Will March bring the Luck of the Irish?

This week marked the 1 year anniversary of the current bull market. In the 13 bull markets experienced since 1930 that have lasted a year, return averaged 153% and total length averaged 4.4 years.

According to these statistics, the market has 54% more to go over the next 3+ years. This is one case where no one will complain should history choose to repeat itself! Happy investing.

Wills: The Cornerstone of Your Estate Plan

Alright, I admit I went to the archives for this one. What can I say, its tax season and everyone is a bit busy around here. I hope you don’t mind my knocking the dust off of this ever so important issue of estate planning.

During this month of St Patrick’s Day, I have taken a few minutes to reflect upon the vast changes that have occurred in how we view, accept, and move on after death. For many years, and even still today in some Irish villages, death was viewed as a new beginning for the unfortunate sole it had come to take. When reading old newspaper clips from Ireland, death often came in some dramatic fashion; a fall from the roof top, a trampling of a farm animal, or often in the midst of a jig and a good pint at the local pub.

A few days later, the entire town would parade through the village, following the deceased, wailing all the way to the final resting place. Within an hour of the burial everyone was back at the pub toasting and remembering Uncle Liam whether he really deserved it or not. They celebrated the grand afterlife, cherished the thought of the old bloke watching over them, and the family inherited what was rightfully theirs within days and moved on. Things are needless to say, much different now.

Today, if you care about what happens to your money, home, and other property after you die, you need to do some estate planning. There are many tools you can use to achieve your estate planning goals, but a will is probably the most vital. Even if you're young or your estate is modest, you should always have a legally valid and up-to-date will. This is especially important if you have minor children because, in many states, your will is the only legal way you can name a guardian for them.

Wills avoid intestacy and distribute property according to your wishes

Probably the greatest advantage of a will is that it allows you to avoid intestacy. That is, with a will you get to choose who will get your property, rather than leave it up to state law. State intestate succession laws, in effect, provide a will for you if you die without one. This "intestate's will" distributes your property, in general terms that may not be what you would have wanted. Wills allow you to leave bequests (gifts) to anyone you want. You can leave your property to a surviving spouse, a child, other relatives, friends, a trust, a charity, or anyone you choose.

Wills allow you to nominate a guardian for your minor children

In many states, a will is your only means of stating who you want to act as legal guardian for your minor children if you die. You can name a personal guardian, who takes personal custody of the children, and a property guardian, who manages the children's assets. This can be the same person or different people. The probate court has final approval, but courts will usually approve your choice of guardian unless there are compelling reasons not to.

Wills specify how to pay estate taxes and can help minimize taxes

The way in which estate taxes and other expenses are paid can be directed by your will. To ensure that the specific bequests you make to your beneficiaries are not reduced by taxes and other expenses, you can provide in your will that these costs be paid from your residuary estate. Or, you can specify which assets should be used or sold to pay these costs.

A will also gives you the chance to minimize taxes and other costs. For instance, if you draft a will that leaves your entire estate to your U.S. citizen spouse, none of your property will be taxable when you die (if your spouse survives you) because it is fully deductible under the unlimited marital deduction. However, if your estate is distributed according to intestacy rules, a portion of the property may be subject to estate taxes if it is distributed to heirs other than your U.S. citizen spouse.

There are many other advantages to having a will, and even more should one choose to complete the package with living wills and health care directives. These additions will protect your rights and desires should you ever become incapacitated or unable to communicate. So while things are much different today than they were years ago on the “Isle of Green” there is still much we can do to keep our legacy prosperous and easy to administer. So this March, take a few minutes to get your affairs in order. I for one like to imagine my heirs and well wishers toasting the night away at my wake then mired by taxes, intestacy, and family strife. The traditional lyrics below bring to mind the contentment one with only a will could have. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Oh all the money that e'er I had, I spent it in good company
And all the harm that e'er I've done, alas, it was to none but me
And all I've done for want of wit to memory now I can't recall
So fill to me the parting glass, good night and joy be with you all
~Traditional Irish Tune

by Andy Pulsfort

The Rip Off

Two weeks ago, I was in Washington DC speaking to a CEO roundtable. At the end of my talk, one of the participants said to me “I am sure you are worth every penny you charge, but I have been ripped off by a financial advisor and don’t know if I can ever trust another one. Do you have a case study on how to recover from a bad advisor?”

Great question. If you don’t want to be ripped off by an advisor or the financial system in general, you first have to start thinking about these things differently. Finding the right advisor is about personality, communication and knowing what you need. Do you need a wealth advisor to assist you in creating sustainable wealth? Or are you your own wealth advisor, and just looking for some special expertise in a narrow discipline?

Most of us are unknowingly looking for wealth advisors and hire specialty advisors. Let me explain.

Here’s a common scenario. I need tax advice, so I seek out a tax specialist, i.e. a CPA. My need for insurance is met by a specialist - my insurance agent. My new will is drafted by my legal specialist – my attorney. My investments are handled by another specialist – my stock broker. Question: Who is handling my wealth?

We treat all these facets of wealth management as separate…and they’re not. Creating sustainable wealth is most effectively done by beginning with the end in mind – the end being the freedom that comes with planning for a prosperous future.

If asked “Do you want to leave a legacy for your children?” your answer might be “Yes, absolutely.” But what if funding that legacy means you have to shave 10% off of your annual spending? Is that really what you want? The answer may still be ‘yes’, but without looking at the whole wealth picture, you would not have considered all the consequences to answering one narrowly focused question.

A good wealth advisor begins the process with a plan. He or she may call it a financial plan, a wealth plan, or in our case, The Prosperity Experience®. This plan is not a one-size-fits all; it must be tailored to meet the goals and intentions of the client. It includes a decision-making model that supports the person or couple in reaching their full wealth potential.

Specialty advisors like insurance agents, investment advisors and estate planning attorneys are brought in as needed to provide detailed expertise in a focused area. The wealth advisor may have these professionals in-house or they may be available via contract. Either way, the wealth advisor coordinates their work and uses the planning process with the client to facilitate decision making.

If you have been ripped off, there is nothing to do but get back on your horse and begin again, with the wisdom you gained from the experience. Take it slow. Trust your intuition. Do your homework. Find out who you are talking to.

Sustainable wealth creation is a lifelong process. While no single decision may change the trajectory of your wealth and prosperity, any single decision can. Don’t wait until you have made that one big, bad decision to begin again.

Mackey McNeill

$35,000 commode!

John Thain, former Chief Executive of Merrill Lynch, has agreed to repay the $1.2 million for his office renovations, including his $35,000 commode and $87,000 area rug!

A more serious breach of shareholder fiduciary responsibility revolves around the payment of discretionary bonuses to key executives as Merrill posted a larger than expected fourth quarter 2008 loss…. and of course, just before asking for US taxpayer bailout money!

Click here for the New York Times story

I read this stuff and I get just plain angry. How is an investor suppose to gain confidence in the financial markets, when this kind of abuse and disregard for the responsibility of a CEO to uphold the shareholders interest are so common in today’s society?

As an independent advisor, I have a fiduciary duty to my clients which means, their interests come before my own. I take this duty very seriously. In addition, I know my clients, and for me that means, “it is just business” does not compute. It is always personal.

When corporate scandals present the possibility of jeopardizing my clients’ financial futures, I have to question, am I doing enough? Am I doing the right thing?

How did society develop to this place? Where are we going from here? How soon can we get there?

There is a long standing movement to values based decision making in business. In the investment world it is called Socially Responsible Investing (SRI). (learn more at www.SocialInvest.org)

Simply put, SRI means, that in addition rigorous financial analysis, consideration is given to corporate policies and governance issues. In other words, how a company impacts the environment, how it treats its employees, excessive CEO compensation, and the like are considered in addition to the financials before making a decision to own a stock or bond of a particular company.
When I first learned of this idea, I thought it was a bit out there. After all, isn’t business just business?

Not at all. If you want to know what is happening, follow the money. If you want to make an impact, change your behavior with your money. It is a really simple and powerful idea.

Now that I have been a part of the SRI community for years, and continue to see the damage done to individual investors in cases like Merrill Lynch, Enron and World Com, I have come full circle. How can we NOT consider the corporate policies and governance issues before investing? Why would we turn a blind eye to values in the name of greater profit? Why have we let money run our lives for so long, without proper conscious?

In this time the world is calling out for change. Paying attention to how you receive, spend and invest your money is one of the most important areas in your life that needs changing. Step up. Step in time with your values. Give money its due place, equal in line with your values.

May prosperity be yours,

Mackey McNeill, CPA/PFS IAR
President and CEO
Mackey Advisors
www.CultivatingProsperity.com
859-331-7755
Mackey@CultivatingProsperity.com

2008 Predictions .. in retrospect

Business Week published its top 10 Worst Predictions of 2008 last week.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_02/b4115015697841.htm

As I read the list, many thoughts and emotions arose: sadness, horror, confusion, betrayal, stupidity, just to name a few.

Predicting the future is always a shot in the dark. Good people, with good intentions, attempt to give us a peek into the future. Some will be correct and some will not. We will only know in retrospect who was correct.

Sadly, a large portion of the population uses these questionable predictions to make financial and investment decisions. There is a better way. First, we have to give up our goal of timing the market and knowing specifically what the future holds. The future has not yet been created. Our future is created from the choices we make today and it is tied to the collective. We are all making choices and our individual choices for how we spend, invest, and make money impacts the big picture. All those small choices add up to the world economy.

Often I hear people condemning “big business.” It is those “big businesses” that lie, cheat and steal, and make a mess of the economy for the rest of us. Of course there is an equal camp that shouts it is “big government” that is the problem. Were it not for “big government” our economy would work and everything would be rosy.Well the last time I looked, both “big business” and “big government” were run by people.

You may not think of them as people like you and me, but I can guarantee, that they get up in the morning and put their pants on one leg at a time like everyone else. They have families, fears, worries and joy, just like you and me. And their decisions are all part of the collective as well.

Without a blue print of the future, who can you create a prosperous future?

Follow my top 3 tips for the New Year and use my five never forget rules.

Here they are:
A. Stop trying to predict the future.
B. Accept, learn and use my five never forget rules of money:

1. Cash is Queen/ King – Always have a backup plan that includes cash reserves. Always live within your current cash flow. If you are retired, make sure you have enough cash and bonds to sustain your lifestyle for at least 3 or better, 5 years.
2. Use debt wisely. Just because you can get the credit, doesn’t mean it is in your best interest to use it. You have to earn a minimum of $1.30 to pay off $1.00 in debt. This makes debt, easy come, not so easy go.
3. Investment markets are volatile. Great investors develop an asset allocation plan, diversify among asset classes, and stay the course in good times and bad.
4. Investing is a long term game. Forget about picking a home run. You may get lucky, but more likely you will be broke. Long term is 10 to 15 years. Look ahead and stay out of the news drama of the day.
5. Don’t follow the herd. Sheep make lousy investors. If you follow the herd you will sell low and buy high. Making money requires that you buy low and sell high, avoiding the stampede of the herd. (You can get killed out there!)

C. Create your own personal Prosperity Plan™ today. Do not wait. Do not tally. Your future is created by the choices you make today.

What choices are you making? Are these choices moving you toward what you really desire?

The Prosperity Planning™ process gives you these answers and more.

May prosperity be yours,

Mackey McNeill, CPA/PFS IAR

President and CEO

Mackey Advisors

www.CultivatingProsperity.com

859-331-7755

Mackey@CultivatingProsperity.com

Smart college decisions, no is sometimes the best answer

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the amount families pay for college, after adjustments for financial aid, has risen 439% since 1982, compared with a 108% increase in the consumer price index. As a result, many college plans are underfunded, and the stock market decline didn't help matters.

It has become the norm in our society to take our teenagers from campus to campus so they might select a college. These teenagers (considered legal adults in most states at age 18) choose their college based criteria that is rarely rooted in good financial judgment. If they can get student loans to pay for college, they assume that it will all work out. Rarely have I encountered a young adult who had thought thru the consequences of the loans they were taking, before they were deeply in college debt.

The results are young adults paying hundreds of dollars a month for years. These same young adults then have to deal with the consequences of the debt they created by delay having children, postponing their first home, under funding their 401(k) and the like.

The truth is our kids would be much better off if they were told no. No, you may not attend a college beyond your financial means. No, you may not spend the first two years of college out of state when you can get those credits at 1/4th the cost at the local community college while living at home.

Are kids really better off to have fun with their friends for four years only to be saddled with debt well into their 30’s? Is the party really worth it?

It is time we began to look at college as an investment like any other. We need full disclosure of the risks, rewards and long term consequences before we invest. My suggestion is that before student loans are handed out, the student be required to work and pay their own expenses for two years prior. This way they have firsthand experience in what it really takes to get a job, pay your bills and make ends meet. At the very least, young adult should be required to do the math for themselves by creating their post education budget before they take their first dollar of debt.

Our favorite debt is usually the one we did not take on. Do your kids a favor and tell them no. They might be upset in the short term, but they will thank you in the long term.

May prosperity be yours,
Mackey McNeill, CPA/PFS IAR
President and CEO
Mackey Advisors
www.CultivatingProsperity.com
859-331-7755
Mackey@CultivatingProsperity.com

Listen and Watch - Financial News

Today was a busy day. This morning I taped a segment on the AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants) FeedThePig initiative. This iniative is geared toward improving financial literacy in the 25 to 34 year old age group. The site, FeedThePig.org is a fun and free site, with no commercial advertising.

Learn more by watching the interview with Alison Montoya on WLWT , the NBC affliliate in Cincinnati, tomorrow morning between 7AM and 9AM.

Crystal Faulker and her business partner and husband, Tom Cooney, host a radio show on wnku. Listen next week for the segment on Tips for Surviving and Thriving in the current economic climage.

May prosperity be yours,
Mackey McNeill, CPA/PFS IAR
President and CEO
Mackey Advisors
www.CultivatingProsperity.com
859-331-7755

Clean up your mail box, clean up your debt

The best way to not have the credit card blues is to use credit cards wisely.

For many people that means fewer cards and avoiding unsolicited credit offers.

Just like when you go on a diet, you don't keep cookies and pop in the house, the best credit card management involves keeping the cards from coming in your home in the first place!

It is easy to do. Here is how:

The credit bureaus offer a toll-free number that enables you to “opt-out” of having pre-approved credit offers sent to you for five years. Call 1-888-5-OPTOUT (567-8688) or visit http://www.optoutprescreen.com/ for more information. When you call, you’ll be asked for personal information, including your home telephone number, your name, and your Social Security number. The information you provide is confidential and will be used only to process your request to opt out of receiving pre-screened offers of credit.

May prosperity be yours,
Mackey McNeill, CPA/PFS, IAR
President and CEO
Mackey Advisors
Mackey@CultivatingProsperity.com
859-331-7755

Got the credit card blues?

One of the most important components of living in prosperity is to have freedom and joy around your cash flow. And the biggest impediment to this is credit card debt.

So for this new year, why not try a new year’s resolution that really works to unhook your credit card addiction forever!

Here is my sure fire, never fails, pay off your credit card rules:

1. You gotta wanta. Credit card debt is easy come not so easy go. If you only want to sort of, not really, then you will fail. This is a challenging task and you must ask yourself some serious questions. Are you willing to get a plan and stick to it? Are you willing to make changes in your life? Such as: Give up dying your hair, do your own manicures, make your own coffee, cook your own dinner? Are you willing to find ways to being happy that have nothing to do with the latest clothing, car, or fad? Are you willing to choose to be happy wearing last year’s fashions? Are you able to say no to that great looking new bedspread on the January white sale? Seriously, get down and dirty and look inside and ask yourself if you are really willing to change. If so, your first commitment is to NO new debt. Ask a trusted friend or family member to hold your credit cards for you while you are paying them off. Tell them your plan (see details below on how to prepare a plan.)
2. During this entire process, (which may take years – yes years – being realistic is important) bless the debt and find out how it has blessed you. Find a point of peaceful gratitude with your debt. What you resist persists. If every time you think of your credit card debt, it is in the context of things like: self loathing, blaming yourself, putting yourself down, feeling hopeless, etc, all this negative internal self talk is just going to make it very hard to pay off your debt. By coming to the debt with gratitude, you will face your debt with a positive attitude making your likely hood of success much, much greater. Keep a journal about your feelings toward yourself for being in debt and about your credit card debt itself. When all your credit cards are paid off, have a ceremony to burn the journal. A bon fire may be in order!
3. Make a list of your credit cards in a columnar format. Account name, limit, outstanding balance, minimum payment, payment you are making, interest rate.
4. Take the smallest debt and focus all of your available cash flow (except the savings amount noted on point 5) on this debt. Make only minimum payments on everything else. Once this debt is paid off, take all the money you were applying to the smallest credit card balance, and add it to the minimum payment on the second smallest credit card until it is paid off. Continue this practice, always focusing on the smallest balance first. Celebrate wildly with each card you pay off. Wildly as in do something fun for yourself, like a walk in the park or a having a friend over for movie night. Not wildly like going out and spending a bunch of money on an extravagant purchase or dinner. Appreciate yourself for being so focused and committed to your financial health. Check in with the person who is holding your cards, and share your success. Write yourself a “thank you for being a financial success” card. Mail it to yourself.
5. Start a savings program. Most people get into credit card trouble because they have no savings for everyday big ticket items, like tires, a wrecked car, a new furnace etc. So it is imperative to begin saving money for a rainy day as you pay off your debt. Do NOT wait until your debt is paid off to begin saving. Start saving immediately. This is not money going into your 401(k). These funds are put in an everyday simple, no fee, savings account. The amount of interest you earn on the balance is immaterial. What is important is that you begin and are successful with a savings plan. First set yourself up for success. Look at your budget and pick an amount you can save every pay period, no matter what. It can be as little as $5. It is critical to start with an amount that you can, no matter what, save successfully. Save this amount for 1 to 3 months. Notice how good you are feeling about savings. Once you have this down, save a little more. Do this for another 1 to 3 months. Save a little more. Etc. By setting yourself up for success, you win and feel good about yourself. This makes savings fun, and a source of positive self esteem. Give yourself permission to use your savings account for emergencies if needed. Watch out.. savings can be addictive. And if this happens, just enjoy it. You are learning to live debt free and it is fun!

May prosperity be yours,
Mackey McNeill, CPA/PFS, IAR
President and CEO
Mackey Advisors
www.CultivatingProsperity.com
859-331-7755
Mackey@CultivatingProsperity.com

Bob Veres offers great perspective

I haven't posted since December 3. Topics have swirled in my head these last two weeks, but I failed to find the time to put fingers to the key board.

Bob Veres writes a subscription based newsletter for advisors, summarizing financial news from a variety of sources. I read his posts regularly and find it one of the best ways to keep up with all the changes in my profession. As a student of the profession, Bob has a unique perspective on the current financial crisis, which he articulates well in this recent column in Financial Planning.

It is an excellent read to bring calm, perspective and relevance to today's stock and bond markets.


click here to read the article

As always, your feedback is appreciated

May prosperity be yours,
Mackey McNeill, CPA/PFS IAR
President and CEO
Mackey Advisors
www.CultivatingProsperity.com
Mackey@CultivatingProsperity.com

What to do now?

Wouldn’t it be nice to turn on the news (or if you are like me, open your web browser) and get some normal, sane, understandable market results for the day?

Instead, yesterday the S&P 500 plunged to an 11-1/2 year low. Both the DOW and NASDAQ closed at their lowest points since March 12, 2003, which was just above the low of the last bear market.

Markets tend to over react at the top and at the bottom. I remember in the late 1990’s thinking, how can this be happening? Technology stocks were so over priced. Their valuations made no sense from a perspective of investment fundamentals. Fast forward to 2008, I find myself thinking the same thing in reverse. Stocks are so undervalued, why are they still plummeting?

When I teach my investment seminars, I say that the stock market, in the short term, is the emotional temperature of the collective. Valuations, P/E ratios, free cash flow and the hundreds of other fundamental measurements of stock prices, do not matter in the short term.

The only thing the market tells us on a daily basis is the whether the collective is optimistic or pessimistic about the future.

What is clear today is that the collective is pessimistic about the future.

In the long run, stocks trend toward the economic fundamentals. Earnings, cash flow and rational measures of value, clearly drive long term stock prices.

The second big truth of the market is that the past is clear. The future is always unpredictable. Timing the market is akin to attempting to determine if your spouse if going to be happy or sad today. Anyone’s guess is a good one and someone is going to be correct.

Barring any near-term recoveries, 2008 is likely to be one of the worst years in history for stocks (domestic and foreign) since the great depression. Unfortunately, other asset classes such as real estate, commodities and even many bonds have done poorly. While it is highly unusual for so many asset classes to fall at once, it is the current reality. Of course, this isn’t news to most of you. The question is how much further until the market hits the bottom and what to do now?

While there are many opinions, no one knows the future. The question for most people is what to do given what has happened and given the uncertainty of the future (especially near term). Much depends on your time frame and emotional constitution.

Previous bear markets have averaged 16 months. We are now 13 months into the current downturn.

The longest recession since WWII has been about 16 months. Assuming this recession started early in the year and it matches or slightly exceeds the longest postwar recession, it might be late spring to late fall 2009 before economic recovery begins. Since a stock market rebound typically precedes economic recovery, the market could rebound before then (historically, it's turned up 60% of the way through a recession). As with all observations, no guarantees are given or implied.

While it would be nice if we were at or near the bottom, there is a possibility that it could get worse. The stock market decline has probably anticipated a significant drop in corporate earnings but when revised earning estimates (likely lower) and actual earnings reports come out over the next month or two there may be further declines. Also, it’s normal for the stock market to overshoot on the downside (as it does on the upside).

It is helpful to look at what seasoned investors are doing. Here is a sampling.

Warren Buffett is buying.
Here are more details: Learn from Warren Buffett

Steve Leuthold, considered a perma-bear is bullish on stocks
Here is more information. Click here for Barron's article

Jeremy Grantham of GMO says, “…the odds are roughly two to one that stock prices will sink to new lows next year.” And he is buying because he does not attempt to time the market in the short term.
Click here for the complete article. Read NY Times, Market Bottom? piece


So what’s this all mean to me?

• Continue to stay out of the emotion of the day.
• Call your advisor (hopefully that is us) to review your needs and your portfolio.
• Look carefully at your personal situation. Is your job secure? Do you have any upcoming major expenses that can be deferred? What is your withdrawal rate from your portfolio?
• Keep the long term view.

As you know, staying power is an critical component to developing an investment strategy. Before anyone should commit money to the stock market, they need to have adequate reserves set aside for emergencies and financial commitments. One's time horizon should really be 5 to 7 years (or even better, the rest of your life).

Has this downturn made you realize you aren’t as risk tolerant as you thought? If so, it is time to change your stock/bond allocation? In general, if you're able to wait (financially and emotionally) we suggest not making any drastic changes now.

What we're doing now:

For retired clients, we will temporarily hold off on further rebalancing. Thus a 50/50 (stocks to bonds) portfolio which may have drifted to a 45/55 or 40/60 due to stock declines will be left as is, effectively making it a little more conservative for now.

For more aggressive clients who remain growth oriented and still have a long-term horizon, rebalancing probably continues to make sense.

For conservative and moderate growth clients, following a discussion of your personal situation, we are tweaking the fixed income investments and getting a little more conservative (giving up some longer term potential benefits in exchange for reduced short-term volatility).

We have looked at every client account for opportunities to harvest unrealized tax losses (losses that can be used to offset any gains or up to $3,000 or ordinary income). We are looking at opportunities to transfer funds from IRAs to Roth IRAs (for clients who have little income or significantly less income than normal this year). We are considering the estate planning opportunity of gifting.

The clients most impacted by this economy and stock market decline are those that are retired.

A prudent withdrawal rate is 3-5% depending on age, etc. One strategy for retirees drawing on their portfolios is to tap those assets that haven't declined significantly first (i.e. draw from money funds, short-term bond funds, longer-term bond funds).

We have run projections for all of our clients taking periodic or sporadic withdrawals to see how long-they could tap fixed income assets before having to sell equities based on the current withdrawal rate. On average, these clients could tap their fixed income investments to cover their monthly withdraws for 3 to 10 years (before having to sell significant portions of their equities in a down market). Of course, this strategy will gradually make the remaining portfolio more aggressive as the fixed income portion is a smaller portion of the portfolio.

If you are withdrawing funds from your portfolio (either periodically or sporadically) consider how the market decline has increased the rate of withdrawal. If you have been taking out more than 3-5% before the market decline, that rate (as a percent of the current value) is now higher. If you've exceeded our recommended withdrawal rate and have been taking out more than 5% (before the recent stock decline), we strongly recommend that you look for ways to cut back on expenses (particularly any discretionary spending). This is not sustainable for a long life expectancy.

If you’re not sure about your withdrawal rate, please call us. For those of you giving money to adult children, carefully weigh the impact on your own finances (if your withdraw rate is too high your money may not last as long as you do). We believe in Mom & Dad first, adult children second, and realize this is a hard pill for many to swallow.

After all this discussion, it is best to prepare for this decline to be longer than the norm and one of the worst markets in our lifetime.

Now more than ever is the time to consider a Prosperity Plan™. I have found no more effective tool to put and keep things in perspective that this. If you have a Prosperity Plan™ and we are managing your portfolio, updates are free! We encourage you to come in and review your goals, investment policy and spending. Whether the news is good or bad, putting it all into perspective for your life is the best way to sleep at night.

I know that market declines take an emotional toll. Please call us at any time. 859-331-7755

For after hours assistance, try one of these options (my current favorite is 7)

If you are obsessive-compulsive, please press 1 repeatedly.

If you are codependent, please ask someone to press 2 for you.

If you have multiple personalities, please press 3, 4, 5, and 6.

If you are paranoid, we know who you are and what you want.
Stay on the line and we will trace your call.

If you are delusional, press 7 and your call will be transferred to the mother ship.

If you're schizophrenic, listen carefully, a small voice will tell you which number to press.

If you are depressive, it doesn't matter which number you press. No one will answer you.

If you are dyslexic, press 6-9, 6-9, 6-9, 6-9.

If you have a short-term memory loss, please try your call again later.

If you have low self-esteem, hang up. All our operators are too busy to talk to you.

If all else fails, chill.

Please forward this blog on to friends, colleagues or anyone who might benefit from it. We welcome new clients who are looking for the kind of disciplined approach we offer.

May prosperity be yours,

Mackey McNeill, CPA/PFS IAR
President and CEO
Mackey Advisors
www.CultivatingProsperity.com
859-331-7755
Mackey@CultivatingProsperity.com