We all want to stay informed when it comes to investing but it’s more important to make sure the research you’re doing isn’t actually misleading us. Unfortunately, some of the information out there isn’t completely unbiased. Let’s talk about some of the problems with the financial media. Plus, we have a big announcement!    Show notes and additional resources: https://theuswealthadvisors.com/2020/01/helping-you-find-bias-in-financial-media/    Today's rundown:  0:56 – We have some news! This is the final mission. 2:51 – Today we’re talking bias in financial media.   3:29 – First bias: Sensationalism 6:06 – Second bias: Paid Placement 9:17 – A common way paid placement happens on radio to build credibility for advisors. 11:03 – Third bias: Wrong Audience 14:08 – Fourth bias: An Axe to Grind 16:40 – What does J’Neanne tell her clients about dealing with these biases?

Your Financial Mission

Helping You Find Bias in Financial Media

Not everyone chooses to leave a financial legacy, but if you’re someone who would, then estate planning is crucial. Make it a part of the conversation when you’re working on retirement, but make sure you avoid these critical mistakes.   Show notes and additional resources: https://theuswealthadvisors.com/2020/01/estate-planning-mistakes-you-need-to-avoid/    Today's rundown:  0:56 – Happy New Year! How were the holidays? 4:08 – It’s a great time to start talking about your estate plan. 4:59 – How many of J’Neanne’s clients have an interest in leaving an estate? 6:39 – No matter what your plans are, you need to have a plan for your exit. 9:41 – First estate planning mistake: Failing to plan for expenses that can be foreseen, like healthcare. 12:14 – Second mistake: Failing to update beneficiary designations.   13:26 – J’Neanne shares a story of someone that didn’t finish updating his beneficiaries. 15:20 – Third mistake: Failing to take steps to avoid conflict between family and heirs. 17:55 – Fourth mistake: Transferring real estate while living rather than upon death. 20:35 – Final Mistake: Failing to consider the tax obligations of your estate. 23:10 – How often are you discussing estate planning with clients? 27:00 – Remember that your legacy doesn’t always have to be monetary.

Estate Planning Mistakes You Need to Avoid

Mutual funds have long been a popular investment option for people saving for retirement, but is the landscape changing? We’ll take a deep look into mutual funds, explain some key terminology, and discuss whether it’s a good option or not.   Show Notes and Additional Resources: https://theuswealthadvisors.com/2019/12/the-ins-and-outs-of-mutual-funds/    Today's Rundown:  0:56 – It’s the final show of 2019. 2:07 – How many of your clients owned mutual funds when they first came to see you? 4:06 – How many of those clients actually understand those mutual funds? 5:08 – What is an expense ratio and why is it important? 9:21 – What about the term ‘loaded’? What does that mean? 12:36 – Are there tax issues to consider when investing in mutual funds? 15:19 – Do you use or recommend mutual funds? Where do they fit into your planning? 18:00 – Do people selling mutual funds adhere to the fiduciary standard? 19:46 – It’s important to remember that owning mutual funds doesn’t necessarily mean your diversified.

The Ins and Outs of Mutual Funds

There are so many parts of your financial life that are out of your control, so why would you sabotage your retirement by failing to handle the things that are within your control? Many people do this but you don’t need to be one of them. Let’s discuss some ways people sabotage their own financial health.   Show Notes: https://theuswealthadvisors.com/2019/12/ways-that-we-sabotage-our-retirement/    On This Episode:  1:20 – Previewing the show today. 2:27 – In the News: The Social Security Administration announced a 1.6% cost of living adjustment that will be added to the 2020 monthly benefits.   4:59 – Did you see this? A British man spent $30,000 in legal fees and court costs fighting a $100 speeding ticket. And he lost the case… 7:12 – Let’s talk about what we can do to avoid sabotaging our own retirement. 7:40 – Obsessing over the short term ups and downs. 10:28 – Starting Social Security at the wrong time.   11:47 – Pretending like the risk of nursing home stay is so far in the future that you don’t need to worry about it right now.   13:47 – Assuming just because you like your job now means you’ll enjoy it forever. 15:38 – Not identifying how much you need to spend for the rest of your life to enjoy the lifestyle you want.

Ways That We Sabotage Our Retirement

Are you ready to start taking Social Security benefits? Do you feel knowledgeable on what strategies to put in place to make the most of it or are you falling for some of these common misconceptions when it comes to Social Security?   Show Notes: https://theuswealthadvisors.com/2019/11/top-5-misunderstandings-about-social-security/   On This Episode:  2:50 - In the News: When looking at the presidential candidates for 2020, how might they impact the market? 7:24 - Did you see this: Couple arrested for spending $120,000 accidentally added to their bank account. 11:44 - Misunderstanding #1: Social Security is going broke. 14:29 - Misunderstanding #2: You should start Social Security as soon as possible. 15:40 - Misunderstanding #3: Delaying Social Security as long as possible is usually best. 16:57 - Misunderstanding #4: The Social Security Administration can help you choose the best strategy. 17:59 - Misunderstanding #5: You don’t have to pay taxes on Social Security.

Top 5 Misunderstandings About Social Security

Financial planning is more than just spreadsheets and dollar signs. It includes a lot of tough decisions and emotions that need to be communicated to your loved ones and advisor. Are you avoiding these awkward conversations when it comes to your finances?   Show Notes: https://theuswealthadvisors.com/2019/11/are-you-having-awkward-financial-conversations/   Today's Rundown:  3:37 - In the News: Elizabeth Warren proposes $20.5 trillion health care plan. 12:59 - Sometimes planning your finances includes awkward conversations. 13:26 - What happens after the death of the first spouse? 15:30 - What happens if nursing home care is needed? 18:57 - Do you need to work longer than planned? 20:17 - Do your children understand your estate and legacy plan? 22:32 - How do you separate from an advisor that is nice but not a good fit? 26:53 - Getting to Know J’Neanne: What presentation could she give right now?  29:00 - Mailbag: The roller coaster of the market drives me crazy. Does that mean I should get out of the market and invest in a different way?

Are You Having Awkward Financial Conversations?

We know another downturn in the market is inevitable, but how long will it be until the next ‘crash’ happens? Will it hit us as hard as 2008? We’ll ask J’Neanne to give us her thoughts on the subject and what we can do as investors to prepare ourselves for that day. On this episode:  4:28 – What’s to come on today’s show. 5:25 – In the news: At what point will the 2020 election begin to impact the way investors behave? 10:17 – Introducing a new topic on the show, ‘Did You See This.’ In this first installment, we discuss a marriage dispute that includes the husband hacks into his wife’s bank account from space. 14:04 – Let’s begin our conversation on market crashes. 14:46 – What is J’Neanne telling clients about when it might happen?  16:57 – Will the next crash be as severe as 2008? 18:22 – Even just a smaller correction can have an impact on someone retiring soon. 19:22 – The moves might seem larger but we’re in a higher place than 2008. 20:48 – Why don’t we just go to cash if we’re worried about a market crash? 24:07 – The key point people need to remember is the market isn’t static so there will be another upward turn after the drop. 26:58 – Mailbag question: It seems counterintuitive to move out of a house I paid off ten years ago but I’m about to retire and might move into a rental so I don’t have to worry about repairs and expenses. What do you think? Show notes and additional resources: https://theuswealthadvisors.com/2019/10/what-will-the-next-market-crash-look-like/

What Will the Next Market Crash Look Like?

Whether you’ve been working on your retirement plan for years or just beginning to get around to it, your focus needs to increase as you approach the end of your working career. That final decade before retirement gives you the chance to get everything in order so you aren’t left scrambling. Today we’ll run through a list of items that you need to be paying attention to. Today's rundown:  2:25 – Previewing today’s show. 3:13 – In the news: A new trend in the wedding industry: wedding loans. What are J’Neanne’s thoughts. 7:40 – What J’Neanne told her daughter about spending when she got married. 11:30 – Moving into the main topic of what you should pay attention to during your final decade of work. 12:00 – First item: Decide what’s important to you. 13:50 – Item 2: Know your numbers. 14:43 – Next item: Estimate your income streams. 16:40 – Item 4: Get a handle on healthcare.    18:45 – Final item: Think about how much your needs will change. 21:23 – When is the best time to go in and meet with an advisor to start running through these things? 23:55 – Getting to know J’Neanne: What is the most universally well-known movie that you’ve never seen. 26:49 – Storytime: Have you ever had someone take so long on a decision related to their investments that it ended up hurting them in the end? 29:11 – Mailbag question: I’m getting close to retirement but I’m worried about a market crash coming before I get to the finish line. Will I be okay for the next six months? Get the full show notes and additional resources by clicking here: https://theuswealthadvisors.com/2019/10/preparing-for-retirement-during-your-final-decade-of-work/

Preparing for Retirement During Your Final Decade of Work

In this series, we’ll look at some of the most widely believed financial myths and try to bust them wide open. There are many people that base their decisions on these myths and that’s scary. We want to make sure you aren’t making any mistakes based on misinformation. Today's rundown: 2:14 – Introducing the topics for today’s show. 2:37 – In the news: Democratic presidential nominees proposing plans to forgive student loan debt. J’Neanne gives us her opinion and shares a solution she thinks could work. 9:11 – Time to continue the financial myth-busting series.   9:31 – Recapping the myths we covered in part 1.    9:50 – Myth: You’ll probably be in a lower tax bracket when you retire. 11:49 – Myth: Financial planning is much easier without an advisor now because of all the technology available.     13:39 – J’Neanne shares a great example of why you need someone that can provide context. 14:42 – Myth: Longterm care is not going to happen to me.    18:42 – Getting to know J’Neanne: If you didn’t have to sleep, what would you do with all that spare time? 20:35 – Mailbag question: I’ve seen a lot of growth in my 401k recently and I feel like I should take risk off the table by capturing these gains. But what happens if the market keeps rolling for a couple more years? Check out the full show notes and get additional information by clicking here. 

Busting the Biggest Financial Myths – Part 2

In this series, we’ll look at some of the most widely believed financial myths and try to bust them wide open. There are many people that base their decisions on these myths and that’s scary. We want to make sure you aren’t making any mistakes based on misinformation. Click here to see the full show notes. Today's rundown: 2:03 – What’s in store on today’s episode. 2:39 – Quote of the month: “I made money the old fashioned way, I very was nice to a wealthy relative right before he died.” 4:20 – In the news headline: Uber Eats running a test program where they will use drone delivery.   9:53 – Time to start the financial myth-busting series.    10:44 – Myth 1: Shifting from stocks to bonds removes the volatility from your portfolio. 13:48 – Myth 2: Once you’re retired, life insurance is no longer necessary.    16:35 – Myth 3: You will need less income once you retire.   20:25 – Getting to know J’Neanne: Who is someone that always makes you laugh? 20:07 – Mailbag question: What kind of annual return should I be seeking on investments in retirement?

Busting the Biggest Financial Myths – Part 1

Even if we stay on top of our retirement planning, there are life events that shake up everything we’ve done or force us to rethink our path. In this episode, we identify some of those events that create a sense of urgency within us and discuss how to be best prepared if they happen to you. Check out the full show notes for this episode here. ----more---- Today's rundown:  4:54 – Loss of a job creates urgency. J’Neanne shares a client story. 6:50 – Receiving an early retirement buyout offer. 8:31 – You should always be looking for opportunities even if you’re comfortable.   9:00 – When your retirement date is closing in on you.   11:10 – Why it’s difficult to plan for retirement over a short period of time.   12:25 – The death of a spouse.    14:09 – A market crash will get someone to react quickly. 19:26 – How can you plan for these things that aren’t expected? 18:56 – How to use these concerns to adjust your retirement plans.

Scenarios That Create Urgency in Your Financial Plan

Nearly all of us have the same end game in mind, which is to make it to retirement and enjoy our lives in whatever way we choose. But how much we need in retirement varies from person to person. We all have our own definition of financial security, and today we’ll talk about some of those meanings. If you'd like to see the show notes, click here. ----more---- Take a look at today's rundown below: 0:54 – J’Neanne is back from a family vacation. 5:40 – Introducing why financial security is today’s topic. 6:14 – Explaining what’s mean by ‘I don’t want to be a burden on my kids.’ 8:52 – Why you should discuss this with your children. 10:50 – J’Neanne shares her personal experience having the conversation with her mom. 13:17 – After retiring, some people want to stay active with work or a hobby.   14:55 – For some people, cash flow is the driving concern behind financial security. 16:58 – People that want to stop watching the volatility of their accounts. 18:56 – How to use these concerns to adjust your retirement plans.

What Does Financial Security Mean to You?

Whether in retirement or behind the wheel, it’s good to have a plan and a pulse on what is happening around you. Knowing the rules, the technology, and your motivation all plays a part in the route you take with your retirement planning. In this episode, J’Neanne covers a few different topics happening in the news, such as self-driving cars. Then, she answers three questions from the mailbag, including one from someone with a lack of drive to leave a legacy. See the show notes and read more here. ----more---- Check out the full rundown for this episode: 3:32 – In the News: Ford plans to have 100 self-driving cars by this year. 8:31 – Regardless of new technology, financial advisors are still important. 13:05 – In the News: Congress is working on a bill to raise RMD age. 15:57 – Mailbag: Estate planning without plans to leave a legacy. 19:38 – Mailbag: Are all long-term care policies expensive? 22:35 – Mailbag: Having a hard time spending money in retirement, is something wrong?

The Driving Force Behind Your Retirement Plans

There are plenty of proverbs that aren’t meant to be about money, but we can easily learn a financial lesson from them anyway. We’ll show you the hidden money meanings behind some of these popular sayings and answer a question from the mailbag about changing annuities. Full show notes: https://theuswealthadvisors.com/2019/07/what-popular-proverbs-teach-us-about-money/ ----more---- Strategy Points:   In The News 1:51 Investing in IPOs Several tech companies have gone public (or they will be) including Uber, Peloton, Pinterest, and Zoom. Do you recommend people invest in IPOs? J’Neanne says generally no because there are a lot of unknowns. If you look at Facebook and Amazon, they are not really profitable, but they have high revenue. Unless you are working in the company and have company stock, you are gambling and speculating and that’s not usually the prudent choice to make with your retirement dollars. Financial Proverbs 8:00 “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” The idea of this proverb is that sometimes it’s best to focus on what you already have instead of worrying about trying to get more. And at some point in your financial life, you should be more focused on not losing your savings instead of trying to maximize the return on your investments. You cannot maximize a return without taking risk. Are you taking risks without compensating? 10:06 “A rising tide lifts all boats.” Everyone is a genius if the market is going up and you’re invested in the market. But the reverse is also true. 11:47 “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” We saw what happened in 2008 -- most people got burned when they were all in one side of the market. This is why it’s so important to diversify in the financial world. A lot of people still make the mistake of putting too much stock in a company for which you’re also working. J’Neanne shares a story of someone who worked at Fannie Mae and put thousands into company stock. 15:23 “One man’s trash, another man’s treasure.” People passing around stock tips is a great example of this. Remember that your situation is unique, and your expectations are different from everyone else. Just because someone is recommending something to you doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to be a good fit and a successful venture. For example, if you have a pension, you may not need an annuity. Whereas for someone else, an annuity might make sense. Mailbag 21:22 Martin: Changing annuities Martin says he has money in an annuity but isn’t very happy with it and wants to move it to a different annuity. Will there be a big penalty to take the money out of the current one to move it? This is called the surrender charge and every annuity has one depending on how it is set up. An annuity company is an insurance company and people will buy the annuity for the guarantee, so it’s important to know what you bought. Because of the guarantees, the money is expected to stay there for a while. If you are not happy, it’s important to figure out why. There are advisors who use annuities as part of the planning process and then there are just annuity salespeople. So, if you move to a new product you need to make sure you don’t move to the same thing. Remember, there needs to be a motivating reason to move from one annuity to another. J’Neanne’s office has an annuity analyzer to help people understand how it works and provide options. Annuities, when appropriate, need to be part of an overall plan. They shouldn’t be implemented as one-time purchases disconnected from a big-picture plan. 

What Popular Proverbs Teach Us About Money

 The term “fake news” has become synonymous with the political climate of the past few years. But the phenomenon has spread to other parts of our culture as well. What about fake news in the financial space? We’ll look at some recent news headlines to see if they qualify to be labeled as “fake news”. Full show notes: https://theuswealthadvisors.com/2019/06/how-fake-news-impacts-your-financial-choices ----more---- Strategy Points: 2:00 In the News: Brexit Will Brexit impact our economy in the U.S.? J’Neanne shares a few reasons why people are in favor of Brexit. You might get a spike up or down in the market, but the decisions will pan out and likely not affect the U.S. economy significantly. 7:15 What is fake news? It’s easy to use hyperbolic language to create a sense of fear. The news makes you move, one way or another. 8:40 “Social Security going broke!” Somewhat true in that it will be insolvent by 2035. Congress will have to find a way to continue benefits. With more people taking Social Security distributions, it is draining the fund more than ever before. But when you build up an economy where people are paying taxes, that’ll help replenish the Social Security fund. 10:31 “Buy gold now!” The news claims the dollar will crash and gold will rise in value. You should ask, how does the rate of gold get established? Right now, our dollar is stronger than ever with a stable government and economy compared to the rest of the world. 12:58 “Nursing home costs poised to bankrupt millions of Americans” Nursing home costs are indeed going up. As a culture we have begun outsourcing care and there isn’t a huge supply. It won’t bankrupt people, but you will spend down assets faster. If you don’t have the money, then you will be in a Medicaid home. 16:05 “Market crash--coming soon!” How do you define soon? Market crashes can happen from a number of things, but it’s hard to actually predict a market crash. Even weather can impact the market, be it flooding or hurricanes or tornadoes. 19:24 Additional fake news headlines Be careful about what is being sold. Maryland just suffered its largest ponzi scheme. You need to see documentation to not get sucked into a scam. You have to be careful on the sites that you frequent, there is a lot of clickbait and also sponsored posts with hidden agendas. 23:15 Getting To Know You: Big trouble J’Neanne had some fun as a teenager when she lived on base but got pretty scared when she got caught riding a Suzuki 90 without a license. 26:33 Mailbag: Buying a new car Bradley says his wife just totaled their car. They would need about $30,000 to get a new one, but they only keep $1,000 in the bank. Should they get the money from their IRA and pay taxes? Or use after tax money and pay capital gains? First, who was at fault? Insurance should cover some of it. You can get a car loan if you have to get a car right away. Try to buy a new-used car and then pay the loan down with the insurance money. It’s a bad idea to go into the IRA unless it’s a real emergency.   The Spy Kit: Click the image to get a free retirement rescue toolkit. More Intel: The host: J'Neanne Theus - Contact - Call: (443) 718-6310 Subscribe To The "Your Financial Mission" Podcast: Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Google Play Stitcher 

How "Fake News" Impacts Your Financial Choices

Weekly investing and financial planning guidance with your Financial Commander J'Neanne Theus in Columbia, MD.

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Your Financial Mission

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