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Alan Moore, 26, just founded his own RIA in October 2012 [It was actually August 2012] after working with Rick Kahler of Kahler Financial Group in Rapid City, South Dakota. Moore says when he struck out on his own he had many questions about starting a new business and the social- media sites have helped him build industry connections. He’s able to reach out to other advisors on Twitter with a question about something like technology or rebalancing and have an answer in minutes.

“I know more than 50 planners, many of whom I’ve never met in person, and I get a lot of my industry news from Twitter,” Moore says.

Moore, who started Serenity Financial Consulting LLC with locations in Milwaukee and Bozeman, Mont., and has 25 clients, concedes that he isn’t a “power networker.”

“I don’t cold call and I don’t even warm call,” he said. “If I answer a question someone asks on Twitter or LinkedIn, then I move on. I market to people who are looking for an advisor, and I don’t have the time or energy to convince people that they need my services.”

Yet Moore feels he’s gained a presence in the industry simply because of his ongoing social-media activity. “I’ve only been around three years, but half of the NAPFA advisors know me because I’m able to network on social media sites.”

He’s gotten a handful of new clients from social-media sites but admits it’s hard to know exactly which site attracted the prospects because many of them comment about his blogs. He tweets about his blog, mentions it on Facebook and also posts it on LinkedIn.

“Clients don’t remember how they found out about me — if it was Facebook, LinkedIn or something else. I do know that my blog content has brought folks to learn about me.”

The majority of his work consists of hourly financial planning.

You can click here to read the article.

The post RIAs recount how they reap new clients using LinkedIn and Twitter, stealing a march on shackled wirehouse advisors – RIA Biz appeared first on Serenity Financial Consulting, LLC.

Many people think of retirement simply as the time in life they no longer have to work, says Alan Moore, founder of Serenity Financial Consulting LLC in Milwaukee, Wis. Instead, he encourages clients to view retirement as the period in which they can do what they want.

Mr. Moore, whose one-year-old firm primarily does hourly financial planning, often talks to clients about working part-time in retirement. Just $500 a month in income can help preserve a big chunk of retirement savings, he says. “You don’t have to replace your current income to have a dramatic effect.”

Mr. Moore frequently enlists a career coach to work with clients interested in part-time work. The coach helped one client, a high school Spanish teacher, switch to teaching adult education classes that produced the same income with a shorter work week.

One of the most important things we help clients do is find a career that they love, and can continue doing past the normal age of retirement. Even small amounts of part-time income helps to preserve your investments until you can truly no longer work and need the funds.

Unfortunately the article is a subscriber only article, but here is a link in case you have a paid subscription.

The post Fixes for Clients Who Can’t Afford To Retire – The Wall Street Journal appeared first on Serenity Financial Consulting, LLC.

“They are scared of the market and understandably so,” says Alan Moore,a financial planner and founder of Serenity Financial Consulting in Milwaukee. “Many have seen their parents lose 50% of their retirement savings in six months.”

The real issue is that the number one advantage young investors have is time; Time to recover from losses, and time for compounding interest to have a dramatic effect. Being invested conservatively at a young age means making financial sacrifices .

Moore understands the problems that Millennials face because he is 25 and many of his clients are members of his own generation. And if they are only willing to invest 40% of their savings in stocks at a young age, vs. 80%, he tells them that they will have to consider other options to boost their retirement savings, such as saving more, buying a smaller home, or working longer.

There is a trade off with every financial decision. It is my job as a financial planner to help educate clients on those trade offs, and then work with them to implement the option they feel is best for them and their family.

You can Click Here to read the article.

The post Millennials are tech savvy, tightfisted savers – USA Today appeared first on Serenity Financial Consulting, LLC.

Except in very rare cases, most young investors should avoid these products and instead focus on developing financial life skills:

Priorities are different for those in their 20s and 30s, noted Alan Moore, founder of Serenity Financial Consulting. “At that age it’s about savings habits, setting aside money for retirement and letting it work for you,” he said.

While it may make sense for clients who are close to retirement to think about tax-efficient withdrawal strategies and having money in accounts with different tax treatments, young clients can hold off on those tactics for a number of years.

I also believe that most young investors are looking to get out of debt. Very few are maxing out their 401(k)’s, IRA’s, are debt free, and still looking for tax deferred savings oppourtunities:

For younger people, “most aren’t looking for big tax-deferred savings; they want to pay down debt and student loans,” Mr. Moore added.

In short, these products rarely make sense for any client, especially investors in their 20’s and 30’s.

You can Click Here to read the article.

The post New York Life cuts initial deposit for annuity to attract youth – InvestmentNews appeared first on Serenity Financial Consulting, LLC.

Christine Dogas

Question: My wife and I have no debt. Our home, cars and credit cards are paid off. We make the maximum contributions into our 401(k) plans, although we don’t take advantage of catch-up contributions. But because our kids will be going to college in four years, should we take out a home mortgage now to lock in a low rate and deduct the interest payment? This way we will have some money to pay for college without borrowing from our 401(k) plans.

Answer: Congratulations on being debt free! That is a huge accomplishment, and one that you should be proud of.

I agree that you need to find a way to help pay for your kids’ college expenses without tapping your 401(k) plans. Even if you have the best intentions, if you are ever laid off or quit you will have to pay back the 401(k) loan immediately or face stiff taxes and penalties. And it may not be the best time to have to pay back a loan, having just lost your salary.

Click Here to read the rest of the article

The post Is a mortgage a smart way to pay for college? – USA Today appeared first on Serenity Financial Consulting, LLC.

If you frequent this blog, you know that I believe:

1. Your financial advisor should be fee-only; no other compensation structure is acceptable. This eliminates a lot of the conflicts of interest that exist in the world of financial product sales.
2. Your financial advisor should always be a fiduciary, which means they will always make recommendations and act in your best interest.
3. You should always ask a lot of questions when interviewing a financial advisor. You need to know a lot about the advisor before turning over your life savings to them.
4. You should do a background check on the advisor. FINRA & the SEC have made this process much easier in recent years.

All of these recommendations take a lot of time and energy. What if you just want to find out really quickly if it’s worth digging further? Just ask “Do you have a license?”

What is a license?

All salesmen must be licensed by FINRA to sell financial products, such as mutual funds and annuities. There are different licenses to sell different products, and all are labeled “Series” such as the Series 3, Series 6, & Series 7. These licenses means the holders can transact (sell) financial products. Why is this a bad thing? Because when selling a product, the holder of a license doesn’t have to act in their client’s best interest – they are free to act in their own best interest. I know this sounds absurd, but it’s true.

What about the Series 65?

If you do a FINRA check on me, you will find that I hold the Series 65, which is sort of the odd man out when it comes to licensing. It is the one in the series that allows the holder to give investment advice, but doesn’t authorize the holder to sell any products. It is required in almost every State, so every fee-only advisor you talk to will either have it, or will have exempted it.

Look out for salesmen wearing an advisors hat

Unfortunately, some salesmen are allowed to be both salesmen and advisors for the same client – we call them dual-registered (Some call them double dippers – I typically call them crooks, but I know that isn’t nice).This means that when they are giving you advice, they are acting in your best interest, but when selling you the product they recommended, they act in their own best interest. This is incredibly confusing, and something several other countries have made an illegal practice. If your salesman tells you they are also an advisor, walk away… If they have a license to sell ANY product, go find someone else.

So what do you think? If you ask if your advisor has a license, I would love to hear from you! I may feature your story in an upcoming blog post (Anonymously of course).

I would like to thank Blair duQuesnay, owner of ignite Investments & Planning in New Orleans for the inspiration for this blog post. You can find her on Twitter at @BlairHduQuesna.

The post Just Ask “Do You Have A License?” appeared first on Serenity Financial Consulting, LLC.

“I have clients fight in my office sometimes,” says Alan Moore, founder of Serenity Financial Consulting in Milwaukee. “Clients get up and storm out.” Moore acknowledges that his office is sometimes where the conflicts emerge: “Where else do they talk about money?”

We went on to discuss how financial planners should be handling these stressful events. Our natural inclination is to stop the clients from fighting or crying in our office, and yet it usually makes sense to let it play out.

So how are financial planners supposed to cope with a bickering, emotional couple? Moore says the goal of financial planners should be to get their married clients on the same page with their finances: “For clients that are willing to come in and see me, paying for financial advice, they have a good sense of reality when it comes to money. My job isn’t to tell them that their goals are not possible. My job is to educate them with the options and let them decide.”

Paula then asked what other financial advisors should recommend to couples that are experiencing high levels of stress concerning money. My recommendation was for the client to find an objective third party, such as  financial advisor or financial therapist.

And for other financial advisors aiming to help married couples get beyond their finance-related arguments, Moore stresses the importance of objective third parties — whether advisors or therapists. “They might help such couples get rid of preconceived notions and find areas of agreement,” he said.

Click here to read the full article.

The post When Clients Fight Over Money: What to Do – OnWallStreet appeared first on Serenity Financial Consulting, LLC.

When you’re younger, thinking about retirement seems more like a concept than an eventual reality – the milestone seems so far away. But, one day, it will become a reality, and it’s better to start planning financially as early as possible for that reality to ensure that you have enough money accumulated not simply to exist, but to enjoy your work-free days.

Your retirement plan needs to be funded from different sources. After all, you shouldn’t put all of your eggs in one basket. One source that is often ignored or discounted, but should still be part of your plan – is social security.

What is Social Security?

Funded through payroll deductions, it is a system that you pay into while you are working so that when you retire, you will receive a regular, monthly check to fund or supplement your retirement income. Everyone must pay social security – even the self-employed.

When is the Best Time to Begin Receiving Your Social Security Payments?

You don’t have to wait until you have reached the age of 65 to start drawing on your social security benefits. You can take start drawing on it earlier, but there are penalties for doing so.

For example, 62 is earliest you that you can elect to begin receiving it, however, your payments will be 25 – 30% less than what you would have received if you had waited until the age of 65. This means delaying from age 62 to 63 would give a guaranteed 8% rate of return!

Why then would anyone consider taking early payments? There are many scenarios including health issues, a shorter than average life expectancy, or a financial shortfall, among other reasons.

However, if you plan on working and will earn more than your annual earnings limit, or do not have serious health issues, then you would probably benefit by delaying the start of social security.

Your annual earnings limit is the maximum you are allowed to earn before your social security benefits are affected – your amount due will be reduced by $1 for every $2 you exceed your limit. In 2013, this limit is set at $15,120. Note that this reduction applies to those years before your retirement age, and affects income earned after you start receiving your checks. Once you reach retirement age, this limit no longer applies and you can earn as much as you want without affecting your social security benefit.

Another thing to consider – if your earnings exceed your annual earnings limit, then you may have to pay taxes on it.

There are additional strategies that married couples can employ to get more out of their combined benefits. For example, if one spouse’s benefit is significantly greater than the others, delaying benefits for the higher-earning spouse can be a good course of action because it increases the amount the couple receives as long as either spouse is living. Having one spouse wait to start their social security benefits until age 70 might be the best option.

You can find online calculators that will help determine the approximate amount of social security that you will receive based on “what-if” retirement scenarios, which you then can incorporate into your retirement plan.

Depending on the amount you have saved in your portfolios, your projected passive income stream, your preferred standard of living, and your health, social security may comprise a smaller or larger part of your retirement plan. Be sure to do your research so you understand the nuances of when you should take social security to ensure a long, prosperous, and enjoyable retirement.

So, what do you think? Are you planning social security being available when you retire? When are you planning on taking it?

The post Including Social Security as Part of Your Retirement Plan appeared first on Serenity Financial Consulting, LLC.

I recently wrote a guest post on the 3 tips to help you strike a healthy balance between retirement and education savings when you have a child. The post first appeared on The Virtual Attorney‘s blog.

#1: Fully Fund Your Emergency Fund

I know what you’re thinking… what do cash reserves have to do with retirement OR education savings? The answer is EVERYTHING! If you save into a 401(k) or 529 plan but don’t have ample cash reserves, you run the risk of having to take money out of your savings to cover the cost of an emergency. Taking money out of these accounts will cause you to pay taxes and penalties, all of which are unnecessary with proper planning. Until you have 3-6 months of living expenses in an emergency fund, don’t worry too much about retirement or education savings.

Click here to see the final two tips!

The post 3 Tips To Balance Retirement And Education Savings When You Have A Child appeared first on Serenity Financial Consulting, LLC.

Owning

The first way to earn money in the market is to own something. You could own a company, gold, or real estate. When you want to own part of a company, you can simply purchase stock in that company. Purchasing stock means you literally own a part of that company.

So let’s break this down further. When you own something, you can earn money in 2 primary ways:

1. By what you own being profitable – When companies are profitable, they can distribute those profits to the owners of their company (also called shareholders) in the form of dividends. If you own rental real estate, you can receive whatever rent is left over after mortgage payments.

2. By the value of what you own going up – The value of a company can go up or down, and this is reflected in the price of the stock of the company. The price of gold or real estate can go up, and you can profit if you choose to sell it.

Now that you know about owning, what about loaning?

Loaning

You can earn money by loaning money to others. When you deposit money into a savings account at the local bank, they pay you interest (admittedly at lower rates than in the past). By making this deposit, you are literally loaning the bank money. Another example of this is when you purchase a CD. Since you are locking in the loan for a longer period of time, the bank is willing to pay you a higher interest rate.

You can loan money to the government by purchasing T-Bills or TIPS, or to cities through municipal bonds. You are loaning these entities money, and in return they pay you interest. You can also loan companies money by purchasing their bonds.

As you can see, purchasing stock is the most common example of the Owning category, while purchasing bonds is the most common example of the Loaning category. If you want to invest in a company, you can chose to own part of it by purchasing stock, or loan the company money by purchasing a bond. If you want to invest in real estate, you can either own the real estate, or you can loan someone else money in the form of a mortgage.

Have you ever thought about investing in the form of Owning vs. Loaning? Does this help to simplify how you can earn money in the market? Please feel free to share your thoughts!

I would like to credit my mentor Rick Kahler for introducing me to this simplified way of viewing investing

The post Owning vs. Loaning – How Will You Invest In The Market? appeared first on Serenity Financial Consulting, LLC.