Monthly Archives: July 2021

Campus and community

• 01

  What should a person be looking at to start saving money or saving more money? What are the best ways to make saving money a habit?

  Successfully starting or growing your savings comes down to two basic things: engagement and automation.

  The commitment is your personal promise that you will add more money to the savings component of your financial plan. It helps to have a goal in mind and a way to celebrate milestones along the way. The commitment also comes from doing the work to build your savings plan. Understanding where your money is going is the first step in taking control of your personal finances.

  Automation prepares you for success by putting money into savings without your direct action. Use your direct deposits to send money to a separate account, maybe even a separate bank, if that helps you keep it there!

  Once you’ve built your savings plan, review your progress every month. See what adjustments are needed or what may have been left out of the plan. Adjust the plan and keep going!

  If you have a partner or spouse, be sure to talk to them about these plans. Get their help with accountability (or enlist the help of a “budget buddy!”)

• 02

  Why should a person be concerned about their credit rating?

  Your credit score impacts a number of things beyond just getting a new credit card and / or a lower mortgage rate (which are important in and of themselves). Rightly or wrongly, insurance companies use credit scores as a measure of risk. The challenge with credit is that when you need it most, you may not be able to get it. Having a good credit rating makes it easier.

  Rebuilding your credit score, if necessary, begins with a spending plan. You need to know how much you will need to spend on your unpaid debts to make them disappear permanently. The best first step is to make sure that you are paying at least the minimum owed each month. Missed payments are the biggest contributor to a declining credit score.

• 03

  How does someone start making a plan for retirement? How much should I save?

  There are “rules of thumb” that can help you set your financial goals for retirement. For example, many calculators assume that your retirement income “should” be about 80% of the income earned during your working years. However, I think it’s best to determine your desired budget… how much do you want to spend? How will life be for you? How are you going to spend your time? What costs will you no longer have? What are you going to add to your budget?

  As for how much to save for retirement, it depends on where you are now. The short answer is usually “more”. If you are just starting your career, consider contributing 10% to 15% of your income to your pension plan, not including the employer’s contribution. If you’ve been working for a while but haven’t had a chance to start saving, you may need to contribute more. Start where you can now, however. No need to procrastinate anymore!

  Financial wellness resources are available to you, including one-on-one financial advice through TIAA and Carebridge who can help you answer these questions and take steps to develop a savings plan.

• 04

  Who can you turn to for help managing your money and saving for the future?

  As an employee of Syracuse University, you can find financial counseling resources posted on the University’s website. Financial Well-Being Webpage, including advisory services provided by TIAA and Carebridge.

  Apart from the resources provided by the University, you can work with an independent financial advisor. There are many different types of advisers, from insurance agents to financial fiduciary planners. The Chartered Financial Planner Council has a short list of 10 questions consider asking an investment or retirement professional.

The exit of large banking institutions like Wells Fargo and Bank of America from the reverse mortgage market over the past decade has made the importance of forging benchmark partnerships with financial planners all the more important to the proliferation of new reverse mortgage business, since proximity to a variety of clients can be the key to arranging reverse mortgages for new clients.

As reverse mortgage agents aim to expand their repertoire of advertising methodologies, using an infomercial can be powerful, but also comes with some caveats that any reverse mortgage agent should be aware of. mind before engaging in such advertising campaigns. That’s according to a panel of experts in the reverse mortgage product category presented at the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) virtual summer meeting this month.

While the exit of major US banking institutions has reduced the visibility of the reverse mortgage product in several demonstrable ways, financial planners represent a key business segment that can help make up some of the ground lost by the exit of these institutions. of the company. At the same time, reverse mortgage professionals would be well placed to exercise a certain degree of discretion in the types of advertising and information campaigns in which they participate in order to avoid giving advice for which an originator is not. qualified.

Why Financial Planners Are An Important Referral Source For Reverse Mortgages

Some reverse mortgage professionals continue to question the suitability and ability of a financial planner to help match an originator with a potential home equity conversion mortgage (HECM) borrower, but the importance of this industry to connect with such professionals is important because of the significant exits that the reverse mortgage industry has seen over the past decade.

So says Shelley Giordano, head of business integration at Mutual of Omaha Mortgage and co-founder of the Academy for Home Equity in Financial Planning at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

“So why are we interested in financial advisers in the first place? A number of things. First, they actually have clients, ”says Giordano. “Our industry has never, ever recovered from not being able to sit side by side in bank branches and share customers. So financial advisers are in contact with people. We are still extremely isolated, especially last year, to reach the end user of a reverse mortgage.

In the past, a reverse mortgage originator’s proximity to a financial planner at a large banking institution provided the planner with easy access to a better understanding of any misconceptions or factual inaccuracies he had about a business. ‘a reverse mortgage product. This is simply not the case, says Giordano.

“Over the years, if a financial advisor didn’t understand the research on a reverse mortgage, they would often dissuade the client from taking out a reverse mortgage after we had engaged with the client, and with the most outlandish objections – just flimsy objections – without discussing the value that other asset might have in retirement, ”says Giordano.

This is why this group retains an important potential place to enable the industry to achieve its goal of expanding the borrower base it serves, she says.

“Financial advisers are important to us, and for a number of reasons,” says Giordano. “We just have to persevere. A long time ago, at an NRMLA meeting in New Orleans, we brought in Michael Kitces, a highly regarded financial expert. He begged the audience: “a company can’t do this, we must all come together and pull in the same direction.” And I am so thrilled. I see companies every day developing their reverse mortgage agents to understand what the challenges of retirement are and how real estate wealth can fit in and really help. That’s great, but we still have a lot of work to do.

Avoid “crossing currents” between origination and financial advice

When engaging with a potential client on a financial topic, such as whether or not a reverse mortgage should be taken out, that same client can naturally move on to another financial topic and ask the originator what they think. without understanding the differences between discussing a loan product and offering financial advice. Authors will be in a good position to observe the “wall” that exists between such subjects at all times, according to James Milano, a partner at the Weiner Brodsky Kider (WBK) law firm that serves as an external advisor to the NRMLA.

“What we see a lot in the reverse mortgage agent space is something I call ‘infomercials’,” says Milano. “These are articles written by people, published in financial planning magazines. They talk about retirement and consider [the employment of] home equity, and I would say to you as reverse mortgage professionals: don’t cross the line the other way around.

In an earlier part of a presentation at the event, Milano discussed the complex legalities of a reverse mortgage business employing financial planning professionals. The initiators must avoid entering the territory in the opposite direction, explains Milano.

“If you’re a reverse mortgage loan officer, don’t market yourself as a financial planner,” he says. “These articles are great. I have read them. They are very informative. Use disclosures to tell people that you are a reverse mortgage loan officer, not a financial planner, that you share ideas and that you [originate loans] for a living, but you are not a financial planner, you do not give financial advice.

Giordano closed the presentation by putting a finer point on the issue.

“Don’t give financial advice,” she told the reverse mortgage agent audience. “You are not a financial advisor. There are all kinds of rules against people giving financial and investment advice. Don’t get caught up in this.

This also applies to an initiator offering tax advice, which opens up a whole new network of laws and regulations governing the information people are supposed to receive from accountants and other tax professionals.

“We just had a case where there was a financial advisor who set up a Roth conversion for a retiring doctor, but it was a financial advisor, and they were using the HECM to pay the tax, but that was the idea of ​​the financial adviser, explains Giordano. “[It was] not advice we give to the client. And again, never combine any other product with a reverse mortgage arrangement. I think if you just follow these general rules, you will stay out of trouble. But, we don’t want to scare you: go out and talk to these folks and see what they think and think about real estate assets and retirement.

Hiring a financial advisor is an important decision and should be considered carefully before getting started. It means both doing your research and looking for a little personal soul to determine if you really are in a place where you can mine. To the value that experts can bring.

If you are discussing whether to hire an expert, consider these five points which cover some of the “agree” and “disagree” arguments.

Yes: if you don’t have the time or the energy to focus on actively managing your financial life

If you have big ambitions in your finances, you need to be proactive. Simply reacting after things have happened is not enough to achieve great goals or grow great wealth. You have to keep attacking and actively look for ways to achieve what you want.

But it takes a lot of time, energy and spiritual space… and if you are like the most accomplished people, you have already devoted a lot of these resources. your A specific area of ​​genius. Maybe it sounds like a good career, a successful business, or acting as the head of the family to make family life run smoothly.

Whatever your life, there will be little room to add another full time job. It’s just financial planning and wealth management. It’s a full-time job that requires a lot of responsibility and commitment. If you don’t have the space to undertake it, it is better to outsource to a specialist.

Even if you are struggling with your current job or don’t feel the pressure, most people enjoy paying for services that increase their daily time (like take out dinners and housekeeping). The benefits of hiring a financial planner are knowing that an expert is running your financial vessel, preventing things from falling through gaps, and navigating problem areas. , And includes getting you where you need to go… dealing with everything you don’t have to do on your own.

No: if you are not looking for cooperation

One of the biggest benefits of working with a personal financial planner is the ability to build long-term, trusting relationships with professionals who can provide advice, guidance, coaching, and accountability.

But that means you have to I want To be coached; you need to understand that some people value their guides, care about the loopholes in their team, and keep them from getting through (in some cases, send reminders on what actions they need to take). Means that).

Personal advisers are more than just service providers. These are the ones you love, trust, rely on and need to hear anytime, especially anytime! – They must tell you something that you might not want to hear. Not everyone wants a relationship like this, and that’s not a bad thing.

If the counseling approach doesn’t always show value, it might not make sense to pay for that level of service. Or, if you aren’t at a point in your life where you feel like you can build that level of trust with someone who works as your financial advisor, you will achieve better results by taking a DIY approach. Can get. You can also enjoy general advice on a complete, very detailed and personalized solution. In this case, the robo-advisor platform is probably more in tune with the level of support you need.

Yes: if you don’t know what valuable information is, or just noise

The Internet is a great tool that gives you access to an essentially endless amount of information on demand. In theory, the Internet allows you to teach yourself almost anything or to learn anything you want to know.

However, in reality, you can’t really google the path to the best answer. For your situation For all the questions you ask yourself. This is especially true in sensitive areas such as financial advice.

Yes, you can find rules of thumb and guidelines. You can get a lot of opinions and perspectives. You can study the laws, rules and facts. However, due to two limitations: lack of context (or not knowing how to apply facts to details of business life) and noise, you can also face a lot of issues.

Behavioral psychologists and economists Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Siboney, and Cass R. Sunstein define noise as “unwanted fluctuations in expert judgment.” There is a lot of noise in financial planning. Indeed, it strongly depends on the context and on totally subjective factors (values, specific objectives, interests, voluntary compromises, non-negotiable things in life, etc.).

Even if the information you have is virtually accurate, noise can occur… but it is simply being applied incorrectly to your own life. It can happen when you get two opinions from two anonymous internet forums or blogs about your money or what to do in your life.

This is where hiring a personal financial planner can provide tremendous value. A good planner doesn’t start with numbers, but trying to understand you as a person. It provides a context and framework for building plans that bring objective facts and figures to your situation, supported by the wisdom and experience of trained certified professionals.

If you’re not sure what’s important and what’s just noise, maybe it’s time to invite a financial planner to organize your information. This is especially true as your financial situation becomes more complex over time.

No: If the package is “free”

The position of “financial planner” or “financial advisor” is not regulated by any official legislative body or organized group that sets specific standards or ethical guidelines. Unlike designations such as the CFP® brand, there are no barriers to entry to being called a planner or advisor.

It forces you as a consumer to understand the business model of someone who promises to give you financial advice. The danger signal here is when you are considering making a financial plan with someone… and they offer you a financial plan for free.

It is important to ask: how? While the plan is “free,” it often accompanies the sale of the product – a particular investment that pays a commission to its insurance or seller.

Some of these products and solutions have their place in Financial plan for A few Man. But they’re not a universally good option for everyone in all situations. If you want to get financial planning advice from a real expert in financial planning, this is a service you should expect to pay to seek out and receive.

Yes: when the wrong cost starts to add up

Most people think “compound interest” is a good thing. Compound interest income allows you to generate more and more assets from your investment while keeping it in the market. Arguably, what Warren Buffett really has to thank for his immense wealth is compound interest, not investment in power.

However, compound interest can work against you as well. If a small mistake is overlooked, the consequences will worsen over time and you will miss out on huge opportunity costs or the opportunity to make more money. It’s not just what you are missing. It’s a mistake you don’t even know you’re making (you accidentally overfunded your loss for years because you exceeded an income limit you didn’t even know existed, and fined the company. IRS for a mistake, pay a fair amount of money, etc.).

When you first get started, the cost of mistakes is low, if not insignificant. It is usually more important to start than worrying about the perfect strategy or avoiding all possible mistakes.

However, this is not the case over time. The more you have, the more you have to lose and the more risk you run. Long term, just because you don’t mind getting a second opinion or working with an expert who may have pointed out lost opportunities, overlooked threats, or risk protection gaps. There is no reason to be financially successful.

If you are still managing your own plans and your money, you might be thinking that you don’t need a financial planner to help you out. But everyone has a blind spot, and we all know we didn’t even know what we didn’t know. There’s a reason why high performing businessmen have mentors and elite athletes have coaches… and why most rich people want advice. financial advisers: this is expert advice, I value my experience and my point of view and I want to understand when to act When When will the course take place?

Personal financial planners can help you do the same, and the value they offer in helping you avoid mistakes and bad choices is far more than the fees you can afford. Will be worth it.

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LANSING Michigan (WLNS) – Hiring a financial planner is an important step in managing your portfolio, but it can be confusing. 6 News is here for you with financial advisor Stephen Schiestel to explain everything.

“When hiring a financial advisor, most of us will first look to the advisor’s website to understand what they could offer us, like many industries. This industry also has its unique conditions and, uh, characteristics that we want to clarify so that we know who best to hire on our behalf, ”said Schiestel.

“The first would be how the advisor would be paid? When you talk to an advisor, you might hear terms like fee-based commission, but what does it all mean? So, first of all, it would be a fee only. So when we look at the fees section, if they describe themselves as only paid, it means that they are going to receive a fee from you in exchange for the advice they are going to provide, the second would be per traditional committee.

Then find out if they focus only on portfolios or if they are a complete financial planner.

It’s also important to check a financial planner’s website before committing, Schiestel said.