“If you’re tossed from the raft, HOLD YOUR PADDLE AND SMILE!” said the guide as we approached the first Class 5 rapid on the Gauley River. The reason was you’d need the paddle once you were back in the boat, and it’s hard to hyperventilate or freak-out if you’re smiling. Good advice if you’re thrown into the rapids OR, if there’s a strange virus and the entire world and financial markets seem to be coming unglued.
Hang in there, calmer waters are just down river. MAG MarkAlanGriffis.com
Financial Planning-Always Close the Door!
Noah required 120 years to build the ark. But if the door wasn’t secured-the effort was for naught. Likewise, clients expend significant time and money on financial/estate planning. But many times, they don’t CLOSE THE DOOR. What is closing the door?
1. Placing assets in created trusts
2. Confirming the correct beneficiaries are listed for insurance/retirement accounts. What if an ex-spouse is the beneficiary on large account/policy-Yikes!
3. Follow through on plan recommendations: asset reallocation, reducing debt structure, addressing gaps in insurance (LTC, disability, etc.)
4. Life events (divorce, birth, death, marriage) or an estate plan older than 10 yrs. are trigger points for a review with your attorney.
During this crazy Covid Springtime, you may be working from home or experiencing an unplanned sabbatical. This is an excellent opportunity to brush the dust off your plan and confirm the DOOR IS CLOSED. Bear Sen$e MarkAlanGriffis.com
Liability Insurance
Bear Sen$e --Joe’s planning to make a video that generates millions of hits. Unfortunately, Joe’s ambition vastly surpasses his skills. While the video will in fact go viral, Joe will have no memory of it. In addition to a broken wrist, and left femur and two shattered vertebrae, a nasty concussion will wipe his memory slate clean.
Why do you care? Because without the owner's knowledge, Joe built this ramp on your client's property. Soon they'll be contacted by Joe’s attorney. At that moment your client will experience one of two emotions: “Thank God I have an umbrella policy,” or “Oh crap, I don’t have an umbrella policy.”
Umbrella insurance (personal and commercial) is some of the cheapest insurance you can buy, and the protection it affords can be miraculous. If you discover a client has dropped their policy or consider themselves “self-funded,” STOP! Don’t pass Go, don’t collect $200 before contacting their P&C agent.
Bear Sen$e Mark Alan Griffis
Life Expectancy
If the greeting card industry is focused on this demographic-there must be sufficient numbers.
A good percentage of Boomers receive a healthy monthly income from DB plans and social security. However, the 50 and under age group will not be so fortunate.
The sub-50 group faces a TRIPLE WHAMMY: Eroding retirement benefits, the prospects of living longer, and dire predictions for social security and medicare.
The Stars Might Lie But The Numbers Never Do!
65-year-olds that will live past 90 =1 in 3
Fastest growing segment of the population=Centenarians
Percentage of private sector companies providing traditional DB plans=17%
Your clients may need to tap the breaks on international vacations, 2nd homes and elaborate man caves. Running out of money during retirement is a palpable threat. If they push back ask them, “How long could you stand living with your kids?”
Bear Sen$e MarkAlanGriffis.com
Business Transition Planning-Worth the Effort, the Cost and Awkward Discussions
These are your business partner’s sons, And frankly-they’re stooges. Too bad your business partner died unexpectedly this morning…. now they’re your partners. A CPA, an attorney, an insurance expert, and a CFP walk into a bar. Does this sound like the beginning of a bad joke? Actually, it’s the team required to insure you never share your business with Larry, Moe and Curley.
YOUR TEAM and their ROLES:
The CPA-What is the business worth, and book value from twenty years ago is not fair to either party. The CPA will also examine the tax side of a transaction, what entity owns and pays for the insurance policies.
The ATTORNEY-Advice on the structure, the drafting, and just as important the execution of the buy-sell documents.
The INSURANCE PROFESSIONAL-Advise and facilitate the best type of policy to fund the transaction.
The CFP- That’s me! I’m there to make sure the entire strategy meets with the client’s goals and plans. Help your clients see the potential train wreck by putting off these decisions. If necessary pull up a picture of their new partners, Larry, Moe and Curley. Bear Sen$e MarkAlanGriffis.com
Proforma Land=Dangerous Ground
Living on next year’s bonus is like tap dancing in a room filled with rattlesnakes…eventually you’re going to get bitten. Bonuses, incentive pay, and profit-sharing are all forms of monetary motivation. The common denominator is they are not guaranteed. Plans change, companies experience calamities, and mergers happen. And if you’ve been in the game long enough you’ve experienced what’s known as the “corporate adjustment,” which means too many employees are making incentive so the firm trims the plan.” It’s a roll of the dice to live a lifestyle that requires incentive pay to make ends meet. Remember, a membership to the “Jelly of the Month Club” is the gift that keeps on giving the whole year–– But you can’t use to pay next month’s bills. Merry Christmas from Bear Sen$e MarkAlanGriffis.com
HIPAA and Your 18 Year Old Child
If your child or a child you are legally responsible for is 18 years old, then You NEED a HIPAA consent arrangement. Myth-But the child lives in my house and is on my insurance plan.” Too bad, doesn’t matter! The physician or hospital may share pertinent info with a parent, but it is not required. This is not a case of physicians being difficult, it’s the law. In this age of patient confidentiality, a parent must have consent to obtain medical records, review treatments, or be informed about test results. In essence anything related to your child’s health can be concealed from you. Myth- “But my children would not conceal medical information from me.” Really? What did you conceal from your parents when you were 18? IMPORTANT-different states have different rules. So, if your child attends college in another state, check the rules for that state. Also, not all states will have one form that covers all medical providers. Other documents to consider: HealthCare Surrogate or Medical Power of Attorney and Business Power of Attorney (Should your child own a business) “Hey Bear Sen$e guy, what is the best way to obtain these documents?” Start with your family estate attorney. Bear Sen$e MarkAlanGriffis.com
One Giant Leap is Seldom the Work of One Individual
Approximately 2 ½ hours prior to launch, the crew of Apollo 11 entered the capsule. 100 feet below them a technician feverishly worked to repair a hydrogen leak. Are you kidding me? The 6.5-million-pound rocket which was as tall as a 36-story building was about to take 3 men on a 238,900-mile trip to the moon…well, just as soon as the valve was replaced. Great achievements are rarely achieved without a skilled team. Odds are your business success is greatly enhanced by the efforts of: the admin staff, IT team, sales force and laborers, junior management, and maintenance crew. Remind them often of their importance to the mission. Bear Sen$e MarkAlanGriffis.com
Life Insurance Only Addresses Half of the Income Dilemma
Many of us are financially prepared for death (life Ins.), but far fewer are prepared for a permanent disability. Statistics reveal some form of disability is far more likely than death for workers 55 and under. There are many options out there but it the devil’s in the details, employer or individual policy, waiting period, and the critically important occupation stipulation. For example, some policies would not pay if you lost the ability to be a CPA so long as you could be a greeter at Walmart. Yikes! A disability Insurance discussion with your agent or trusted financial provider is time well invested. Bear Sen$e MarkAlanGriffis.com
Financial Wisdom from Hollywood? (never saw that coming)
I caught the movie The Descendants, (wish I had that 2 hours back) anyway George Clooney's character provided a nugget of financial wisdom regarding incenting vs. enabling children in estate planning. "You give your children enough money to do something, but not enough to do nothing."
Storms Are Cyclical
“You ain’t seen bad…but it’s coming.” I give this otherwise forgettable movie, "Next of Kin," passing marks for that one great line uttered by Patrick Swayze’s character, Truman Gates. To be honest, Liam Neeson’s attempt at an Appalachian accent is also notable, but I digress. Simply put, the line is great advice for clients. Especially those who have chosen to forget the 2008 financial collapse, or perhaps were too young to have significant money at risk. Calamities are a part of life, whether it is a job loss, divorce, illness, natural disaster, or catastrophic collapse of the real estate and equity markets. Rest assured, Bad is Coming! The remedy is fairly simple-A big fat emergency fund equal to 3-6 months’ salary. I realize it’s difficult to leave that much money on the sidelines, but it WILL prove its worth. Bear Sen$e MarkAlanGriffis.com
Plans Are Temporary
Kitchens need a makeover every 10 years. Autos require significant servicing around 30,000 miles, and medical physicals are suggested annually. So…what about that estate plan? It’s been a dozen years since you hurriedly drafted your estate plan just before leaving on the European vacation. Lots of things have changed. The estate tax laws for instance, your kids are older, and you may even have a new spouse. Finally, you were confident your kid brother would mature with age, that’s why you named him guardian of your children and the $3MM estate. Too bad he’s a Peter Pan-he never grew up. It’s important to update your estate documents. Yes, I know it will cost a little coin. But the plan’s sole purpose is to provide for the most important people in your life. Surely that merits your attention and a little expense…YES it does and don’t call me Shirley! BEAR SEN$E MarkAlanGriffis.com
Rock Vs. Tree
Rock & Tree
Tree: “You’re in my way”
Rock: “I was here first.”
Tree: “Don’t care, Move!”
Rock: “I’m not moving”
Tree: Well I’m not moving either”
Rock: “We’ll See”
In business as in life, it’s important to realize when you are the rock and when you are the tree. In many circumstances ADAPTABILTY is the key to success….and co-existence. Bear Sen$e MarkAlanGriffis.com
If you Post It...They Will Watch
"Hunting" for better ways to reach clients and prospects. Think YouTube...it's more than just cat videos. YouTube Statistics Total Number of Monthly Active YouTube Users: 1.57 billion Total Number of Daily Active YouTube Users: 30+ million Number of Users Creating Content Shared to Date: 50 million Average Viewing Session 40 minutes, up 50% year-over-year Number of Videos Watched Per Day 5 billion Number of mobile YouTube views per day: 500 million Additional YouTube Demographics • 9% of small businesses are on YouTube. • 35+ and 55+ age groups are the fastest growing YouTube demographics. • Millennials prefer YouTube two to one over traditional television. • 37% of the coveted 18 – 34 demographic are binge-watching. • YouTube services 88 countries in 76 languages (or 95% of all internet users). Omnicor Magazine-February 2018 by Salman Aslam Bear Sen$e MarkAlanGriffis.com
So long Geoffrey
Hard to imagine we are embarking on the holiday season and Toys-R-Us is no more. How a company that sells toys in an overindulgent society could fail is a question for another day. Rather, TRU is a reminder of the dangers of concentration. Investors have all manner of excuses for concentrated positions: The stock has always been good to me---My Dad said never sell it---The company is diversified-so it’s like an index fund--- I’ll have to pay capital gains---Once the value reaches “X” I’ll sell some, etc. etc. etc. And my personal favorite- “I work at the company so I know what’s going on.” To which I respond, “So, your portfolio, retirement, and livelihood are all concentrated in one bucket?” Here’s a great question for investors ignoring the dangers of concentration: “If this stock rose 50% would your life change, conversely if it dropped 50% how significantly would your life change. Bear Sen$e MarkAlanGriffis.com
