Author Archives: Nancy Hecht

I Can’t look!

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Most of you have either recently received or are about to receive your Third Quarter statements from your various investment accounts. We all know that as far as the general markets are concerned – the third quarter was a bad one. Let’s look at the benchmarks:
Dow -12% S&P -14% Nasdaq -13%*

Those are some ugly numbers. But that is history, let’s look at now.
As of 10/21/11 all of the benchmarks were up 5% or better. That is a huge increase for a two week period of time and, certainly, there is no guarantee that will continue, however, let’s look at what opportunities you have had since 6/30/11:
Every two weeks when your 401k or other retirement account deposit hit your account you bought more shares than previously. Everything was on sale and that is a good thing. While you are accumulating funds for your retirement – you want things to be on sale. Over the third quarter, you were able to buy more shares that you could earlier in the year. More shares = potentially more income in retirement.

Keep in mind that we are long term investors – not short term traders. This third quarter opportunity to buy on sale was a gift.

*Yahoo Finance

Take Care of Your Mother!

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I recently met with an 80 year old Woman that I hope to be like when I reach that age. She is so sharp, active, and involved. She asked me to review her investments and let her know what I think. She does not have any concerns regarding income or doing what she pleases. She does not have any debt. She has a number of CD’s that mature at different times, all with very low interest rates. Some of her accounts are IRA’s, some are not. Every time a Cd matures, she goes into her Credit Union to renew, which is fine. But here is what has happened in the past:
When she was 75, an IRA CD matured and she was convinced to transfer the funds to an Index annuity with a 10 yr. surrender charge! Again, at age 80 she was sold another annuity, this one with a 12 yr. surrender charge! I have nothing against annuities; however, 10 and 12 yr. surrender charges are horrible. In my opinion these transactions benefited the representative and not this woman.
She is widowed and her children do not live in the area; they do visit frequently. I know a lot of her generation does not like to share their financial information, but please, for the sake of your Mothers, start the conversation.