This week we are continuing our talk about investing safely with green money. As we continue to look at the different colors of money, this week we’ll cover green money, which includes fixed index annuities, IULs, and how you can have the best of both red and yellow money with this green money strategy which will help you with investing safely.

Let’s just imagine that you’re going to be taking a trip to Las Vegas and you get the option when you’re in these casinos to play some BlackJack.

Right now, there’s some of you who are like, “Oh my gosh, I would never gamble anything, I don’t want to play at all.”

There are others who plan to be there all the time.

And then there’s probably those of us in the middle who don’t really like to lose money, but it would be kind of fun to play and participate.

So what if I told you that there’s a BlackJack table where for every $10 bet you make if you win, you get $5 instead of the full $10, but anytime you lose, you don’t lose any money.

Now I don’t know about you, but I played that blackjack table all day long because I know I can’t lose. Yes, I might make only half as much on the upside of the bet, but I’m never going to take a downside loss. Well, that’s kind of what green money is like, which is what we’ll be talking about.

Read the full article here: https://bertramfinancial.com/green-money-the-best-kept-secret-in-the-financial-world/

This week we are continuing our talk about different stock market investments as we talk about red money, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, and more.

When I was a kid, I loved going on rides at fairs or amusement parks, the more spinning or going upside down, the better! I use to think that the adults that sat on the side just didn’t know how to have fun! But then I became an adult and the older I get, the less spinning I can handle! How about you?

Just like our tolerance for rides changes over time, so does our risk tolerance.

Read the full article here: https://bertramfinancial.com/stock-market-investments/

This week we’re talking about different investment vehicles. Part of that will be discussing the Colors of Money strategy what yellow money is.

My son Asa is really into playing Fortnite. You may have heard of this video game if you have any grandchildren who like to play. In this game, and like many other games, there are different worlds. This really got me thinking about how this is similar to our Colors of Money strategy. When we look at investing and retirement and we go through the Colors of Money, we are deciding where we want to “play” or in what “world” we want our money to be.

Often I will have someone ask me what the different investment choices are for them.

The fact is, there are hundreds, if not thousands different investment options.

Read the full article here: https://bertramfinancial.com/investment-vehicles-what-is-yellow-money/

Our topic today is 401K rollover options. Recently, I’ve had quite a few people ask me, “How can I roll my 401K?” “Should I roll my 401K?” “When can I do it?” When talking about 401k rollovers, I can’t help but think of a song… Five bears in the bed and the little one said
“I’m crowded, roll over” So they all rolled over, and one fell out.

Now you might think what a silly song, but the more I think about it, it does apply. Sometimes you leave a job and leave your 401k, and then you might work at another job and leave it and before long you have all these 401ks sitting all over the place, your investment portfolio is crowded. It’s hard to be coordinated and it’s very easy for something to fall off the bed! Whether it’s just not coordinated with the rest of it your accounts or you forget you even have it! That’s probably not the best planning! But you also don’t want to roll over and lose anything. So should you roll a 401k or not?

See the full post here: https://bertramfinancial.com/401k-rollover-options/

Welcome to our First Friday event where we’ll be talking about Health Insurance Options with Jim Crump of US Health Advisors. Oftentimes, there can be so many different health insurance options that it can be rather confusing.

See more here: https://bertramfinancial.com/health-insurance-options-in-2021/

As people get closer to retirement, it is time to make a transition. One of those is shifting into retirement mode from active investing mode.   Investment positioning can greatly affect cash flow management (aka income), especially for someone who's getting close to or in retirement. As people get closer to retirement they don't want to see those big losses.

Read this week's full blog here: https://bertramfinancial.com/shifting-into-retirement/

The simple truth is not all portfolios are not created equal. Understanding how your investment portfolio is positioned and how it can affect every other area in your financial life is really important. This goes beyond simple asset allocation, it not only involves the mix of asset categories but the what investments make up those categories in your portfolio and why.

Read this week's full blog here: https://bertramfinancial.com/building-an-investment-portfolio/

We have seen recent gyrations in the stock market and the bond, but nobody really pays attention to the bond market, although we should. Today we’re speaking with Mike of United Asset Strategies, and the cool thing about Mike is as good as they are on the stock equity side, they have even deeper, stronger knowledge on the fixed income or bond side.

Market volatility shakes people’s financial peace so we want to address this.

See the latest post and more information here: Market Update

During our First Friday LIVE this past week I spoke with Ryan Long, President of National Gold Consultants in Monticello, Minnesota. We focused on gold and silver and if they might have a place inside your investment portfolio.

Why might you be interested in gold and silver as a form of investment? One thing to consider is that it is wealth insurance. When you consider traditional investments, they’re something that you trade and take out. With gold and silver, it is more of a long-term strategy. If you decide to invest this way, you’re investing for the long haul to get that protection.

I think an important thing that we keep in mind is that because gold and silver is wealth insurance it needs to be coordinated. What do I mean by that? We need to make sure that this type of investment makes sense in your overall strategy.

You can read the full blog here.

That's a question we hear often, and you may not like the answer so much. My answer is it depends.

When I say that,  I often think of my kids where they ask me something all the time and the answer is often maybe.

“Mom, can we go here?” “Mom, can I do this one?” Asking something all the time where my answer often is maybe. We'll see what the day brings. We'll see if you get your work done. We'll see if you listen. Maybe is dependent upon what they do.

When we go to take social security, it depends is very much like the maybe answer. It depends on when you retire. What are your goals? There is no one perfect time that I can say that everybody should take social security.

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