Intelligent Investing

Insightful. Independent. Innovative.

Hans Blake, CFA, CPA

10 Tips for Caring for a Spouse or Parent who has Become a Child

by

caring for a spouse or parent
Reading Time: 2 minutes

10 Tips for Caring for a Spouse or Parent who has Become a Child.

It has been over three years since my grandma passed away from dementia/ Alzheimer’s on Thanksgiving Day, 2014. She was a sweet lady who almost overnight went from being independent to dependent upon my grandpa and my parents. Unfortunately, this is not an unusual situation in America today. Many of us know loved ones who suffer from dementia or Alzheimer’s. Intelligent Investing’s first core value is Compassion, and we believe we must have compassion on our loved ones. It is our duty and privilege to help those in need--especially family. Click To Tweet
My grandpa took care of her until he no longer was able. His health then declined after her passing, and my parents became his caretaker for the remainder of his life. He was promoted to heaven to join my grandma in March of this year. I observed the emotional toll and stress on my parents as they sometimes didn’t know what to do or who to turn to for help during their final years. I know this is a common theme for many families across America.

Sobering Statistics

As of 2009, the value of the services family caregivers provide for “free,” when caring for older adults, is estimated to be $375 billion a year. That is almost twice as much as is actually spent on homecare and nursing home services combined ($158 billion). More than 65 million people, 29% of the U.S. population, provide care for a chronically ill, disabled, or aged family member or friend during any given year and spend an average of 20 hours per week providing care for their loved one.
After reading several books and observing my parents in their reversing roles, I wanted to provide some helpful tips for anyone caring for a spouse or parent who has become a child.

10 Tips for Caring for a Spouse or Parent who has Become a Child

  1. Don’t argue, but rather change the subject.
  2. Don’t try to shame or lecture your parent into doing what is best for them. Distract, divert attention, and do what has to be done.
  3. Avoid the word remember. Instead reminisce with your loved one, remind and reassure.
  4. Physical touch is important.
  5. Monitor medications!
  6. Get rid of clutter. Simplify even family photos.
  7. Make spiritual input a priority. Worship together, read Scripture, sing. Even if you can’t carry a tune, the words of those songs can still lift a heart.
  8. Take care of yourself. You can only do so much. There is no shame in asking for help.
  9. Pray–for strength and patience, but also prayers of thankfulness for giving you the opportunity to bless them.
  10. Celebrate everything you can.

If there is anything we can do to help your family, please let us know.

To learn more, I recommend picking up the book, “When Your Parent Becomes Your Child” by Ken Abraham. 

Grandma and Grandpa Blake

2018 IRA and Retirement Plan Limits

by

IRA contribution limits

The maximum amount you can contribute to a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA in 2018 is $5,500 (or 100% of your earned income, if less), unchanged from 2017. The maximum catch-up contribution for those age 50 or older remains at $1,000. You can contribute to both a traditional IRA and a Roth IRA in 2018, but your total contributions can’t exceed these annual limits.

Traditional IRA income limits

The income limits for determining the deductibility of traditional IRA contributions in 2018 have increased. If your filing status is single or head of household, you can fully deduct your IRA contribution up to $5,500 in 2018 if your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is $63,000 or less (up from $62,000 in 2017). If you’re married and filing a joint return, you can fully deduct up to $5,500 in 2018 if your MAGI is $101,000 or less (up from $99,000 in 2017). Note that these figures assume you are covered by a retirement plan at work.

Read More and Download Here:

10 Years to Retirement- Top 6 things to be doing

by

10 Years to Retirement

Reading Time: < 1 minutes

As you approach retirement, you are often overwhelmed by the vast number of decisions that need to be made. When should I retire? How much do I need when I retire? How should I rollover my 401k? What am I going to do in retirement? etc…. It can be either a procrastinating or paralyzing time in your life as you contemplate the choices to be made. There are several critical “once-in-a-lifetime” decisions that are made within the 10 years leading up to retirement. These unique decisions can have life-lasting impacts, and we don’t want you having a “regret period” in retirement.

Intelligent Investing strives to alleviate this financial stress by sharing and taking some of the burden off of you. Our financial planning provides probability statistics that allow our clients to know the success rate of their retirement plan. We can then make live changes and instantaneously see how that affects their overall success rate. Knowing your probability of success is high, allows you to focus on what is important to you, allowing you to maximize your life. We also offer a Professionals’ Retirement Exit Plan Talk (PREP Talk) as well as a Stewarding The Assets Remaining Talk (STAR Talk) to help educate our clients on these decisions. This article should give you an idea of what you should be considering as you begin your descent to the retirement runway.

3 Lessons Truett Taught Me

by

S. Truett Cathy (Founder of Chick-fil-A)
Reading Time: 4 minutes

It is hard to believe it has been three years since Truett Cathy left this world on September 8, 2014. He grew up during the Great Depression, served in the US Army during World War II, and began the now famous restaurant chain in the Atlanta suburb of Hapeville in 1946. In a restaurant called the Dwarf Grill (since renamed Dwarf House), he and his brother Ben created the chicken sandwich that later became the signature menu item for Chick-Fil-A.

Gentle and Meek

I had the opportunity of working for Chick-fil-A during my high school and college years. I was privileged to go through Chick-fil-A’s leadership training and was selected to join all the Chick-fil-A operators in Nashville for their annual meeting. There in the Opryland Hotel, I saw the personal side of Truett, and he was just as gentle and meek in person as he was on the poster hanging in our local store.

 

Who Knew?

A couple years later after my trip to Nashville, I visited the Chick-fil-A headquarters in Atlanta with my brother and dad. We were escorted to Truett’s office on the top floor, and he had time to visit with us for a few minutes. We were about to meet with the president of the fastest growing fast food chain! How excited we were! We talked about Truett’s hobby of collecting cars, and how we were watching an ESPN auction and saw Pistol Pete Maravich’s BMW being sold for a bargain. Truett nodded his head through the story making us feel important. When we wrapped up the story, he looked at us with a straight face and said,

“Well, do you want to see it”?

“See what?” we asked.

“Pistol Pete’s BMW. I’m the one that bought it, and it is back at my home.”

My jaw hit the floor. For a minute, I thought he was senile, but then I realized he was dead serious. What are the odds? As I left the headquarters, Truett left an indelible mark on me. He was one of a kind.

3 Lessons Truett Taught Me

As I reflect over my time I spent at Chick-fil-A, there are three lessons Truett taught me:

  1. Treat people better than they want to be treated.
  2. Be consistent.
  3. Stick to your convictions

1. Treat people better than they want to be treated

When Truett was a teenager delivering newspapers, he treated each customer like the most important person in the world. “I delivered each paper as if I were delivering it to the front door of the governor’s mansion,” he said. He made sure they didn’t have to dig through the bushes for their paper, and on rainy days he found a dry spot at every door.

The Golden Rule states “Do to others what you want them to do to you.” However, the Platinum Rule states, “Do to others as they would have you do unto them, not as you would have them do unto you.” Truett instilled in his employees to answer customer’s “Thank you” with “My pleasure.” That was his signature phrase, and it makes people feel important.

Do to others as they would have you do unto them, not as you would have them do unto you. Click To Tweet

Intelligent Investing echoes these principles by treating each prospective and current client with compassion. Compassion is the first core value of the firm. By treating others with compassion, you not only will transform their lives, but you transform your own life as well.

2. Be consistent

Truett had a close and consistent walk with the Lord, and he was consistently faithful to his wife Jeannette for 66 years. This consistency bled to other areas of his life and work. To operate over 2,000 Chick-fil-A stores, you must have a consistent process and product.

Intelligent Investing has purchased a lot of great technology to be consistent in our process. This doesn’t mean there will never be change, but it does provide comfort to our clients as they onboard and see our consistent message throughout the firm and communication.

3. Stick to your convictions

Due to Truett’s strong religious beliefs, all of the Chick-fil-A’s are closed on Sundays to allow employees to attend church and spend time with their families. He was often ridiculed for his convictions. Many in the industry said he was foolish when other fast-food restaurants were opened an extra day and that his sales would be hurt. He stuck to his convictions, and Chick-fil-A now ranks in the top 10 fast-food restaurants with over $8 billion in sales last year.

We don’t like it when politicians change their minds and go back and forth on their viewpoints depending on the crowd they are talking to. The word hypocrite derives from the Greek hypokrisis meaning to “act on a stage or play a part.” This pretense is often described as being luke-warm, and I don’t know anyone who wants to be described that way.

Intelligent Investing believes in minimizing financial stress to maximize lives. Click To Tweet

Intelligent Investing believes in minimizing financial stress to maximize lives. We do this through fee-only fiduciary wealth management. We do not offer products such as insurance and annuities, and manage our clients’ risk to increase the chances to meet their goals. Having a great financial plan is important, but if you don’t understand clients and how they feel about their investing, they won’t stick to the plan. Fear and greed never go away. This behavioral coaching is our conviction, and we know that clients and advisors left on their own often make unwise decisions.

Conclusion

I’ve often said that I want Intelligent Investing to become the “Chick-fil-A of Wealth Management.” That is the standard of customer service I want to live up to.

Each person's destiny is not a matter of chance; it's a matter of choice. ~Truett Cathy Click To Tweet

“Each person’s destiny is not a matter of chance; it’s a matter of choice. It’s determined by what we say, what we do, and whom we trust.”  ~ S. Truett Cathy

Extra- Who was S. Truett Cathy?

How to Rollover Your Employer Retirement Plan Assets

by

Intelligent Investing helps you understand all your employer options to ensure you make wise and informed decisions, so you know how to rollover your employer retirement plan assets. In addition, you’ll get an array of portfolio planning tools, research and education, so we can design a portfolio that aligns with your retirement goals and your ability and willingness to accept risk. Whether you have a concentrated stock position or a simple 401(k), we minimize financial stress to maximize your life.

What the Solar Eclipse Can Teach Us About Markets

by

Reading Time: 3 minutes

How to Prepare for the Solar Eclipse Video

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been fascinated with astronomy (not astrology–big difference). My neighbors introduced me to the planets and moon’s craters using a telescope on their back porch in Pennsylvania. I used to wake up in the middle of the night to watch meteor showers, took Astronomy as an elective in college, and have even been to a star party. (but that is for another blog). OK, so I’m an official geek. Well, this year is a big year for astronomy. Unless you’ve been hiding under the shadow of a rock (see what I did there), you know a total solar eclipse is coming.

The Great American Total Solar Eclipse

A solar eclipse is when the moon is in between the earth and the sun, and the moon blocks the sun’s rays. The first total solar eclipse visible in the U.S. in nearly four decades is expected to dazzle on Aug. 21, 2017. During the so-called Great American Total Solar Eclipse, the 70-mile-wide shadow cast by the moon will darken skies from Oregon to South Carolina. During most solar eclipses, the moon takes just a “bite” out of the sun — these are called partial solar eclipses. However, the August event will go down as the first total solar eclipse whose path of totality stays completely in the United States since 1776. How patriotic is that?

Historically important eclipse

Ancient cultures tried to understand why the sun temporarily vanished from the sky, so they came up with various reasons for what caused a solar eclipse. Legends surrounding solar eclipses involved mythical figures eating or stealing the sun, and others interpreted the event as a sign of angry or quarreling gods. Though the following story relates to a lunar eclipse which is where the earth’s shadow appears on the moon, it still applies:

On June 30, 1503, Christopher Columbus was stranded in Jamaica. The indigenous people of the island welcomed Columbus and his crew and fed them, but Columbus’ sailors cheated and stole from the natives. After six months, the natives stopped their food supply.

Columbus had on board an almanac and upon consulting the book, he noticed the date and the time of an upcoming lunar eclipse. He was able to use this information to his advantage. He requested a meeting that day with the leader and told him that his god was angry with the local people’s treatment of Columbus and his men. Columbus said his god would provide a clear sign of his displeasure by making the rising full moon appear “inflamed with wrath.”

On March 1, 1504, the lunar eclipse and the red moon appeared on schedule, and the indigenous people were frightened.

So what can the solar eclipse teach us about markets?

  1. There is a Cycle
  2. The Current Cycle Doesn’t Last Forever
  3. Don’t Misbehave Emotionally

There is a Cycle

Just as there is a schedule established for the location and time of eclipses, there are business cycles as well. The business cycle consists of four phases:

  1. Expansion– a period of economic increase or positive growth
  2. Peak– the highest turning point of a business cycle
  3. Contraction– a period of economic decline or negative growth
  4. Trough– the lowest turning point of a business cycle

Business Cycle

The Current Cycle Doesn’t Last Forever

Columbus timed the eclipse with his hourglass, and shortly before the totality ended after 48 minutes, he told the frightened indigenous people that they were going to be forgiven. When the moon started to reappear from the shadow of the Earth, he told them that his god had pardoned them. Intelligent investors know that the current phase we are in doesn’t last forever. That doesn’t mean you should try and time the markets, but you should be prudent and be aware of where we are compared to historical averages. A diversified portfolio should be able to weather all phases of the business cycle. That doesn’t mean there won’t be losses, but the eggs shouldn’t be placed all in one basket.

Don’t Misbehave Emotionally

Many economists believe we are in the latter parts of the expansionary phases, while others believe this could be a new floor to new heights. It is important to not be fearful or greedy as we are likely in the mid to late parts of the expansionary phase of the current business cycle in the U.S. Below are some common emotions that people have when they face different market phases. Whatever your viewpoint, be sure to have an accountability partner who can help you weather the storms. Remember that behavioral coaching is one of the most important things an advisor can provide.

Unfortunately for the indigenous people, they didn’t have the knowledge about the eclipse and acted emotionally out of fear. However, you are now aware of the market cycles and with some help can protect yourself from the next downturn in the markets.

Blog Resources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historically_significant_lunar_eclipses

How to Get Naked with your Clients (Part 3)

by

Reading Time: 3 minutes

In earlier blogs, I talked about the Fear of Losing the Business and the Fear of Being Embarrassed. In this third and final blog, I will talk about Patrick Lencioni’s Fear of Feeling Inferior in his book, Getting Naked.

Toilet Trouble

When I was dating my then-girlfriend-now-wife in college, I went to see her parents for the first time over Christmas break. As you know, it is  a good idea to be on your best behavior when you are meeting your potential in-laws. It was Christmas time 2003, and things were going pretty well. I liked her parents, and they seemed to be liking me…

Well one evening when we were playing card games in the kitchen, I dismissed myself to use their guest bathroom. I didn’t realize it at the time, but this was to be a defining moment in my relationship with Amanda and her parents. After using the restroom, facing a potentially embarrassing moment and feeling quite inferior, I sheepishly whispered to Amanda that I needed a plunger.

Amanda started laughing uncontrollably, making a much larger scene than I wanted. I couldn’t believe she was betraying me and making a laughing stock out of me before her parents. My face turned four shades of red with embarrassment. What I didn’t know at the time was this same guest bathroom toilet had been the source of many issues over the years and had trouble flushing–embarrassing other guests and family members. After we all had a side-splitting time of laughter, I realized I had nothing to fear, and there was no need to put up pretenses and feel inferior to my future in-laws.

Fear of Feeling Inferior

In Patrick Lencioni’s book, he mentions a third fear–the fear of feeling inferior. To avoid feeling inferior or being irrelevant or overlooked, we often try to achieve and maintain a high level of importance in clients’ minds. At some point, we all have made the mistake of projecting an image of ourselves that is much better than our true self. Whether it is holding our breath while taking a photograph to look thinner or covering up that acne before our first date, we all have been there.

The Intelligent Investing Solution

People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Click To Tweet

The reality is clients are more interested in honesty and transparency than they are in confidence and perfection. One of our core values is truth. Intelligent Investing believes speaking the truth in love is better than making an “empty promise” the client may want to hear, but will hurt them in the long-run.

Competence is still relevant, and clients need to know that we have the knowledge and experience to help them. However, competence is not enough. My dad always said, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”  Let your clients know when you don’t have the answer to their complex question. It’s ok to be transparent and let them know you’ve been in their shoes.

The best way to differentiate ourselves from competition...is to be vulnerable with them. ~Lencioni Click To Tweet

Happily Ever After

Well, by God’s grace, Amanda and I have been married for 11 years now. We’ve had our embarrassing moments, but we have tried to be more vulnerable with each other. It still is a challenge, but we have grown closer through the years by letting our hair down and loving each other for who we are. I encourage you to give it a try and see what happens…you may be surprised.

Buy the Book

To continue learning more about getting naked with your clients, consider purchasing the book.

Getting Naked: A Business Fable About Shedding The Three Fears That Sabotage Client Loyalty

Intelligent Investing embellished menu icon