Enticing Retirees To Georgia

In an attempt to draw well-off retirees to Georgia, Governor Perdue has increased the tax breaks that they would receive as residents of the state. There are new taxes on hospitals however, if you are over the age of 62, you are not subject to income tax on your social security income or any income you make up to $70,000 with this amount rising to $130,000 by 2016. However, Georgia is not the only state trying to attract the retirees.

There are seven states that do not have a state income tax, which retirees may find extremely appealing. They are Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. Other states only tax dividends and interest earned. Many other areas simply do not tax social security benefits at all. These are all things to consider when you are trying to figure out where is the best place to go when you do decide to retire. Contact your local Retirement Planner in North Carolina to review your comprehensive retirement options.

How To: Research a Stock Purchase Before You Buy

I have previously written about doing your due diligence in researching stock purchases online and I wanted to dive in and provide a few additional points to consider when researching what stocks to pursue in this volatile market.

To make smart financial management decisions, you should research a potential stock purchase before you actually make one. The good news is that this is easy to do, in most cases, because companies provide you with all of the information you need in advance. Though you can go with a hunch or just following your instincts, it is helpful to have a bit of clear research behind any stock decision you make.

What do you look for? When it comes to smart financial investing in stocks, there are a variety of factors that you need to consider prior to purchasing any type of stock. Consider the following:

• Learn about the company’s history and its foundation. A company that has a good history of growth, smart financial decisions and good earnings is likely to be a safer choice. Of course, the company’ stock price will be higher for it, but it still may be a clearly beneficial choice.
• Learn the Price to Earnings Ratio, or the P/E Ratio. This is the most popular ratio to use to evaluate a stock. It will tell you how much investors like yourself are willing to pay for the company’s earnings. Look for this ratio to be between 10 and 30 for the most optimal purchases.
• Consider the company’s dividends. If the stock pays a dividend, this means that when the company has a profitable year, the company gives some of those profits to stockholders. Find out if the company’s stock pays this and how much it pays.
• Look at the company’s cash flow. You may know from your own budget that if your cash flow is positive, then you have money to pay your bills. You want to learn if the company has a positive cash flow as well as how much of a profit it is turning. Profit means that the stock is a good choice, of course, but you also want to look at how much cash flow the company has and if that excess cash is being invested wisely. This also indicates that the company is less likely to file for bankruptcy.

There are numerous other factors to consider through good financial investing. This includes how volatile the stock is (check its past performance) and the market capitalization or market cap. Further, many stock investors like to look at who is running the company, especially if it is a newer company or one with more risk involved. This way, they can learn if the management team has the resources and skills to deliver for them.

If you fail to take the time to research financial investing options like this, you could not only lose money on a bad decision but you may miss a great option available to you. It is always a good idea to verify any information that you obtain, too, to ensure your source is reputable and that the information you are counting on is accurate. By doing this research, you position yourself for long term success with financial management.

Ask Joseph Leonard and Coastal Investment Advisors for additional personal finance advice or learn money management tips on financial management by downloading this free financial management guide.

Don't forget to see Joseph Leonard in person during an upcoming financial management seminar!

How To: Family Estate Planning Tips

We have been busy preaching the benefits of estate planning. Our last post focused on elderly estate planning and now we are bringing our tips full circle with overall family estate planning guidelines.

Estate planning is a part of financial management. There is no difference in making wise financial investing decisions, paying your monthly bills and planning for your estate. In fact, you can often tackle some of the most difficult decisions of your life now, while you are young with a family so that later, your goals can be achieved. There are many things to look at, but some of those mentioned below are most important for the family unit.

Plan for Your Children

Planning for the care and well-being of your children is very important. If something, happened to you, who would care for your children?

• List a guardian for your children.
• Put in place a trust fund for each of your children to pay for their care should something happen to you.
• Ensure any wishes you have are clearly defined in your will and in the trust fund requirements.

This is something you need to do if you have children under the age of 18, under the age of 21 and you want to put stipulations on their access to money, or for any disabled children of any age.

Focus on Life Insurance

Life insurance is critical when you have a family. Right now, you may have a mortgage to pay. You may have debt and higher financial responsibilities then you will later on. If something happened to you, could your family continue with the lifestyle that they are comfortable with? A life insurance policy can pay off your mortgage and debts and provide your family with the money they need to make ends meet for several years.

Reduce Your Taxes

By establishing the right type of estate plan, you can take control over your financial investing and overall financial management after you are gone. One of the things you can do is to set up trusts that will shelter your assets from estate taxes, which are levied on virtually everyone when they die. You can reduce the amount of money that your family pays to the probate courts.

Make End of Life Decisions

Do you want to your life to be sustained through machines? If you become ill with a life threatening disease, do you want intense and invasive procedures to be taken to extend your life? Do you  have specific wishes about the medical care you receive such as surgical procedures, religious beliefs or others? Do you want your organs to be donated? All of these decisions only you can make, but you cannot make them later. These are decisions you can make now and clearly put in your will.

If you have a family, you do not want to leave them with these financial management decisions. Rather, if you start planning now for your retirement years and beyond, you will find yourself in a position to achieve the goals you have and to help your family to cope in one of the most difficult times of their lives. Make these decisions now before you cannot make them.

This includes providing this information on your pension, your retirement accounts, your investments and your life insurance policies. Verify that those beneficiaries are accurate.

• Do you need to appoint guardianship for anyone? If you have a disabled or minor child, this should be listed in your documents.

When you take the time to make these formal decisions now, you ensure that your estate planning goals are in line. Take some time to consider all of your options before making these decisions. To ensure that your wishes are legally provide, simply work with an experienced estate planning attorney to handle them.

Ask Joseph Leonard and Coastal Investment Advisors for additional personal finance advice or learn money management tips on financial management by downloading this free financial management guide.

Don't forget to see Joseph Leonard in person during an upcoming financial management seminar!

How To: Financial Management Basics

Financial management covers a wide range of money topics such as budgeting, expenses, debt, saving, and retirement planning. Seeing how they go hand-in-hand can help you lay a solid financial foundation for yourself and your family.

Budget

Unfortunately, many families skip right over this step in the financial management process, and that’s a big mistake. We are faced most days with many decisions about what to do with the limited money we have in hand, and it’s difficult to remember everything. It’s better to create a budget and commit it to paper to avoid overspending, debt problems, or spending on things you don’t need.

With a budget, you can see clearly how much money you have, where it goes, and whether you have any left over. Besides, once you have this picture, you can begin to think about ways to optimize spending and cut out waste. Financial management at this level is how you get ahead, no matter what your income.

Getting out of Debt

When you begin to be realistic in your financial management, you’ll probably find that you have debt that will limit how much control you can bring to the process. Using credit wisely isn’t a bad thing, but you need to be sure that the debt you have is the good kind and not the bad kind.

The mortgage or debt that you take on to buy a home amounts to a lot of debt. However, this is usually good debt. In the first place, you must have a place to live for yourself and your family, so you either must rent or buy. If you buy, you can usually get a low interest rate, and you will be investing in an asset that will become more valuable in time in addition to giving your family the security of owning their own home.

However, if you go to the mall and have a shopping spree using a credit card with 22% interest and don’t pay it off right away—this is bad debt. Once your financial management plan kicks in, you will want to avoid this kind of unnecessary spending and the burden it puts on your ability to get ahead.

Pay more than the minimum each month. This is the first step to getting out of debt. The second one is to lower your interest rate. Talk to your credit card company first and see if you can negotiate interest. If not, you might want to look at other ways to lower the rate such as getting a bank loan and paying off all credit cards.

Saving for Retirement

With fewer companies offering pension plans and the uncertainty of Social Security, it’s important for you to be realistic about planning for retirement as a part of your financial management plan. Many feel that they don’t have enough left over to put aside any money for retirement.

Retirement savings as a part of your financial management plan is not an afterthought. It’s a priority. The IRS offers special tax-advantaged accounts such as employer 401(K) plans. Also, individual retirement accounts and special retirement accounts have been set up by IRA for the self-employed. Included in the benefits that come with these are tax deductions, tax credits, and tax-free earnings on retirement savings.

Even if you are just starting a family and just beginning to earn your own living, don’t fail to devote time to financial management. Or if you’re half-way through your earning years or even later, it’s not too late to do this. Having a financial management plan will pay off in ways you may not have dreamed.

Ask Joseph Leonard and Coastal Investment Advisors for additional personal finance advice or learn money management tips on financial management by downloading this free financial management guide.