How to Overcome “Bag Lady Syndrome”—a guide for women

 By Karen A. Miller, CFP®, CFPA 

You are a successful woman. But if you’re like most women, no matter how successful you are, you still have that fear in the back of your head that you may end up on the street eating cat food. Irrational or not, this fear can be overwhelming—and if you let it, can stop you from doing what you need to do to be happy and financially secure. In this issue, we’ll talk about a few ways to overcome fear in general as well as to help ensure this specific fear does not become your reality.

 Make a plan

Treat fear as a call to action

You’ve likely heard the saying that “no one plans to fail—they simply fail to plan.” This is especially true when it comes to your finances. Your fear in this instance should be your call to action. If you don’t have a plan, make one now. It’s never too late (or too early) to start planning for the future.

 And if you do have a financial plan, review it on a regular basis. This can help provide some peace of mind when you can see your progress. Gasber Financial is here to help you create and manage your financial plans so you can stay on track toward the future you desire.

 Meditate on the answer

When faced with something you fear, it’s typical to panic or freeze—as your brain works overtime running through the possibilities. As we discussed in our last blog, meditation can help you learn to let thoughts flow through your mind without reacting to them. And this, in turn, may help keep you from getting anxious or stressed about things you may fear—helping you to feel more centered, calm and present in the moment.

 Stay positive

It may sound a bit out there, but the mindfulness you hear so much about today can make a difference in all areas of your life, including your finances. Because when you change the way you think about money, you really can change the way you behave with it—and that can make all the difference in the world.

 Consider, for example, the “scarcity loop” illustrated below *. The thought that you don’t have enough money creates anxiety and stress which leads to poor decisions, like spending money to buy something you think will make you feel better, which creates the negative outcome that you have even less money than before.

 But imagine what can happen when you change the thought processes. When you start out, for example, with the idea of being grateful for the money you already have, you end up less stressed and are able to make smarter choices about your money, which can lead to you saving more money and feeling more secure.

And when you can keep this sort of positive cycle going, you can continue to improve your financial security. It may sound simple, but this can really work—and, like meditation, all it takes is practice.

Be grateful

Sometimes being positive and grateful can be as simple as remembering what you are grateful for even in negative situations. You can remind yourself of what you are grateful for—sure you’re stuck in traffic, but you’re in a warm, dry car. Sometimes simply saying the word “grateful” out loud can help you relax and stay positive.

Another idea is to remember to give yourself credit for the steps you are taking—no matter how small they may be. Every step should be acknowledged. At Gasber Financial, we believe strongly in the power of planning and positive thinking. We can help you review your plan to ensure you are on track toward the retirement of your dreams.

Women Helping Women 

You’ve heard about financial planning, but what’s so important about it? Well, a good financial plan maps out where you are, where you want to be, and becomes the roadmap that helps you get from here to there. Here are five main things to understand about financial planning. 

1. A financial plan helps you define your goals

One of the most important pieces of a financial plan is defining your long-term goals. Maybe you want to own a second home or travel the world. Maybe you want to pay for college and retire comfortably in Napa. Or perhaps you want to ensure you never have to rely on anyone else financially again. Whatever your unique goals, your financial plan should include them. 

2. A financial plan helps you reach for your goals

Any financial plan worth its salt should map out how you will achieve your goals. It will consider your current net worth, your cash flow, income sources and more. Your plan will include all of your current obligations, like mortgage and insurance, and will outline specific amounts to put aside each month toward savings, college, retirement and other specific goals.

 A financial plan can help you prepare for unexpected events

Good financial plans should include a cushion of extra funds that are set aside to help you pay for unexpected events—both good and bad. So, whether you decide to take your family on a trip to celebrate the end of quarantine, or you need to replace your roof, you’ll be prepared. 

4. A financial plan helps you stay on track toward your goals

Financial plans can help you stay on track toward your goals in multiple ways. First, they give you a framework for making decisions. For example, if you are considering a major purchase not in your plan, looking at it in the context of how it could affect your plan can be quite helpful. If it has no impact, you may decide to do it, but if it might delay your progress, you have the opportunity to weigh your decision and determine if you think the tradeoff is worth it or not. 

Second, financial plans give you a benchmark to measure against. As such, they should be reviewed regularly in order to track your progress toward your goals. In fact, sometimes, just knowing that things are being looked at regularly can motivate you to stay on the straight and narrow as well. 

5. Financial plans should evolve

A good financial plan should not be static, but a living document that evolves as your needs and life changes over time. During your regular reviews, you should be considering not only your progress and investment performance, but how your life may have changed. Perhaps you had another child or got a new job, or maybe your mother passed away. Or perhaps you’ve decided that you don’t really want that vacation home anymore, but would rather upgrade your existing home. There are any number of things that may change from year to year, so it’s important to communicate these during your review. 

When done well, with the assistance of a professional, financial planning should help you to reduce financial stress today, while helping you achieve your goals for tomorrow.

Gasber Financial is happy to create a financial plan for you or to review and update your existing financial plan in order to help ensure your future is everything you want it to be.

You may not have realized it, but last week was National Retirement Security Week. To honor it, I wanted to take a little time to talk about retirement income and what you need to do to get and stay on track. 

Here are three key things to consider when it comes to planning for and living in retirement…and they may not be exactly what you expect. 

1. The money matters

First, of course, the money does matter. It’s important to develop a realistic understanding of what your income and expenses will truly be in retirement. As you know, there are actually many pieces of the retirement income pie, including savings, Social Security and any pension or retirement plan assets. And, there are many other considerations as well. Working together, we can look at: 

• What your assets look like now and what they could grow to in the future
• What sources of income you have now and may have later (it’s common to overestimate the value and duration of alimony, for example)
• How much Social Security you are likely to receive
• How much Medicare and other health care might cost (we have an expert that can help you understand the choices you may need to make)
• What your living expenses and other liabilities may be
• What your tax situation may be (it’s common to underestimate your future tax bite)
• And more

But when it comes to retirement, there’s far more than just the money to consider. 

2. Envision the future

To get a true idea of what your retirement will be like, you should envision how you want to spend each day. Volunteering, working out and going to the theatre sound great, but can you really do that each day? You may want to consider the following questions: 

Will you still work? If so, will you stay in your career or try a new job (see the next installment)? Take some time to imagine how you might feel if you were not doing your current career anymore. How tied to your career is your identity? Will you be happy if you are not doing that job anymore? It’s important to consider these things to help ensure you will truly be happy in retirement. 

Now, if you will be going from full-time work to part-time, or to not working at all, consider how you will spend the rest of your time each day. If you dream of gardening, horseback riding, knitting, reading or other things, try to be realistic about how much time you will actually want to spend doing these things each day. It may not be as much as you think, so you will want to consider what else you will do each day. 

If you plan to volunteer, consider which groups you will want to volunteer with and how much time you plan to volunteer each week or month. 

Will you work out? If you worked out near your place of business, will you still go to that gym or will you need to find a new one? In fact, if you do a lot of things near your job, like shopping, socializing and more, you may want to think about where you will do things once you retire. You may no longer be willing to commute to do these things. And, if there are no facilities near you, or if you feel your home will be too remote once you retire, you may want to consider moving.

Another thing to consider is who you will socialize with. Where do your friends and family live? Are they close to you or far away? If you are going to be home more, perhaps you want to consider a community that is designed to be more social. 

3. Make a plan

Whatever you envision for your retirement and however many assets you may have, the bottom line is that you need a plan. Yes, things can change over time. The markets may go down, the tax laws may change, and you may make decisions that change the trajectory of your path. We believe that the key to successfully planning for and living in a secure retirement is to: 

• Have a plan and regularly review that plan
• Have a professional you rely on to help you along the way
• Continue making decisions that keep you on track toward your goals 

At Gasber Financial, we believe strongly in the power of planning and positive thinking. We can help you build and review a plan to help you achieve a secure retirement.

It’s natural to want to help people you care about—especially when they’re going through a hard time. Your friends and family are no different. When they see you going through a transition, they will naturally try to help. But it can be challenging enough to navigate these types of situations without all the different voices in your head. Here are a few ideas to help you make the best decisions for you.

1. Keep perspective

Your friends mean well and want to be helpful. However, what worked for them in a given situation may not be what will work best for you. Remember that you can listen to the advice, but you do not need to take it. Above all, trust your instincts.

2. Make a list

Sometimes it’s helpful to put the options down in black and white. Make a list of:

• Your income (salary, Social Security, alimony, interest and other income you receive on a regular basis)
• What you own (assets like your home, art, jewelry, cars)
• What you owe (liabilities like your mortgage, debt payments, utilities and more)
• The potential options you have
• The pros and cons of each course of action

Often simply seeing things in black and white will help make it clarify the right course of action for you.

3. Use the 10, 10, 10 rule

Another idea is to make consider each option from the perspective of the future using the 10, 10, 10 rule—which simply has you consider how you might feel about each option in 10 weeks, 10 months and 10 years. Consider that in 10 days you may still be wondering if you made the right decision, or may still be pinched by the financial repercussions, but what about further down the line? Looking at each time frame, ask yourself:

• What difference will this decision have made in your life?
• Will the money matter anymore (if that’s part of the issue)?
• Would you even remember this decision?
• If you don’t do it, would you wish you had?
• If you do it, will you be wondering why you were ever stressed about it?

4. Consult a professional

Sometimes the best idea is to get the advice of an objective professional that you trust. While friends and family are helpful, their advice may be driven by emotions. Your trusted advisors can help you see things more objectively and may have some potential solutions you may not even be aware of.

Gasber Financial is here to help you to make informed, thoughtful decisions through even the most stressful of life’s transitions.

Women helping women 

To say the least, 2020 was unusual in many respects. With the pandemic, business shutdowns, stay-at-home orders and a highly contentious election, the year was definitely one for the history books. It was also an unusual year from a financial perspective. 

Many individuals saved money, as we were not commuting as much, eating out, spending money on entertainment, or buying as many dressy clothes. On the other hand, we may have been spending more on:

• The food we were cooking and/or ordering in
• Utilities with more lights, electronics and networking expenses
• Online shopping in general to alleviate the boredom and stress from being at home 

And because most of us had our routines completely disrupted, tracking our spending and savings may have fallen by the wayside. The new year is a good time to focus on finances. So here are a few ideas.

Get tracking

It’s important to understand where your money is going. And if you didn’t save as much as you expected, to understand why. Consider:

1. If you did track your money, consider comparing 2020 to 2019. How different was it? Which categories increased and which decreased?
2. You’ll want to consider categories for income, fixed expenses (such as mortgage, car payments), and discretionary expenses at least.
3. Now, look your totals. Did your outflow exceed your income, such that you were relying on credit cards? If so, how much debt are you carrying and what is it costing to service the debt? 

If you don’t track your spending, consider doing so now. Grab your checkbook and credit card statements and look at where your money went, trying to get an idea of what changed over time.

If you don’t enjoy doing this by hand, there are a number of apps, budgeting programs, and spreadsheets you can use to keep track of it more easily and follow the process above.

One step at a time

If it seems overwhelming to look at the whole year at once, consider looking at it one month at a time. The idea is simply to get a realistic picture of how much you earn and spend over time. We believe you can’t know where you’re going unless you know where you’ve been. So, gaining an understanding of where your money is going is critical to helping you to plan for a better year this year, hopefully increasing your savings over time.

Gasber Financial is here to help you plan for the future. We’re happy to help you look at your monthly and yearly spending, to help you determine places where you can save, and to help you best determine how to pay off any debt you may have accumulated. Please call for more information or with any questions you may have.

Women Helping Women: Giving Thanks Safely 

As Covid-19 cases are on the rise, having a happy Thanksgiving this year may look a lot different than years past. We know that even in a crazy year like this one, there is much to be thankful for. So, we created this quick article to offer a few ideas to help you stay safe, while still having a meaningful celebration. 

If you must gather, keep it small

While Thanksgiving is traditionally a time for gathering with family and friends, the CDC is currently recommending that to be the safest, you should only celebrate with the people that you live with. 

If you have your heart set on an in-person celebration, they offer the following guidance:

• Keep the celebration to 10 people or fewer
• Eat outside if possible and, if not, try to keep doors or windows open
• Mix only with one other family
• Wear masks when not eating and try to maintain your distance
• Wash your hands often
• Avoid going in and out of the kitchen unless you are the person preparing the food
• Use paper and plastic or request guests to bring their own
• Have only one person serving all the food
• And you can even consider having guests bring their own food 

Zoom with your loved ones

You could also set up a Zoom to celebrate with your family and friends. You can even make it fun by creating one menu with recipes from each family, so you’re all enjoying the same foods at the same times. Even through social distance, you can still go around the tables and say what you’re thankful for or play other games together too. 

Start a new tradition

Another idea may be to start a new Thanksgiving tradition this year. If it’s just going to be you and your nuclear family, for example, maybe you want to splurge a little. You could consider eating out if there’s a restaurant you feel comfortable with. Or you could consider ordering the whole dinner in from a restaurant, caterer or somewhere like Whole Foods. This may feel a bit odd, but can be a good way to relax and truly enjoy this holiday in a new way. 

We know that these ideas may not sound like as much fun as a typical year, but they’re designed to help you stay safe—because the health of you and those you love, is one of the most important things to be thankful for. 

At Gasber Financial, we are thankful for clients like you and hope that however you decide to celebrate, you will stay safe and healthy. Happy Thanksgiving.

Good Finance Starts at Home 

Determining how to talk to your kids about money and values can be stressful. But the truth is that there’s never been a better time to teach your kids about money, the importance of savings and the difference between needs and wants. Consider that, even during a global pandemic, kids are likely to ask for things they don’t need, like new toys or clothes, takeout food and more. And while buying some of these things may make it easier to have them home for an extended period (games, puzzles and crafts anyone?), it’s a good time to try to get them to understand the difference between wants and needs. 

Wants vs. needs

There truly isn’t a person on earth who won’t be affected by this virus from a personal, economic or other basis. Explain to your kids that you need to pay for your basic needs first. And these are:

• Shelter
• Utilities
• Food

That’s not to say that you shouldn’t get them clothes or candy or whatever they ask for, it’s simply a way for them to start to understand that you have choices and responsibilities. And that your needs come first before paying for wants.

 Providing an allowance

Another way to help your kids understand the value of money is to give them an allowance. Whether or not you tie the allowance to chores or simply give it as a matter of course, it can be a really good tool. 

1. Determine how much you are comfortable giving them each week.
2. Explain to them what their allowance is meant to pay for—snacks, hanging out with friends, toys and shoes they want, but don’t need, etc.
3. If you want to earmark part of the money for savings or charity, let them know that up front and consider letting them select the charity, as it will be more meaningful to them then.
4. The next time they ask for something, have them calculate how many weeks it will take them to save for it. This helps them:
   1. Understand just how expensive it really is
   2. gain math and budgeting skills
   3. make better decisions about what is and isn’t worth the money 

You’ll invariably discovery that they’re far more willing to spend your money than they are to spend their money. But you don’t need to worry that they will spend it all. While some might, others are quite excited to see their savings grow (a friend of mine has one who  saves ALL his spending money so he can always have more than his brothers).

When in doubt

It can be just as easy for kids to get overwhelmed about money decisions as it is for adults. One idea to reduce stress is to tell them to think about it from the perspective of the future using the 10, 10, 10 rule, imagining how they will feel about this decision in 10 minutes, 10 days or 10 weeks (you can do weeks, months or years too). While a child may be more upset in 10 minutes about not getting that ice cream, for example, will they even remember it in 10 days? Probably not. Looking at each time frame, ask them:

• Will the money matter anymore?
• Would you even remember this decision?
• If you didn’t do it, would you wish you had made that choice?
• If you did do it, will you be wondering why you were ever stressed about it?  

Gasber Financial is happy to help you teach your kids about savings, investing, responsible use of credit, and more.

 Three ways to make this year’s holiday even warmer 

The holidays are supposed to be about family, friends, spending time together, being of good cheer and probably a bit of religion thrown in as well. We’re supposed to be merry and maybe smile a little bigger and spread our love. I’m not quite sure when it became about spending the most on gifts or decorating our homes to within an inch of our lives (think I’m kidding? Just google “extreme Christmas decorations”).  

I admit that this is an unusual year, so we likely not only need more holiday cheer, but may need some new ways to find it, since we may not be able to have the traditional parties and gatherings. Here are a few ideas.  

Decorations

I confess that I haven’t begun to decorate yet, but I feel uplifted seeing lights on my neighbors’ trees and displays in their yards. And, if that gives you pleasure, then by all means go for it. Just make sure you aren’t going into debt or sacrificing your other goals to buy the trimmings or lights. You don’t want those good feelings to go away when that January power bill arrives.  

Gifts

Consider setting a budget for what you want to spend on gifts. You could even set a budget that includes everything you want to spend on gifts, decorations and food during the holidays and begin saving for it in January, depositing 1/12 of the total into the holiday account each month. Then when December rolls around, you’ll be golden.  

And even though it’s too late to do that for this year, it’s not too late to set budgets overall or for each member of your family. Parents often want to give their kids the world—and likely, especially in a year like this where you feel they’ve lost far more than they’ve gained. However, it’s still a good idea to put a limit on things or at least go in with a budget in mind to help you keep things from getting too out of control.  

Giving

Another idea that can help warm your heart this year is to give a little more. There are more people in need this year than ever before. And even though you won’t see Santa on every corner, there are many ways to give. Did you know that in 2012, the National Day of Giving, or Giving Tuesday, was created as an antidote to the commercialism from Black Friday and Cyber Monday? It’s true. But we shouldn’t need just one day to give. We should be making a plan to give to the causes that matter most to you throughout the year.  

Try to determine which organizations you want to help and how much you feel comfortable giving and then stick to it. Don’t be swayed by those sad puppy-dog eyes in the ASPCA commercials and go over-budget (guilty as charged!). If you’re not sure where to give, check out www.Charitynavigator.org—an independent non-profit organization that helps you evaluate the choices and determine the best places for you to give.  

Gasber Financial is here to help you make confident decisions.

We’d be happy to help you budget for the holidays, for giving throughout the year, and more.

Please call or "connect" with us at the top of the page for more information or with any questions you may have.

Women Helping Women

Honoring Women’s History Month 

In honor of women’s history month and International Women’s Day, we wanted to celebrate some of the strides women have made over the past several decades. Although we’re still waiting for equal representation in government (among other things), women have done some pretty amazing things. And one of the first is that we earn more college degrees than men—60% of all degrees in the U.S. in fact.¹ 

Bringing home the bacon 

We’re still waiting for equal pay, but we’ve been making strides at work, earning higher salaries and better positions than they have in the past.

• In the U.S., more than 25% of married, heterosexual women earn more than their husbands. ²
• As of June 1, 2019, 33 of the Fortune 500 companies are led by women. While that’s still a small percentage, it represents a significant step forward and a nearly 30% increase from the previous year. ³ 
• As of 2019, women now hold more than 20% of board positions in the top 3,000 publicly traded companies. ⁴

Taking care of business

 Women also tend to make great business owners—employing millions of Americans and generating more revenue by far.

• Women own 40% of U.S. businesses (that’s 12.3 million)—and they generate nearly $2 trillion a year in revenue⁵
• Between 1997 and 2017, the number of women-owned businesses in the U.S. increased by114%, while the growth rate for all companies was 44%.⁶
• As of 2018, women-owned businesses were responsible for the employment of 9.2 million Americans. What’s more, although employment for all firms declined by 0.8% between 2007 and 2018, it rose by 21% for women-owned firms. ⁶
• Women-owned businesses tend to deliver more than double the revenue of companies established by men. ⁵

 Financially independent 

And according to Suze Orman, women are more financially independent than men for a number of reasons as well, including:

• Single women spend less than single men, as they focus more on day-to-day expenses and more aggressively paying down debt⁷
• Women know they have to work harder because of the pay gap—so they do⁷
• Women try to take the right risks⁷ 

Women have done a number of other amazing things, including inventing white out, disposable diapers and the dishwasher.¹ Gasber Financial is proud to help wonderful women like you to achieve and maintain their financial independence, enabling you to plan for the future of your dreams.

¹https://nationaltoday.com/international-womens-day/

²https://www.forbes.com/sites/biancabarratt/2019/09/24/becoming-the-primary-earner-female-breadwinners-share-their-advice/#4c8956ee5910

³https://fortune.com/2019/05/16/fortune-500-female-ceos/

⁴ https://www.bizjournals.com/bizwomen/news/latest-news/2019/09/womens-representation-on-boards-reaches-a.html?page=all

⁵ https://www.fundera.com/resources/women-owned-business-statistics

⁶https://medium.com/small-business-big-world/celebrating-achievements-of-women-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs-942aeb35367c

⁷https://www.hermoney.com/earn/careers/women-more-financially-independent-than-men/

How to Avoid Being Scammed  a Guide for Women - pt 1 

There is no end to the number of ways criminals will try to part you from your money. And while most of us would like to believe that it can’t happen to us, it can. From doctors and lawyers to Wall Street legends, extremely wealthy businessmen and even famed conmen, anyone at any age can be scammed under the right circumstances.

One type of scam that is growing in popularity, and is particularly useful on women, is the romance scam. According to the Federal Trade Commission, victims reported losing more than $210 million in 2019* to these types of scams. In fact, the FTC says these types of scams result in more losses than any other types of scams. 

Here’s how it can work:

1. You meet someone online through a dating site
2. You start texting and maybe talking over the phone, but there is always a reason why they cannot meet you in person and may not even be able to FaceTime with you
3. They tell you they love you and you are the one for them—they may even talk of marriage. BUT, they can’t marry you, be with you, or meet you live until they do something else that requires money [need to pay off a debt/start a new business/finish a new investment]
4. It’s all very convincing—they want to live with you/marry you/be with you after all, so perhaps you send them the money
5. Some of them may keep you on the line, trying to get more and more money from you, while others may immediately ghost you and delete their accounts. Either way, no relationship will ever truly come from it and you will not get your money back. 

Too good to be true?

Another, newer romance scam revolves around sites designed to help you find or become a sugar daddy or momma. Perhaps you’re thinking, how will I get scammed if they’re going to be paying my bills? But that’s precisely how they get you: 

1. You develop a relationship with someone online and either they agree to pay your bills or to pay you for your company.
2. Naturally, they will ask for the credit card information in order to pay it off or they’ll ask for your banking information in order to make a deposit into your account.
3. Once they have this information, they can access your credit and bank accounts at will. 

It’s worth noting that this type of scam can work even if you are the one willing to pay the bills. The other party may simply say they need your banking information in order to let the credit card company, or whomever it is, know where the payment or deposit will be coming from.

 Helpful tips

In order to try to avoid falling prey to these and other scams, here are some tips that may be helpful.

1. Always be cautious about people you meet online, trust your instincts and take it slow
2. Never give your financial information to anyone you have not met face to face
3. Report anyone you meet online who asks you to send them money to the appropriate site’s administrators

Gasber Financial is dedicated to helping you keep your assets safe. In our next installment, we’ll discuss other popular scams and tips for avoiding them.

*https://www.nbcnews.com/better/lifestyle/looking-love-online-romance-scammers-steal-your-heart-steal-your-ncna1135766

How to Avoid Being Scammed  a Guide for Women pt 2

As we discussed in the previous installment, criminals are endlessly inventing new ways to part you from your money. And they do not discriminate based on age, gender or social status. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, was recently scammed. And I personally know of a Wall Street legend who was also recently scammed. 

Scammers are cunning and they have ruthlessly developed formulas for scamming because they work. 

The random call scam

Scammers use random calls because they work. They can spoof the number of the FBI, IRS, your local police station and others. Perhaps you answer and they tell you that your child or grandchild was in an accident or committed a crime (or they claim to be that child). They tell you that you need to send money for bail or for the hospital. They may know your child’s name, their girlfriend and a lot of other information because they can find it on your social media. And this type of thing happens every single day. 

There was a recent story in the Wall Street Journal about a nurse who was scammed out of $340,000. This is basically what happened.

• She received a call from someone identifying himself as an “FBI” agent.
• He told her that her identity had been stolen and used to commit crimes. He told her that if she didn’t do exactly as he said, files would be charged against her and she would go to jail.
• He told her to leave work and go to a hotel. He told her to send him her receipts for the hotel and food, as they would be reimbursed by the government.
• He kept her on the phone for hours at a time and told her if she let her family or friends know what was going on, she might be guilty of another crime.
• He said she needed to move her assets to “FBI” accounts in order to protect them from the identity thieves.
• Over the course of a few days, she transferred more than $340,000 from her accounts to the “agent.” 

In general, these types of scams play upon your fears and make you afraid not to comply. And while banks, especially those holding retirement accounts, typically ask a number of questions to try to determine if something fraudulent is going on, these callers know how to coach you through answering those questions.  

In another recent scam, a woman received a phone call from someone saying they had her daughter and that if she hung up, the daughter would be killed. The caller kept her on the phone for hours going from bank to bank and sending money, until a few hours later her daughter texted her about something and she realized the caller was a scammer. Of course, by then it was too late. 

The business email scams

In these types of scams, the perpetrators “spoof” an email address that you recognize, so you receive an email that you think is from your boss, another company executive, or some other important person asking you to do something that may or may not be out of the ordinary.

One woman received an email she thought was from her boss asking her to buy gift cards for everyone in the company as Christmas gifts. The email told her to send the gift card numbers and pins to the boss when the task was complete. She did so and the scammers got away with more than $10,000. And the worst part is that her company is saying she’s liable for the loss, as she put it on a corporate card. 

In a similar incident, a Wall Street Legend’s employee received an email he thought was from the boss’s wife asking for a significant wire transfer to an art dealer’s account in order to buy her husband a painting for his upcoming birthday. Naturally, she asked for the information to be kept secret. In this instance, the “wife” actually emailed a few times to say the transfer hadn’t come through and could it be sent again either way, as she had now found a more expensive painting to buy. These scammers got away with more than $300,000. 

Helpful tips

In order to try to avoid falling prey to these and other scams, here are some tips that may be helpful.

1. Remember that the FBI and police will generally not call you. They will come to your home or place of business.
2. Do not stay on the phone for an extended amount of time. Ask for a number where you can call the person back and then try to verify if what they are saying is true (call the FBI or your daughter).
3. Do not underestimate the amount of detailed information scammers may have.
4. Check to make sure any email with instructions about money is truly coming from the person you think it is from. Double check the address or call them/email them from a new email to be sure it’s legitimate.
5. Verbally or in person confirm instructions given by a boss, vendor or someone else with regard to money, property or payments. 

Gasber Financial is dedicated to helping you keep your assets safe. You can always call us with any suspicions you may have. In our next installment, we’ll discuss tax and investment scams and tips for avoiding them.

How to Avoid Being Scammed a Guide for Women pt 3 

As we’ve discussed, scams are not limited to robocalls and emails. Scammers can pose as romantic partners, as IRS agents and even as investment opportunities. 

A taxing situation

A growing type of scam involves your identity and your taxes. Each year, the IRS is reporting an increased number of cases where someone steals an identity and then files a fraudulent tax return. Why would they do this? In order to claim a “refund,” which they request to be deposited onto a debit card. 

The government is pretty good at spotting this, but it can mess with your taxes and cause other challenges as well. And the only way to truly protect yourself is to keep as much of your personal information, passwords, and other information private as possible. 

There are other tax scams where the “IRS” calls you and tells you that you owe them money and if you do not pay it immediately, you will go to jail. But the IRS does not contact people in this way. 

Stressful times call for scams

Tax time isn’t the only stressful time of year that can lead to scams. In fact, there are a growing number of scams targeted around global crises. 

For example, currently there are some “pump and dump” scams related to the corona virus. Here’s how they may work:

1. The scammers pick a small or very small stock, that may or may not be a healthcare company, and they buy a lot of shares while the price is extremely low.
2. They begin circulating rumors that this company has a “cure” for the virus and that it’s just a matter of time before it’s made available. This information goes “viral” for lack of a better word.
   1. They choose small companies because less information is publicly known about them and that can make it hard to determine whether or not rumors are true.
3. Investors buy the stock in order to take advantage of this amazing opportunity and drive the stock price up.
4. The scammers dump their shares at the increased price before the public can realize that the information isn’t true.
5. Investors often lose money as the stock drops back to its original value or below. 

Helpful tips

When it comes to the IRS, remember that they will never:

• Initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text or social media to request personal or financial information
• Call taxpayers with threats of lawsuits or arrests
• Call, email or text to request taxpayers’ Identity Protection PINs* 

Additionally, you should never give your birthdate AND place of birth over the phone, text or email. This is 98% of what scammers need to steal your identity. 

And when it comes to investment opportunities, remember that Gasber Financial is here to help you analyze—and get advice on—any investment opportunity you may be considering.

Women helping women 

COVID-19 has changed a lot of things in our lives—and the lives of our loved ones. And though there is hope now that vaccines will be ready soon, it will still be a while before they are widely available. So, while you need to be prepared to spend some more time caring for yourself and the loved ones in your house, you may also want to continue supporting parents or other elderly loved ones who don’t live with you. Here are a few ways you can do that. 

Help them stay social and active

If they aren’t already familiar with FaceTime, Zoom or any other video calling apps, try to teach them. It’s easy to teach even over the phone. Once they’ve mastered this, it can be a lot easier to keep them social. You can:

• Host game nights or happy hours with family on a regular basis
• Encourage them to sign up for online support groups
• Help them find an online class they’d like to do

You can also go old school and have your family and friends send them cards, letters and pictures once in a while. You can also consider giving them a project to do. Many of the sip and paint places have created painting from home kits where they send the materials and then you attend the Zoom class at a specific time. There are also a number of places creating things like chunky knit blanket kits and classes if dexterity is an issue. 

Make sure they have the care they need

If you cannot be there to help them, there are a number of ways you can still provide care. You can:

• Hire someone to check on them or to provide nursing assistance if needed
• Schedule regular grocery, pharmacy, and household good deliveries
• If they’re not feeling well, encourage them to call their doctor and, if needed, send an Uber to help them get where they may need to go

And if you are able to visit them, wear a mask—for their protection and yours—and consider staying at a hotel. If that’s not possible, just try to be as safe as possible. 

Gasber Financial is here to help you make confident decisions during even the most stressful of life’s transitions. Please call for more information or with any questions you may have.

What to Make of Recent Market Hype

Women Helping Women  

There’s little doubt that the markets of 2020 acted in some surprising ways, but that was nothing compared to what happened in the markets during the week of January 25^th. Whether you invested in it or not, you likely heard about how a group of investors on Reddit drove up the stock price of GameStop from around $39/share on January 20^th to a high of $483 on January 28^th. 

So, the questions are what happened and what should we do the next time it happens/how much attention should we give to this type of hype event? 

The short (and long) story

You may already understand what selling short is, but in case you don’t or don’t remember, here’s a refresher. Short selling is when you borrow shares of a stock that you think will go down in price in order to sell it now, with the plan being to buy it back when the shares decrease so you can return the stock you borrowed and profit from the difference. For example, you sell XYZ stock at $100 and it goes down to $50, you buy it and return the shares, keeping the $50/share difference in price. 

The challenge is that if the price increases, you can lose a lot of money. If the shares of XYZ rise to $150, for example, you’re losing $50/share when you have to replace the shares. 

A number of hedge funds had taken significant short positions in GameStop because the stock had been trading under $20 for the better part of 3+ years, so when it went to around $40, they believed it would go down. The group on Reddit could accomplish two things by purchasing the stock en masse:

• They could start driving the stock price up so they could profit significantly in a short amount of time
• They could cause significant losses for the hedge funds—who drove the stock up further as they frantically tried to buy back the stock to limit their losses (it’s estimated that this cost hedge funds $5 billion)
• They could make a political statement about Wall Street institutions 

There were a number of other issues you may have heard about including how RobinHood, a popular investing technology for independent investors, paused trading a few times. Contrary to popular belief, it wasn’t that they were bowing to pressure from Wall Street, but were trying to meet regulations for deposits on hand and to reduce their own exposure (risk) to the stock. You can learn more about the whole thing from this informative video by the 401KLADY. 

What’s next?

While there currently aren’t regulations to stop this type of investment hyping from happening again, there likely will be in the future. But for now, you may be wondering if you should try to jump in on something like this the next time it happens. To answer that, consider the following: 

1. We heard a lot about how individuals profited insanely in a short amount of time, but lots of investors lost money too. While the stock is still far above the long-term average (as of February 10^th, it was between $50-$60/share), lots of investors who jumped on the bandwagon at $120, $200, $300 and more have now lost significant value per share.
2. When it comes to investing, you should keep a focus on the long-term. Trying to manage a portfolio by riding these types of waves will be incredibly challenging and more than a little bit painful.
3. Research has proven that, for most of us, by the time we hear about something like this, it’s already too late to benefit. 

Gasber Financial is here to help you simplify the markets and your finances. We’re happy to help you with any questions you may have about this or other events.

 How to Get Your Home in Order 

A lot goes into keeping your household running smoothly. From cleaning to upkeep and maintenance or repairs, these to-dos don’t disappear – even if you do.  

And renters don’t have it any easier. Even if you don’t own your home, there are likely still big pieces to your home life that will require some attention in your absence.

So, as part of my quest to organize my home and life this year, I’m turning to the next chapter in my guidebook:

“In Case You Get Hit by a Bus: How to Organize Your Life Now for When You’re Not Around Later,” by Abby Schneiderman and Adam Seifer (founders of Everplans*) with Gene Newman. 

In the first part of this series, we talked about getting your finances in order so your surviving loved ones aren’t left trying to track everything down.  

This next step is all about how to organize your home (and everything in and around it), so that all your systems continue to function smoothly in the event of an emergency.  

How to Organize Your Pad for When You’re Gone

It’s important to take a look around every part of your home (that creepy area in the basement you’ve been avoiding for years? Yep, that too!). It’s time to grab your pen and paper and carve out an afternoon to get everything in order.

Utilities

Some of the major aspects of your home might be hiding in plain sight, like your electricity, phones and internet.

Take a minute to check these things out – is there a light that always goes out? Where’s the fuse box located, and what do you do to fix it?  

Is your ancient home phone collecting dust in the corner, or is it bundled up with your internet package in a deal that’s too good to pass up? Do you own your own wifi equipment, or are you renting from the internet provider?  

Don’t forget your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors – when were they last replaced, anyway? And how does that HVAC system work?  

Write down all the answers to these questions and any relevant details – while this stuff may seem obvious to you, your loved ones will feel a little less lost sorting it out with your helpful notes.

The Big Stuff

Next up: the big stuff – literally.

Is a piece of furniture in your living room especially valuable? And where did you get that amazing wallpaper in the guest bathroom? What about that hand-painted artwork hanging in your bedroom?  

This information could be invaluable to your loved ones in the case that they want to replace or fix up your digs. Make sure to include:  

• Furniture
• Paint colors and wallpaper brands
• Decor
• Fireplace (including care instructions and how to use)
• Laundry machines
• Kitchen appliances

It’s a good idea to walk through each area of your home and list these big-ticket items based on their location.

The Little Stuff

Now it’s time to get into the nitty gritty details. 

This includes your security system. Whether it’s a high-tech camera run by a top-notch security company, or a neighbor with your spare key and a telescope pointed out their front window, you’ll need to write down a few key pieces of information. 

Likewise, any home automation systems (like Amazon Echos or a digital thermostat) should be included in your list. Write down the passwords, companies, and any other troubleshooting information that could be relevant in the future. 

Are there any small items that are particularly important or sentimental to you? Make sure your family will be able to find and properly care for them.

Outside Your Home

Just because it’s outside of your home doesn’t mean it’s not important. If you have any care instructions for your yard, make sure to include those in your list. You’ll also need to list any storage facilities you use, including their location, monthly price, what’s stored in them and a contact at the company. 

If you have any vehicles (including cars, boats, RVs or motorcycles), list out the makes, models, license plate numbers and any other relevant care information that your loved ones would need to know.

 Organize Your Contacts 

Making sense of your contacts is hard enough on your own. Chances are you have more than a few people in your phone who you don’t know.

Why are there three Karen H’s? Which one is the right one? Wait, it doesn’t even matter – I don’t know any Karen H!

If you find your own contact list confusing, imagine someone else trying to make sense of it after you pass – in addition to their grieving, they’ll have an organizational nightmare on their hands.

Your loved ones will inevitably need to be able to contact a few important people when you’re gone, and there are several steps you take today to make that process easier.

Note: These steps are based on the guidebook I’ve chosen to help get my life in order this year: 

“In Case You Get Hit by a Bus: How to Organize Your Life Now for When You’re Not Around Later,” by Abby Schneiderman and Adam Seifer (founders of Everplans*) with Gene Newman.

Identify Your Top 5 Contacts

Whether your list of VIP contacts is 500 or 15, the first step is to identify the top five. And not just any five.

While your first instinct might be to list those you talk to most often, that’s actually not a great strategy here – you don’t need your close friends’ and family members’ phone numbers. Rather, you need to identify the phone numbers those people would need when you’re no longer here. Think of them as your emergency contacts for your emergency contacts.

To help you get started, base each contact off of one of these five categories:

1. Medical

Who is your primary physician, or is there a specialist you’ve been seeing regularly for a medical condition? If so, now’s the time to list their information. 

2. Home

Who’s the handyperson you call on when something needs fixed? Is there a person from your church you always stops by to mow your lawn? 

3. Financial

Do you have a financial advisor you’ve been working with? A banker? 

4. Legal

What about an attorney or other legal representative? 

5. Work

Who can you trust from your current (or previous) job to help answer any questions your loved ones may have?

When creating your list, make sure you add the contacts’ first and last names, title or organization, phone number and email address, and any relevant notes your loved ones might need. When in doubt, write it down. 

Other Contacts to Consider Including

We’ve narrowed down your top five contacts because we want to make this as simple as possible for your family members – it won’t be helpful to them if you have a bajillion people listed.

That said, you might need to flesh out your list just a little more. Consider adding these contacts:

• Vehicle maintenance professionals– This could include your car, motorcycle, boat, etc.
• Friends –Your bestie that moved across the country will probably still want to make it to your funeral.
• Coworkers – How can your loved ones access your last paycheck? Who can help clean out your desk?
• Neighbors– Maybe there’s a neighbor down that street that you regularly help with grocery shopping – she’ll probably want a heads up if something happens to you.
• Religious Organizations – Are you the treasurer on the board of your religious organization? Do you run weekly Bible school sessions? Who at your church can help fill in the gaps when you’re gone?
• Other Organizations – Similar to religious organizations, you should include important contact information for any other projects, charities, or businesses you’re involved with.

Make it Easy for Your Family

This entire process is truly a final gift you can leave for your loved ones – it’s a way to make sure they’re not burdened with a massive to-do list and no idea where to start if you were to become incapacitated.

Keep that in mind as you continue organizing your contacts and other aspects of your life. It may seem tedious now, but it could be incredibly helpful to your family down the road.

Grow with Gasber

Need help in your journey to organize your life and finances? Gasber can help – click here to schedule your complimentary “Get Acquainted” meeting today.

Retirement Income Planning—A Guide for Women

By Karen A. Miller, CFP®, CFPA

If you’re like most people, you’ve spent far more time saving for retirement than actually planning for living in it. But regardless of how far away your retirement may or may not be, it’s critical to create a plan for generating retirement income.

There are actually many pieces of the retirement income pie—it’s typically a 3-legged stool that includes savings, social security and any pension or retirement plan assets. And, while there are a number of things for any woman to consider, there may be extra considerations for divorced and widowed women. In this first installment of our retirement income series, we’ll review some of the things all women need to consider when planning for retirement income.

Social Security

Social Security wasn’t designed to replace income, but to help supplement other retirement assets. You can find out what your own benefits might be by visiting ssa.gov. Here are some other things you should know:

It’s also worth noting that you can work while claiming Social Security, but doing so can impact your benefits and your taxes. There may be other considerations and you should consult your tax advisor for more information.

401(k) and IRAs

Retirement assets are generally available to you at age 59 ½ without a penalty. With tax-deferred accounts, however, you will be subject to ordinary income taxes when you withdraw them. You do not have to withdraw these assets until you reach age 70 ½.

Pensions

Whether you have a pension, your spouse has a pension, your ex has a pension that is part of your divorce agreement, or even if your deceased spouse had a pension, there are things you need to know before you begin collecting it:

• Payout decisions made at the time of retirement can impact the payouts forever, even after death. So, make sure you understand the payout definitions completely before you make your choices.
• Typically, you can begin collecting these benefits at age 65, but some plans may enable you to begin collecting benefits as early as age 55.
• The rules regarding divorced spouses and pensions vary widely from state to state and from retirement plan to retirement plan. Some city, state, county and town retirement plans won’t pay benefits to former spouses.
• Consult your lawyer for more information.

Divorce and estate planning attorneys can provide more comprehensive legal information andGasber Financial can help you with your retirement income plans.

In our next installment, we’ll discuss some of the costs you need to consider and mistakes to avoid as you make your retirement income plans.

Retirement Income Planning

A Guide for Women—part 2

By Karen A. Miller, CFP®, CFPA

As we discussed in part 1 of this series, there are actually many pieces of the retirement income pie, including savings, social security and any pension or retirement plan assets. And, there are many other considerations as well. In this installment, we’ll review some of the costs you need to consider and mistakes to avoid as you make your retirement income plans.

Common mistakes

One of the most common mistakes for divorced women is overestimating the value—and duration—of alimony. If you remarry, alimony ends. And, while some women have their entire support categorized as child or family support in order to avoid that potentiality, this type of support likely ends when your youngest reaches the age of majority.

Another common mistake is to underestimate the impact of taxes. The truth is that even in retirement, you will most likely still have to pay taxes. And if you are divorced or widowed, you may be in a higher tax bracket than you anticipated.

Costs to consider

When it comes to costs, one of the most significant expenditures you will need to consider is healthcare. According to estimates, a 65-year old couple with life expectancies of 87 and 89, respectively, is expected to spend more than $400,000 on healthcare in retirement. This estimate is, of course, just an estimate—and an average one at that—it includes Medicare, supplemental insurance and dental insurance.¹ Medicare is a complicated topic that we will go into in another installment (for now, just know that you have to elect it at age 65 if you ever want the ability to use it).

It’s worth noting that your costs could be well above or below this number. For now, however, this estimate is presented to provide an idea of how significant this expense can be in order to drive home the point that healthcare should be a line item in your income planning.

Helpful tips—make a plan

• Your tax situation should be part of your investment and income planning.
• Healthcare should be a line item in your planning now and in your retirement budget later. This AARP calculator can help you estimate realistic potential costs for you.

Tax, divorce and estate planning experts can provide more holistic legal guidance and Gasber Financial can help you develop a comprehensive retirement income plan.

¹http://www.hvsfinancial.com/2017/06/12/2017-retirement-health-care-costs-data-report/

Staying Healthy to Stay Happy

A Guide for Women

Happiness, health and wealth are interrelated. So regardless of how healthy your finances are today, if you are not healthy and do not stay that way, you could end up being unhappy in retirement (and your finances could suffer too).

But have no fear, there are a number of things you can do to that can improve your health—and you can start right away.

 The basics

It starts with the basics. Yes, this seems obvious, but many women (and men) overlook these things or push them off until finally it’s too late:

•  Have your annual physical—this can help keep you healthy and identify if there is anything going on you should be concerned about.
• Have your pap smear, breast exam and colonoscopy annually—these types of exams are critical to finding cancer or other diseases early.
• Visit the dentist twice a year (at least)—did you know that gum health is related to heart health? There’s even new evidence suggesting oral health is related to things like dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Take heart

Did you know that heart disease is the leading killer of women? It’s true. And even if you’ve never had a problem (that you’re aware of) with your heart, you need to be sure to be taking care of it. That includes:

• Eating healthy, regular meals
• Maintaining a healthy weight
• Exercising regularly
• Reducing stress
• And more

 Some of these items may be easier said than done, but there is one that can help you to achieve many of the others—exercising. Regular exercise can help you lose or maintain weight and can help you reduce stress, while keeping your heart strong. And exercise doesn’t have to be something you dread—it can be fun. It’s also a good idea to wear workout clothes that you actually like. Baggy t-shirts and ripped sweats may be comfy, but they may not be flattering and definitely don’t motivate you. And make sure the clothes fit too—there is nothing worse than trying to adjust your clothing while in a “down dog”. Trust me, I know.

Get moving

Exercise can be as simple as taking a daily walk or as strenuous as running a marathon. The key is to find something you enjoy and have fun with it:

•  You can meet a friend and go for a walk or a bike ride.
• You can get a group of women together to train for a 5k.
• You can take yoga classes, boxing classes, spin classes or any number of things to get started.

There are also many services that let you stream workouts right at home to your smart TV, computer or phone whenever and wherever you are, like Beach Body, Daily Burn, Aaptiv and many others. And, of course, you can always hire a personal trainer.

It can be a great idea to simply try different things and mix it up, so you don’t get bored or frustrated. But the key is to just get started—every small step can make a big difference in your health today and your happiness tomorrow.

While some workouts are free, others can cost a pretty penny. Gasber Financial can help you determine how to fit these types of programs into your finances. In the next installment, we’ll discuss some ideas for taking care of your mental and emotional health.

Social Security—A Guide for Women, part 1

By Karen A. Miller, CFP®, CFPA

Social Security is an important, but often misunderstood retirement benefit—and one that may require planning on your part. You do have some choices to make, but you don’t have to make them alone. Gasber Financial is here to help you.

First things first

There are a few basics you should understand about how Social Security works. In general:

• You can claim your benefits as early as age 62. However, since this is before your Full Retirement Age (FRA) (see the chart below), your benefits would be permanently reduced by about 25%.
• Your full benefit is available to you at your FRA (see below).
• If you wait until age 70, you can grow your individual benefit by as much as 24-32%.

You can get an estimate of your individual benefits at https://www.ssa.gov/planners/benefitcalculators.html.

Deciding when to elect, however, may not simply be about the size of your monthly benefit. Three of the most critical things to consider include:

• Life expectancy
• Working income
• Marital status

Life expectancy

No one can tell you your exact life expectancy, but it can be important to think about when it comes to Social Security. Did you know that a woman reaching age 65 today, has an average life expectancy of 86.6 years?* That’s the average, which means many will live longer. But why does it matter?

In theory, you should receive the same lifetime amount of Social Security regardless of whether you claim early, on time, or late (because you claim less for more years or more for fewer years). In reality, however, it doesn’t always work this way. In this example, Julie has a full benefit of $2000 and an FRA of 66. Look at the difference claiming early, on time or late can make in her benefits over time.

If we continued this example through the average life expectancy of 86.6, the differences would be even greater. Of course, there is no crystal ball to tell you your life expectancy, but family and individual health histories can be used to try to make an educated guess at what yours may be.

We’ll discuss how working income and marital status can impact your benefits in our next installment. For now, you should know that Gasber Financial is here to help you navigate your Social Security choices so you can create a trulycomprehensive retirement income plan.

*https://www.ssa.gov/planners/lifeexpectancy.html