Wealthcare For Women

Last Friday, March 8th, was International Women’s Day.

With that in mind, today I’d like to share some thoughts on aging and the opportunities and challenges it creates, especially for women.

First, I invite you to watch this 16 1/2 minute YouTube video of Dr. Charles Eugsterspeaking at TEDx Zurich about “Why Bodybuilding At Age 93 Is A Great Idea.”

Clearly, Dr. Eugster isn’t a woman, but I think his entertaining message carries a lot of important ideas regardless of your gender. For instance, he suggests that retirement is a big contributor to our mental and physical decline. [click to continue...]

saving and spending (Photo credit: 401(K) 2013)

As a woman, you have financial needs that are unique to your situation in life. Perhaps you would like to buy your first home. Maybe you need to start saving for your child’s college education. Or you might be concerned about planning for retirement. Whatever your circumstances may be, it’s important to have a clear understanding of your overall financial position.

That means constructing and implementing a plan. With a financial plan in place, you’ll be better able to focus on your financial goals and understand what it will take to reach them. The three main steps in creating and implementing an effective financial plan involve:

• Developing a clear picture of your current financial situation
• Setting and prioritizing financial goals and time frames
• Implementing appropriate saving and investment strategies

[click to continue...]

Ida May Fuller, the first recipient (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ever since a legal secretary named Ida May Fuller received the first retirement benefit check in 1940, women have been counting on Social Security to provide much-needed retirement income. Social Security provides other important benefits too, including disability and survivor’s benefits, that can help women of all ages and their family members.

1. How does Social Security protect you and your family?

When you work and pay Social Security taxes, you’re paying for three types of benefits: retirement, disability, and survivor’s benefits. [click to continue...]

If you like political drama, you’re in luck. It seems like just yesterday the news was filled with references to the fiscal cliff. Now, coming to theaters everywhere, is “sequestration.” Look for more political confrontation to unfold as sequestration gets under way.

What exactly is sequestration?

“Sequestration” refers to a series of automatic, across-the-board spending cuts to federal government agencies that are scheduled to take place in fiscal years 2013 through 2021. The cuts, totaling $1.2 trillion, will be split evenly between defense and domestic discretionary spending. The cuts are effective March 1. (The cuts were originally scheduled to take effect January 1 but were postponed to March 1 as part of the last-minute fiscal cliff deal reached on New Year’s Day.) [click to continue...]

The Start-up of You (Photo credit: marklarson)

On Valentine’s Day last year, Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha released a book titled “The Start-up of You.”

Reid Hoffman is a serial entrepreneur and the founder of LinkedIn, the 200 million member social network for professionals.

I haven’t read the book, but I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of its message. And I think you should become familiar with it, too.

You see, about a week ago, the authors released a slideshow summary of their book to commemorate the book’s one year anniversary. If you didn’t click that last link, click this one and go through the 190 slides when you have a few minutes.

Whether you’re a college student, an entrepreneur, a professional, a blue-collar (or no-collar) worker, a retiree, a divorcee or a widow, I think there are some important takeaways from this slideshow.

Many financial “experts” and advisors would have you focus on lots of small changes like skipping your morning Starbucks or reducing your cable TV bill. And while some of these small changes can make a difference over time, I think the real opportunity is focusing on bigger decisions that will lead to a bigger impact in your life.

Instead of saving $2-3 per day by skipping Starbucks, why not ask for a raise at work, make some money with a small home-based business on the side, or sell some things on Craigslist or eBay? I’m not saying you can always “have your cake and eat it, too,” but why not give it a shot?

Rather than a mindset of scarcity and sacrifice, adopt an outlook of abundance and opportunity. Remember, we all get one shot at life, and it’s that one shot that I help my clients make the most of.

Continue to learn. Continue to adapt. Continue to contribute and add value to others. Continue to be curious.

These are the lessons I got from these slides, and whether you’re 18 or 80 years old, I think this is something important to think about.

If you know someone else, young or old, that might enjoy these slides, please share it with them. You never know what impact it might have on their lives or the lives of their friends and family.

And when you’re ready to explore the things that will make a big impact in your life and the lives of those you care about, I’d love to talk with you about it. You’re always welcome to call my direct line at 404.254.6993.

To better understand the nature and scope of the advisory services and business practices of Wealthcare Capital Management, Inc., please review our SEC Form ADV Part 2a, which is available here. Past performance is not a guide to future returns. Before acting on any analysis, advice or recommendation in the above content, you should seek the personalized advice of legal, tax or investment professionals. By selecting the links in the above email, you may be redirected to third party websites not under the supervision of Wealthcare who may have different privacy policies than Wealthcare.

English: Monaco, Monte Carlo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Named after the games of chance in the casinos of Monte Carlo in Monaco, Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) uses random sampling of returns to execute simulations for forecasting financial strategies. During an analysis using MCS, a large number of trials are performed using an expected return and standard deviation that the advisor (or client) has selected to constrain the data. By adjusting key variables (such as asset allocations, retirement spending needs, retirement age, etc.) and applying client priorities, the advisor may create a strategy with a high confidence in achieving goals in a variety of markets.

How do we apply Monte Carlo in the context of Wealthcare For Women?

The Wealthcare For Women process is designed to help women achieve their most important financial goals without needlessly sacrificing their lifestyle and while avoiding unnecessary investment risk. Wealthcare For Women planning is designed to help every woman live her life in financial security.

The priority assigned to each of a woman’s goals, along with the investment risk the client is willing to accept, combine to set the stage for the Monte Carlo Simulation analysis. In this analysis, we determine the likelihood the client may successfully achieve her objectives by simulating various market performances over the client’s lifetime and assessing the impact of these markets on the client’s most important financial goals.

This analysis, while complex, is easily understood by the summary numeric results described below:

• The Summary states the number of simulations that achieved an ending value greater than the target value. This number is also stated as the percentage of simulations in which the client’s valued goals were achieved or exceeded.
• In addition, the Summary states the number and percentage of simulations that ended below the targeted ending value but did not run out of money during the client’s lifetime.
• The Summary also states the number and percentage of simulations in which the plan ran out of money prior to the end of the planning period.

The results of the Monte Carlo Simulation analysis may also be expressed in terms of the Comfort Assessment, indicating whether the client may have confidence that the tested strategies will be comfortably achieved or whether the goals fall into Uncertainty or Sacrifice.

When I work with women in the Wealthcare For Women process, I repeatedly encourage them to focus on the things we can control like expenses, taxes, their goals and investment risk.

For things we can’t control, like the investment markets, MCS is a valuable tool to account for the uncertainty of investment returns while helping us make the most of your one shot at life.

To better understand the nature and scope of the advisory services and business practices of Wealthcare Capital Management, Inc., please review our SEC Form ADV Part 2a, which is available here. Past performance is not a guide to future returns. Before acting on any analysis, advice or recommendation in the above content, you should seek the personalized advice of legal, tax or investment professionals. By selecting the links in the above email, you are being redirected to third party websites not under the supervision of Wealthcare who may have different privacy policies than Wealthcare.