Financial Symmetry News & Views

Archive for October, 2009

Given current economic conditions, is a weak dollar a good or a bad thing?  There are strong opinions on this matter from both sides of the issue.  Paul Krugman, an economics professor at Princeton and a columnist for The NY Times makes a compelling case for a weakening U.S. dollar being good news.

He writes:

“The truth is that the falling dollar is good news. For one thing, it’s mainly the result of rising confidence: the dollar rose at the height of the financial crisis as panicked investors sought safe haven in America, and it’s falling again now that the fear is subsiding. And a lower dollar is good for U.S. exporters, helping us make the transition away from huge trade deficits to a more sustainable international position.”

While we agree with Professor Krugman that a lower dollar can help to even out our trade balance, if it falls too low, however, it could create unwelcome inflationary pressures. The Federal Reserve will look to prevent an inflationary event by tightening the monetary spigot which includes raising interest rates.  Krugman argues that this would be a disastrous policy move at this stage of the economic recovery.  He was an ardent proponent of government intervention in the form of stimulus and believes that we didn’t do enough.

Click here for the original article, “Misquided Monetary Mentalities.”

On Tuesday, September 15th, Allison Berger, CFP® and Chad Smith, CFP®, both junior partners at Financial Symmetry, Inc., returned to their alma mater to speak to NC State’s Personal Finance Club, which is based in the College of Management.

The club was created for students who are interested in careers in financial planning, who want to expand their networks and their knowledge of personal finance.

Berger & Smith talked to the group of students about how they started their careers, the importance of managing their personal finances, and some advice on finding jobs in a tough economic climate.

“Be creative.” said Berger. “Everyone has to start somewhere. If you are interested in a specific field, be open to taking an internship or part-time position if you are not able to find full-time work. This could always lead to a more permanent situation or provide you with skills that make you a more attractive candidate to other employers.”

They also encouraged students to start a 401k plan at work, citing that “Starting a savings and investment plan early in your career can help you accumulate wealth more easily than someone who doesn’t start saving until their 30’s or 40’s.”

Chad Smith & Allison Berger are NCSU College of Management alumni, both receiving bachelor’s degrees in Business Administration with concentrations in Finance (in 2000 & 2004, respectively).

To read more advice given by Smith & Berger, and learn more about the Personal Finance Club, click here for the full article.

Elderly fraud continues to be a major obstacle for today’s senior citizens.  This is why we feel it’s essential to do our best to spread awareness about this topic and provide tips of how to avoid these scams in the future.  One of our partners, Chad Smith, CFP®, recently spoke, for the second time, to seniors at the Cary Senior Center.  He described specific techniques and characteristics of scammers, and gave several examples of actual cases, such as fake checks & “sucker lists” that are being used by scammers to lure senior citizens in.

This issue is actually gaining more momentum in the media and in Congress of late.  We’ve provided some information below on recent progress in the efforts being taken to fight this predatory fraud. The following article, published in the Wall Street Journal, provides a real example of elderly fraud and tips of how best to avoid incidents in the future.

A Family’s Fight to Save an Elder From Scammers

Tips for Avoiding Telemarketing Criminals

Some telemarketing pitches are blatantly fraudulent, and you should know the signs, which include:

• Asking you to pay for a prize you’ve won. It’s illegal for any company to ask you to pay or buy something to win a prize, or to claim that paying will increase your chances of winning.
• Asking for upfront fees. It’s illegal for telemarketers to ask for a fee upfront if they claim it’s likely they’ll get you a credit card, loan, or to “repair” your credit.
• Pressure to act immediately.
• Refusal to send written info. Legitimate agencies, charitable or otherwise, should not be reluctant to send you written information about their program or organization.
• Requests for personal financial information. Requests for your personal bank account numbers, or other private information, is a huge warning sign. Never give out your information to an unknown caller.

Ways to fight Elderly Fraud

NC Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Office 1-877-5-NO-SCAM

Fraud Fighter Line 1-800-646-2283

NC Task Force Chair 919-716-6000

Website that compiles recent scams:

The NC Division of Aging and Adult Services Senior Consumer Fraud Task Force

New legislation has also been introduced recently in Congress that would accomplish the following objectives to fight elderly fraud…

• Charge an additional $50,000 civil fine for each violation that is targeted or is committed against a senior.
• Create a national grant program for states to protect seniors from misleading financial advisors claiming to specialize in seniors
• Direct the FTC to establish a one-stop-shop for consumer education on mail, telemarketing and Internet fraud against seniors.
• Establish a grant program to give states and local organizations the resources they need to initiate local mail, telemarketing and Internet fraud prevention and education programs for seniors.
• Declare a “National Senior Fraud Awareness Week” in May – coordinated with Elder Abuse Awareness Month – to increase public awareness of the enormous impact that mail, telemarketing and Internet fraud have on senior citizens in the U.S.
• Initial workshops to educate seniors on how to recognize risk factors and learn about who can help them if they are exploited.

Remember if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

“Seniors should be aware that the issue is not if, but when they will be targeted by sophisticated scam artists. Sharing information about how best to prevent these communications and where to report it when they occur, empowers seniors with the tools to fight back.” Chad Smith, CFP®

To request Chad as a speaker at your event, contact him at csmith@finsym.com.

The CFP® board requires financial planners to attain a significant amount of continuing education to keep their designations current.  So this week Allison and Chad attended the FPA of the Triangle’s 2009 Annual Symposium.

One of the presentations by fellow FPA member, Dennis Stearns, provided some quality economic research that should lend some interesting discussion in our next Investment Outlook Committee meeting.  Here is a summary of some of the interesting ideas he discussed during the presentation:

• Behavioral Finance (the intersection between psychology and finance) will play a larger role in investor decisions going forward
• The Great Depression was no comparison to the Current Recession with respect to length or severity
• Deep Recessions usually mean strong recoveries
• Be aware of uncertainties and how they can impact scenario planning
• Barclay’s new research on a Composure Index, which measures an investor’s composure in the face of financial uncertainty, might be a nice addition to gauging risk tolerance.
• Pay attention to SuperTrends (Globalization, Technology Accelerators, Global Age Wave)
• Four different ways we can reduce the Federal Deficit (tax, save, inflate and grow)
• How will the explosion in internet media change the way we deal with a more sophisticated and confused client?
• How will Long-Term Care Insurance be affected if a cure for Alzheimer’s is found? or if average lifespan increases to 125?

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides better education cost breaks to more taxpayers for 2009 and 2010. Computers, certain software and internet access can be covered by tax free 529 plan distributions as long as they are used by an eligible student while enrolled at an eligible institution.  The ARRA also replaces the Hope education credit with the American opportunity credit.  Key changes from the Hope include: books are now eligible expenses, an increase in the amount of credit available, and higher income limits for eligible taxpayers.  Click here to view more information on IRS.gov.