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The Financial Blog of Mary Brooks
January 2012

Happy New Year!

Whew! We made it through 2011. Here at Integré Wealth Management of Raymond James we are busy with our annual ritual of preparing for our Annual Planning Meeting, held the first few days of February. Although it is not easy to take the time out for this planning session, I have been committed to this process for many years. All our team members step away, step back, and review who we are, who we serve, what we have done well and what we want to be sure to improve upon. Our 2-day process includes portfolio evaluation (what worked, what didn’t), communication within our team and with our clients, analysis of work flow, a fun social event, and discussion of what we hope to accomplish for 2012, for both the team and for each of us individually. We leave our meeting on Friday afternoon with a written plan in place for the year at hand, a calendar of events for the year, and a deep sense of gratitude for all the blessings we have received.

When I think about it, I can hardly believe all the exciting changes 2012 will bring to our team. First, we are very happy to be joined by Margaret O’Hearn, who joins us as a Financial Advisor Trainee. Raymond James has made a tremendous commitment to the education of its advisors, and Maggie is participating in a seven year program which includes her receiving the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification within the first two years.

Rochelle and her husband are expecting their 2nd child in May and we all look forward to meeting this new family member.

Ila will be getting married in October to her long-time boyfriend Wesley Dela Merced Jr., and begin their new life together as a married couple.

And I, most happily will become a grandmother in early April this year, as my daughter Jessica and her husband Shen welcome a new baby boy!

For these reasons, and many more, we are celebrating 2012, not fearing it as is being touted in the press. I share the sentiments of Sandra Noble, executive director of the Mesoamerican research organization FAMSI, who notes that "for the ancient Maya, it was a huge celebration to make it to the end of a whole cycle". Celebrate the old cycle, bring on the new!

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and federally registered CFP (with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board's initial and ongoing certification requirements.

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Birthday Blog
September 28, 2011

Birthdays are always a time of reflection and a time of celebration. This year my birthday is not one of those with a "0" behind it, but it does feel like the ending of one phase and the beginning of another. A friend called the phase we baby-boomers are in as "the youth of old age". And, clearly, those 75 million of us born between 1946 and 1964 are having to re-think everything we thought we knew about phases of life. When we were born, life expectancy was 69.6 years old. This year, on the same day, July 22, I had one client turn 100 and another one turn 99. The 99 year old described to me what she saw in the street (filled with horses!) on the day the United States declared victory in World War I. Today she nimbly navigates the internet looking for interesting projects to pursue. And I am just one advisor out of hundreds of thousands. We cannot underestimate the monumental change that increased longevity is having on everything in life.

When social security was started in 1935 the average life expectancy was (guess what?), 65 years old. The program was never intended to supplement income for longer than a few years. Now workers who retire at 65 can expect to be IN retirement for 30, or even 35 years. Our retirement years are now extending as long as our work life. If we do not adjust our thinking about how we save, plan, spend and invest in retirement we may end up in our worst nightmare.

I recently updated my own Retirement Analysis. We run free retirement analyses for all our clients, and those who think they might want to become clients. If you are wondering if you are making the right choices to secure your family’s future, give us a call. We love talking with people about how they can make smart decisions about their financial life.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
What year did social security begin making regular monthly payments?

LAST WEEK’S QUESTION: How many days of oil usage does the U.S. hold in its Strategic Petroleum Reserves?
Answer: 59 days

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September 2011

Yesterday, a long-time client asked me, “Why don’t we just sell everything when the market goes down?”

With the S&P 500 now registering close to an 8% correction, many investors are having those same thoughts. The short answer is we don’t own “the market.” The investments we buy on your behalf are a carefully chosen and balanced blend of real companies with real businesses.

Before purchasing a company on your behalf, we spend time learning about the company. Then, we check not only on how the company is doing, but how the stock price is doing. Each position is carefully monitored for big moves up, or breaks of technical trends on the downside.

In a declining market, the falling tide will generally take all boats with it. The market relative strength chart is an excellent resource for determining if the stock’s decline is just market generated or stock specific.

Each week, we check how your holdings compare to the strength of the overall market. Those stocks that make corrections and hold their support lines typically are the next market leaders.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK:  How many days of oil usage does the U.S. hold in its Strategic Petroleum Reserves?

 

 

 

Past performance may not be indicative of future results. The performance mentioned does not include fees and charges which would reduce an investor's return. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index of 500 widely held stocks. It cannot be invested in directly.

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East Bay Women's Conference in March of 2012

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