Rick Kahler's Financial Awakenings

“I’ve never been more fulfilled,” are my six most repeated words for the first quarter of 2005.  Of course, moving into our new office space was probably the largest contributor to my heightened sense of daily pleasure.

The new office isn’t doesn’t completely explain my high spirits of late. My new book, Conscious Finance came off the presses the same week we moved into our new office. While the completion of the book provided a lot of fulfillment for me and my co-author Kathleen Fox, since it is a self-published book, it created a lot of work for my marketing assistant. I would conclude that writing a book is a lot more enjoyable than marketing one.

I am currently putting the finishing touches on my second book, which is co-authored with Ted and Brad Klontz.  This book, The Financial Wisdom of Ebenezer Scrooge,  will be published by Health Communications, Inc., publisher of the Chicken Soup series.  It is scheduled to come out in the last quarter of 2005.

Since moving to 1010 9th Street and publishing Conscious Finance, KFG has taken on more new clients than at any time in our history. Because of our commitment to quality, we are only able to take on a limited number of new clients each month. As a result,  we have started a short waiting list  for new clients that is currently about three months out.

We do a lot of things really well at KFG. One of those is investments.  We believe there are two major components of preserving and protecting your investment portfolio.  First, diversification among at least five asset classes and, second, restricting your annual retirement withdrawals to a maximum of six percent.

Our benchmark for a diversified portfolio is the South Dakota Investment Council, which is in the top one percent of all public plans.  Their return for 2004 was 11.8%.  Our experience would suggest that most diversified portfolios last year experienced similar returns, plus or minus two percent.

Now for a game of good news/bad news.  First, the good news: Amy, our financial planning assistant, is expecting her first child!  Indeed, if you’ve been a client of KFG for very long, you know this is a prolific place.  Even though she didn’t ask, I’ve given her all the pregnancy and birth advice that I dare!  We are happy for her—but sad for us.  Amy will be leaving us in September.

With Amy’s departure, we are seeking someone who would like a career working for one of the more progressive financial planning firms in the country.  If you know of someone, have them send a resume to JoVayne.

Which brings me to our newest project.  We are about to undertake a major revamping of our website.  We hope to create a site that is more informative and useful to potential and existing clients. Thanks to all of you who have given us such nice feedback on Conscious Finance.  If the spirit moves you, we would love to see you post a good review on our website and on Amazon.

Also, we have had a number of clients, financial planners, and counselors wanting to give out copies to friends and clients.  You can save up to $7.45 per book by ordering multiple copies from the Conscious Finance website.

Until next time, blessings to all of you.

Rick Kahler, MS, CFP will address a meeting of the Knoxville chapter of the Financial Planning Association on October 13th, 2005.  Kahler will present a 4 hour training entitled, "Remaining Relevant In The 21st Century:  What Ebenezer Scrooge Can Teach Financial Planners About Financial Planning."  Kahler will present his vision of the future of financial planning, along with new tools that planners can use to help clients integrate the interior and exterior of money into their lives.  For more information, contact Kathy Parks, CFP.