At least one new financial guru is about to rise from the ashes of the current global economic bloodbath. This will be a financial advisor who accurately called the market top in October of 2007 and went to cash, and then called the market bottom, whenever that will be, and bought back in.

Is there such an advisor? Absolutely. The law of mathematical probability dictates that someone, somewhere, will get lucky. Perhaps even two or three someones. Each of them is primed to make a mint on newsletters, books, and new clients for the next 20 years. Continue Reading »

In the midst of these unprecedented and uncertain economic times, I want to extend a heartfelt “thank you” to all my clients and readers. While we have much to be concerned about in the United States, we also have much to be thankful for. Certainly, I’ve been very vocal these past three months regarding trends, policies, and politics with which I’ve disagreed. Today, I am thankful that we still live in a country that generally supports individual freedom and gives us an opportunity to have a comfortable lifestyle. I am even more thankful for family, friends, clients, professional peers, and associates that in so many ways make life truly worth living.

The ancient ethical will is a beautiful tool for those who don’t want their legal will to be their only “last words.” Updated for a modern audience, the ethical will is a non-binding personal legacy letter (or recording) that is attached as a side document to legal documents.

Listen to our teleclass with guest, Susan Turnbull, who will explain the concept of leaving your heirs an ethical will and how you can get started on the process.

Susan is the founder of Personal Legacy Advisors and author of The Wealth of Your Life: A Step-by-Step Guide for Creating Your Ethical Will. A former journalist, she is a nationally known advocate for personal legacy documents as an integral part of estate, financial and philanthropic planning, including ethical wills, donor legacy statements and letters of guidance for trustees. Her firm provides writing expertise for those wishing to address more than just the financial dimensions of their life and legacy. Susan’s work has been acknowledged in AARP Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Research Magazine and Money Magazine.

To listen to the teleclass, click here to go to the KFG Client Only section of our website. Use your password to log in, then search under “Teleclass” or “Insurance”. 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.

This message comes from a fellow financial planner, Cicily Maton of Aequus Wealth Management Resources. She graciously gave me permission to share it.

We have been watching the markets along with the rest of you and we can almost feel the anxiety and panic through the airwaves. There is little new information that is responsible for this current wave of selling. But it is very much like the emotional panic selling that has occurred in every other bear market. There is nothing much different that we can say to you to help ease the pain. Continue Reading »

Rick was one of several financial advisors quoted in the November online issue of Consumer Reports Money Advisor. The article, “Where to find emergency cash,” offered guidelines for coping with a devastating financial crisis.

Rick’s advice included selling bonds rather than stocks if you absolutely have to tap into your portfolio—with a plan for replenishing them by considering the sale a loan to yourself.

Read the entire article here:

One definition of “insanity” is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results each time. If we want to right America’s economic ship as quickly as possible, we’ve got to stop the insanity of thinking we can borrow and spend our way to prosperity.

This insanity exists at all levels of the economy. It’s embraced by governments, by companies, and by individuals. It is systemic and it is lethal. We are currently paying the price for decades of living on more than we earn while watching our debts mount ever higher. The bell has finally tolled. Continue Reading »

Here is a money-saving possibility for those of you with teenagers looking toward college. Your teen might win a $1,000 scholarship by acing 35 questions in a money-knowledge test from the U.S. Treasury Department.

The Treasury is giving the online test, called the National Financial Literacy Challenge, through high schools nationwide Nov. 3 through Nov. 26. You can have your favorite teen take the test by clicking here.

Now that the election is over, the partying has begun for our next President’s enthusiastic supporters. Meanwhile, President-Elect Obama and the Democrats are getting ready to enjoy almost complete control of government policy, something no party has come close to having since 1965.

Change is in the air, so let’s review the changes Obama promised to deliver on the tax front. I gathered my information from the Tax Policy Center and the Kiplinger Letter. Continue Reading »

Consumers aren’t the only people who can benefit from having a financial planner; so can financial planners. Rick’s research paper on why planners don’t use planners–and the surprising professional benefits they receive if they do–is titled, “Becoming Consumers of the Profession We Practice.” His paper was named a 2008 winner of the Journal of Financial Planning Frontiers Award. You can read it by clicking here.

When we pass from this life, we will each leave a legacy. Regardless of our preparation—or lack thereof—for the end of life, we will indisputably leave something behind. That legacy will be both tangible and intangible.

Most of us know that the purpose of a will or living trust is to pass on the material things we want people to have. However, few of us have ever given much thought to how we wish to pass on our knowledge and beliefs.

That is where an old medieval tradition, something once called an ethical will, is gaining new ground. In those days, an ethical will passed on to descendants wisdom on how to live a life worth living. Continue Reading »