It’s best to decide on a long-term plan that definitely reaches your goal, and then stick to that plan no matter what befalls you.
fee-only
Transitioning to a Financial Planning Career
Every once I a while I will be asked to give my opinion on some logical steps to take when pursuing a financial planning career. This post may be beneficial for individuals who are entering the financial planning profession right out of college or are looking to change careers. Some are steps to take and others are questions to ask yourself and others along the way. What is it about financial planning do/would you enjoy? It could be client-facing meetings, technology, back-office work, or a combination. And you may not know until you try your hand at several things. Ask some current planners or even your own. The point is to find an area that you enjoy and work to get better at it. Find the right firm. Will you work for an RIA or broker-dealer? What type of firm do you want to align with? This could mean starting […]
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Life Moves Pretty Fast…
In the classic 80’s movie, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Ferris Bueller says, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” In other words, life happens. That’s why it’s important to meet with your financial planner to see if anything has changed, and if there’s anything that needs to be done to assist with those changes. The reason it’s important to meet with your planner is that he or she can ask questions and propose situations that you might not even be aware of or think about. A recent example would be how the new tax law affects your situation. Another example would be a child that is going to college, a job change, death, divorce, or 2018 being the year you plan to retire. A financial planner will be able to provide another set of eyes to your situation […]
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Create Your Own Luck
“Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.” The other day I was eating lunch with my kids. After lunch was over I gave them a “treat” from the drawer that we normally house goodies of all sorts. I happened to grab a couple of gold-wrapped chocolate coins. These coins were renditions of the JFK half-dollars. My youngest grabbed her coin and said, “heads or tails?” I quickly said “heads” while she flipped the coin in the air. The coin landed on the floor. Tails. I said, “Well, we both lost.” My daughter quickly exclaimed, “I won daddy.” When I asked her how she won when the coin landed tails she replied to me, “I called both heads and tails.” Win-win. Essentially, my daughter had created her own luck. And I immediately thought, “This is excellent fodder for a blog post. So here we are. The reason why I mention this is […]
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529 vs. Life Insurance
Over the past few weeks I have been asked (and pitched) the idea of whether cash-value life insurance makes sense as a vehicle for saving and paying for college. By cash-value life insurance, I am including whole life, variable life, universal life and variable universal life policies. First, in almost all cases, it does not. The very few cases where it may make sense will be covered shortly. Here are some reasons why a 529 college savings plan is better than cash-value life insurance. 529 plans have very high contribution amounts. Depending on your state, the total amount you can contribute to your 529 plan is very high, and the annual contribution amounts are high as well. From a federal tax perspective, you are allowed to contribute up to $14,000 annually without incurring gift tax consequences. This amount doubles to $28,000 annually if you’re married and elect to split the […]
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5 Questions to Ask Your Advisor
If you’re contemplating hiring a financial planner or advisor or if you’re currently working with one, here are some fair and important questions you may consider asking him or her. Are you a fiduciary? Being a fiduciary means that the adviser must legally act in your best interest. While not an absolute guarantee that the advisor will never act otherwise, most advisors who are fiduciaries embrace the responsibility – they want to be fiduciaries. Any other answer then yes to this question means you need to keep searching for an advisor who is. How are you paid? Generally, three different answers will follow. It will either be fee-only, fee and commission, or commission. If the advisor says fee-based or salary, you’ll want to dig deeper. These two responses don’t say how the compensation is derived. More importantly, you want to know how you will pay the advisor. And if you’re […]
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Read the Fine Print
As I was reading the paper the other day I came across an ad for a pretty prominent mutual fund broker-dealer. The ad was touting the investment acumen and performance of its mutual funds and fund managers. It mentioned how many of its funds had outperformed category medians over a certain span of years. Then I read the fine print. The fine print stated the following: Rankings are based on total return and do not include the effects of sales charges The rankings were based on the funds’ Class Z shares. Past performance does not guarantee future results. In providing these materials the company is not acting as your fiduciary as defined by the Department of Labor. Let me summarize what these fine print statements mean. First, sales charges reduce returns. In other words, their rankings didn’t include the expenses associated with commissions earned by the salespeople that sell the […]
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Planning Without Assets
Many individuals, especially after graduating college have an enormous amount of human capital but very little when it comes to financial capital and investable assets. A common question or concern may be that they are of little interest to financial planners because they don’t have any investable assets or wealth. Let me say that this is both correct and incorrect thinking – depending on the financial planner – and just as important; how the financial planner is paid. Let’s start with the correct version first. Financial planners are paid in a number of different ways from commission, fee-only and fee and commission. Focusing on fee-only planners for a moment, these planners may be compensated by the hour, retainer, or as a percentage of assets the planner manages for the client. If a fee-only planner is only compensated by assets under management, then the planner may not be interested in helping […]
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What to Expect After the Election
Now that the election has come and gone I wanted to send a note on what we should expect for the next four years and beyond. Really, these are no big predictions, but at times we may tend to forget our long-term goals in the hype and excitement of short term events. Expect volatility. Volatility is the norm, not the exception. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that markets will fluctuate, gyrate and generally have many ups and downs over the next four years and beyond. Think of it this way, would we expect any higher returns on our investments if markets were always calm and stable? No. Volatility is the price (risk) we pay for expected higher returns. We can diversify and maintain focus, but volatility will never go away. Expect change. As the saying goes, the only thing that is permanent is change. Do I know what […]
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Pregnant Men and Tattooed Aristocrats
When you read the title to this article your mind immediately processed the words as unfamiliar and not particularly logical. After all, how many pregnant men do you see and how many tattooed aristocrats do you run into? The title was actually taken from the book, Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. I’m currently in the middle of my third time through the book and it seems like each time I read it I gain valuable insight as to how our minds work and how we perceive things. Most notably, these words stuck with me as a way to inform our readers of other financial words and pairings they may encounter and to make readers aware that these word combinations will seem and are illogical. The goal is to help inform readers that should they see some of the following phrases, they should immediately realize that something doesn’t […]
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Check Your Vitals
Whenever you go into the doctor’s office for a check-up what’s the first thing he or she usually does? The doctor checks your vital signs. Generally, this is heartbeat, blood pressure, breathing, reflexes, etc. Sometimes either the doctor or the nurse practitioner will have a questionnaire asking various questions such as number of drinks per day, whether or not you smoke, and any allergies – to name a few. Most individuals give this information without thinking twice. Most of the time, the answers we give don’t change. So why does the doctor keep asking the same questions every time we have an appointment? The answer is because if one of these answers does change (such as an irregular heartbeat or high blood pressure) this changes the potential diagnoses and outcome. This is why it’s important in your financial planning to always check your vitals. In other words, even though you […]
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The Value of a Stay-at-Home Parent
In earlier posts we’ve discussed the importance of a spousal IRA for a spouse that stays at home taking care of the children in order to still save for retirement even though the “non-working” spouse has technically no “earned” income. Spousal IRAs aside, I wanted to shed some light on the value of a stay-at-home parent has, even though they might not be getting paid a salary for their work raising the children. The goal is to point out why stay-at-home parents still have a need for risk management and retirement planning as they (in my opinion) work one of the hardest jobs – raising children. According to the 2016 salary.com Mother’s Day Infographic, the value of a stay-at-home mom (parent) is approximately $143,102 annually, accounting for 40 regular hour work and 52 hours of overtime. This “salary” takes into account occupations such as driver, teacher, chef, nurse, and janitor. […]
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Sometimes it’s Not a Good Fit
Whether you’re the prospective client working with a financial planner or the planner working with a prospective client, sometimes for whatever reason the relationship doesn’t make sense. The purpose of this post is to help prospective clients and planners in deciding whether or not a client/planner relationship is worth pursuing or maintaining. First, let me start from the perspective of the client looking for a financial planner. Initially, as the client you’re going to want to look for some of the minimums every financial planner should be doing. The first is the CFP® designation. This means that the planner has at least a minimal amount of financial planning education and had passed a rigorous exam. Next, make sure the planner is a fiduciary. This is not optional. This means that the planner is legally required to act in your best interests always. Additionally, make sure they are fee-only. This means […]
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A Note for New Advisors
This post is for an advisor just starting out in their career. Their work could range from working for a large broker-dealer, to a small financial planning firm with a few employees. The main point of this post is to give the advisor reading it some hope and inspiration. Having had experience working for both a large broker-dealer and a small firm (here at BFP) my hope is to give some advice thoughts as the advisor shapes their career. First, you are in one of the greatest positions in your career. You have the choice of determining how you want your career path to look. Determine the path and what type of financial professional you want to be moving forward. Identify if you are a hunter or a farmer. If you decide to be a hunter, you will spend the rest of your career “going for the kill”. This means […]
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A Risk Management Checklist
Although many individuals have various risk management policies in place, sometimes those policies get brushed aside and every once in a while the dust needs to be wiped off of them and perhaps some updating needed. Here’s a checklist to consider the next time you review your risk management strategies. Auto Insurance – Review your coverage to make sure it’s still adequate. Liability limits of at least $250,000 should be the norm. Limits of $500,000 up to $1 million are better. If you drive an older car, consider raising your comp and collision deductibles or eliminating them altogether to save on premiums. Upside down on your car loan? Consider gap insurance. Better yet, don’t have a car loan. Home Insurance – Make sure your home is insured to its reconstruction cost. This is the cost to rebuild your home using today’s prices for materials, labor, etc. It is NOT the […]
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5 Ways to Handle a Falling Market
Given the recent market volatility and the uncertainty that comes with it here are a few things to consider to reduce potential stress. Some individuals can perhaps make the best of a rocky situation. Do nothing. Before reacting or making a decision that could affect your returns and income in the future, take a moment to think about the situation. Is it as bad as it seems? Is it just like the previous market dips? What happened afterwards? If you’ve decided on the correct asset allocation for your portfolio then expecting market dips should be the norm, not the exception. Revisit your goals. Remember the reason why you’re investing in the first place. Is it for retirement and you’re in your 30s? Is it for a college education and you have a 6 month old? Is it for retirement income and you have a family history of longevity? This point […]
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Tips for Tax Time
Given that it the start of tax season and individuals will be gathering and preparing their 2015 tax return information, I’d thought I’d put together some basic tax tips. Individuals may consider thinking about these items in order to have a smooth and (hopefully) stress-free 2015 tax season. Additionally, I’ve included a link to our 2015 Tax organizer. Please feel free to use it at your convenience to get your “tax ducks in a row”. Furthermore, please let us know if you’d like us to prepare and file your taxes for you. Many current clients have found Blankenship Financial to be cost effective and efficient compared to other big-named tax preparation services. As Enrolled Agents both Jim and I are well qualified to handle most tax matters and returns. And now with the tax tips… Beware the non-tax man cometh! Each year we field calls from clients and prospective clients […]
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Why People Don’t Trust Financial Advisers (and Used Car Salesmen)
Based on some recent experience I’ve had in trying to purchase a vehicle, I thought I’d spend some time on helping advisers new to the industry trying to build their businesses the right way. Additionally, it may help some advisors who are or were being taught the wrong way to deal with clients and prospective clients. Perhaps this post will be better understood if I share my recent (and unsuccessful) experience trying to purchase a different vehicle. Over the last month I’ve inquired both private sellers and dealerships regarding certain vehicles they had for sale. Of the many features and benefits available, I’ve made clear (at least to the dealers) what features and benefits are important to me. Like many car buyers, I am looking for good gas mileage, reliability, and affordability. What I am not looking for is pushy salespeople, sales pitches and closing techniques. Nevertheless, it’s what I’ve […]
Sterling Raskie, MSFS, CFP®, ChFC®
The latest in our Owner’s Manual series, A 401(k) Owner’s Manual, was published in January 2020 and is available on 
A Medicare Owner’s Manual, is updated with 2020 facts and figures. This manual is available on 
Social Security for the Suddenly Single can be found on Amazon at 
Sterling’s first book, Lose Weight Save Money, can be 
An IRA Owner’s Manual, 2nd Edition is available for purchase on Amazon. Click the link to choose the 
Jim’s book – A Social Security Owner’s Manual, is now available on Amazon. Click this link for the 
And if you’ve come here to learn about queuing waterfowl, I apologize for the confusion. You may want to discuss your question with Lester, my loyal watchduck and self-proclaimed “advisor’s advisor”.