Today on World Teacher Day we are honoring the educators who taught us the most (and some who are just beginning their teaching career). We also want to honor another important person, who not only has taught all of us important principles of finance and business, but who also has maintained an atmosphere of education throughout our firm. Our founder, Christina Winch, began her career as a high school teacher. Through the casual advice she offered to her fellow teachers, Christina recognized a need for more formal financial education and advice. She earned the required licenses and opened her firm in 1981. In the more than 40 years since, the business has grown exponentially, though the goal has remained steadfast. We don’t just handle our clients’ retirement accounts, we work very hard to explain what we do, why we do it and how each decision, by us and by our clients, matters. We teach in formal classes, during client meetings and on each phone call. We want our clients to understand their Required Minimum Distributions, the difference between qualified and non-qualified accounts, the taxable impact of withdrawals, how to determine their risk tolerance, how to plan for Long Term Care expenses, the importance of updating their beneficiary designations, among countless other things. We take care of these things for our clients, and we also make sure they understand why we do it. The desire to educate, born in a high school lunchroom more than 40 years ago, still fuels every conversation we have with clients and their families. That is the standard she set, and the legacy she’ll leave. Happy World Teacher Day to all of our favorite educators and to our founder, Christina Winch. IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE INFORMATION Please remember that past performance is no guarantee of future results. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that the future performance of any… | Read More »
General
Five ways to avoid being scammed
As long as there have been humans on this earth, working hard to make an honest living, there have been lurkers trying to scam them. So prevalent have these scams become, that local law enforcement offices have teamed up with credit union representatives to create a fraud squad. You can find all their tips and an updated scroll of frauds on their website, https://fraudsquad.com/. Technological advancements have ushered in a new wave of scams, but fraudsters have been around for well over two thousand years. The earliest recorded case of fraud happened in 300 BC when a Greek sea merchant, Hegestratos, took out an insurance policy, known as a bottomry, using his ship and cargo as collateral. Hegestratos got caught attempting to sink his own ship in an effort to keep the borrowed funds, and he drowned attempting to escape. Since the Greek merchant’s failed attempt to scam funds, shady humans have only intensified their efforts, capitalizing on increasingly sophisticated technology and consumers’ happy reliance on it. The scams may evolve along with the days’ headlines, but you can still protect yourself by taking basic safety measures. Be very leery of conversations you have not initiated. Scammers often have access to software that can spoof calls and emails to make them appear to be coming from legitimate sources, including government agencies, charities, banks, relatives and large companies. Never share personal information, including usernames, passwords, contact information, Social Security numbers, or one-time codes that people can use to access your accounts or steal your identity. No government agency will contact you by phone or email to request money from you. Enable multifactor authentication. Even if it takes you a little longer to log into your account, and means one more passcode to remember, this extra step is worth it to protect both your identity and your accounts. Research charities before you donate and do not allow yourself to be pressured into… | Read More »
Why you need a POA for Health
The day before her 18th birthday, my daughter broke her wrist and needed surgery to repair it. The timing of her injury provided a profound lesson for us both. As we had been her entire life up to that point, her father and I were her legal guardians at the initial doctor’s visit, with full access to the information we needed to make medical decisions for her care. HIPAA kicked in the next day, the moment she turned 18, and medical professionals were no longer able to tell me anything. She had to sign her own paperwork (with her broken wrist) and she had to fill out a release to allow me to attend her medical consultations and surgical appointments. Had she been knocked unconscious in the bike accident that caused her injuries and remained so the following day, her father and I might not have been able to help her make these important medical decisions. To avoid this type of medical limbo, it is very important to complete a Power of Attorney for Healthcare form. This form allows you to designate a health care agent to make decisions for you should you become incapacitated. These rules vary from state to state. For instance, Wisconsin is not a next-of-kin state. This means that if you are ever unable to make your own health care decisions, that ability does not automatically go to your spouse or parents. The HIPAA Privacy Rule does defer to a medical professional’s judgment in these cases, but it is much safer to complete the paperwork to ensure the people you trust have access to the information they need to advocate for your care. Fortunately, the paperwork you need to establish a legal Power of Attorney for Healthcare is readily available and it doesn’t cost anything to fill it out. You can download the Wisconsin form from this site. If you have any questions about your patient… | Read More »
How AI is driving investors toward tech stocks
Artificial intelligence has not only been influencing some of the daily news cycle lately, it also has played a key role in driving investors toward tech stocks. Some analysts estimate AI technology could boost the global economy by $15.7 trillion by 2030, and investors want to take advantage of that trend. AI stocks like Microsoft, which owns part of OpenAI, developer of the chat bot, ChatGPT, is up more than 36% YTD and has helped boost both the tech sector and an otherwise flat overall market in these past several weeks. While our investment team is not chasing these AI-related returns, they do note that their decision to remain invested in tech stocks despite some earlier headwinds, is paying off. In particular, the team has been pleased by the performance of the American Growth Fund of America (GFAFX), which is weighted toward stocks that are participating in the AI investment wave, and Invesco QQQ Trust, which is also heavily weighted toward AI-related stocks. As with any trending investment, it’s important to analyze an individual company’s ability to sustain its growth. This is especially true of investors who want to take advantage of AI technology but may not understand the full breadth of its function and impact on both the markets and the world at large. The key now and always is to build diversified portfolios with an eye on consistent performance and reasonable valuations based on fundamental metrics. It has been fascinating to watch the impact of AI technology on the global economy and we’re only in its infant stages. As we all make our way into this new frontier, we will continue to work hard to sort through both the opportunities and threats it generates and to proceed with analytical resolve. IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE INFORMATION Please remember that past performance is no guarantee of future results. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance… | Read More »
A summer checkup for your financial health
Summer is an important season to pay attention to your health. You need to watch your sun exposure, make sure all that extra sunlight isn’t disrupting your sleep and keep the weight you might gain from those ice cream sundaes under control. It’s also the perfect time to take a look at your financial health. Here are five areas you can analyze to make sure you’re in good financial shape moving forward: Do you have a budget and are you sticking to it? Are you adjusting your budget for inflation? It isn’t enough to spend less than you make, you also need to account for rising costs of essentials like food, fuel, clothing and housing. Are you saving enough for an emergency? Ideally, you should have saved three to six months of living expenses to tide you over in case of an unforeseen emergency like job loss, illness, natural disaster, fire, major appliance replacement or vehicle repair. Are you paying off your debt in the most effective way? The first step is to analyze your debt situation and review the applicable interest rates. Then, set up a payment plan and stick to it. Do you have an income gap and, if so, how will you address it? A retirement income gap occurs when your income stream from Social Security, pensions, and/or rental property is not enough to cover your retirement budget. Before you retire, you need to know how you will cover this gap. Will you withdraw from an IRA? If so, how much can you afford to withdraw without losing principle? Do you have an annuity? If so, what will your start date be to turn on your payment stream? How will taxes impact your retirement budget? It is important to know the difference between qualified accounts, like traditional IRAs and 401(k)s, and non-qualified accounts, like your checking or savings accounts. You will need to pay taxes on withdrawals… | Read More »