Rick Kahler's Financial Awakenings

What’s an investor to do now? Buy, hold, or jump? The events of the past week are troubling to all investors, to say the least.

A recent teleclass that featured Rick Kahler discussing the events of the day answered these questions and more. The teleclass is now available for you to listen to on the KFG website.

Click here to go to the KFG Client Only section of our website. Use your password to log in, then search under “Teleclass.” If you do not have a password or are having trouble with your current password, e-mail Lindsay (lindsay@kahlerfinancial.com) and she will assist you.

Would you take a few minutes to participate in a brief online survey? The survey is in support of doctoral research being conducted by one of my colleagues that I believe will have a positive impact on the practice of financial planning. As I think you know, I’ve always been committed to advancing the profession of financial planning and expanding its body of knowledge. Supporting research into how financial planning can better serve the needs of my clients is part of that commitment.

I know your time is valuable, so please rest assured that this survey is brief, just two short sections containing questions and a checklist. The survey is completely confidential and collects absolutely no personally identifiable information, so your anonymity is assured.

You can begin the survey by clicking on this link. The 4-digit code for you to enter on the first page is 2373. If you have any difficulty clicking on the link, you can cut and paste the URL into their browser and that should correct any error.

The full link is: http://fpanet.org/survey/Survey.aspx?s=a8b835a5bd35498ea7488860c555178b

Thanks in advance for your help with this important research!

Okay, I’ll admit even I am starting to get scared. No, I’m not concerned about my asset allocation policy, my mutual fund investments, or the US economy as a whole. What scares me is the economic ignorance of our two Presidential candidates and the American public.

Certainly, this has been an interesting time for the economy. It was also a great time to have done a meditation retreat, gone camping without your Blackberry, or in general been out of touch with any daily news media. Had you turned off your TV on September 14 and turned it on again a week later, you would have concluded it was a pretty boring week for any long-term investor. The Dow ended the week about where it started, a real yawner.

Here is what you would have missed. First was the 800-point drop during the first part of the week, followed by an 800-point gain at the end of the week. That was fun, and it got me interviews with every TV station in Rapid City within a two-day period. Yesterday and today have been similar, down 777 yesterday and up 400 (so far) today. Continue Reading »

New York Times- September 25, 2008, “How to Treat a Money Disorder” by Sarah Kershaw

The article features the work that Dr. Ted and Brad Klontz and Rick have pioneered around financial therapy. Wynonna Judd was interviewed for the article that also features the recent peer-reviewed research paper that was published in August on the successful treatment of money disorders. Also featured is the Onsite “Healing Money Issues’ program that was co-founded by Ted and Rick. You can view the article here.

Now here is a very strange conincidence, it was five years ago to the day that the first news article appeared in a major national publication, the Wall Street Journal, on our first financial therapy workshop, Sep 25th, 2003, a Thursday!

What about other money market funds available to your clients? Is client money safe in those funds?

• We cannot predict the effects of recent market conditions on any security, including money market mutual funds.
• However, we can tell you that TD Asset Management USA Funds, Inc., which manages seven money market funds currently available as cash sweep options to TD AMERITRADE clients, can confirm that none of these funds had any exposure to Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., Merrill Lynch, Washington Mutual or AIG as of Sept. 16, 2008.
• Over the past several months, the Adviser for these funds has shortened the average maturities of the funds’ holdings and increased the funds’ liquidity. The Adviser believes that these funds are well positioned in light of current market conditions. More information can be found.
• Please note that TD AMERITRADE does not manage any money market mutual funds. The funds available to clients at TD AMERITRADE are managed by affiliates or other third parties who maintain all decision-making authority for the funds and the management of the assets invested within them.
• In the midst of this unprecedented, challenging financial services environment, TD AMERITRADE has been vigilant in working with these firms to ensure that its clients’ interests are well-represented and handled appropriately. We will continue to work on our clients’ behalf to help resolve these issues quickly and efficiently. Continue Reading »

Last week was busy in more ways than one for Rick. He did an interview on every major network in Rapid City on Wednesday and Thursday. We thought you would be interested in Rick’s interview on the local NBC affiliates “Morning Show” on Thursday, September 18th. To put the interview in context, the Dow had lost 449 points the day before to close at 10,609.

I just returned from an unusual gathering of financial planners, sponsored by Money Quotient, held near Seattle, Washington. What was unusual was the fact that over 30 planners gathered together for three days and not once did the topics of the economy, fees, estate planning strategies, tax law, or investment management come up. The entire three days was focused on relationship skills.

A number of speakers, of whom I was honored to be one, covered topics on effective communication, life transitions, working with grieving clients, positive psychology, and the planner-therapist partnership. I opened the retreat speaking on facilitating financial health and closed it with my research on why planners need to have their own planners.

Several times I wondered if the clients of these planners understood how unique their planners are to spend three days of their lives understanding how to better facilitate their clients to happier and more fulfilled lives. For these planners, it’s not all about the money. I was simply struck at the depth of caring and commitment these planners exhibited toward bettering their clients.

Now that the conventions are over, I’m forced to wait until the debates to get my next dose of political adrenaline. In the meantime, here are the money scripts I heard from the Republican candidates.

Governor Palin’s acceptance speech included the following beliefs about money:

1. Luxuries are inappropriate for elected officials.
2. Government should not spend more than it receives.
3. Government surpluses should be given back to taxpayers, not spent.
4. Competition is good.
5. America should be energy independent.
6. Families should not have to pay higher energy fees.
7. Big government and high taxes are wrong.
8. High taxes hurt small businesses.
9. A person can’t be better off paying higher taxes.

Palin’s money scripts were clear and succinct. I found most interesting the one about luxuries not being appropriate for elected officials, a reference to selling the governor’s jet when she became governor of Alaska. Continue Reading »

After what I saw on Fox News around noon today, I don’t blame anyone for wanting to jump out of a first story window!!!

I was working out on the treadmill at noon watching the Fox market report. A young lady, Alexis, a business commentator at Fox, was in an absolute panic. I’ve never seen a commentator more scared in my life. She said the economy had fallen apart, that this crisis was so big, people will be talking about it 100 years from now. In a true tip of her immaturity, she said that to prove all this Morgan Stanley reported an earnings increase and was trading down 25%. Continue Reading »

For all you early birds out there, you can get Rick’s opinion on the current economy situation tomorrow morning (Thursday, September 18). He will be a featured guest on the local “Today Show” airing on KNBN at approxamatley 6:40-6:45am. Hope you can all tune in!