Be Prepared If Disaster Strikes

Are you ready if disaster strikes?

Friends of mine recently lost almost everything they owned in a house fire. Although they were covered by insurance and will have the house rebuilt, they are spending endless hours documenting losses and replacing lost records. With the recent hurricane warnings, wild fires and floods it is good to have your Financial House In Order.

How can you be prepared?

• Keep a list of important documents and their location.
• Keep copies of documents and back up electronic files.
• Keep a list of important contacts and phone numbers
• Videotape your home to document contents

What documents are important?

• Estate Planning Documents: Wills, Trusts, Advance Healthcare Directives or Living Will, Power of Attorney for Healthcare, Power of Attorney for Property, DNRs, etc.
• Insurance Documents: Life Insurance Policies, Accident and Health Insurance Policies, Auto and Property Insurance Policies, etc.
• Financial Documentation: Tax Returns and supporting documentation, Loan Documents including mortgages, education loans and any other personal loans, Real Estate Deeds, Titles, Investments including Retirement Accounts, Pensions, Savings Bonds, Bank Accounts, Stock Certificates, Brokerage Accounts, Mutual Funds, Stock Options, etc.
• Other Important Documents: Birth Certificates, Marriage Certificates, Social Security Cards, Divorce Decrees, Death Certificates, Military Discharge Papers, Passports, Family Records, Medical Records, Safe Deposit Box info, etc.

What contacts are important?

• Family members and friends, Medical - Doctors and Dentists, Financial Advisor, Tax Preparer, Insurance Companies/Agents, Attorneys, Executors

Other Resources to be prepared for disaster:

IRS: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=180547,00.html?portlet=7

FEMA: http://www.fema.gov/pdf/library/pfd.pdf

Harvard Health: http://www.health.harvard.edu/downloads/preparing_for_disaster.pdf

Ready America: http://www.ready.gov/america/getakit/

How Is Your Financial Advisor Paid?

I have chosen to work as a Fee-Only FInancial Planner because I feel it is the most objective way to give financial advice. I have taken the Fiduciary Oath. Evergreen Financial Planning provides financial and tax advice on an hourly-as-needed based.

Commissioned Professionals: If you aren't sure how your Financial Advisor is getting paid, chances are thy are earning commissions. Your broker or insurance professional earns a commission whenever they sell you a stock, mutual fund, annuity or one of the many products that trigger a sales charge. Sounds like a conflict of interest to me!

Fee-Based Advisors: Fee-based professionals also receive monetary reward for the products they sell. With fee-based accounts, brokers can charge customers a flat fee or a percentage of the value of the account. Sounds like a conflict of interest to me!

Fee-Only Advisors: A Fee-Only Financial Planner does not sell securities or insurance. There is not the conflict of interest which exists with the other types of "advisors" because recommendations for investments are not made based on the size of the commission. The fee-only advisor works for you.

AUM: Some advisors charge a fee for Assets Under Management. They are compensated by charging a percentage of the market value of the assets they manage on behalf of their clients

What is a Fiduciary?

The five core principles of the authentic fiduciary standard say it well. They are:

• Put the client's best interest first;
• Act with prudence; that is, with the skill, care, diligence and good judgment of a professional;
• Do not mislead clients; provide conspicuous, full and fair disclosure of all important facts;
• Avoid conflicts of interest; and
• Fully disclose and fairly manage, in the client's favor, unavoidable conflicts.

Will it matter where you retire?

Did you realize that states treat social security or pension income differently?

Check out this site by Kiplinger for a list of the states that are much more tax friendly for retirees:
http://www.kiplinger.com/tools/retiree_map/index.html?map=12#anchor

Free NAPFA Webinar this Friday

Don't miss the Free NAPFA webinar this Friday, October 2 at 1 pm - What is Financial Planning?

NAPFA has started giving free online Webinars for consumers. They are held online the first Friday of each month from 1:00-2:00 pm ET. The Consumer Webinar Series is for everyone – no matter how in tune you are with personal financial issues. Some topics are basic in order to give you an overview of a specific topic while others are slightly more advanced to dig a little deeper into a topic.

For more information and to see upcoming seminars go to: http://www.napfa.org/consumer/UpcomingSessions.asp

20 Ways to Celebrate Financial Planning Week

Financial Planning Week is Oct 5-11 - Spread the word!

FPA offers these suggestions to celebrate Financial Planning Week:

• Balance your checkbook
• Make a monetary contribution to your favorite charity
• Start a savings account for a child, vacation or a gift for yourself
• Help teach your children how to save and spend wisely
• Get your estate in order: Create or revise your will and other estate-planning documents
• Call your financial planner and share your appreciation for their service
• Pay off a credit card
• Get a head start on college — investigate college planning options
• Establish an emergency fund
• Evaluate your employee benefits and begin planning for open enrollment
• Develop your holiday spending budget
• Plan for year-end tax strategies
• Purchase a session with a financial planner for a relative, friend or colleague
• Give a relative, friend or colleague a subscription to a personal finance magazine
• Invite a financial planner to speak at your workplace
• Review your insurance coverage
• Write down your financial goals and revisit them periodically
• Start using personal finance software to help you better understand your money
• Look up three financial terms that have baffled you and resolve to understand them
• Talk to a relative about their plans for long-term care

for more information go to

http://www.fpaforfinancialplanning.org/WhatisFinancialPlanning/FinancialPlanningWeek

http://www.evergreenplanning.org

Fee-Only: Financial Advice That Is Not Part of a Sales Process

It may seem unnatural to pay upfront for investment advice; however, if you are comparing our services with those of another adviser, you might consider the following:

We are generally able to deliver substantial value in not only saving our clients money, but also delivering advice that’s suited to your needs and not tied to any sales agenda. Our value derives from independence, objectivity, and fiduciary responsibility. Very few planners in the world offer a range like this.

Quality and Value

• Objective Advice - The only money we receive is directly from you, our client. Commission paid advisors are compensated based on whether you buy the product they recommend - this represents a significant conflict of interest. Our advice is not rendered as part of a sales process. There are no hooks or hidden agendas.

• Independent Advice - The investment universe we have available to choose from is not limited by any company paying us to recommend their product or type of service. The plan we create for you is not conditioned in any way on you implementing your solution through us. We never receive third-party compensation from suppliers or vendors.

• Fiduciary – As a member of the FPA, NAPFA, Garrett Planning Network and the CFP Board, I am required to always place your best interest above that of my own. As a Fee-Only advisor, you are the only one paying me, which aligns our interests and removes conflicts of interest.

• Cost Effective – How much are you paying to invest your money? You'll pay more for my plan up-front, but the difference in implementation and ongoing costs is significant when using appropriate no-load funds with low expense ratios, and with lower turnover and capital gains distributions. You will also be free from that point on from the higher ongoing costs of ownership of a limited range of investment products offered by commission paid advisors.

http://www.EvergreenPlanning.org

NAPFA Applauds President Obama for Proposing a Fiduciary Standard

President's regulatory reform proposals met with guarded optimism by Fee-Only financial advisor association

Arlington Heights, IL (June 18, 2009) - The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), the country's leading professional association of Fee-Only, fiduciary financial advisors, is pleased to release the following statement from NAPFA National Chair Diahann W. Lassus, CFP®, CPA/PFS regarding President Obama's 21st Century Regulatory Reform proposals.

"For 26 years NAPFA has been promoting the need for financial advisors of all varieties to adhere to a strict fiduciary standard of conduct. The industry has done consumers a great disservice over the years by blurring the lines that distinguish truly independent advisors who operate only with the client's interests at heart and those advisors adhering to a lower standard of conduct. President Obama's call for a fiduciary standard for all financial intermediaries who provide investment advice is a wake-up call for an industry that has fallen asleep at the wheel."

Ms. Lassus adds, "With the President pointing the regulatory reform debate clearly in the direction of a fiduciary standard now comes the time to determine how regulation of the industry will change. NAPFA encourages members of Congress to avoid the trap of looking to bodies that have been focused on guiding the brokerage side of the industry. We believe only a body such as the SEC, which has roots in a fiduciary standard in regulating Registered Investment Advisors, is qualified to enforce this higher standard."

To arrange an interview with Ms. Lassus, please contact Benjamin Lewis of Perception, Inc. at 301-963-7555 or Benjamin.lewis@perceptiononline.com.

About NAPFA

Since 1983, The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) has provided Fee-Only financial planners across the country with some of the strictest guidelines possible for professional competency, comprehensive financial planning, and Fee-Only compensation. With more than 2,100 members across the country, NAPFA has become the leading professional association in the United States dedicated to the advancement of Fee-Only financial planning.

For more information on NAPFA, please visit www.napfa.org.

5 Fiduciary Principles

Your financial advisor is fiduciary if they:

- Put the client's best interest first

- Act with due care and utmost good faith

- Do not mislead clients; provide clear and conspicuous, full and fair disclosure of all material facts

- Avoid conflicts of interest

- Disclose and fairly manage any remaining material conflicts in the client's favor

New and Improved Web Site

Evergreen Financial Planning has a new and improved Web Site. Easier to navigate and more user friendly. Check it out at http://www.EvergreenPlanning.org