Is your head in the sand?

...Remember that if your head is in the sand, your butt is exposed.  This is not the best scenario to manage your finances or your life. Yet, it is the position of choice for many of my clients.  There idea that If they don't see or hear what is happening, then all is OK?  This myth has caused many good, hard working people to end up losing their life savings and there self-confidence. 

What I am suggesting is that we all take a few minutes to learn about our Financial Fitness.  The Financial Fitness I am talking about is the process we use here at the Success Alliance.  We are interested in assisting you to:

·        Build Financial Muscle

·        Discover your Financial Strength

·        Develop Financial Stamina

·        Plan for Financial Longevity

We all understand the Fitness concept, yet how does this model apply to your money?  The bottom-line when you apply this simple method of putting your finances on a path to become‘Wealthful” you are becoming a Financially Fit and responsible individual.  (Wealthful was a word developed by Eric Butterworth, an author who wrote hundreds of books, articles and essays on prosperity.)

What Wealthful, means is a way for you to establish yourself; to be conducive to prosperity. This is the "what" the Financial Muscle needs to be exposed to; Wealthful ideas, such as taking workshops, attending lectures on Investments, thinking, reading and challenging yourself to think out-side the box of the negative chatter to believe that you too can have a Wealthful life by working on your Financial Fitness.

Some of the Financial Fitness questions you can ask yourself, are?  How many of you know what your net worth is?  How many of you know if you own life insurance?  Is it Term or Whole Life Insurance?  Do you know where the Will is and if you do-Why don't you have a Trust to protect your assets, your wishes and your family? Do you have Long-Term Care?  What is the mix in your portfolio? Do you have a 401k with a company you no longer work for?

We are living in a critical time where everything we grew up with and believed in is on shaky ground and only we can change this scenario by taking our heads out of the sand, and work on building our Financial Fitness Plan.  A Financial Fitness Plan is a plan the fits your dreams, desires, wishes of a life-style for now and the future.

So, once you’ve removed your head from the protection of the sand, one of the best ways to improve your financial situation is to work on "Finding your Stuff".  Once you know what you have you can make decisions on how to plan.  

Have you ever thought about your Financial Fitness?  Being Financially Fit is about understanding your personal wants and needs, finding balance, risk tolerance levels, your age factor and years to retirement.  These are just few of of the suggested items we check when we begin building your basic Financial Fitmess Plan.  You can see that being Financially Fit is about your willingness to take your head out of the sand and realize you have choices.

At the Success Alliance we specialize in Financial Fitness Planning.  What is Financial Fitness Plan?

Roth Conversions

It’s no secret that the United States faces serious problems in continuing to run budget deficits year after year; the U.S. Debt that is now over $14 trillion and continuing to grow by leaps and bounds.

It is not commonly thought of as one of the largest public obligations, but the taxes due on qualified accounts are. Qualified accounts such as IRAs and 401(k)s are the traditional retirement vehicles of choice used to ‘save’ or defer taxes until retirement, rather than paying taxes on the initial contribution. Uncle Sam has a vested interest in these retirement accounts as the IRS is due some percentage of the accumulated balance upon distribution. The percentage, of course, is determined by Uncle Sam and will be based on the current need to keep the Government operating and U.S. Debt situation at the time, which is likely to increase significantly.

A Roth Conversion can tremendously mitigate the future taxation in retirement. Call me to find out how the Roth Conversion fits in today’s economy and how we can save you taxes at retirement.

Kate Walsh
0F#61686
760.716.1505

In the Struggle to Rebuild Assets, Women Are Finding a Greater Burden

It goes without saying that few of us have been left untouched by the global economic crisis. Whether it’s a lost job, lost assets, or even a change in how we view asset allocation, most of us are climbing out of this deep recession altered in some way. But a new study has found something else: The financial crisis has perhaps had an even more profound effect on women than men.
To be sure, discussing the problems that women investors are having in comparison to their male counterparts can be a sensitive issue. This is especially true when we focus on baby boomers. This is, after all, a generation of women that has made serious headway in almost every facet of our lives: In education, in culture, in the corporate world and in politics—think of those “18 million cracks in the glass ceiling” that almost-president Hillary Clinton spoke about. So why then would these women be struggling more than men in the aftermath of the financial crisis?
A Survey of Concerns and Expectations, sheds some light on this quandary. First, in the past 12 months women were less likely than men to have made changes to their stock investments. Roughly 60% of women did not make changes, versus 49% of men. Although an equal number of women and men (six in 10) think investing in equities is important for reaching their retirement goals, 60% of women said they are not confident that investing in equities is a good idea, compared to 47% of men. Additionally, 62% of women who responded to the survey said they lack confidence in their ability to invest in equities, compared to 42% of men. Compounding the problem, fewer women (16%) than men (25%) have increased their investment contributions. About half (49%) of all baby boom women have decided to delay retirement because of the market downturn. Nearly four in 10 (39%) of older baby boom women (aged 55 to 64) have also gone back to work after retiring.
Financial Coaches agree that women have two primary pre-requisites before making major financial decisions or changes.　 First, they want to work with coaches/advisors who listen to them and who take the time to understand their concerns, goals and objectives regardless of their age or financial situation.　 Second they want to make informed, educated decisions. This has been my experience, but more than that women are most concerned with having as much information as possible before making major decisions about their finances.
　As I speak with more and more women, I am finding that those who did not have an advisor or felt that they did not have access to financial education prior to the downturn, have been slower to react to take control of their finances. We have found that once these two objectives have been met, women are eager to move forward and take the necessary action to work toward both their short- and long-term financial goals.”
The struggle for women to recover lost assets goes beyond investment strategy, however. It is important to keep in mind that women are still often paid less than men. It is also noted that women are more likely to take time away from their careers to raise a family. Both of these factors can result in decreased retirement savings during those early career years when their male counterparts are building their investment accounts, she says. Women are also more likely to be the primary care provider for their partner or aging parents later in the careers.
“This can also impact a woman's ability to systematically save for retirement, while also decreasing the potential for compounding.”
We recommend that to rebuild their assets, women of all ages should start with a budget and move forward from there. When the SUCCESS team meets with clients they make sure they are maximizing their saving goals. Women (as well as men) should also contribute to their defined contribution plan at least as much as the employer is willing to match. Another important factor is determining risk tolerance; we find that while many women will say they are conservative, this is not always indicated in their risk tolerance questionnaire.
“Some women may need to be less conservative in their investing to help increase their retirement saving”. “If a woman’s financial situation and risk tolerance questionnaire suggest a higher risk tolerance, they should consider adjusting their investment strategy accordingly. Younger boomers in particular may have a higher risk tolerance and can consider an investing strategy that is more aggressive.”
As an older Boomer, I coach my clients based on their needs, desires, time to retirement and values. Please call me with your questions, and let‘s see how I can serve you.
　

Money Matters

Money only grows when it is circulating!

Welcome to Money Matters a column written by Kate Walsh, financial coach.

Transforming our dreams, desires and passions into our reality takes vision, commitment and money.
Many of us are great at the dream, desire and passion process and we can even envision our success, yet we seem to fall just a little short of manifesting the funds necessary to honor our commitment to ourselves and build  success.
Realizing that money and creating cash flow is about taking action by gathering information, identifying and understanding what resources will be needed. It is this action process that allows the commitment to your vision to actually manifest itself. It is not a passive process. It is about understanding how money works.
So what do women do? We network!  We then start asking our friends ”Who do you know?” Then we gather the information, do the research and analyze the information. It is all about the process of growing money. Next, we transform our new powers into our vision and then we manifest the money needed to build our dreams, fulfill our desires and realize our passions. Yes, there is much more, such as building your Vision Statement, Business and Marketing Plans, forming your organizations, finding key players to support your dream and growing money to pay for it all.
The fact is money only grows when it is circulating.  As a Financial Coach when my clients have asked me “what” to do to raise money for their business, I suggest a variety of ways, but the one that is the most fun and allows you to learn the most about money is a Money Club. I have suggested many times that my women clients form Money Club’s.  It is a great way to build financial knowledge and learn how to invest.  Use the power of the group; this is a case where “more is better.” You can build the wealth needed to fulfill all your incredible dreams, by beginning the simple process of creating a Money Club.
There are several books you can purchase online, or you can Google search to see if there is a Money Club in your community.
About Kate Walsh

Kate’s Facebook Page

Kate Walsh has been involved in the financial world for over 30 years. Kate’s passionate about her work, which is “To bring financial clarity to women, and assist them to develope financial clarity.

Kate holds numerous certifications, licenses and is committed to her personal philosophy “to be in a continual process of improvement.”

Join Kate as she explore “what’s” possible in creating your Prosperity Consciousness.



For more information you can email Kate at kate@successalliance2.com
Specializing in Financial Services, Coaching, Prosperity Thinking and MoneyWorks Workshops
California License-0F61686