January 17 Blog Article: Financial Fitness Resolutions for 2012

With the Chinese New Year's arrival it's not too late to make your financial fitness resolutions for 2012!

We can look to the Chinese symbol for 2012, the Water Dragon, for inspiration as he is known for his courage and perseverance in overcoming obstacles.

Certainly those traits are apropos to achieving our financial goals, especially in the current economic environment of a weak recovery and volatile stock market.

For further inspiration and guidance, the Financial Planning Association's San Francisco Chapter has issued its annual press release of the Top 12 Financial Planning Strategies for the upcoming year.

Here is a quick summary (and for all the details go to the group's website www.fpasf.org or directly to this link: http://data.memberclicks.com/site/fpasf/FPA_SF_top_tips_for_2012_Press_Release_Final.pdf):

1. Get started today (procrastination is not your ally).

2. Spend less, save more (timeless advice).

3. Got lemons? Make lemonade (be aware of the tax deduction that is available if you sell a stock investment that has lost value since you purchased it).

4. Continue contributing to your 401(k)(don't let the stock market's fluctuations or a tight cash flow dissuade you).

5. Keep your eyes on a Refi (with mortgage rates at an historic low, you may even be able to afford to shorten your loan term to 15 years and still afford the monthly payment).

6. Assess a reassessment (of your property tax bill). Contact your county assessor, the process is not as onerous as you might expect.

7. Update your estate plan (especially if you have not obtained legal advice since the new estate tax went into effect for the years 2011 and 2012, or if your circumstances have changed).

8. Have a family member or friend who is down on their luck? Be aware of gift tax and IRS rules when choosing between making a gift or loan.

9. Resolve to review beneficiaries (don't forget that certain property such as retirement plan investments and life insurance proceeds pass according to beneficiary designations, NOT the will).

10. Update your retirement plan contributions as the maximum amount has increased for 2012.

11. Keep your cool. Investing is not for sissies! Don't react to the media doomsayers and stock market gyrations and sell your investments in a panic. Successful investing requires a long term commitment and discipline.

12. Consult a financial planner (OK, we can't fault the FPA, as a financial advisor industry trade group, for making a plug for our profession!).

And better yet, locate a qualified planner at the website of another financial advisor industry group, the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, at www.napfa.org. NAPFA maintains a list of its membership of "fee only" financial planners searchable by zip code (our firm is the only NAPFA member in our zip code of 95476). NAPFA is the most selective industry association for membership - not only must members avoid commissioned product sales, the group recently added the requirement that new members also hold the respected "Certified Financial Planner (TM)" credential.

While the Financial Planning Association (which published the 12 tips listed above) is moving in the direction of higher standards for financial advisors, it does not yet require its members to be "fee only" as does NAPFA. Our firm believes that the "fee only" method of compensating a financial advisor (as opposed to the only other service model for investment advice, commissioned sales by stock brokers) is the best approach for clients. Fee-only advisors avoid the conflicts of interest and lack of transparency that taints the delivery of so - called "advice" offered by the stock brokerage industry and other financial advisors who are pitching insurance policies while also purporting to be objective about the investments a client needs.

Perhaps even more significant is that fee-only advisors who hold the registered investment adviser license (as does Wine Country Wealth Management, LLC and its advisory personnel) are held to the higher legal standard of a "fiduciary". As a fiduciary, a registered investment adviser is legally required to place the client's best interests first and fees must be clearly disclosed (stock brokers, by contrast, are only required to satisfy a so-called "suitability" standard when recommending specific investments, and are not required to put clients' interests ahead of their own nor to disclose how much they are compensated on any given product vs. another that may be better for the client but pay less commission).