If you are part of the Boomer age group, you may have to work much longer than expected to save enough for your anticipated long life.

Today's Boomers: Ready for Retirement?

The ‘Boomer Generation,’ those born between 1946 and 1964, have a great outlook for a long life since they will outlive previous generations by almost 40%, compared to their great-grandparent’s generation.  However, this generation faces circumstances that many of them didn’t plan for:

• Not saving enough to offset the disappearance of pension payments for their entire life. 
• They are living longer with increasing healthcare costs for supplemental insurance outside of Medicare.
• A rocky economy and the stock market as they entered retirement or while accumulating retirement assets.
• 42% with no retirement savings and 38% having less than $100,000 in retirement savings according to a 2018 study by the Insured Retirement Institute.

The generation that thought their retirement would be on the golf course and that they would never get old turned out to be ‘not so great’ at retirement planning.  When 401(k) plans started in the early 1980s, many boomers chose not to participate, leaving them to make investment decisions about their retirement savings without professional guidance and often investing in products with poor returns. With an extreme retirement crisis unfolding, what can the financial industry do to help?

• Provide comprehensive, centralized services for financial planning that consolidates investment information in one place, regardless of the investment or where it’s held. Many in this generation have investments in 8-10 places, making obtaining current performance information difficult.
• Streamline rolling over employer retirement savings plans while still employed so they can be efficiently managed; many employer plans offer no financial advice leaving employees to try to maintain their accounts themselves.
• Ensure the right financial products are low cost and accessible to the retiree and meet their individual needs, not the needs of the fund or portfolio manager.

If you are part of this age group, you may have to work much longer than expected to save enough for your anticipated long life. It is essential that you seek out guidance and have a financial plan prepared.  Additionally, take a realistic look to see if it will even be possible for you to retire at the age you intended. I am here to help you as you determine if you’re ready to retire or need a revision in your retirement plan and its investments.

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Financial Literacy in America: We are Failing

“Financial literacy refers to the set of skills and knowledge that allows an individual to make informed and effective decisions through their understanding of finances. Education on the management of personal finances is an essential part of the planning and paying for post-secondary education.”- Webster’s Dictionary.

Financial Literacy includes having a basic understanding of how to pay bills online, manage bank accounts, manage debt, fill out income tax withholding forms at work, and understanding how to save and invest. If financial literacy is education, shouldn’t it happen in schools?

Unfortunately, most school districts don’t offer a financial literacy course, and most colleges don’t either. That leaves financial literacy up to parents to educate their children, individuals to learn on their own, or education through a trusted source.

Numerous studies indicate there will be consequences that will hurt our country for years to come. How can we overcome a lack of financial literacy in America?

Bring Financial Literacy into the Work Place. When employees are invited to attend workplace classes on budgeting, saving, and investing, they are more likely to save for retirement and not live beyond their means.  These classes are commonly conducted by the financial advisor that oversees the company retirement plan, the HR Department, and other financial literacy educators.

• Attending an employer-sponsored retirement seminar saw a net worth increase by nearly 27% for those who were in the lowest income bracket (Dartmouth College Study). 

Require a Financial Literacy Class to Graduate.  Only 17 states require a financial literacy class to graduate from high school (the latest study released in 2018):

• Zero - The Number of States that require passing of a test on basic financial concepts.
• Zero - The Number of States that have added financial literacy courses since 2014.

Financial literacy experts know that teaching people how to manage their income and expenses and giving them a basic understanding of financial concepts will enable them to have financial successes regardless of their future income.

Credit Scores Improve After a Financial Literacy Class.  Having trained teachers that know financial literacy content can help develop better credit behaviors early, even in childhood if offered through the school system. This leads to making on-time payments and understanding how to manage debt and credit.

Who Can Help if You Have Questions About Basic Financial Concepts?

• A capable educator or financial literacy teacher
• Securities licensed Financial Advisor
• A Certified Public Accountant (CPA)

Financial illiteracy affects all ages and all socioeconomic levels. It’s up to all of us to improve financial literacy here in the U.S. if we are to move away from being a debt-ridden society and toward being a society that has financial security.

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Financial illiteracy affects all ages and all socioeconomic levels, and it’s up to all of us to improve financial literacy here in the U.S.

Financial security starts with saving and investing, reducing debt and having the appropriate level of insurance coverage that increases as you accumulate wealth over your lifetime.

Insuring for Your Level of Wealth

Insurance is not always an exciting topic to talk about, but financial planners are well aware of the risks their clients can face when they are underinsured. Whether it is homeowners insurance or life insurance, the different types of risks people face can easily wipe out a portfolio or other assets when their clients are unprepared with inadequate levels of coverage. The more wealth people have, the greater exposure they have to other threats such as cybersecurity and unfortunately lawsuits; these are the types of incidents many people fail to consider when determining their policy coverage amounts. Amassing assets is one thing, but keeping them safe is another. Consider finding out more about these types of insurance to help protect your wealth:

Life Insurance and Long Term Care (LTC) Insurance- These are both primary types of insurance for protecting assets for the living. Life insurance should calculate on income replacement and asset accumulation of the deceased for many years, the impact to the beneficiaries from their income loss during the adjustment period, and paying off all outstanding debt associated with the deceased.

LTC insurance protects assets that would otherwise need to be liquidated to pay for individual care in an LTC facility for an extended period. Depending on your state of residence, minimal assets are shielded from liquidation to pay for care with your home being one of the only assets protected if you’re the remaining spouse.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) covers money deposited in member banks for up to $250,000 per depositor per bank, and per ‘ownership category.’ Depending on the type of account and the ownership category, coverage can easily exceed beyond the $250,000 per depositor level.

The Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) secures your cash and securities in member brokerage houses against the failure of the firm and theft. The maximum coverage of SIPC protection is $500,000 which includes a $250,000 limit on cash. You can structure your accounts in different ways (called “separate capacity” by the SIPC) to increase your total coverage. SIPC insurance is automatically part of investor protection when you invest in a member brokerage house. However, SIPC insurance does not cover investment loss due to declining stock market valuations.

Liability Coverage- if you own property such as a car or own a business, liability coverage is added to your insurance policies beyond casualty coverage for your homes, commercial buildings and your vehicles to cover beyond the repairs of the incident, injury, or death in case of being sued. For individuals with a high net worth, this is a way to offset millions from being liquidated from your assets if you end up in a legal battle with a lawsuit award going to the other party.

Umbrella Insurance Coverage is added additionally beyond regular property and casualty coverage and can cover items of value such as art, jewelry and sometimes irregular catastrophes such as identity theft or cybersecurity attacks.

Financial security starts with saving and investing, reducing debt and having the appropriate level of insurance coverage that increases as you accumulate wealth over your lifetime. These are not the only types of coverages available but are a good start if you have concerns about being insured for your level of wealth.

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Financial Advice Before Turbulent Times

It is human nature to seek advice only when things aren’t going as planned or when some unforeseen situation arises. Take one’s health for example- some people routinely have an annual exam, while others seek medical advice only when they suspect a health problem and the symptoms have become severe. Just like seeking medical advice only when something is wrong, some seek financial advice from a professional only when the stock market and their investments are experiencing turbulent times. 

Being reactive during turbulent stock market periods sometimes leads people to consider leaving their current financial advisor to one that wants to change their entire portfolio composition during a market downturn. Moving investments over to a new advisor during a bad time can be a bad decision when investors fail to consider the possible longer-term consequences of liquidating portfolio holdings at a low valuation and then repurchasing new shares. Advisors that are ready to move a client’s assets during their lowest valuation are not working in the client’s best interest and may be working for the commissions created through the client’s panic.

Here are few things to consider before the turbulent period arrives:

• Market swings are a sign of a healthy market that is working toward a market correction.
• Don’t make sudden decisions to quit investing or ‘go all in’ and keep investing through dollar cost averaging over the turbulent times the stock market may be experiencing.
• Your investment’s time horizon is likely over many years (20 or more years) and not affected by a drop over a short period. Consider how long your 401(k) will be in the accumulation stage; it has experienced many market swings.
• Short term investments should be moved into cash and not the stock market if you think you will need it in the next one to two years.
• Evaluate your advisor’s performance during the good and bad times the stock market is performing. If there are issues that can’t be resolved, the best time to change advisors (and your portfolio) is when market valuations, and your portfolio’s valuation, is positive.

If you have concerns about your portfolio and how it will fare when the stock market corrects itself again, now is an excellent time to meet for us to develop a plan for the future. The best time for making financial decisions is during ‘the good times,’ not the turbulent times when an investor may be prone to emotions hindering good decisions.

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The best time for making financial decisions is during ‘the good times,’ not the turbulent times when an investor may be prone to emotions hindering good decisions.

SAI April 2019 Newsletter Approval 2472808.1

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