Welcome to a new week and a new theme here on the One Minute Retirement Tip! Conornavirus! Holy Cow..what is going on! Masks are selling out in NYC. Websites that sell emergency food supplies are shutting down...I know because my husband tried to order from 2 different sites a couple weeks ago and you couldn’t even put in an order. 

This week, I’m talking about the coronavirus and its potential impact on your portfolio. If I’m being honest, I’m a little bit freaked out about the coronavirus - hence the ordering of emergency food supplies. And it’s not because of the potential damage it can do to our economy, and investors and their portfolios. It remains to be seen how widespread the coronavirus will be, so it’s hard to say, but if history is any indication, the impact of the coronavirus, especially if it can be contained, will not have any long-term or devastating consequences for the economy and the stock market, and the big drops that we’ve seen in recent weeks are likely to be short-lived. 

After all, the current devastation and death toll is still nothing compared to the common flu, which according to wikipedia is responsible for 650,000 deaths every year around the world. That’s a big number, 650,000. 

I guess what has me concerned is the uncertainty of it all. Not knowing if a viable treatment will be found or if the spread of the disease can be contained, or if in just a few short weeks schools and offices here in the US will be shut down because of outbreaks. I have 2 young children, ages 2 & 5, so I am also acutely aware that they are more vulnerable than most, and as a mother I worry about my precious babies. 

But that uncertainty about what’s in store with this pandemic - that’s what’s got the stock market spooked as well. The stock market hates uncertainty and always reacts badly to it. As I write this week’s tips, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has had 6 straight days of losses and is down 12% just in the last week. 

So this week, I’m going to stop and take a few deep breaths, even if I have to do that with a medical mask on, and discuss the big picture when it comes to your retirement portfolio and how to best handle curveballs like this. It’s tempting to sell and get out while you still can, so my goal this week is to share some perspective and to help you answer one very important question - what should you do now?

That’s it for today. Before you go, though, if you haven’t already left a review in Amazon or iTunes for the One Minute Retirement Tip, can I ask a favor of you to go do that right now? It just takes a few seconds and it helps to spread the word, and raises visibility of this podcast to help others find it. And thank you to all of you who have taken the time to write a review. 

My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip.

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, finances, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, money tips, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast

It’s Sunday, which means...It’s recap time! 

This week, I talked about the fiduciary standard in the world of financial advice. What is a fiduciary and why should you care?

In each episode this week, I dug a little deeper into the fiduciary issue in an effort to help you better understand what a fiduciary is and when, why, and how that matters for your long-term financial success. 

Here’s what we covered in each episode this week: 

• Early in the week we laid the foundation by defining fiduciary
• Then we talked about how to spot who is and who isn’t a fiduciary
• On Thursday, we went even deeper to explain the nuances behind the Suitability vs.Fiduciary Standards
• We talked about what to do if your advisor isn’t a fiduciary
• And yesterday, we covered how you can better understand the main areas of conflicted advice - namely fees vs. commissions and sales vs. advice. 

Hopefully after listening to the One Minute Retirement Tip this week, you’re well-equipped to make smarter decisions to ensure the people you hire to help you manage your finances are acting in your best interest. 

If you missed any of these episodes or if you want to revisit any of them, you can find them on iTunes, Spotify, or Google Play by searching for the “One Minute Retirement Tip with Ashley”. 

Tomorrow, we are starting a brand new theme: Gray Divorce. The divorce rate among people in their 50s, 60s, and 70s has skyrocketed in recent years. It’s such a prevalent trend that there’s a name for it - gray divorce - as in your hair is gray. So next week, we’ll unpack this upswing in divorce rates among pre-retirees and retirees and what a gray divorce could mean for your retirement plan. 

That’s it for this week! Thanks for listening and I hope you have a blessed Sunday! 

My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the “One Minute Retirement Tip”.

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, finances, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, money tips, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast

This week, I’m talking about the fiduciary standard in the world of financial advice. What is a fiduciary and why should you care?

Today, I’m wrapping up the week by talking about the 2 main sources of conflicted advice: 

1. Fees vs. commissions 
2. Sales vs. advice

Last week, I made the mistake of taking my kids to the mall with me. I had to return a sweater to Nordstrom, and after we were done with that I found a pair of pants that I wanted to try on. So the helpful gal at Nordstrom took my pants to the dressing room for me while I looked around a little bit more. I didn’t see anything else I wanted to try on so we headed to the dressing room. When I walked in there were 3 other items the gal at Nordstrom had put in the room for me as well. My 5-year year old is very observant and she noticed the other clothes and asked “Mommy, why did that lady put more clothes in here”. I answered her “because she’s paid on commission, sweetie”. It was an interesting conversation because I had to explain to her what that meant and that she gets paid more if I spend more money. One of the items was a $495 sweater. Because I like torturing myself, I decided to try it on even though there is no way I would ever spend that much on a sweater! 

But if I would have bought that sweater, the gal at Nordstrom would have been paid more and benefited more from helping me out. 

Because I understood her motivations, I was better able to make a good decision about walking out of that dressing room without the sweater. 

The biggest 2 distinctions for financial advisors are fees vs. commission & sales vs. advice. You need to know whether or not your advisor can switch hats, and if they can when are they wearing their fee hat and giving advice in a fiduciary capacity, and when are they wearing the commission hat and selling you something. In this case, when they wear the commissioned salesperson hat, they can be self serving and act in their best interest not yours as long as the recommendation they make is suitable. 

So, take the time to ask the right questions about whether or not your advisor is a fiduciary at all times or not, and then if not, know what to look for when you’re taking advice from them and understand what hat they’re wearing when they give that advice so you can make an informed decision about whether or not you take that advice. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening. My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, finances, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, money tips, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast

This week, I’m talking about the fiduciary standard in the world of financial advice. What is a fiduciary and why should you care?

We’ve done a pretty deep dive on the fiduciary issue this week, and I hope as a result you have a better understanding of how to pick out a fiduciary, and why you should work with an advisor who will act in your best interests. 

Today, I want to talk about what to do if your advisor isn’t a fiduciary. The good news is that the advisory industry is moving more and more in that direction. 20 years ago, finding an advisor who wasn’t paid commissions and always acted in a fiduciary capacity was quite rare. Now it’s a lot more common. At my company, True North Retirement Advisors, we are fiduciaries to our clients and that was a very strategic decision we made when we started our firm, because we wanted to be able to say to all of our clients that we are working for them exclusively and aren’t conflicted in our advice. 

So what do you do if you’ve been working with your advisor for a while and they’re not a fiduciary. Do you need to go find a new advisor? I think the answer depends on how well you know your advisor and how much you trust them. If you’ve been working with your advisor for 30 years, they’re your best friend, your kids godfather, and you trust them with your life, then fiduciary status is less important. You know them well and you trust them. 

If however, you have doubts about your advisor, they seem to have put you in some odd investments over the years that you suspect had high fees or high commissions, or they only seem to call you to sell you something, that should be a red flag that you are working with an advisor who is self-serving and doesn’t actually care about putting your needs first. 

As I mentioned earlier this week, the more you arm yourself with information about how your advisor gets paid and understand whether or not your advisor is a fiduciary or not, you’ll be better equipped to make an informed decision about whether or not this person is someone you can trust to give you sound advice that’s in your best interest. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening. My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, finances, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, money tips, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast

This week, I’m talking about the fiduciary standard in the world of financial advice. What is a fiduciary and why should you care?

Today, I’m diving a little deeper into the differences between fiduciary and non-fiduciary status by discussing a very important distinction - suitability vs. fiduciary standards. Now if you remember from earlier this week, a fiduciary duty is the ethical and legal obligation to act solely in someone else's best interest. A fiduciary advisor must put the interests of their clients ahead of their own.

Suitability on the other hand, requires that your advisor make recommendations that are suitable based on your situation, assets, risk tolerance, etc., but the standard does not require the advice to be in your best interest. Kind of hard to believe, right? 

Maybe a term life insurance policy is what would be in your best interest, but the commissions on term-life policies for advisors that sell them are terrible. Even on a large policy, they’re dismal. But an insurance agent or your financial advisor can make a boatload of a commission by selling you a whole life policy instead. Now, it may or may not be in your best interest to buy that whole life policy, but that actually doesn’t matter. As long as the recommendation is suitable it doesn’t actually have to be in your best interest. The agent has done nothing wrong by selling you a policy that was more ideal for them than for you. 

Just like if you go to a car dealership. If you’re at the Toyota dealership and you tell the salesperson what you need in a car, the perfect car for you might be a Honda or a Ford. But is the Toyota salesperson going to tell you to walk away and go down the street somewhere else - no! But you know that. And because you know that, you can make a more informed decision about taking their advice. 

The same is true when working with a financial advisor. While a fiduciary standard is ideal, we live in a world today where most advisors are just required to find a suitable fit for you, and not something that’s necessarily in your best interest. 

So the best thing you can do is to understand whether or not your advisor is a fiduciary and understand how they get paid. When you understand that, you can trust the advice you’re getting or go find an advisor that you do trust. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening. My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

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This week, I’m talking about the fiduciary standard in the world of financial advice. What is a fiduciary and why should you care?

Today, I’m talking about who is and who isn’t a fiduciary, and how you can tell the difference. 

But first, I want to take a pause to celebrate because today marks episode 500 of the One Minute Retirement Tip! The podcast continues to grow every month thanks to you, and I love receiving emails and comments from you in the reviews, so thank you so much for being a listener and if you’re finding this podcast valuable, consider sharing it on social media or telling a friend who is close to retirement. 

Alright, back to today’s topic. It’s actually really difficult to tell who is and who isn’t a fiduciary, unless you know what you’re looking for and you’re the 1% who reads the fine print of all the documents you sign and all the disclosures that your advisor sends to you. 

The biggest giveaway that will tell you if they are a fiduciary is whether or not your advisor is a fee-only advisor. Back in 2015, CNBC released its second annual list of the “Top 100 Fee-Only Wealth Management Firms” to the public. The joke was that when you looked under the hood at the top 10 “fee only” firms on the list, 9 out of 10 of them share in insurance commissions, own an insurance agency, or are under common ownership alongside an insurance affiliate to which advisory clients are referred.

In other words, 9 out of 10 of CNBC’s “Top Fee-Only” firms are not actually fee only! And since they can and do receive commissions on selling insurance products, they aren’t fiduciaries to their clients in all circumstances either. So if CNBC can’t tell the difference, how can you?! 

There are a few tell-tale signs though that aren’t fool-proof but definitely help: 

1. First off, you could just ask “are you a fiduciary”. If your advisor is honest, which most are, they should be able to explain whether or not they are a fiduciary
2. Another good question to ask is if they receive other types of compensation other than what you’re paying them. Fiduciary advisors are fee-only, meaning the only compensation they receive is from the advisory fees you pay them, usually on a quarterly basis. Non-fiduciary advisors often receive other types of compensation and how they’re paid will often be an indication of their fiduciary status. This might include commissions or trading fees, incentives from their firm (like a higher payout for selling more of a particular type of investment), or soft dollars - usually compensation directly from mutual fund companies. For example, at my old firm, if I bought a Vanguard fund for a client, I couldn’t get paid on that. But I could get paid with a laundry list of other mutual funds. I’m not going to work for free, so if Vanguard was truly the best option for that client, I had a potential conflict of interest. So be sure to find out all the ways your advisor gets paid.
3. When you buy or sell a stock, mutual fund, a life insurance policy or an annuity is there a commission that your advisor gets paid? If they receive a commission, then they are acting in the role of salesperson and aren’t a fiduciary. 
4. The last way to tell if often just looking at the firm they work for - any advisor who works for a large brokerage firm - think Edward Jones, Wells Fargo, Merrill Lynch, etc. is unlikely to be a fiduciary - they might be in some situation, but advisors working at big firms are dually registered, meaning that they are fiduciaries in some circumstances, but then they can take that hat off whenever they need to in order to sell you an annuity or get paid a commission.

The biggest giveaway regarding fiduciary status is how your advisor gets paid. If it’s solely on fees paid by you, and they receive no commissions, they are a lot more likely to be a fiduciary and upholding the highest standard of care in their dealings with you as the client. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening. My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, finances, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, money tips, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast

This week, I’m talking about the fiduciary standard in the world of financial advice. What is a fiduciary and why should you care?

Today, I’m laying the groundwork by defining fiduciary and what it means. 

A fiduciary duty is the ethical and legal obligation to act solely in someone else's best interest. A fiduciary advisor must put the interests of their clients ahead of their own. This should be in writing and it’s the highest standard of care that exists between any advisor and his or her clients. 

It sounds like that a fiduciary duty should just be the table stakes when dealing with a financial advisor, but unfortunately that’s not the case. Most advisors do not operate under a fiduciary duty in all circumstances with all of their clients, which means the relationship is more likely to be fraught with conflicts of interest. 

When there are conflicts of interest and a disordered set of priorities because a fiduciary duty isn’t part of the deal, it can erode trust, or cause your advisor to do things that are not in your best interest - like invest your money in a high fee product that pays them a fat commission. 

It’s important to try to eliminate these types of conflicts, and working an advisor who has a an obligation to put your interests first because they are a fiduciary to you, eliminates many of those ethical pitfalls.

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening. My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, finances, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, money tips, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast

Welcome to a new week and a new theme here on the One Minute Retirement Tip! 

This week, I’m talking about the F word. No, not that F word! I’m talking about the other F word: fiduciary.

What is a fiduciary and why should you care? I’ll talk about the fiduciary standard as it applies to financial advisors, planners, insurance salesmen, and even the advisor at your bank. As an investor, you can empower yourself by better understanding what motivates the people you hire to provide financial advice and sell financial products. And when you know who is a fiduciary and who isn’t and when and why it matters, you’ll be able to make smarter decisions to ensure the people you hire to help you manage your finances are acting in your best interest. 

So this week, my goal is to help you better understand what makes someone a fiduciary (hint: it’s not an easy thing to spot), so you can make informed decisions knowing what motivates the people you are trusting with your money. 

That’s it for today. Before you go, though, if you haven’t already left a review in Amazon or iTunes for the One Minute Retirement Tip, can I ask a favor of you to go do that right now? It just takes a few seconds and it helps to spread the word, and helps other people find this podcast.

In a review on Amazon, Frugal Mama writes: “keep 'em coming Ashley, I do appreciate your daily information, and your positive energy each morning to start my day!”

Thank you, frugal mama. And thank you to all of you who have taken the time to write a review. 

My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip.

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, finances, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, money tips, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast

It’s Sunday, which means...It’s recap time! 

This week, I talked about navigating life’s important transitions before and during retirement. 

In each episode this week, I covered some of the biggest life transitions you’ll need to navigate before and during retirement, including: 

• The empty nest transition
• Caring for elderly parents
• Transitioning into Retirement 
• Dealing with a health scare 
• Coping with the death of a spouse

Hopefully after listening to the One Minute Retirement Tip this week, you have a better understanding of how each of these transitions and their timing will impact you and your money in retirement. Ultimately, I hope that you will be more prepared to navigate these important life events with the right preparation and plenty of grace.

If you’re married, I encourage you to talk through each of these transitions with your spouse and determine if there is more you need to do to prepare. Whether it’s budgeting for more travel in the early years of retirement, or planning to work part time, or deciding now whether or not you want to stay in your current home, and under what circumstances you would move. The last thing you want to do is discuss these important decisions after a major life change, when emotions are running high or after your mental capacity to make these important decisions has already declined. 

If you missed any of these episodes or if you want to revisit any of them, you can find them on iTunes, Spotify, or Google Play by searching for the “One Minute Retirement Tip with Ashley”. 

Tomorrow, we are starting a brand new theme: What is a fiduciary and why should you care. I’ll talk about the fiduciary standard as it applies to financial advisors, planners, insurance salesmen, and even the advisor at your bank. As an investor, you can empower yourself by better understanding what motivates the people you hire to provide financial advice and sell financial products. And when you know who is a fiduciary and who isn’t and when and why it matters, you’ll be able to make smarter decisions to ensure the people you hire to help you manage your finances are acting in your best interest. 

That’s it for this week! Thanks for listening and I hope you have a blessed Sunday! 

My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the “One Minute Retirement Tip”.

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, finances, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, money tips, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast

This week, I’m talking about navigating life’s important transitions before and during retirement. 

If yesterday wasn’t depressing enough for you with the discussion on health scares and how they can derail the best laid plans you had for your retirement, today I’m talking about navigating the death of a spouse. 

Now, if you’re like me, you live in constant denial of your own mortality and the mortality of your loved ones. That’s why life insurance salesmen have it so rough and estate attorneys are so grumpy - no one ever wants to face the reality of their own death, yet as we all know, the human death rate still stands at 100%. 

If you’re age 65 and male, you can expect to live another 18 years. If your 65 and female it’s another 20 years. So if you’re married, that puts us squarely in your 80s when you can reasonably expect that one of your will die. 

Besides the emotional issues, grief, and loneliness of losing a spouse, there are several other important factors to consider here. Navigating the estate issues, potential changes to living situations, etc. There may be life insurance proceeds to handle, and the re registering of bank accounts, investment accounts and IRA assets can be a daunting process. 

The biggest problem I see from a financial standpoint is that one spouse is almost always the primary caretaker of finances and often the other spouse has little to no involvement. LEarning about managing money in your 80s is no walk in the park, and so it’s really important that both spouses take an interest and have an understanding for the couple’s money and finances, and both spouses know where all the accounts are, know what insurance policies exist, and know how to get into the safe deposit box. 

When a spouse is left alone and unprepared to deal with household finances, it also opens the door for mismanagement and elder financial abuse, which sadly is very common today. 

So if you’re married, be sure that you talk with your spouse regularly about the household finances, you meet with your financial advisor and other advisors like your CPA and attorney together, and importantly, both spouses are clued into where all the accounts are, where the important documents are located, and how to find them. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening. My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, finances, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, money tips, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast