Open House. We will be here from 8:30am to 12:30pm. Stop by and say hello and have some holiday cheer. As a special treat, the "More than Money" Radio show will be broadcasting live from the office. We hope that you can take the time out of your busy holiday schedules to stop in and say hi! Gene, Diane, Kristie - the whole MtM Financial Group Gang and alot of our collegues and friends will be here. Hope you can join us. Please let Kristie know if you plan to stop by. 610-746-7007 or Kristie@AsKMtM.com. Happy Holidays!!

2008-11-07T13:24:00.002-05:00

Guaranteed 50% Return on Your Investment

In a time when it seems every investment is performing dreadfully where can you turn for solid returns? Your 401(k).

Many 401(k) plans offer a matching contribution. The average seems to be about 50 cents of the dollar (check your matching formula for your precise numbers). So every time you contribute $100 to your plan your company matches it with $50 - an instant, guaranteed 50% return on your investment.

It's actually better since you're receiving a tax deduction for your $100 contribution. If you're in the 15% bracket (one of the lowest) you just saved an additional $15 of income taxes. In total, your $100 investment has now given you a 65% return.

Make sure you take advantage of one of America's greatest investment opportunities. Questions - just call or email and we'll be glad to help.

2008-11-05T12:40:00.003-05:00

It Was an Historic Election - Now Let's Get Back to Work!

These days in the investment markets are flat out challenging.
You need to have solid financial advice to give you a fighting chance.
We are meeting with clients every day who are seeking a "second opinion".
These folks just aren't sure their current advisor is giving them what they need.
Here's a list of seven traits you should be seeing in your financial advisor:

Trust - if you're not sure, that's not good
Concern - do they listen to you?
Communication - are they available and responsive?
Understandable - jargon or English?
Experienced - let someone else break in the new kid (no matter how old "new" is)
Team Player - a 'jack of all trades' is flat out dangerous
Leadership - are they confident and inspiring or arrogant and lost?

How does your advisor stack up?
Not so good?
Let us know and we'll get you a good referral.

The election's over - let's get back to work.

More than Money Radio is on the MOVE!!!!

2008-10-27T15:02:00.005-04:00

Big exciting things are happening.....

Starting this Saturday, November 1st, the More than Money Radio Show can be heard at a new time!!! 11 AM....that's right 11 AM.

Be sure to tune in for this week's special guest - Jim Deutsch of Team Capital Bank (http://www.teamcapitalbank.com/). Tune in to hear what one of our local bank President and CEO's has to say about the Banking Industry, the Economy and MUCH MORE.

That's WAEB AM 790 at 11am...or online at http://www.waeb.com/ (click on listen online!).

Lastly, the More than Money website is being rennovated! The final touches are being completed and will be ready for viewing SOON! Check back frequently and of course watch for our announcments! Visit http://www.morethanmoneyonline.com/.

2008-09-16T13:44:00.002-04:00

Yesterday's dramatic drop in the major market indices certainly got everyone's attention. There are lots of reasons it happened. It may or may not be the 'bottom'.

Now what?

Connect with your financial advisor.
Confirm your portfolio design matches your financial goals.
If, not make adjustments.
Confirm your portfolio assets are the best that can be found in their sectors.
If not, make adjustments.
Repeat every ninety days.

2008-09-11T17:35:00.002-04:00

Many folks think it wise to place their kids on the deeds to their homes.

It is normally a really bad idea.

Do you want to know why?

Do you want to know what to do if you've already made this mistake?

If your financial advisor doesn't know or hasn't discussed it with you - let us know.

2008-09-09T09:49:00.002-04:00

Your 401(k) is drifting like a cork on the ocean!

Nearly every prospective client walking (some running) through our doors admits their 401(k) is drifting like a cork on the ocean. They confess they don't know how to select the correct investments and haven't made changes (in most cases) for years.

This shouldn't be surprising. Most folks just aren't trained to properly construct a portfolio; they certainly don't have the time in the busy lives to stay on top of these investments; and though they receive tons of information they have very little guidance.

Don't let your (likely) largest investment portfolio bob like a cork on the water. Get yourself to a good advisor, spend less than an hour, and get your 401(k) working hard for you. Then schedule your next review in six months. And keep reviewing it every six months until you retire. Then review it every three months.

It's the right way to handle your financial future.

2008-09-05T10:26:00.002-04:00

Is now the right time to invest in gold?

Is now the right time to invest in real estate?

Is now the right time to add financial stocks to your portfolio?

Interesting questions at the water cooler, but critical questions for your financial future. How do you/your financial advisor decide what and when to invest? If you are following sound fundamentals the answer to this question is easy. If you're not - heaven help you. Here's two fundamentals that might help:

(1) Buy low - sell high is still sound wisdom.
(2) Buy and hold - is not.

2008-09-04T09:31:00.000-04:00

September 4, 2008

It strikes me curious that positive economic news is largely ignored by most media.

Crude oil prices have dropped more than 25% from their highs just weeks ago. In light of the critical role oil plays in the American economy a decline of such magnitude should certainly raise spirits. It appears the mass media does not agree.

Job 'loses' were actually a net gain of about 1,000 jobs in July. This is the first month of gain in some time - have you even heard the fact reported?

We certainly have our share of economic challenges - does that mean we must ignore signs of life? I sure hope not.