Does Your Financial Advisor Work for You?

As the market recovery continues, we have been receiving many phone calls from individuals looking for a new financial advisor. Most inquiries are from people who have been working with a brokerage firm such as Merrill Lynch or Smith Barney. Last year’s market rout has exposed the fact that their portfolios were not diversified, and their broker isn’t interested in proactively communicating with them. As if this is not enough, when we prepare an analysis of their current portfolio, they are often shocked to find out the true cost of this advice.

Bob Veres, author of a monthly newsletter for financial advisors explains:

A brokerage firm representative is employed by, and owes a duty to, the firm, rather than the client.

The brokerage firm representative is PAID by the brokerage firm, rather than the client.
People follow the directions of whoever is paying their income.

And (here's the biggest distinction) the brokerage firm representatives inevitably recommend investment products with a lot of buried, hidden, obscure costs that trickle out of the customer's investment portfolio into those enormous multi-billion-dollar bonus pools. By the rough estimate of one advisor, a client with a $1 million portfolio will pay at least $20,000 more in various hidden costs to a broker than he or she to a financial advisor, even if both the broker and advisor are charging the same fee amount for the planning and investment work.

This is not just an issue of finding the cheapest advisor. This is the brokerage firm putting one over on its customers, draining the portfolio in ways that are never quite visible.It's a trust issue. The brokerage person posing as a real professional is helping the firm take money which, if the consumer knew about it, the consumer would object. The difference between professionals and salespeople is the professionals disclose all costs and compensation clearly and visibly, and you know what you're paying for.

At The Asset Advisory Group, the only compensation we receive is from our clients. Period. We are never paid by an investment company or any other firm. It is important for everyone to understand how the person giving them investment advice is compensated so they can be assured their advisor is working for them and not on behalf of their employer.

By Chris Carleton, CFP®
clcarleton@taaginc.com
www.taaginc.com

Alice Came to the Fork in the Road

Alice came to the fork in the road.
“Which road do I take?” she asked.
“Where do you want to go?” responded the Cheshire cat.
“I don’t know,” Alice answered.
“Then,” said the cat, “it doesn’t matter.

I came across this quote from Alice in Wonderland last week as I was working on our company’s business plan. I think it does a great job of illustrating a problem we all have from time to time. When we try to make decisions about what to do next in our business, our personal or financial lives, we lose sight of how important our goals are in determining our next steps.

The past 24 months have emphasized how critical it is to have financial goals and a plan in place to reach them. People who set goals and monitor their progress against those goals have been much calmer and able to handle the day-to-day market volatility we’ve experienced.

People who are reluctant to set goals and establish plans are more battered by their emotions and vulnerable to the daily investment noise that encourages you to “Do something!” During the early part of this year the urge to bail out of stocks was strong. With the recovery we’ve experienced since March, some are now thinking they should be more aggressive while others are worried about another drop after the Dow Jones Industrial average reached 10,000. The answer is the market movements don’t matter. What is important is your own specific financial situation, you personal goals, and your plans to reach them.

There are tools available to help you establish goals if you don’t know where to begin. If you enjoy reading I recommend The Magic Lamp: Goal Setting for People Who Hate Setting Goals, by Keith Ellis; What are Your Goals: Powerful Questions to Discover What You Want Out of Life or Goal Setting 101: How to Set and Achieve a Goal, both by Gary Blair. At The Asset Advisory Group, we have tools available to help you set personal and financial goals as well, and can work with you to design a plan to meet them.

The happiest and most successful people I’ve met throughout my life have been people who have goals and work to achieve them. Goals give us direction and provide a positive focus when everything seems uncertain. If you aren’t setting goals for yourself, you are missing out on a great opportunity to lead a happier life.

By Jeannette Jones, CPA, CFP(r)
jjones@taaginc.com

www.taaginc.com

And Down the Stretch They Come

On a recent trip down the Historic Kentucky Bourbon Trail, I attended a brunch at Woodford Reserve Distillery in Versailles, Kentucky. The featured speaker at the event was Ellis Starr, one of the worlds’ premier horseracing handicappers. The distillery had brought Mr. Starr in to discuss the finer points of wagering at the track for the many attendees planning on spending the day at Keeneland.

Being a horseracing novice, I was intrigued by what Mr. Starr did for a living. In short, people interested in betting on horseracing will actually pay for Mr. Starr’s advice. Race tracks will also hire him to pick winners and losers for their in-house television networks that are broadcast to track patrons, off-track betting facilities and home satellite services.

As he talked about how to read a program and analyze each horse, the overall conditions of the track, the quality of the jockey and past performance of the horse, it dawned on me how similar these methods were to actively managing an investment portfolio. Was there really a method I could use to beat the odds at the track and expect better than average returns on a regular basis? There must be some hidden piece of data lurking in the race program that only I could see the right way.

Analyzing all the statistics surrounding various horses, much like investments, feels like the right thing to do. Unfortunately, the truth is whether at the track or on the trading floor, countless variables are at work that cannot possibly be interpreted with any regularity. Horses, like stocks, are going to behave however they choose to once they get out of the gate and are free to run.

My trip did not take me to Keeneland that day, but I did go back to review that day’s results as compared to the expert analysis. Much like the stock picking program offers that fill my inbox each day, a broker’s hot tip, or even my good friends on CNBC, I was left disappointed. In not one instance was the winner selected with any degree of certainty. There were a few picks that, if wagered properly, could’ve been winners, but knowing when and how to place that well timed wager would have been a gamble all its own.

What’s more, I got to hear this analysis for free. Most folks, just like in the investing examples mentioned above, pay for expert advice. This is not to disparage horse handicapping in any way, but rather to revisit that tried and true ideal that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. No investment strategy, whether betting on the ponies or the stock market, is a guaranteed winner. It doesn’t make financial sense to bet on every horse, but, fortunately, you can bet on virtually every company in the world market and ensure that, over time, you’ll have more winners than losers.

As we come down the stretch of the investing year, now is a great time to evaluate how you choose to invest. Is it a thoughtful plan based on your appetite for risk and meeting your needs in retirement? Is it being carried out by professionals with no conflicts and only your best interests in mind? Or, are you simply spending day after day at the race track that is Wall Street, leaving your money in the hands of folks that continue to sell you products and advice based on a promised level of expertise that they simply do not have?

Wagering on a race here and there can be a lot of fun, but I wouldn’t bet my retirement on it.

By Chip Workman

cworkman@taaginc.com

Charitably Inclined? Keep this in mind

There are many ways to give to charity, and perhaps the most basic is writing a check. Americans can be incredibly generous in their giving, and nearly three quarters of us give to charity every year. We each have our own reasons to give, and I would argue that the main motivator is not the tax break.

There are more than 1.4 million charities in the United States, but we typically have one charity that sits closest to our heart. For me, it’s the Ronald McDonald House of Cincinnati. The Asset Advisory Group sponsors a room in the house and I consider myself a cheerleader of the wonderful things that happen there. The house is something to be seen – it’s just magical.

This post is not to petition for donations for the house, however that wouldn't be such a bad consequence. Instead, I want to point out two things that you should keep in mind when you are giving to charity, whichever one it is:

· Focus your giving
Charities spend a lot of money trying to find new donors. It is much more cost-effective for a charity to receive from a donor who is already in their database. The Cincinnati Ronald McDonald House spent nearly $350,000 on fundraising in 2007. While that spending generated over 3 million in support, every dollar that a charity doesn’t have to spend trying to find new donors helps. Your money can do more good by being focused on just a few repeat charities every year instead of sending out small donations to many organizations.

· If your gift is a one-time thing, say so
Again, this has to do with cost. If you write a $100 check to a charity and you are confident that you will not donate to the same organization in the future, ask them to not add your name to their database. You’re actually doing them a favor, because in the years that follow your donation, they will end up spending more than the $100 that you gave trying to elicit future donations from you. Don’t feel like you’re being rude, either; it’s the right thing to do.

By Amanda Bashore, CFP(r)
arbashore@taaginc.com

The Brown Bag Check-Up

You may start off taking a couple of prescription medications and then add to your daily regimen an over-the-counter drug such as an allergy pill, a multi-vitamin and an herbal supplement without informing your doctor or pharmacist. I recently heard on the Dr. Oz Show that if you are taking a combination of more than 6 drugs (including prescription, non-prescription and supplements), you have a 94% chance of a drug interaction.

A 2004 report from the CDC found that deaths from accidental drug interactions rose 68% between 1999 and 2004. Unintentional drug poisonings accounted for nearly 20,000 in 2004, said the CDC, making it the second leading cause of accidental death in the U.S. next to automobile accidents.

As I helped my mother-in-law apply for Medicare last year, I became aware of great service offered by pharmacists and doctors. It’s called a Brown Bag Check-Up. It’s a great way to avoid medication mistakes and cut down on unnecessary medications. You simply gather all of your prescriptions, vitamins, herbal supplements and over-the-counter medications in their original packaging, put them in a bag and take them to your primary care doctor or pharmacist. He/she will:

-Review all of the medications to see if they are the same as those listed on your medical record.
-Double-check the correct dosage strength and how often you take them.
-Make sure you're not taking anything that is outdated or discontinued.
-Assess whether you are taking more than one drug for the same thing.
-Make sure you're not taking drugs that cancel each other out or give you too many side effects.

It is very important to have one doctor aware of all of the medications that you take. At the very least, you should have a list of all of the medications and over the counter drugs that you take and share it with each of your health care providers. It is also helpful to fill your prescriptions at a single pharmacy so that the pharmacist can look for drug interactions and duplications.

While it is essential to be in charge of your health care, look for ways in which you can enlist help from others as well.

By Chris Carleton, CFP(r)
clcarleton@taaginc.com

The Power of Purpose

Over the last few weeks I have been surrounded by friends and family members dealing with the challenges of an aging relative. Their specific situations and circumstances are different, but in each case I have been amazed by how much the attitude of each individual impacts their ability to cope with the issues they’re facing.

The woman who helped care for me before I started elementary school is now in her mid-80’s and has no living relatives, so my parents have adopted her as family. They make meals for her, take her to church, clean her apartment and repair what needs fixed. They are with her nearly every day, but she does not know what to do with her time when they’re not around. She has no significant health problems, but her health is failing and she is becoming very frail because she has no enthusiasm for living.

My great aunt is 101 years old and legally blind. She has lived alone in a small, three story house since her husband died over 25 years ago. A retired English teacher, she loves listening to books on tape, Marshall University basketball games and the news. She tends her small garden in the back of her house and looks forward to trips to Captain D’s for lunch with young friends. She shows no signs of slowing down.

As a financial advisor, I am able to learn from the collective experience of the people I serve. People who are happy and healthy in their 70’s, 80’s and beyond have one thing in common – they have not lost their love of life. They all have a purpose, a reason for living.

As a society we race from one task to the next, and spend very little time in quiet reflection. We need to stop and ask ourselves:
What makes me happy?
What’s missing in my life?
What will keep me going when everything isn’t perfect?

If we take time now to understand ourselves, and know what gives our lives purpose, then we can live fuller lives today and better lives beyond 100.

By Jeannette Jones, CPA, CFP(r)
Jjones@taaginc.com

5 Ways to Dodge Debit Card Disaster

Ensure Your Debit Card is a Smart Alternative to Credit or Cash

Whether it’s to avoid carrying a lot of cash or a response to the dramatic changes in the credit card industry of late, people are turning in ever increasing numbers to debit cards as a primary source of spending money. In 2010 alone, an estimated 40 billion debit card transactions will be completed. This can be advantageous to consumers in many ways, provided the potential pitfalls of debit cards are fully understood and avoided.

1. Be Your Own Overdraft Protection
Overdraft protection provides piece of mind, but often not for the consumer. A recent New York Times article mentioned that banks are looking to pocket $27 billion in overdraft fees this year alone. This protection, after all, is really just another form of credit, allowing customers to dip below the cash they actually have in their accounts to avoid potential embarrassment of having misbalanced their checkbook.
If overdraft protection is truly needed, it is just as easy to leave a set amount of money in an account, but omit it from the checkbook journal and forget it is there. This will provide a cushion of real cash to protect the account holder from an overdraft without going into debt or paying a fee.

2. Know Your True Balance
One of the ways that debit cards can confuse is in the way banks report the current versus the available balance either online or on an ATM receipt. Here, it is best to assume that the available balance is the most accurate, as it may include charges made to a debit card within that business day.
That said, care should be taken in determining what a bank includes in the available balance, as some include the amount of overdraft protection in the available balance, even if that means a customer would pay handsomely for using what’s technically “available”, not to mention being out of money and in debt to boot.

3. Don’t Try To Time Your Deposit
Banks are winning when customers play the game of running multiple transactions the same day they expect a deposit to hit. Banks not only hold deposits for several days before allowing them to clear, some are also changing the chronological order of transactions each day so that the most expensive transactions run first, often causing multiple overdraft transactions. For example, if a customer has $500 in an account and transactions that day in the order of $35, $100, and $550, they could be reordered as $550, $100, $35, causing the customer three overdraft fees rather than just one.

4. Be Secure
Debit cards are linked directly to a customer’s account and extra care should be taken when these cards are used. When withdrawing cash, use an ATM located at a bank, rather than free standing machines at convenience stores or other locations. Bank ATMs are much less prone to skimming devices used by crooks to swipe your account information.
Wherever a card is used, debit card purchases should be processed as a “credit” transaction, not a “debit” transaction where a PIN is required.
Most importantly, check accounts often for accuracy. Most banks offer some level of fraud protection, but how quickly they are notified of the fraud dictates how protected a customer truly is.

5. Don’t Lock Up Your Money
Avoid using debit cards when on the road, especially when paying for a hotel room or rental car. These businesses will insure their property is safe by selecting an amount to block on the customer’s account in case of damage. This can be as much as twice the expected transaction amount. So, if a hotel room is to cost $500 for a two-night stay, the hotel may block the customer from using as much as $1,000 in available cash. When in doubt, communicate in advance and find out what the policy is for debit card transactions.

Stay Tuned – Congress in Session

With the overwhelming popularity of the recent legislation involving the credit card industry, politicians will likely be sure to continue that momentum when it comes to the debit card industry. While this is likely to positively impact the consumer, attention should be paid to what the changes are, how they affect the consumer specifically, and what changes the banks make to counteract the legislation to make up any lost income.

By Chip Workman
cworkman@taaginc.com