Portfolio Advisors Blog

Many of our clients anticipate the likelihood that some level of long-term care may be needed at a future date. As we work together toward constructing comprehensive financial plans, addressing and preparing for uncertainties is a critical consideration. Costs for various levels of care such as in-home, assisted living and skilled nursing may be significant. A common approach to addressing the impacts of long-term care costs is analyzing trade-offs between self-insuring (relying on income sources such as Social Security, pensions, retirement accounts, etc.)  or purchasing / maintaining a long-term care insurance policy. As financial planners, our focus is creating viable game plans to combat these uncertainties with the appropriate reflection and preparation. 

According to Morningstar statistics, roughly 52% of Baby Boomers turning age 65 will experience a long-term care need, averaging a 2-year facility stay during their lifetimes. Given these staggering statistics, periodic financial assessment is imperative. Utilizing sophisticated financial planning tools, our team works with clients in determining the potential effects of future care costs. Once general information is collected, our typical approach is then to demonstrate specific events that may adversely affect an individual’s standard of living. Our team has the capability to model alternative financial decisions, ideally arriving at an agreeable solution to diminish future financial stresses. As an example, we may determine (though some assumptions) purchasing or maintaining a long-term care insurance policy may be most beneficial and demonstrate the policy benefits for when certain levels of care are needed. More specifically, further analysis may include illustrations to trade-offs between payments for long-term care insurance premiums versus alternative uses for these dollars. Through our periodic meeting reviews, the foundations to a comprehensive financial plan is paved. 

Markets have been up and down this year, which can alarm many investors.  During periods like these, hearing stories about how other people deal with uncertainty can be helpful. 

Our story is from Dave Goetsch, an executive producer of the popular television show, The Big Bang Theory.  Even though he and other writers on the show make common sense out of complicated science for a living, Dave used to respond to market fluctuations with panic rather than logic.  His point of view has changed fundamentally when he learned that there was a different way to think about investing and discovered a new path for his financial life. 

You will recognize many of the headlines and voices in "Tuning Out the Noise" as viewers are taken on a two minute journey through the "lost decade." The video features the media's amplified coverage of headlines and points to the positive outcome that a disciplined investor could have experienced in the recovery.

Click here to view Tuning Out the Noise

At Portfolio Advisors, we strive to achieve a positive financial experience for our clients and believe that an important part of that experience is through the use of low cost, highly diversified mutual funds.  Dimensional Fund Advisors' mutual fund offerings help us to ensure that these, and other important objectives, are met for our clients.  We thought it noteworthy that 1,544 other advisors share this opinion as voiced through a recently conducted survey by Advisor Perspectives, an interactive publisher for Registered Investment Advisors (RIA's), Wealth Managers and Financial Planners.  The survey asked advisors which asset manager they would recommend to their peers, and Dimensional ranked number one in the majority of the categories, including the fund family which advisors are most likely to recommend.     

Click here to view the results from the Advisor Choice Awards^TM

Whether you're retired or preparing for retirement, our 2018 Retirement Calendar and Checklist can be a valuable planning tool. This retirement checklist serves as a great reference for important dates, details, and deadlines throughout the year. We at Portfolio Advisors are here to answer any questions that you may have and to assist you with your planning needs.

Click below to access our 2018 Retirement Calendar Checklist

For many investors, 2017 was a paradox. The harder they tried to enhance their results by basing investment decisions on current events, the more likely they failed to capture the rate of return the capital markets delivered.

Dimensional Fund Advisors Vice President Weston Wellington's article entitled "Nine Experts, Four Surprises, and One Million Dollar Bet," is a great read providing a healthy dose of reality and perspective. Wellington's piece not only tells you where the experts got it wrong, but also addresses "The Million Dollar Bet" made between Warren Buffet, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., and Ted Seideds, a New York hedge fund consultant. If you aren't familiar with this public challenge, made by Buffet, you may want to read this.

By Mike Leffler 

In taking a look at our clientele, and where our new business comes from, we see that we have a natural connection with pre-retirees. Pre-retirees, people who have five years or less until retirement, often have many financial needs. No longer are pensions predominant in which fewer decisions are required of individuals. Now, tax deferred retirement plans such as 401(k)s, 403bs and 457 accounts are the norm.

At the beginning of 2017, a common view among money managers and analysts was that the financial markets would not repeat their strong returns from 2016. Many cited the uncertain global economy, political turmoil in the US, implementation of Brexit, conflicts in the Middle East, North Korea's weapons buildup, and other factors. The global equity markets defied their predictions, with major equity indices in the US, developed ex-US, and emerging markets posting strong returns for the year.

The broad global advance underscores the importance of following an investment approach based on diversification and discipline rather than prediction and timing. Attempting to predict markets requires investors to not only accurately forecast future events, but also predict how markets will react to those events. The 2017 markets were a good reminder that there is little evidence suggesting either of these objectives can be accomplished on a consistent basis.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are receiving intense media coverage, prompting many investors to wonder whether these new types of electronic money deserve a place in their portfolios.  Please click the link below to learn more about whether an investor should consider investing in Bitcoins.

To-Bit-or-Not-to-Bit_-What-Should-Investors-Make-of-Bitcoin-Mania.pdf

By Ken Hatfield

Financial Advisor, Partner