Women Need Financial Planning

Time for some startling statistics…

According to research by Wells Fargo, affluent women are significantly less confident about retirement than men. The least confident of all are single women, and the most confident are married men.

About 700,000 women will lose their husbands this year.  The median age when a woman is widowed is 59.

So…women are less confident than men, they are often widowed at a young age, they live on average longer than men and they control more and more of our nation’s wealth. 

What to do?  Women must take charge of their own financial lives.  This means-

1. Selecting a competent Financial Advisor who is willing to take the time to explain investing and insurance concepts and options to you, with patience and in terms that you can understand.  They should also be able to concisely explain to you the ways in which they are compensated by fees and / or commissions.
2. Doing a budget and understanding your spending and cash flow needs.
3. Where possible, spending less and saving more.  You really cannot save enough money for retirement.  Social Security might not be around in its current format for younger people, most of us no longer have pensions, we have to worry about historical inflation of 3-4%/year, we are living longer / being kept alive longer and the costs of college, healthcare and long term care are all skyrocketing. 
4. Defining your important financial goals, both short and long-term.
5. Gathering up your financial account statements and making folders or a binder for them, so you have records of all of your accounts and know where to find them.
6. Taking the time to work with your trusted advisor to develop a living, comprehensive financial plan that (minimally) addresses retirement, survivor and estate planning.

If you would like assistance with determining what your important financial goals are and how to achieve them, please feel free to contact me at (585) 340-2229.  Thank you.

Susie L. Light
Financial Advisor

(This article contains the current opinions of the author but not necessarily those of Brighton Securities Corp.  The author’s opinions are subject to change without notice. This blog post is for informational purposes only. Forecasts, estimates, and certain information contained herein should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation of any particular security, strategy or investment product. References to specific securities and their issuers are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended and should not be interpreted as recommendations to purchase or sell such securities).

Bargain Hunting

Last Tuesday, the S&P 500 closed below its 50-day moving average for the first time since December, 2011. A sign of trouble, this came after the markets have pulled back recently, due to factors such as European sovereign debt fears and a sluggish jobs report last week.  Wednesday saw a nice rebound, however, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up about 100 points and the S&P 500 about 12 points as of 3:00pm. Excellent earnings reports from Alcoa and a positive homebuilding report have helped fuel today’s rally. 

 What does this mean to the individual investor?  While stocks are still in positive territory for the year, and many are still near their historical highs, the recent pull-back means there are some bargains to be had. 

 Remember that nothing has changed in terms of the fundamental keys of successful investing…diversification, buy and hold good dividend-paying companies, buy low and sell high and dollar cost-averaging (among others).   This is a good opportunity to dollar cost-average into quality companies that are now a little more attractively priced.  This means putting a little money at a time into the market, thus lowering your average cost.  It also is a lower risk method of getting participation in a rocky market than dumping all of your money in at once.  Companies that I like include Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY, $32.65.sh., 4.16% dividend), Coca Cola (KO, $72.21/sh., 2.835% dividend) and Intel (INTC, $27.89/sh., 3.01% div.). 

 The use of quality mutual funds is a great way to get exposure to a large basket of great companies like these with a small sum of money.  They are very conducive to setting up an automatic periodic dollar cost-averaging program.

 If you would like a complimentary review of your portfolio or to discuss comprehensive financial planning (retirement, insurance, retirement income, long term care, disability, survivor, estate and college planning) please contact me at (585) 340-2229.  Thank you.

Susie L. Light
Financial Advisor

(This article contains the current opinions of the author but not necessarily those of Brighton Securities Corp.  The author’s opinions are subject to change without notice. This blog post is for informational purposes only. Forecasts, estimates, and certain information contained herein should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation of any particular security, strategy or investment product. References to specific securities and their issuers are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended and should not be interpreted as recommendations to purchase or sell such securities).

Risk

“Risk means more things can happen than will happen.”  – Elroy Dimson

“Investing consists of exactly one thing : dealing with the future. And because none of us can know the future with certainty, risk is inescapable. Thus, dealing with risk is an essential-I think the essential-element in investing. It’s not hard to find investments that might go up.  If you can find enough of these, you’ll have moved in the right direction.  But you’re unlikely to succeed for long if you haven’t dealt explicitly with risk.  The first step consists of understanding it.  The second step is recognizing when it’s high.  The critical final step is controlling it.” – Howard Marks

So, how do I suggest my clients deal with risk?  First, I practice Modern Portfolio Theory.  The first thing I need to know about a client is how risk tolerant they are.  The second thing is their financial goals.  That’s why I walk everyone through a process we call Envision Planning.  With these building blocks in place, I can develop with my clients the right asset allocation – that is the right level of risk – for them.  From that, I can utilize Modern Portfolio Theory to help maximize gains given the level of risk determined by our planning.  It’s a prudent and thoughtful system I stand by.

If you are interested in my approach on how to deal with risk to optimize your returns, please contact me at 585.340.2212 or by email at mfrancis@brightonsecurities.com.

Mike Francis
Vice President
Brighton Securities

(This article contains the current opinions of the author but not necessarily those of Brighton Securities Corp. The author’s opinions are subject to change without notice. This blog post is for informational purposes only. Forecasts, estimates, and certain information contained herein should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation of any particular security, strategy or investment product. References to specific securities and their issuers are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended and should not be interpreted as recommendations to purchase or sell such securities).

As Good As It Gets?

Recently my DVD player abruptly stopped working after a decade of service.  Without another DVD player handy, I was relegated to watching VHS movies on my VCR from college.  Over the past few days, I’ve watched As Good as It Gets.

Near the climax of the story there’s a dialogue between two of the main characters, Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson) and Simon Bishop (Greg Kinnear):

Simon Bishop: But Melvin, do you know where you’re lucky?
Melvin Udall: [Shakes head no]
Simon Bishop: You know who you want; I would take your seat any day!  So, so do something about it!  Go over there, now, tonight.  Don’t sleep on it.  It’s not always good to let things calm down.  You can do this Melvin…you can do this!  You can…

This dialogue made me think of how “lucky” those are that have a plan compared to those with no plan for retirement (or haven’t gotten around to it).  Those who have a plan have invested time and consideration in their future.  They’ve thought about how they want their retirement to be and a strategy for how they can do it.  After all, “a goal without a plan is just a wish.”

Others that don’t know where to turn or how to get started, may be thinking is this “as good as it gets?”

If you’re looking for something better, I say “Do something about it…you can do this!  You can…”

When you’re ready, here at Brighton Securities, we’re happy to meet with you personally to get started on a strategy for your retirement.

Joe Boyd
Financial Advisor
Brighton Securities

College Years: Debt, Value, Education

In yesterday’s D&C business section there was an article that compared the current state of student debt to the mortgage crisis before that bubble burst. The long and short of that crisis was that consumers took on too much mortgage debt on inflated home prices. The subsequent decline in investment markets traumatized the economy, unemployment skyrocketed and many folks found themselves no longer being able to pay their mortgages on homes with deflated values. They couldn’t sell them so they walked away. Whether the root cause was being uneducated, misled, misinformed or just plain reckless is for you to decide. What followed were many foreclosures which prompted Government to step in and offer bailouts.

The same thing is taking shape with student loans. Student loan debt is about $1 trillion and rising. President Obama while on his reelection campaign has made it a political issue, again offering bailouts. While I certainly agree there are circumstances in both cases for assistance, for the most part we have to be responsible for ourselves and our families. If you have family members that are nearing their decision to pick a college, have open discussions regarding affordability and strategies to find the best college that will achieve their goals. You can help give them a fighting chance to pay off their loans once they get into the working world.

Speaking from experience, I have two daughters who did their undergraduate studies at SUNY colleges.  My older daughter is now pursuing graduate studies at a private college and my younger daughter is posturing for the same. Their foresight has allowed them to take only modest debt forward as they advance their education.  As they said to me, “it’s not where you go to college but where your diploma is from that will count for an employer.”  Music to my ears.

One of the many services we offer at Brighton Securities is a complimentary Education planning.  Please feel free to call me at (585) 340-2239 if you wish to take advantage of this service, or to learn more about other services we offer.

Salvatore Fasciano
Financial Advisor

(This article contains the current opinions of the author but not necessarily those of Brighton Securities Corp.  The author’s opinions are subject to change without notice. This blog post is for informational purposes only. Forecasts, estimates, and certain information contained herein should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation of any particular security, strategy or investment product. References to specific securities and their issuers are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended and should not be interpreted as recommendations to purchase or sell such securities).