Newsletter OWRS - Issue 1_7

IN THE BLACKVOL. 1 ISSUE 1 • WWW.OWRSFIRM.COM • FALL 2015

MEET THE PARTNERSMeet the people behind the company PAGE 02

YOUR LAST WILLWhy estate planning is absolutely essential to protect the family PAGE 05

DON’T DIYHere’s 30 times when you shouldn’t try to do things yourself. PAGE 06

INTRODUCING O’DELL, WINKFIELD, ROSEMAN & SHIPPIt is with great excitement that we introduce O’Dell, Winkfield, Roseman & Shipp (“OWRS”), the result of our ongoing professional collaboration with experts in our field. Uniting four individual firms under one banner affords our clients additional resources and an optimum level of service. As in most collaborations, each partner brings to the table a unique skill set that will bring enhanced benefit to all clients.

While still functioning independently in our respective regions, we come together as a group to learn and share

new ideas, procedures, and strategies. Through this assembly, we believe we can better survey the vast and changing financial landscape to provide cutting-edge tools and concepts available from the world’s premier financial companies.

As a client, how will this affect you? It will be positively better! Your assets, investments and policies are unaffected by this change. You will experience better communications and enjoy expanded resources. This partnership unites a total of 20 financial advisers from across the country with multiple

areas of expertise, including Social Security, Health Savings Accounts (HSA’s), Investments, Life Insurance, Pensions, and Estate Planning.

Our expansion to OWRS is a result of our relationship with you. We appreciate you and look forward to our continued partnership as we move into this next chapter. For more information on OWRS please visit our new website at www.owrsfirm.com.

We look forward to serving you as O’Dell, Winkfield, Roseman & Shipp!

DENVER 7887 East Belleview Ave. Suite 1100 Englewood, CO 80111 (303) 780-7350

D.C. 2275 Research Blvd. Suite 500 Rockville, MD 20850 (240) 361-0363

CHARLOTTE 5960 Fairview Road Suite 400 Charlotte, NC 28210 (704) 935-2550

RICHMOND 1518 Willow Lawn Dr. Suite 300 Richmond, VA 23230 (804) 372-7337

O’Dell, Winkfield, Roseman & Shipp

In The Black (adj): 1. describing a financial statement that ends with a positive assessment. The term derives from the color of ink used to enter a profit figure on a financial statement.

MEET THE PARTNERSKYLE O’DELL Managing Partner, Investment Advisor Representative

Former president and founder of Secure Wealth Strategies, LLC.

As the son of a celebrated surgeon and member of a prominent medical family, Kyle O’Dell’s specialty has been crafting financial strategies to meet the complex needs of medical professionals for more than 20 years. Kyle brings to the firm a passion and deep understanding of the demanding and challenging lives of doctors.

After 11 years with a division of Citigroup, Kyle became disenchanted with promoting a limited group of financial products and left corporate America to form a firm which has grown to national prominence, O’Dell, Winkfield, Roseman & Shipp. This firm represents a group of advisors who have had the privilege of working extensively with many prominent groups and individuals in the areas of Wealth Management, Retirement, and Income Planning.

KYLE WINKFIELD Managing Partner, ChFEBCsm, Investment Advisor Representative

Former president and founder of The Winkfield Group

Best known for his unique ability to teach the most creative financial concepts, Kyle Winkfield heads the Washington, D.C. office of O’Dell, Winkfield, Roseman & Shipp, a distinguished group of advisors who work extensively in the areas of Wealth Management, Retirement, and Income Planning.

Kyle is the best-selling author of the book SuccessOnomics with Steve Forbes, a regular guest on WBFF FOX45, and was interviewed on The Brian Tracy Show, which broadcasts on ABC, NBC, FOX, and CBS affiliates around the country. You may have also heard him on the radio when he hosted the Real Deal Financial Show, or read his feature in ‘Portraits of Success’ in the Wall Street Journal. His advice and insights have appeared in numerous publications, as you might have read his articles on NASDAQ.com and The Huffington Post. Kyle has been featured in several widely distributed publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Clark Howard and Black Enterprise Magazine as well.

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JOSEPH E. ROSEMAN, Jr. Managing Partner, CRPC®, ChFEBCsm

The firm’s expert in everything Social Security, Joe Roseman, Jr. brings over 20 years of retirement income planning experience to the firm. With over 567 different ways to file for Social Security, did you know that there are wrong ways

to file for your benefits? Most Americans are not aware that how they file for their Social Security benefits can dramatically impact what they receive. As a leading strategic expert on Social Security, Joe maximizes our clients’ retirement income from all assets, while keeping a keen eye on Social Security optimization strategies.

With over 20 years of industry experience, Joe has seen it all, especially when it comes to the biggest retirement planning mistakes. During the pivotal planning years, most financial planners focus on asset accumulation and save the retirement talks for later down the road.

Unfortunately for most people, a focus on retirement should begin much earlier in life, particularly when they are unnecessarily losing their savings to the ups and downs of the market. While asset accumulation is a good retirement goal, assets themselves are not a solid retirement plan. With a focus on how assets are positioned, what type of income streams can be derived from assets, and how distributions from assets are taxed, Joe helps to ensure our clients’ assets are prepared for their retirement years before it’s too late.

Joe also has studied the Federal Retirement System CSRS/FERS. You will often find him in a classroom educating Federal Employees on their Retirement System or speaking at dinner engagements on Social Security Optimization Strategies and how to implement tax free retirement income strategies.

In addition to Kyle’s consumer advocacy, he is also highly recognized among colleagues in the financial industry for his breadth of knowledge, unique approaches to solving retirement challenges, and reflections on the moral responsibilities of today’s financial advisor. Besides his membership in the Million Dollar Round Table, he belongs to the Independent Excellence Group, a think tank composed of nationwide financial professionals who meet several times a year to share new ideas, procedures, and strategies.

Based in the Washington, D.C. area, Kyle spends most of his time working with the military, federal employees, politicians, and business professionals. His fifteen years of experience as a retirement advisor focuses specifically on cutting-edge strategies which reduce future income tax liabilities, grow clients’ wealth and provide lifestyle security.

2877-821-OWRSowrsfirm.com

OWRS RETIREMENT NEWS

MEET THE PARTNERSJEREMY SHIPP Managing Partner, CLU®, RICP®, Investment Advisor Representative

Former president and founder of Harbor Wealth Advisors, LLC.

The resident academic and mathematician at O’Dell, Winkfield, Roseman & Shipp, Jeremy Shipp brings over 15 years of mathematical validation, verification, and logic to the sound financial and retirement strategies that we offer our clients. There is not one financial strategy or concept we use that we cannot verify and back up mathematically, thanks to him. A strategic and creative thinker, Jeremy applies advanced analytics to our clients’ portfolios to determine the best course of action to achieve their outlined objectives. He received his Bachelors of Science degree in Mathematics from Marietta College, in Marietta Ohio.

Beginning a career in finance as a personal banker with U.S. Bancorp, Jeremy quickly ascended through the ranks but sought a more well-rounded financial approach than what banking could provide. He left banking for independent advising, focusing on estate planning, where he discovered that most of his clients were ill-prepared for retirement, often running out of money or forced to drastically reduce their lifestyles. As such, Jeremy committed his career to retirement planning and designing financial strategies that maximize our clients’ lifetime wealth potential.

Jeremy also spends a portion of his time working with families of wartime veterans and their surviving spouses to obtain a much deserved Aid & Attendance benefit from the Department of Veterans Affairs to help pay for assisted living and nursing home costs. He has been featured in Forbes Magazine for his efforts.

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Live, on-air interview with Kyle Winkfield at WBFF Fox 45 Baltimore, “National Splurge Day”

Live, on-air interview with Kyle Winkfield at WBFF Fox 45 Baltimore, “Christmas in July”

Live, on-air interview with Kyle Winkfield at WBFF Fox 45 Baltimore, “Tell the Truth Day”

Live, on-air interview with Kyle Winkfield at WBFF Fox 45 Baltimore, “Back-to-School Budgets”

Live, on-air interview with Jeremy Shipp at WTVR CBS 6 Virginia, “The Importance of Life Insurance”

Live, on-air interview with Kyle Winkfield at WBAL NBC 11 Baltimore, The Importance of Life Insurance

Live, on-air interview with Kyle Winkfield at WBFF Fox 45 Baltimore, Life Insurance Awareness Month

OWRS IN THE MEDIA (TV)


YOUR RETIREMENT IS OUR FOCUS

“How Retirees Can Prepare for Those Unexpected Financial Emergencies”

“Retirement-Planner Conundrum: Is It Time To Pull Away From the Market?”

“Tips for people behind in retirement savings”

“How to Play It “Safe” With Conservative Mutual Funds”

“Medicaid Annuities Offer Long-Term Care Tools”

“20 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Financial Advisor”

“Cancer Stricken Mom Looks to Secure Son’s Future”

“Major Retirement Mistake: Not Having a Withdrawal Plan for Your Assets”

“Major Retirement Mistake: Not Having a Withdrawal Plan for Your Assets”

“Financial Focus: Student Loans or Retirement Savings?”

“IS Retiring With a Mortgage Such a Bad Thing?”

“4 Reasons Why You’re Too Old - Or Too Young - For a Mortgage Loan”

“Mortgage Loans: Your Age Isn’t a Factor, But It Influences Other Ones”

“7 Wise Financial Habits to Learn From Our Grandparents”

“7 Wise Financial Habits to Learn From Our Grandparents”

“Best Way to Invest My Retirement Money”

“Home Ownership May Only Be a Dream for Millennials Saddled with Student Debt”

“5 Financial Lessons Learned From the Housing Crisis”

“The Surprising Reasons Your Fixed-Rate Mortgage Payment Could Rise”

“10 Do’s and Dont’s of Financial Planning”

“8 Tips for Surviving the Stock Market’s Record Drop”

“Home Ownership Down Among Millennials With Student Loan Debt”

“Mutual Fund Fees: 7 Things To Consider”

“Haven’t Refinanced Yet? You Could Be Wasting Hundreds of Dollars a Month”

“How a Fed Rate Increase Could Affect Your Retirement”

“How the Looming Fed Rate Rise Will Affect Your Retirement”

“When Advisors Have Advisors”

“10 Companies You Should Invest in Before 2016”

“The Risks of Buying Cheap Insurance”

“Family Finances: Lessons Learned”

“10 Ways to Pay Off Your Student Loans in One Year”

“What Investments You Have That You Don’t Even Realize”

“What Is The Difference Between an Index Fund and an ETF?”

“What’s the Best Way to Invest My Retirement Money?”

“How to Use Your Paycheck to Plan Your Retirement”

“30 Times You Should Have Asked for a Financial Advisor’s Help”

“Back-to-School Budgeting”

OWRS IN THE MEDIA (PRINT)



HOW TO WRECK YOUR ESTATEOne of the best things about celebrities is that they live their lives so publicly that, hopefully, the rest of us can learn from their mistakes. When it comes to famous people who mismanaged their considerable estates, regrettable stories abound:

Guitarist Jimi Hendrix left no will and no instructions. It took 34 years of court battles to come to some resolution, and, according to biographers, relatives closest to Hendrix during his lifetime didn’t get a dime. Attorneys got plenty.

Actor Heath Ledger failed to update his will after the birth of his daughter, Matilda. His legal will left all of his assets to his parents and sisters. Confusion and recriminations abounded until the family (much to their credit) decided to gift the entire estate to then two-year-old Matilda.

James Gandolfini, the actor who played Tony Soprano, left behind a much criticized will that reportedly did not protect large portions of his hefty estate from probate and exposed his heirs to millions of dollars in tax liability.

You Too Can Easily Wreck Your Estate... and, in doing so, you may also compound grief issues and soil your legacy among family members and friends whom you hold closest to your heart. Let us spell out some of the most common examples of bad advice that can cost you and your family so much.

#1 “Don’t worry! You’re too young to worry about a will.You don’t own enough yet to protect.” Death, injury

and illness are not reserved just for the elderly. There are vital reasons now to address your estate. Dying without a will may subject your assets to a potentially very expensive and time-consuming probate process. Your neglect also adds significant stress to the hearts of your loved ones, perhaps in a time of nearly unendurable grief.

Your plan should also include documentation to designate who cares for your children in your absence, who cares for you if you are incapacitated, and the quality and limits of your own medical care in the final season of your life.

#2 “Let someone sign a signature card at your bank so that, if anything happens, at least they can pay your bills.”

Not a good idea. Allowing someone else to “fill out a signature card” on a financial account immediately makes him or her a full co-owner of that asset. Not only do countless stories exist about “loved ones” abusing such privilege, but, if either one of

you becomes embroiled in a lawsuit, bankruptcy or divorce, you and your “co-owner” are very much at risk.

#3 “Don’t worry. All of your money will go to the person listed in your will.” Not so fast! Even if you have a will

designating your intended heir, he or she may not get the money you have stashed in specific accounts. If you own an insurance, brokerage or investment account which cites a beneficiary, that other document will trump the value of your will.

If, for example, you write out a will leaving your whole estate to your cat BUT your former wife is still listed as the beneficiary on your 401(k), your ex-wife will get the cash in that 401(k) account.

#4 “You don’t need a planner. You can do it yourself with some help from an attorney.” Many people approach

estate planning as a piece-meal process, only addressing those issues that appear important at the time. They consult an attorney only if (A) legal documents are required and (B) they can’t find a DIY (Do- It-Yourself) solution on the Internet.

Not good. Estate planning should never be a patchwork process. The lapses or well-intended messes you leave behind may very possibly impact the quality of your final days and compound the tragedy of your departure.

Your estate plan should involve the entirety of your financial profile. Only after your personal financial security is settled, should you then plan to maximize the amount of wealth that you pass on as a legacy to those whom you love the most.

Attorneys are often a vital part of this process but are not equipped in many financial matters. You need a team led by a financial professional.

Don’t compromise the quality of your later years. Don’t short-change the people you love. Let’s meet and talk about your good intentions.

Sources: (1) “Six Costly Estate-Planning Minefields, and How to Avoid Them.” Consumer Reports. consumerreports.org. 4/14/15. (2) Goldman, L. “10 Celebrities Who Made Terrible Mistakes Planning Their Estates. Business Insider. businessinsider.com. 12/7/10. (3) Fabio, Michelle. “The Battle over the Jimi Hendrix Estate.” legalzoom.com. 12/1/09. (4) Davis, C. and Ambrose M., “Heath Ledger’s Daughter to Inherit Entire Estate.” People Magazine. people.com. 9/29/08

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TIMES YOU SHOULD HAVE ASKED FOR A FINANCIAL ADVISOR’S HELP

By Kyle Winkfield & Jeremy Shipp *Hyperlinked digital version of this article available at owrsfirm.com

You can read books, listen to radio shows and discuss strategy at the water cooler, but when it comes to making financial decisions, you should not be applying generic guidance directed at the masses and as such, “do it yourself.”

While finding a financial advisor whom you trust can be challenging, you should have one in your corner when you are making major financial decisions. A properly trained advisor can walk you through your options - the ones that you know you have as well as the ones in your financial blindspot. Almost anyone can call themselves an advisor, and you should be wary of the salesmen who portray themselves as such, as “eighty five percent of all financial advisors and financial planners are really just brokers or salesman. Their incentive is to sell you a product that makes them a higher commission, not necessarily a product that maximizes your chances of saving more.” These individuals can serve a purpose in your overall financial plan, but when it comes to receiving unbiased advice, you should seek a fiduciary, an independent advisor not beholden to a specific financial company. Fiduciaries are required by law to put your best interest ahead of their own, no matter what, thereby legally binding them to provide unbiased candid advice, regardless of how it impacts their bottom line.

30 common mistakes that people make:

1 When You Set Up Your Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plan (401(k), etc): Upon enrollment,

most employer-sponsored accounts have default minimum contributions and default investment options. While saving is great no matter what, having a professional select the

proper allocations could fare better than randomly selecting options, sticking with the default options, or reading a magazine article and “doing it yourself.”

2 When You Made A Large Down Payment

on Your Mortgage: If this made you feel more secure in your home, then so be it, but what a financial advisor would have pointed out is what else could have been done with the cash. Your money could have been earning interest instead of being buried in dirt. You’ll never get that money back unless you ask the bank (refinance), and at that point, it’s on their terms.

3 When You Refinanced Your Mortgage to a

15 Year Loan: Sure, you saved yourself some interest payments, but why pay twice as much to live in the same house? If you want to get your house paid off sooner, there are more strategic ways to do so without being obligated to a higher payment. A

savvy financial advisor could have demonstrated several strategies that would have increased your home equity without increasing your monthly indebtedness to the bank.

4 When You Paid Cash for Your Car:

Everything that you buy is financed, you’re either going to earn interest on your dollars or pay interest. An advisor would have evaluated what the most efficient decision for this type of purchase would be, as interest rates and financing incentives often make it cheaper to finance than to pay cash.

5 When You Made Extra Mortgage Payments:

What you probably didn’t realize was that the traditional way of paying off your home (extra payments) actually puts you at more risk for losing your home. If you have an interruption in income, your mortgage payment is still due; the bank does not count extra payments as being “ahead.”



While paying off your mortgage eliminates some advantageous financial strategies, it is a personal goal of many, and an advisor could have demonstrated cash flow management strategies that would have built equity in the safety of your pocket, so that you could have written one large “extra” check to the bank.

6 When You Decided to Max Out Your 401(k): If you’re a bad saver,

perhaps maxing out all “easy” savings options was the best plan. But if you’re a good saver, you should have consulted a financial planner who would have discussed a variety of savings vehicles for maximum future benefit.

7 When You Cashed Out Retirement Savings to Pay for

College: Retirement savings are just that - money saved for retirement. You may not have wanted to send your child into the world saddled with college loans, but they have their entire lives to manage their financial obligations, whereas your retirement savings definitely have a due date. There are multiple ways to finance education without jeopardizing your retirement; working with a financial advisor on your college payment options could have saved your retirement lifestyle from self-sacrifice.

8 When You Rolled Your 401(k) Into An IRA: When you have

an opportunity to roll out your 401(k) dollars without penalty, it is advantageous to consider all re-investment or distribution options. An

investment advisor who is a fiduciary would have outlined all of your rollout options based on your lifestyle and retirement goals.

9 When You Rolled Your Old 401(k) Into Your New One:

Money invested in a qualified plan has limited mobility based on account restrictions. When changing employers, you had the option to rollout and re-invest your dollars into an array of financial products. An investment advisor who is a fiduciary would have advised you on a variety of options before you forfeited your opportunity to strategically re-position.

10 When You Bought Investment Property: What seemed like a

great idea on paper may not have held water if you had consulted with an investment advisor who would have reviewed the real return on investment (ROI) and presented you with other investment opportunities that may have been less risky.

11 When You Got Financial Advice at the Water Cooler: Even people

working at financial companies can end up on the wrong side of the balance sheet. When you took advice from your buddy at the water cooler, you were most likely not consulting a trained financial advisor with fiduciary obligations to give you unbiased advice in your best interests.

12 When You Drew Up Your Own Legal Documents: What you

might have found out by now is that when you took the easy (or cheap) way to

obtain legal documents, it could put you on the unintended side of a judgment in court. While most financial advisors would have referred you to an attorney for legal documents, they would have also provided the financial guidance to be dictated in said documents as necessary.

13 When You Filed for Social Security: Since there are over

500 ways for a married couple to file for social security, a competent advisor would have advised you appropriately based on a retirement assets review, and prevented you from making a knee-jerk decision that could cost up to $100,000 over a lifetime.

14 When You Opened an eTrade Account: Do-it-yourself online

trading companies led you to believe that you could be just as good as a trader who is professionally trained, or better. When seeking investment gains in the market, working with a trained investment advisor would have at least ensured that other investment opportunities would have been considered.

15 When You Purchased a Timeshare: It seemed like a great

idea at the time because you probably won a free vacation or complimentary upgrades, but if you’re like most, you’re regretting this purchase. Any major purchase should be discussed with a financial planner who can point out the pros and cons of such an investment.

16 When You Purchased Savings Bonds & CDs: A good financial



advisor will help you vet all of your options, verses just the ones offered at the bank.

17 When You Treated Your Retirement Assets as a Checking

Account: When you borrowed from your account with the intent to pay it back, life kept happening and your account was never made whole. A financial advisor would have not only advised you on establishing a liquid emergency account, but would have also determined another course of action that wouldn’t have penalized your future lifestyle or cost you penalty fees.

18 When You Cancelled Your Life Insurance: Having a financial

advisor in your life would have ensured that such a decision wouldn’t have been made without a comprehensive needs assessment featuring all pros and cons. Unless the reason for which you initially purchased the policy was no longer valid, instead of canceling, you could have been guided into a face value change or policy type change.

19 When You Said No to Umbrella Insurance: When you declined

an Umbrella Policy, you were probably thinking that the likelihood of calamity striking wasn’t enough to justify the expense. Unfortunately life happens and the quickest way to screw up a financial plan is to incur legal expenses that an umbrella policy could cover. Having spoken to an financial advisor when

making this decision could have ensured that those “what if ” moments were properly accounted for.

20 When You Bought Because You Qualified: It may have seemed

like a great idea at the time, but making a major purchase simply based on a financial institution’s determination that one “qualified” is a bad plan. Consulting with a financial advisor before having made that major purchase would have ensured that overall affordability was considered in conjunction with your financial needs and goals at the time.

21 When You Won the Lottery: Those who had the fortune of

winning but had no experience in money management would have been best off consulting with a financial planner who could have safely positioned the assets such that they wouldn’t be misallocated.

22 When You Bought that Variable Annuity: Having an advisor who

puts your best interests first (fiduciary) would have at least allowed helped you analyze if that variable annuity was your best and most efficient option at the time of purchase, or whether could you have gotten similar benefits at a lesser cost.

23 When You Put Your Kids Names on Your Bank Account:

This seemed like a great idea at the time, but a prudent advisor would have explained how in doing so, you invited your children’s legal liabilities into your financial lives. They would have instead

advised that you make your account payable or transferrable upon death, such that your children would receive the account balance without jeopardizing your financial security in the meantime.

24 When You Created Your Own Retirement Strategy: Even a

heart surgeon has a primary care physician to keep them on track year to year. When you began planning for your retirement and came up with a game plan, running it by a professional who plans retirements every day for a living would have pointed out any pitfalls or unforeseen scenarios that you missed.

25 When You Inherited Assets: As it is typically an emotional time

when you inherit assets, it would have been advisable to receive an unbiased 3rd party opinion on how best to manage them so that prudence would have overruled understandable yet judgement-clouding emotion.

26 When You Became a Trustee: When you became a trustee, you

became legally liable as a fiduciary to the beneficiaries of that trust. Consulting a financial advisor on all financial decisions made as a trustee would have protected you legally if the beneficiaries ever determined that you did not act in their best interests, as they can sue you for both civil and criminal damages.

27 When You Saved All of Your Money in Taxable Investments:

Most people don’t consider the tax

30 TIMES YOU SHOULD HAVE ASKED



FOR A FINANCIAL ADVISOR’S HELPimplications when investing. A good advisor will help you consider all of the angles when choosing investments.

28 When You Gambled Your Retirement Savings: Before

making investment decisions that put your money at risk with market loss, you should have consulted with a financial advisor who specializes in retirement income planning, as the money that you put at risk should never be the money that you are counting on at retirement time.

29 When You Invested in a Business: What seemed like a

great business prospect may or may not have panned out, but you should have consulted with an advisor who would

have reviewed the return on investment (ROI) before jumping in. An advisor could have analyzed your goals and potentially presented you with other investment opportunities that may have been less risky.

30 When You Invested All of Your Money Into Your Employer’s

Stock: When you made the decision that your income and your savings both belonged in the hands of your employer, you would have been better off running that plan by an unbiased third party. We’ve all heard the phrase don’t put all of your eggs in one basket, and this could not be truer when it comes to the dollars in your savings account. An advisor

would have explained the inherent risk in such a decision and offered options for diversifying your savings so that you wouldn’t end up like most of Enron’s employees.

Remember that time when you filled your own cavity? Nope! We can all self-diagnose, but we go to doctors and medical professionals for a reason - they have been trained to assess our individual health needs and provide appropriate treatment. Personal finance is no different and while you can certainly self-assess, there is no danger in seeking the advice of a professional. So while there is no crying over spilled milk, make sure you don’t make the same mistakes twice!

UPCOMING EVENTS Look for the upcoming December release of “What You Don’t Know About Retirement Income Will Hurt You,” a collaborative book with well-known authors, Jack Tatar and Dan McGrath, featuring chapters by Kyle O’Dell and Kyle Winkfield.

Washington, D.C. area Events

10/7-8/15 .............................Federal Employee Benefits Workshop | Adelphi, MD

10/20/15 .....................................Ruth’s Chris Dinner Seminar | Gaithersburg, MD

10/22/15 ......................................................Lunch & Learn with Leidos | Vienna, VA


10/27/15 ............................................ Ruth’s Chris Dinner Seminar | Bethesda, MD


11/3/15 .............................................. Ruth’s Chris Dinner Seminar | Bethesda, MD





12/8/15 .......................................Ruth’s Chris Dinner Seminar | Gaithersburg, MD

For more information regarding Washington, D.C. area events,

email [email protected]

Richmond, VA Events

10/8/15 .....................Long Term Care & Estate Planning Workshop | Farnham, VA

For more information regarding Richmond events, email [email protected]

Charlotte, NC Events

10/27/15 Social Security Optimization Seminar | 6:15 pm | Maggiano’s SouthPark

10/29/15 Social Security Optimization Seminar | 6:15 pm | Maggiano’s SouthPark

1/20/16 ..........Federal Benefits Seminar | 8AM-1PM | 5950 Fairview Rd. Suite 110

For more information regarding Charlotte events, email [email protected]

Denver, CO Events

Public Workshops for Denver office .................................................................... TBD

For more information regarding Denver events, email [email protected]



By Jeremy Shipp

“Wait, mom did what with her money?”

Such a question has been uttered amongst siblings many times over, and it will continue to be asked more and more with the aging demographics of our society. Too many times adult children find out about an ill-advised financial decision by an elderly mom or dad only when it’s too late to do anything about.

I work with adult children every day who tell me, “I just wish mom would have asked me before she went and did (fill in the blank).” So this month I want to focus on ways to avoid some of the most common financial pitfalls that I see elderly Virginians making.

We have to start by talking. Period. We have to open a dialogue and make it okay to talk about money issues with our family members, whether those issues be good or bad. This is crucially important as people get close to the third phase of their financial lives, the spend-down phase. This is the phase that most people reach when their expenses, often medically related, start to outweigh their income.

Make sure to help your parents avoid the top 5 financial mistakes I see elderly folks make.

Scams – Senior citizens are constantly targeted by scam artists and slick salespeople. A good scam artist can be hard to stop, but open communication can go a long way in confronting this danger.

1. Being taken advantage of by junior relatives – It’s very sad for most of us to think about, but I’ve seen my fair share of cases where mom or dad was being taken advantage of by a junior member of the family. Whether that be a son, daughter, nephew, niece, in-law, what have you, it happens far too often. Making sure everyone in the family is on the same page when it comes to mom or dad’s well-being is the only way this can be avoided.

2. Putting the house into the children’s’ names – A typical response I hear when I ask adult children why mom or dad’s house is in their name is, ”So the nursing home wouldn’t get it.” While there is a shred of accuracy to that statement, it does not lay out the full picture or the financial

implications of such a move. The main area of concern with such a move is taxes. You see, when a house is inherited by the children, it gets what is known as a step-up in cost basis. What that means is when the children go to sell the house after mom and dad have passed away they will only owe long-term capital gains taxes on the difference between the sale price and the value of the house at the time of mom/dad’s passing. So if the house is sold shortly after their passing, the children can usually walk away with all the proceeds from the sale and not owe any taxes. This is not true, however, if the house is put into the children’s’ names while mom or dad are still living. In that case, the cost basis of the property is the price that mom and/or dad paid for it originally plus any documented improvements to the house, and there is no step-up in cost basis at mom/dad’s death. This could result in a large and UNEXPECTED tax bill for the children! If mom and dad want to preserve the house in case they need nursing care, they need to consult with an elder law attorney who is experienced in Medicaid

GUIDING OUR PARENTS & SENIOR RELATIVES



planning. In many cases the attorney can draft a specially designed trust to hold the house and protect it in case Medicaid is needed for long term care, while still preserving the step-up in cost basis feature when the house is ultimately sold. Of course, you still have the 5-year Medicaid look-back period with which to contend …

3. Putting the children’s names on bank accounts – This is usually done so that the children can pay bills and write checks if mom or dad get to the point that they can no longer do that themselves. What they do not realize is that by doing that they are inviting their children’s personal legal liabilities into their own financial lives. Once someone’s name is on an account that person is a legal owner of that account. Therefore, if lawsuits, creditor problems, or divorce come up for the child whose name is on the account, mom and dad’s money is at risk. A better way to handle the titling for bank and investment accounts is to use a POA/POD tandem designation. The POA (Power of Attorney) will allow the

child to pay bills and write checks if needed, and the POD (Payable on Death) will allow the money in the account to pass directly to the child and bypass probate. That way the child is not a legal owner of the account and therefore does not subject mom and dad’s money in said account to his/her own personal liability.

4. Not having a plan to pay for long term care – One of the biggest problems I see is the lack of long term care planning. 70% of people over age 65 will need some form of long-term care, and burying one’s head in the sand will not change that statistic. In the Richmond area, the average monthly cost at an assisted living facility is $3,500 - $5,000, and for a nursing home that figure could easily double. Most people know the cost of long-term is high, really high; but what most people don’t understand is how to most effectively pay for that care. If you already have a long-term care insurance policy, that’s great, and it will go a long way toward easing that financial burden. If you don’t, then you need

to look at what assets are available to pay for the care and separate those assets into buckets. The best and first bucket of assets to use would be any IRA/401(k) monies. In most cases, the high medical costs associated with long-term care will offset the taxation of money being withdrawn from the IRA/401(k). Think about that for a moment. The individual received a tax deduction for the contributions to the IRA/401(k), the money grew tax-deferred, and now, because of the high medical deductions, the money can usually be withdrawn without generating an additional tax for the individual. The second bucket of assets to use would be any other tax-deferred types of accounts, usually annuities. The last bucket that should be accessed would be money in savings or proceeds from a house sale.

Once an open dialogue is established between parent and child, we can begin to help our family members make wise financial decisions by first knowing what to look out for.

TO MAKE BETTERFINANCIAL DECISIONS



WHAT WE DOWe go out into the world of finance to find the best, cutting-edge products and solutions to meet our clients’ specific financial goals. As an independent firm, we are not restricted in the products and services that we can offer to our clientele. We feel that our professional independence is critical to our ability to serve our clients’ best interests.

The variety of options that we can offer as a result of our independence is one of the main reasons that prospective clients choose to join our firm. Once they are educated on all of their available options, they realize what they were missing with their previous investment firm. We feel that the financial options available to a client should only be limited to what is available within the world of finance.

WHY WE DO ITMost people spend the majority of their lives trading their most valuable asset - time - for money (in the form of labor). Why are we so willing to sacrifice our most valuable asset in pursuit of money, yet so apathetic when it comes to preserving, securing, and safely managing it? This mindset combined with the disappearing traditional pension plan (all but phased out with the Greatest Generation) has our country heading for the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression: The Retirement Crisis. The first wave of do-it-yourself retirement planning is upon us and most people are not getting a passing grade (see above study).

WHY IT MATTERSCan we as a country afford to be spectators

(or contributors) to the impending crisis? Bearing the burden of millions of failed retirement plans means more than just higher taxes for you and me. The more you know, the more you understand, the more you can prepare yourself and the more you can help others. The biggest challenge that most of our clients face is that they want their friends and family to get help, but they don’t know how to have the conversation.

SPREAD THE WORDMost of our clients are so happy with the financial tools and education we provide that they want to spread the word with their friends and family, but they don’t know how to have the conversation. So here are a few ideas to make that conversation easier:

Owrsfirm.com. Our website is a great and subtle way to share our firm with others. People can learn more about what services we provide, who we are as advisors, and what national publications we’ve recently been featured in!

Public Seminars. We typically hold regular public seminars in our respective locations. Grab some friends and have dinner on us!

Lunch & Learns. Want the seminar and meal to come to you? No problem. Get some colleagues together and we’ll bring the lunch and information!

Ultimately, the best way to start a conversation with those you care about is to share why you decided to work with us and what our planning has meant to you.

Whether that be making sure you don’t run out of money in retirement, increasing your retirement income, increasing your liquidity, reducing your exposure to tax increases, or giving you more control over your money, it is important to talk about the results and not the specific monetary vehicle(s) that are getting you there.

Just like automobile models change every few years, financial products are re-tooled and adjusted based on market conditions and government regulations, so the specific vehicle(s) you are using may not be available any longer. Products come and go, but strategies and options are always available. Need help having the conversation? Give us a call!

80% of Americans don’t have the foggiest clue about retirement. That’s right. In a 2014 study done by the New York Life Center for Retirement Income only 20% of those surveyed received a passing score of 60%. This is not good news for the 70 Million people that are going to retire over the next 15 years.

O’Dell, Winkfield, Roseman & Shipp12

