Planning | Live a Life By Design

Primed and Ready to Spend

Posted on August 12, 2021August 12, 2021 by Ashley Stieb

For the past year-and-a-half, scientists raced to develop effective COVID-19 vaccines and governments and companies worked to make vaccines available. Today, seven vaccines are approved in 176 countries. More than 2 billion doses have been administered, and about 14 percent of the world’s population has been vaccinated. It’s a remarkable achievement.

While there is a lot of work left to do, the Centers for Disease Control offered new and more lenient guidance for fully-vaccinated people in May, and restrictions across the country are being lifted. The result has been a surge in social activities we used to take for granted. According to the latest Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index:

“…Americans’ reemergence is moving full steam ahead. A majority have dined in a restaurant or visited friends and relatives in the past week – and these numbers continue to climb each week…At the same time, Americans are reporting small improvements to their mental and emotional health.”

One unexpected side effect of the pandemic is Americans spent less and saved more than normal. As a result, credit card balances are lower and personal finances have improved.

You know what they say about money burning a hole in your pocket.

Americans are ready to spend some of their savings. While some remain reluctant to venture far from home, others are ready to travel. The 2021 Summer Travel Index showed:

63% of survey participants planned to take a trip in the next three months
74% planned to travel in the United States
13% will travel abroad
29% have weekend jaunts planned
28% will be traveling for 10 or more days

People who aren’t ready to travel are spending, too. Morning Consult asked Americans what they were excited about doing as the economy reopens and found that 46% were ‘very excited’ to return to a ‘normal’ routine. The list of activities includes eating at a restaurant, socializing, attending parties or weddings, going to the movies, visiting amusement parks or museums, and attending concerts and sporting events.

While having extra money inspires many people to splurge, it’s important to keep a level head. Spending has risen sharply during 2021. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, spending increased:

20.6% in January
14.7% in February
27.7% in March
14.9% in April

While the idea of ‘revenge spending’ may be appealing, very few household budgets can withstand sustained increases in spending without significant increases in income. So, as you break free from pandemic restrictions, it may help to keep some basic principles in mind:

Decide which savings habits you’d like to keep. During the pandemic, Americans saved a lot of money. The average household saved about $245 by not going out to eat, $1,400 by not vacationing, and almost $5,700 by not making major purchases, according to the Covid-19 & Finances Survey. Consider whether and how much to continue saving.
Be aware of how much you are spending. When people have extra money saved, it’s just fine to splurge on something fun, especially after a long stretch of missing out on traditional everyday activities. Decide the amount to spend and then track how much has been spent.
Eliminate things that are not needed. During the last year, many people prioritized spending differently. Optional expenses, like dry cleaning, house cleaning, commuting, and happy hours, were eliminated. In some cases, the result was an increase in savings. Review your financial priorities to see if they have changed.

Many people experienced financial insecurity during the pandemic lockdown. As a result, emergency savings accounts and other types of saving have become more important. If your financial priorities have shifted, be sure to talk to a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™. Spending less and saving more may help you build wealth and improve financial security.

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Planning Ideas for Life Transitions

Posted on July 30, 2021July 30, 2021 by Jimmy J. Williams, CPA/PFS, CFP®

Life has a funny way of creating stressful activities for us. During the span from birth to death, we experience many different situations that require the best in us at the worst of times. Consider the change in life caused by divorce. Many people face this difficult event and do so without proper advice and consultation from a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional. This could spell disaster for the person.

A divorce requires a marital balance sheet from the litigating couple with appropriate titles of the assets disclosed to the court. In many families, one of the two parties has a significantly higher employer plan account such as a 401(k) plan and the other party may be entitled to a portion of this account during property settlement. The best method of transitioning this asset to the other party is through a Qualified Domestic Relations Order. This document, when properly prepared within the IRS regulations, allows the receiving party to accept the funds on a tax-deferred basis in the same manner the account owner held the funds.

The primary issue of this type of transfer is that the recipient of the funds must pay tax to remove funds from the receiving IRA. This may trigger additional penalties, depending upon the age of the recipient, and significant taxes.

A better approach to property settlement is to allocate taxable and tax-deferred assets in a ratio that allows the receiving party to access needed cash for the transition of life without incurring penalties and taxes. The receipt of assets in a divorce are not taxable to the transferee party or deductible by the transferring party.

We believe it is a win-win for the divorcing couple to amicably allocate the assets in a manner that allows each party to continue life with the least amount of disruption. Further, you should request your attorney engage a Certified Financial Planner™ professional to assist in cash flow and income tax planning before the documents for property settlement are prepared. This approach saves the individual money, time and frustration in the process of getting on with life.

Another transition in life is the passing of a spouse. This is a different approach than the separation of a couple by divorce. It is necessary that proper titling of assets and structure of the estate be performed. Changes are being considered by Congress and the president that will require reconsideration of existing estate planning documents. For example, the estate exemption may be lowered considerably from its current amount of $11,700,000. Many families that previously assumed their assets would pass to their beneficiaries tax-free may find themselves with a rather large tax burden.

Benjamin Franklin stated it best, “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes.” If Mr. Franklin, and his heirs, would not be offended, I offer to include in his eloquent statement “…and changes in the tax laws of the United States.”

Key points for your consideration are: 1) consult a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional if considering a divorce; 2) if in divorce at the present, seek an analysis of the types of assets owned by the married couple; and 3) prepare a plan for post-transition that will allow you to minimize taxes and maximize cash flow so that you may achieve a lifestyle of your choosing.

Life may present you challenges but you don’t have to face them alone. Contact a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional to help you plan for the best outcomes in your life. See you on the jogging trail!

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Freedoms and Opportunities

Posted on July 2, 2021July 2, 2021 by Jimmy J. Williams, CPA/PFS, CFP®

Sunday, we celebrate the founding of our country, the United States of America! For 245 years this land has offered opportunities in abundance to those who wish to grow their wealth. Hard work and perseverance are the two primary ingredients to creating and maintaining your family’s security. Today, I may reminisce about the opportunities I personally experienced as a citizen of this great country but many people have enjoyed the fruits of this fine land.

The future of the United States of America has always been about freedom. People from hundreds of countries across the globe have sought America as a land for their realization of a more secure future for their families. One of the greatest tools that allows U.S. citizens and residents to achieve their dreams is capitalism. Think about the number of immigrants who achieved wealth and fame by bringing their work ethic and creativity to this country. For example, Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay. Pierre is a French citizen who had a goal of developing technology in the United States that would allow people all over the world to interact and share interests. With revenue in excess of $10 billion, I would say that Pierre has realized his goal!

Along with the freedoms we enjoy in our country, we must accept our responsibilities as citizens. Not only did Pierre become uber successful, he shared his wealth by establishing a philanthropic foundation that supports others who simply wish to receive a hand “up” not a hand “out”. By sharing his wealth with others to build a better community and create opportunities for promising Americans, Pierre has been recognized and honored with a Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy.

It is often forgotten that we have a duty, as Americans, to help our fellow man from the benefits we have gained our wealth. Libraries, schools, hospitals, and other critical structures in our communities, across this land, are built from the wealth earned by those capitalists that sought and achieved greatness. One of the greatest experiences a successful entrepreneur can acknowledge is the granting of opportunity to someone who, similar to himself, only needed someone to believe in their potential.

Our local community has benefited greatly from the generosity of such wonderful entrepreneurs and business people like Clark and Wanda Bass, Mike and Nancy McGowan, Gary and Ruyana Fugitt and many others. These dynamic families saw a need in their local community, and the State of Oklahoma, and sought a means of providing support. To build on their initial and abundant contributions is the responsibility of the next generation – you and me.

Take a look around at the many benefits we share as citizens of this, the greatest country on the planet, the United States of America. I have been fortunate to travel to many countries and am always proud to see home.

We are not a perfect country but we are country that continually seeks a better way of life for its citizens. You want to be a success in the United States of America? Roll up your sleeves, serve others in a manner that will help them solve their challenges and you will realize success beyond your imagination! Who knows? You may develop the next SpaceX, eBay or Facebook. When you do reach the pinnacle of success, remember your responsibilities and help others climb along with you to reach their potential.

May God continue to richly bless each of you as you seek your opportunities and may He bless the United States of America. Happy birthday, USA!

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The Secret To Investment Success

Posted on June 25, 2021June 25, 2021 by Jimmy J. Williams, CPA/PFS, CFP®

The most negative action to reaching your goals in investing your retirement assets is emotion. Markets, by their very nature, expand and contract in every cycle. Why is it important to state the obvious? When humans invest, two emotions play a part. For example, when the market indexes are setting new records for growth, investors tend to become greedy. As soon as the expansion has cycled down and contraction in the economy is prevalent, fear becomes the emotion of the day.

To control your emotions while investing for your future, it is critical that you understand three factors about the process. First, if you are investing for your retirement, you must acknowledge the process is a long-term perspective. The assets you accumulate in life must sustain for at least thirty to forty years in retirement. With this mindset, you establish a personal investment policy that helps you capture market gains with a minimal amount of risk that you are willing to accept.

By focusing on the term of your income needs in retirement, you can weather the, somewhat volatile, market cycles without excess worry. Let’s face it, everybody worries about something, right? When you initiate your savings plan during your career, the accumulation phase consists of thirty to forty years as well. What this means is that the same approach to investing for your retirement will serve you well in retirement!

The second negative to reaching investment success is continually changing your investments based on returns. There have been many occasions in which an investor has irreparably harmed their success for retirement by simply trading their account excessively. For example, we developed a plan for accumulating a client’s retirement assets. Based on the age of the person, his risk tolerance and projected cash flow needs in retirement, he only had to follow through on the plan. However, he allowed emotion to overtake him when a colleague appeared in his office one day and remarked about the excessively high returns, he was experiencing in his employer’s retirement plan.

Our client decided the well-planned approach founded in logic was not meeting his needs because the markets would yield a much higher return. This is the emotion of greed taking control of the investment process. Within a year, the market cycle collapsed, and his portfolio had fallen by 50%. Imagine the next meeting we held with him and provided a comparison of his current allocation and results to that of the original allocation for his future. He was devastated and an emotional wreck!

The story does have a silver lining. We worked with him to formulate a plan that would place him back on track but required he work three years longer than he originally planned. Allowing your mind to host greed and fear has consequences. The probability of his lifetime plan for retirement being a success is very good.

Of the three negatives that can cause significant harm to your investment success is a concentration of investments. Diversification of risks within a portfolio helps you weather the market cycles by eliminating, or attempting to reduce, the impact of significant market volatility. In recent years, daily market swings have become the rule not the exception. Early in my career, I recall substantial swings in the S&P 500 Index would only be 10 or 15 points. In our current economic conditions, it is not uncommon to see fluctuations of 30 to 40 points in the index.

To allow yourself the highest probability of success in your investments, it is critical that you avoid emotions serving as guiding force, stick with your plan for saving and consistency will help you achieve your goals and diversify your portfolio to capture opportunities for reasonable returns in the long-term. A few small errors in investing can give rise to very large costs in your future savings. Seek the assistance of a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional to help you establish a long-term plan that will give you confidence and clarity about your future. Until then, I’ll see you on the jogging trail!

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Timeline To Retirement

Posted on June 10, 2021June 10, 2021 by Jimmy J. Williams, CPA/PFS, CFP®

When making lifetime decisions it is critical that adequate time and consideration be given to the issue. Life has a way of paying us dividends based on the planning for events that we wish to occur. By reading this article, you will be more prepared to reach your desired results in life.

First, think about the desired outcome you seek. If you decide to retire, at some point in the future, it is integral to the level of success of this goal to plan accordingly. By initiating this process of systematic saving in your 20’s, the probability of success is higher than if you wait until you are age 60 to begin.

We highly recommend that anyone planning to retire, in the next five years, give significant thought and planning to the design of this period of life. For example, will you travel, buy a second home, make substantial gifts to grandchildren or charity? These are worthy endeavors. However, to reach your goal you must plan for these expenditures.

Second, review your lifestyle needs. Oh, I didn’t define the difference between a need and a want. These two types of lifestyle goals are very different. Our brains are wired for gratification. I call this the “monkey” brain. We can’t seem to keep this “brain” focused on the important tasks in life because we are battling an insatiable hunger for fun and immediate responses. So many people have been trapped in poorly experienced retirements because of this phenomenon.

To plan for long-term results that provide for your needs and wants, you must engage your “sage” brain which is the thought process that makes humans unique from animals. Your “sage” brain says, “When I start my first job, I will save 10% of my net earnings for my future.” The battle starts and “monkey” brain sees every toy that you have ever wished for and couldn’t afford. “Don’t worry about the future, live for today,” says “monkey” brain. You must be focused in the early years of life to create a future that is substantial.

Lastly, start today planning for your future. If you wish to live a life by design, it takes planning and soul searching. Retirement is a phase of life than can be tremendously enjoyable when planned accordingly. Seek out a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER^® to help you create your dream for the future. You will be glad you did!

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Small Mistakes, Big Consequences

Posted on May 21, 2021May 21, 2021 by Jimmy J. Williams, CPA/PFS, CFP®

As humans, we make mistakes all the time. Some mistakes may relate to your career choice. Other mistakes may relate to the location of your home. However, some of us make, seemingly, small mistakes and don’t realize the impact the outcomes will bring to our lives.

Small mistake #1: Failing to save for retirement early in your career. When a person is 23 years of age, the future seems so distant. Their entire career is just launching from the starting gates of their recent college graduation and time is their friend. Fast forward twenty-five years and the person is looking at their future with a different lens. Kids, mortgage, car payments, and other living expenses caused by the choices made many years earlier has redirected their otherwise retirement savings to current expenses of life.

The obvious outcome is one that none of us wishes to realize – working until we are much older than we would prefer. By initiating your future savings at the beginning of your career, time and compounding of money will help you realize your financial goals later in life. Start with your employer’s plan and contribute at least the amount the company will match. For example, if your employer matches 5% of your salary then you should seek a goal of contributing 5% of your salary. The math is easy on this one. You will have doubled your contribution amount annually with the employer’s matching contribution. Let’s assume the markets treated you favorable and the investment in your employer’s plan grew by 8% for the year. Now, you can experience growth far beyond your 5% initial deferral from your salary.

Small mistake #2: Failing to live within your means. A philosophy practiced in our retirement planning business is one of “pay yourself first” for our clients. You want to do things differently in your life than most of your friends – save first, spend second. What this means is that you will treat your retirement contributions as a priority before incurring and spending your earnings on current pleasures of life. Too often we experience clients that meet with us that have all the toys of the day but lack any liquid savings or future investments.

Maximize your probability for retirement success by implementing a budget and focus on “paying yourself first”. By taking a more realistic approach to your future, you will continue to enjoy life and enjoy it more abundantly when you retire. Of course, prudent investment selection and monitoring are critical during the accumulation phase of life. You may wish to seek the guidance of a Certified Financial Planner practitioner to initiate your plan and provide you annual feedback on your progress.

Small mistake #3: Allowing your credit card balance to remain unpaid after one month. This is something that too many of us fall victim to early in life and it is a difficult problem to solve if left unattended. Based on a survey performed by Nerdwallet in January, 2021, the average balance carried on a credit card is $7,149 and the U.S. household will pay interest charges of $1,155 on average for 2021. Further, the survey discovered 63% of the responses indicated that they feel their household finances have worsened from that of the previous year.

The best method of controlling the interest accruing on credit card balances is to remember the card is for emergency purposes only. Do not use a credit card for a purchase that can’t be paid in full with your current savings or income. To be obvious, the use of a credit card is a means to live outside your current means.

To resolve this mistake, use a debit card that immediately withdraws the funds from your bank account. Another method of solving the credit card debt issue is to ask your credit card issuer to draft the full payment each month from your checking account. This is a critical step since you must be certain the funds are available for the payment each month.

Lastly, place your credit card in a small plastic bowl of water. Place the bowl in the freezer and leave it there for about 3 days. Remove the bowl and note the credit card is safely stored in a block of ice that requires thought and effort to free the card. I know this sounds silly, but it is effective for those people who are impulse buyers with their credit cards.

Don’t wait to improve your life by eliminating or resolving these three little mistakes from your life. Seek out a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional to guide you in managing your cash flow to maximize your future savings. What have you got to lose? Worry, anxiety, stress, etc. See you on the golf course!

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It’s About More Than Numbers

Posted on May 10, 2021May 10, 2021 by Jimmy J. Williams, CPA/PFS, CFP®

Too often we paint someone with a broad brush as to their contributions to the world solely based on the group in which they are a member. For example, medical doctors may specialize in a field that allows them to focus on a specific area of the human body. These physicians are capable of providing you general advice and medical care but may also provide you greater, more detailed, information pertaining to a particular illness such as kidney ailments or cancer of the brain.

Wealth advisors are individuals who may specialize in certain areas of financial matters that a particular segment of the population needs. For example, many wealth advisors focus on corporate executives and their unique compensation opportunities. Other advisors may focus more on the intricacies of Social Security Benefits and less about long-term market investments.

To be certain, your life is more complex than simply working with numbers to reach your lifetime goals and dreams. It is vital that you consider the qualitative factors in your life as much, if not more so, than you do the quantitative factors. My case in point is the life of a lady we will call “Jane”. By all outward appearances, Jane had all that was needed to sustain her the remainder of her life and leave a legacy for her children to expand their wealth. A couple of years after her husband’s passing, we asked Jane if we could meet to discuss the important matters in her life. She assumed we were talking about her accounts and showed up with her Financial Organizer we provided when initiating the relationship.

Immediately, we recognized that Jane had not understood what we wished to discuss with her. After explaining the importance of happiness in her life, we asked her a few simple questions to initiate this subject. “What is one thing that happened recently that made you smile and one thing that was difficult?” She looked up at me and began to create a big smile on her face. She exuberantly stated, “I had the best time recently volunteering as a cancer patient attendee!” I asked her, “What of that process made you so happy?” She responded in a way that made me realize she had found a new purpose in life. “When John was dying, I had no one that understood, truly understood, what I was going through at that time in my life. By helping these terminally ill individuals live a more fulfilling life and knowing that someone understands the palette of emotions they are experiencing, helped me heal and find happiness again.”

We continued to discuss this wonderful opportunity for Jane to serve and offered her some qualitative advice. “Why don’t you establish a self-help group or lead others in the process of caring for terminally ill individuals that provides dignity, understanding and compassion?” This new form of serving her fellow man gave Jane the emotional support she needed to truly live again after the loss of her husband.

As wealth advisors that specialize in retirement planning, we place a significant amount of importance on helping clients understand, and navigate, the maze of life after the loss of someone special. We are proud of our technical competence and expertise. More importantly, we are most humbled that our clients know that we are here as a resource for more than numbers.

As humans, we are all different in some way. However, we all need emotional support, in addition to financial advice, to truly live a rewarding life. It is not all about the numbers unless you are talking about the lives you touched in deep, emotional moments that helped them see life in a better way.

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Estate Tax Changes May Affect You

Posted on April 22, 2021April 22, 2021 by Jimmy J. Williams, CPA/PFS, CFP®

Big projects and changes in the operations of government are always sought by new presidents with in their first one hundred days in office. President Biden is no exception to this trend.

However, one of the areas of change proposed by the new administration is estate taxation. Under current law, most citizens’ estates in the United States would be well under the exemption allowed of $11,700,000. For those whose estates exceed this exemption amount, the rate at which their estate value is taxed is 40%. The current law is set to “sunset” after 2025 and the exemption would be returned to $5.5 million which would subject many more estates to taxation.

Biden has proposed a significant reduction in the estate exemption to $3.5 million and a limit of $1,000,000 on lifetime transfers. To provide some historical context, when I began my career as a CPA, the estate exemption was $600,000. While seemingly low, it did require many families to liquidate assets of their estates to pay the assessed tax. There were exceptions to the $600,000 exemption for farms and other “family-owned” businesses.

In the proposal to reduce the estate tax exemption, the proposed lifetime transfers limit of $1,000,000 will require many families to perform considerable planning to minimize the tax burden caused by such a low threshold. Under current law, the lifetime transfers, called “inter vivos gifts”, would be exempt from tax up to the amount of the estate exemption of $11.7 million. By uncoupling the exemption and gift tax amounts, many families will reassess their gifting plans for the next generation.

One of the most significant changes in the proposed law is the removal of the “step-up” in basis doctrine allowed by law for more than 50 years. Many attempts have been made over the years to repeal this valuable tool for estate planners. To understand how drastic this change would be to most American families, let’s consider the family home being bequeathed to the children of a decedent. When the parents purchased the home and 640 acres in 1960, the price paid of $25,000 would be their basis in the property. However, during the period of ownership by the parents, natural resources and subsurface mineral deposits of a vast amount were discovered. The land is now worth $5 million (keep in mind this is meant to be an educational example). Under current law, the heirs could sell the property immediately after the death of the parents and receive $5 million tax-free. Fast forward to 2022, assuming Congress passed the bill requiring taxation on capital gains and the lowering of the estate tax exemption to $3.5 million, the heirs of the estate would receive only $4.4 million after the payment of estate tax. The capital gains assessed on the conveyance would be another $1,386,000 to be paid by the heirs upon sale of the property.

To summarize our very simple example, the total value of the property inherited would be $5,000,000. However, under the proposed law changes by the current administration of our government, total taxes in the amount of almost $2,000,000 would be assessed the transactions. Today, if this same scenario occurred, the family would be exempt from all estate and gift taxation as well as no capital gains tax producing a savings of $2,000,000 to the family.

Allow me to reminisce for a moment. In 2010, the United States had an unlimited estate exemption meaning any citizens dying in the year could pass all of their estate assets to their heirs without U.S. estate tax being assessed. The owner of the New York Yankees, George Steinbrenner, had an estimated net worth of $1.4 billion at the time of his death in 2010. His passing in 2010 enabled his heirs to receive his net worth without paying any estate tax to the United States.

This is the thought behind the removal of the “step-up” in basis doctrine and lowering of the estate tax exemption. However, many Americans who have worked diligently to provide for their families and became successful over time may now be caught in the net of taxation at a time they can least afford it. Most family-owned small businesses may be worth more than $3.5 million but lack the liquid assets to pay the tax burden. This scenario would require the sale of the company, or at least its assets, to pay the tax. This draconian approach to taxing the middle class will not bring much treasury to the coffers of the United States.

Estate laws are very complex. If you wish to maximize the amount of assets you wish your heirs to inherit, now is the time to create a plan. Seek out the advice to take advantage of opportunities to reduce the burden of taxation on your wealth. Contact a CPA and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional to assist you in creating and maintaining a plan for your future. I’ll see you on the jogging trail!

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The Cost of Cash

Posted on April 9, 2021April 9, 2021 by Jimmy J. Williams, CPA/PFS, CFP®

One of the most important areas of planning for a secure future is to be able to weather the storms of life without invading your long-term investments. When working with a new client, we always ask questions regarding their current monthly living needs. By monitoring and managing your basic living needs such as food, shelter, clothing, entertainment, gifts, etc., you can determine your cash needs on a monthly basis.

This is the first step to developing a cash management plan that will serve you well in life. Once you know the cash flow need for a typical month, it is critical that you expand the thought process to cover a period of 90 – 120 days. Should a catastrophic event affect your family you will be confident that you can sustain your lifestyle without negatively impacting your future by withdrawing retirement assets prematurely.

The process of cash management is a delicate one. There is such a state of having too much cash. Yes, you read the sentence correctly! When a portion of your overall net worth is in cash you are experiencing something negative in your overall financial picture – loss of purchasing power. One of the most critical costs of retaining cash is that you lose the opportunity for the investment (cash) to maintain or exceed inflation with growth. A prime example is a recent client who came to meet with us for retirement planning. When we spoke about his overall wealth, he was rather proud of the fact that he had accumulated what he thought would be sufficient assets to live the life he desired.

However, when we applied inflation and taxes to the overall asset structure he maintained currently, he was not so happy. When your investments are stressed with the actual costs of living, and we all know that inflation and taxation may be present during our lives, the overall balance of assets for your lifestyle is less than the amount you currently see in your bank account.

The key to creating and maintaining a successful cash management program is in the process you utilize for your total investment portfolio. Cash is important and should be maintained in your financial plan. To arrive at the appropriate amount of cash needs it is critical you analyze your spending for a period of a month that is typical of your life. Do not measure a month like November when you are buying more food for Thanksgiving or gifts for Christmas. Rather, choose a month without these extraordinary expenses and evaluate what you are truly using the cash to provide you.

Once you understand where your money is being utilized, you may wish to make some adjustments. Now multiply the amount of cash flow needed in the month you analyzed it and multiply it by 3 or 4. The result of this calculation is the amount of cash you should maintain in a checking or savings account. If it sounds like you are losing money on these funds by not investing them in something that will meet or exceed inflation, you are correct. However, the real purpose of these funds is to provide you confidence and security if, or should I say “when”, a disaster was to strike your family.

Review your cash balance account every month and make certain you return it to your target amount. This is your security blanket. It is a good practice to analyze your spending at least one month per month to determine if you need to adjust your cash balance account for possible changes in life such as added prescriptions, increases in insurance needs, etc.

It is critical you plan properly for the future while sustaining your lifestyle today. If you don’t feel secure about your future, it is time to seek help. Contact a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional to assist you in creating and maintaining a plan for your future. I’ll see you on the golf course!

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Millennial Perspective: Planting Roots in a Pandemic

Posted on April 2, 2021May 13, 2021 by Ashley Stieb

As a millennial, buying a home is already hard enough. Trying to save up enough money for an average 6% down payment, trying to determine how much home we can afford, trying to find the time to house hunt, and battling debt to income ratio. Now we are dealing with a seller’s market with some of the lowest interest rates we have seen in years and a pandemic. Many of my fellow millennials are trying to take advantage of these low rates, but it has been a bumpy ride for a lot of us. Throughout this article I will recount my personal experience buying a home as well as the experiences of others in my generation in the past year.

Let us rewind to March of 2020. I know, this is not the best month that we have all had, but it was certainly looking like it was going to be for my husband and me. We had found a home that we both loved at a price point that was perfect in a buyer’s market and we were prepared to take this giant step towards this milestone. We settled on an offer with the seller, signed a contract, and we were on our way. Then the pandemic hit.

Our situation completely changed. We were no longer in a place where we could get the home. Thankfully, our sellers, lender, and realtor worked with us and we were able to essentially pause the whole process. It was only supposed to be two weeks, right? Then two weeks turned into a month, then two months, and so on. When we finally got back to a place where we could proceed, my husband and I ultimately decided that the time was not right and we needed to wait until COVID-19 blew over, so we ended our contract.

Ending our contract and losing the opportunity turned out to be a blessing in disguise because we also decided to move closer to family. Not being able to see anyone and not knowing if we may ever see them again due to a deadly virus makes you think about where your heart is meant to be. We packed everything up a few months later, moved across the state, and devised our new plan. We would rent for another year and look at plans to build our dream starter home the following summer. Then the market flipped, and construction costs rose nearly 130%! It was back to the drawing board for us.

The small community we are now living in is growing and many houses on the market are new construction. Since this was no longer a viable option for us, we would need to find a completed home, but any homes that were listed were typically off the market within 24 hours, were pocket listings, or they entered bidding wars which drove the price up tens of thousands of dollars. This made our search a little tricky. Thankfully, an opportunity to buy a perfect home fell into our laps. We are now back on track to buying our first home. It feels that we got lucky.

I have seen many of my friends post on social media or reach out with the news that they have also found a home. It is great news, and it makes me happy to see so many people in my generation finally able to reach this milestone. I have discussed experiences with several of them and their stories sound very familiar. They spent countless hours searching for homes on sites like Zillow and Realtor.com with little luck. When a home is found and an appointment is secured to view it, it is off the market. You do not get a lot of time to think about the investment you are about to make and practically must sign an offer within hours of viewing the home. The whole task can be very daunting compared to last year’s market. However, with today’s low rates it is something that we simply cannot pass up.

All this to say, hang in there millennials. The timing for buying a house is perfectly imperfect right now. Do not get yourself down if a home falls through. It just means that something better is waiting for you around the corner. Buying a house is a huge step and you do not want to get roped into something that you will regret. Keep searching and the right opportunity will come to you!