Missed Fortune Super Blog » Time Value of Money

When Good Is No Longer Good Enough

admin — Mon, 06 May 2013 11:00:23 +0000

This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:

Upcoming Free Webinar

Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet Tuesday, May 7th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.

Click Here to Register Now

All attendees will receive $997 worth of valuable gifts, including a customized LASER Retirement Brief, The Success Formula audio program, and access to The Secrets to a Tax-Free Retirement event..

Someone Thinks You’re Too Successful

If you’ve the news lately, you’ve no doubt read about Cyprus government officials passing a tax law that would seize money from the bank accounts of Cypriots. This news has people around the world rightly concerned about how safe their savings are from opportunistic politicians.

It’s true for us in America as well. President Obama’s recently released budget seeks to limit how much very successful individuals will be able to keep in IRAs, 401(k)s, and pensions and profit sharing plans. One administration official admits that this proposal would only raise around $9 billion over a decade.

The rationale behind these suggested limits is that the wealthy can accumulate much more money in IRAs or 401(k)s than is required to fund what officials consider a “reasonable” retirement. This administration official is essentially saying that those who saved must take some of their money and give it to those who didn’t save.

We’ve seen this before back in the 1990s when politicians repealed what they called the “success” tax in 1997. It was a handy tax for the redistribution of wealth in that, if you were considered too successful accumulating retirement savings, they dinged you with an extra 15% excise tax.

Here’s your advance warning: the “success” tax is coming back.

Governments around the world are attempting to grab a portion of their peoples’ retirement savings. For example, Australian citizens are also facing a proposed new 15% tax on all of their income over $100,000 drawn from their country’s equivalent of an IRA.

This amounts to being taxed on both ends since they’ve already paid their taxes before they put their money in the account.

If you are someone who government considers “rich”, you now have a huge target on your back.

At Retirement Your Planning Must Be Different

Highly successful people can still make foolish decisions. They may follow the crowd and keep their retirement saving in IRAs and 401(k)s. They often do this assuming that they’ll end up in a lower tax bracket at retirement.

But the planning you do for retirement planning is different from the planning you must do when you’re actually at retirement.

Many people once considered saving for retirement in an IRA or 401(k) a good way to prepare for the future. Some found that a better way was a Roth IRA. But saving for retirement the best way can mean a whopping 50-100% greater nest egg when you get there.

We’ve reach the point now where IRAs, 401(k)s and even Roth IRAs cannot even be considered “good” any longer. One reason for this is that they still leave people vulnerable to tax hikes and that can mean ending up in a higher tax bracket at retirement, or possibly outliving your savings. This is why “good” and “better” just won’t cut it any longer.

The best ways to protect your retirement nest egg keep your money tax-free. They allow inflation to actually help you by tying your returns to those things that inflate. When the markets are volatile, these strategies protect your money so you don’t lose principle, yet they allow you to participate in any market upside the moment the markets recover.

The best ways of protecting your retirement savings allow you to enjoy liquid assets safely earning predictable rates of return.

You deserve a most amazing future. But to get there you’ll have to cut through the noise to learn what you can control and what matters most. Where most Americans default and keep doing what they’ve always done, you must instead learn to focus your time and money on today’s best choices.

The best choices are readily available once you know what they are.

Learn what those choices are by visiting with a wealth architect today.

Bonus Missed Fortune E-Book: Baby Boomer Blunders The average Baby Boomer has less than $50,000 accumulated for retirement (which means many have less than that), primarily due to bad habits and having money invested in the wrong places where economic downturns can diminish their nest egg. Download this e-book

Never Let It Rest Till Good Is Best

admin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 11:00:51 +0000

This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:

Upcoming Free Webinar

Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet Tuesday, April 30th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.

Click Here to Register Now

Never Settle For Less Than the Best

Here’s a saying you may want to commit to memory: “Good. Better. Best. Never let it rest, never let it rest, till good gets better and better gets best.”

When it comes to planning for that brighter future, the difference between best and good can be astonishing. In terms of your retirement nest egg, that difference could be as much as 50% more net spendable retirement income.

To put it another way, when we apply this distinction to financial strategies, it could be the difference between outliving your retirement savings and having money to spare.

A good example of this can be found in the way some people still put their serious retirement money into tax-deferred accounts like IRAs and 401(k)s. For many years people have believed that this was a better way to save for the future. But the truth is, it’s far from the best and it’s not even good any more because taxes are going up.

Shifts in conventional wisdom are not uncommon. For years we’ve been told that fossil fuels are destroying the planet and now some are saying that proof exists that fossil fuels are dramatically greening the planet. The point here is that billions of dollars have been spent chasing an assumption that fossil fuels were bad when there is convincing evidence that they are beneficial.

Not only have we spent decades wasting money on pursuing biofuels, but other associated costs in other areas of our lives have skyrocketed as well.

The bottom line is that sometimes we buy into faulty assumptions simply because we’re so used to simply following the crowd. When someone comes along and points out a better way, we’re amazed that we didn’t recognize it sooner. This is has been especially true in how people plan for retirement.

Reading the Writing On the Wall

Anyone who is paying attention should recognize that the only direction taxes will be heading is higher. Not just a little bit higher, but dramatically higher.

The assumption we made years ago that we were better off saving in an IRA or 401(k) where taxes are deferred to some future perceived unknown advantage is proving to be dead wrong.

Our assumption was that most of us would eventually end up in a lower tax bracket at some future point. A large percentage of Americans assumed that they would be retiring on 60-70% of their normal income and that they would therefore be in a lower bracket. But this has not been true for more than 20 years.

In reality, by the time we’ve retired, we no longer have the deductions we enjoyed during our prime earning years. Our dependents have moved on. Our homes are paid off. And we’re no longer contributing to our retirement accounts.

Even though our income may be 60-70% of what it was, we now have Social Security added on top of it and we’re being taxed on 85% of that benefit.

Too many people are finding that they are actually paying a higher percentage of federal and state income taxes than they were while they were working. Meanwhile, Congress continues to create more tax brackets and to raise taxes as a means of paying back the money that it is borrowing to support its spending habits.

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see where this is leading. Higher taxes, combined with rising inflation will deplete your retirement nest egg in a shorter period of time than you thought possible.

The only way to know with absolute confidence that your money is immune from the effects of taxes, inflation, and ongoing market volatility is in a tax-free vehicle. Using the best strategies, you can strategically roll that money over from your 401(k) or IRA, pay the applicable taxes now at the lowest possible rate, and then enjoy tax-free growth from then on.

Learn how to take your future from good to better to best by visiting with a Wealth Architect today.

Who Do You Trust With Your Future?

admin — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 11:00:58 +0000

This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:

Upcoming Free Webinar

Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet Tuesday, March 5th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.

Click Here to Register Now

Your Pocketbook Isn’t Lying

According to the Tax Policy Center, roughly 77% of American households will pay more in taxes this year thanks to the New Years Day agreement Congress passed to avoid the fiscal cliff.

There are several reasons this is will happen. Some of the Bush era tax cuts were extended temporarily, but others were allowed to expire. The media is reporting that the tax hikes in the legislation will only affect those earning higher incomes of $400,000 a year or more. But this is only part of the bill’s true impact.

Even if Congress goes the entire year of 2013 without another tax hike, virtually taxpayer will be paying another $500-$1,000 more in taxes this year than last year.

Even though this bill supposedly saved 99% of Americans from a tax hike, we’ll all be paying more since the Social Security payroll tax cuts have been allowed to expire. That will amount to a roughly $1,000 tax increase to a worker making $50,000 a year.

Everybody is experiencing the expiration of the payroll tax cut on employees FICA and Medicare withholding which jumped from 4.2% back up to 6.2%. This effectively means that most Americans will see a nearly 50% increase in the amount withheld from their checks for Social Security and Medicare.

There were also increases in capital gains and dividends for high income earners such as married couples filing jointly and earning over $70,000 annually and single earners making more than $35,000. The capital gains increased from 15% to 20%. And, finally, there was a phase out of the itemized deductions and the addition of a health care surtax of 3.5% that went into effect on all investment income.

The bottom line is that the higher income earners are really taking it on the chin but every income earner will notice they are paying more in taxes this year.

Though the fiscal cliff may have been avoided, serious issues like the debt ceiling and spending cuts were never even addressed. This means that economic uncertainty will not be going away any time soon.

This realization is prompting many Americans to key in on what is happening to their taxes and to ponder what they should be doing to immunize themselves from the effects of future tax increases.

Putting Your Future In Hands You Can Trust

With taxes headed higher, some folks are choosing to move their retirement savings away from tax-deferred accounts like IRAs and 401(k)s. Many use a strategic rollout to reposition their nest egg to a vehicle where it can grow tax-free. An example of such a strategy would be Maximum Funded Tax Advantaged (MFTA) Insurance contracts that have been grandfathered into the IRS code for generations.

Not only does your money grow tax-free, but also it transfers tax-free when you access it at retirement and when it goes to your heirs at the end of your life.

To understand the difference this tax-free growth makes, consider the following question.

If you had a $500,000 nest egg in your IRA or 401(k) 12 years ago, is it worth $1.5 million today? If the answer is “no” then it’s time to pay close attention.

Because that’s the kind of growth that was accomplished in maximum funded insurance contracts.

There’s a reason that affluent people and banks and corporations put their tier 1 assets in Bank Owned Insurance Contracts and Corporate Owned Insurance Contracts. They maximum fund it and take the minimum death benefit for the tax-free accumulation and growth.

That is where many people doubled and tripled their money during the worst decade since the Great Depression while most people in America barely broke even with their money in mutual funds

If you’re serious about taking control of your future and eliminating the dangers of rising taxes, you need to understand what even many professionals do not. There’s no shame in not knowing what you don’t know. But if what you always thought to be true turned out not to be true, how soon would you want to know about it? Most of us would say sooner than later.

Take the first step toward your brighter future by visiting with a wealth architect today.

Some Things Are Important But This One Is Urgent

admin — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 11:00:36 +0000

This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:

Upcoming Free Webinar

Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet Tuesday, February 26th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.

Click Here to Register Now

Stop Standing In Your Own Way

One of the most searching questions that we can ask ourselves is this one: If something you’ve always thought to be true turned out to not be true or accurate, would you want to know about it sooner or later?

Sometimes the answer isn’t simply about something being true or not, but between good, better, and best. This is of great relevance regarding how a person chooses to save for retirement.

Good could mean saving for the future in IRAs or 401(k)s where your money is exposed to the volatility of the market and running out of money in 7-11 years after retiring. Best could mean taking that same net spendable income and creating a nest egg that you could never deplete even if you lived to be 120 years old.

This is why it is so important to understand the difference between good, better, and best. There’s an old saying that goes, “When you’re standing in your own way, what does it matter what other obstacles you face?”

When it comes to your retirement, the major obstacles include higher taxes, market volatility and rising inflation. But simply knowing about these obstacles isn’t enough, you’ve got to get into motion and become educated as to how to remove them from your path to a brighter future.

The sooner you get going, the sooner you can move toward your dream. Even a decade can make all the difference in the world when you’re moving toward your goal at a steady clip. Those who put off taking action tend to kick themselves later when they realize what they could have had.

The Difference Between Important and Urgent

When we refer to the time value of money, we’re talking about the costs associated with putting things off today that could make a huge difference in the future. Every month that we fail to take steps to immunize our retirement savings from the effects of inflation, higher taxes and market volatility, can cost us tens of thousands of dollars in long-term benefits in the future.

If you had a water leak that was costing you $100,000 every 90 days, would you not consider that an urgent matter to address, or would you only consider it important?

Many people have the equivalent of tax leaks, inflation leaks, and market volatility leaks in their retirement savings, but they don’t yet realize what those leaks are costing them in the long run.

The threat of possibly outliving their money, or paying unnecessary taxes, seems far off in the future. But those who fail to act will see the long term cost in lost resources if they continue to procrastinate.

It doesn’t matter if you are in a low income, middle income, or high income situation; taxes are going up for everyone. Political leaders are finally beginning to admit that their unwillingness to rein in spending means that they’ll have to extract more revenue from the taxpayers. This means that taxes are certain to rise.

They’ve already taken a small jump for everyone with the hike in FICA rates just since the first of this year. And more hikes are on the way.

While we each should pay our fair share, we should also understand that there are perfectly legitimate ways to direct otherwise payable taxes into causes that are important to us.

These are sections of the IRS code that have been around for more than 100 years. Other tax laws change, but these have been grandfathered in and provide a savings vehicle where you are immunized from the effects of higher taxes.

Your money will accumulate tax-free. It will be tax-free when you access it at retirement. And at the end of your life, it will transfer to your family, your church, or your favorite cause, tax-free.

When you are immunized against the effects of higher taxes, rising inflation, and the effects of market uncertainty, you can enjoy liquid assets safely earning a predictable rate of return that will safely carry you through your golden years.

Making this a reality requires action. The first step is to visit with a Wealth Architect today.

For Everyone Feeling the Bite of Higher Taxes

admin — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 05:41:41 +0000

This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:

Upcoming Free Webinar

Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet Tuesday, February 5th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.

Click Here to Register Now

Tax Hikes Aren’t Just Hitting the Rich

We’ve just seen the first major tax increase in nearly 20 years for high-income earners. But everybody is feeling the bite of the expiration of the payroll tax cut on employee FICA and Medicare withholding. The rates jumped from 4.2% back up to 6.2%. This effectively means that most Americans will see a nearly 50% increase in the amount withheld from their checks for Social Security and Medicare.

There were also noticeable increases in capital gains and dividends for high-income earners like married couples that file jointly and earn over $70,000 annually. This also affected single earners making more than $35,000. The capital gains increased from 15% to 20%. And, finally, there was a phase out of the itemized deductions and the addition of a health care surtax of 3.5% that went into effect on all investment income.

This realization of higher taxes has prompted many Americans to take notice of what is happening and what can be done to immunize themselves from the effects of future tax increases.

Many of them are choosing to abandon the tax-deferred vehicles like IRAs and 401(k)s where they’ve been saving for their retirement and doing a strategic rollout that repositions their nest egg where it can accumulate tax-free.

People who have chosen to keep their retirement money in IRAs and 401(k)s will not have this luxury. This is because their money is being accumulated in a tax-deferred vehicle that will subject them to those anticipated rising tax rates the moment they begin taking their distributions. If this wasn’t enough, they’ll also be wrangling with the effects of rising inflation that is steadily shrinking the purchasing power of every dollar they’ve saved.

Immunity from the triple whammy of higher taxes, rising inflation and continuing economic uncertainty comes from learning and applying the right strategies and not simply following the herd.

This is where have chosen to use Maximum Funded Tax Advantaged (MFTA) Insurance contracts that have been part of the IRS code for generations. Your money grows tax-free and it transfers tax-free when you access it at retirement. Better still, it’s tax-free when it goes to your heirs at the end of your life.

For those hearing about this option for the first time, it’s natural to have some questions.

A Savings Vehicle That Makes All the Difference

A common objection for people who are not familiar with MFTA is that they’re not aware of it performing well as a retirement savings vehicle. Fair enough, here’s a simple question: In the last 12 years, did you triple your money tax-free?

In other words, if you had a $500,000 nest egg in your IRA or 401(k) 12 years ago, is it worth $1.5 million today? If the answer is “no” then it’s time to pay attention.

Because that’s the kind of growth that was accomplished in maximum funded insurance contracts.

There’s no shame in not knowing what you don’t know. But if what you always thought to be true turned out not to be true, how soon would you want to know about it? Most of us would say sooner than later.

If what you always thought to be the best way to save for your future, for your retirement, and for your kids’ college, turned out not to be the best way, when would you want to know? When would you want to know the best way?

Conversely, what if what you thought wasn’t the best way to save for your future turned out to be the best way?

That is where many people doubled and tripled their money during the worst decade since the Great Depression while most people in America barely broke even with their money in mutual funds. According to DALBAR, most mutual fund investors have only averaged 3.49% during the past 20 years. Worse still, whatever money they did accumulate was taxable.

If you’re serious about taking control and eliminating the dangers of taxes, you need to understand what even many professionals do not.

If you’re ready to learn what they know, start by visiting with a Missed Fortune advisor.

Moving With Confidence Through a Rough Economy

admin — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 11:00:00 +0000

This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:

Upcoming Free Webinar

Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet Tuesday, September 18th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.

Click Here to Register Now

The Forecast Calls for Higher Taxes

The economic forecast isn’t encouraging. The Bush tax cuts are set to expire at the end of this year and new taxes will likely be levied in order to shore up increased government spending. To put it bluntly, taxes are headed higher than ever. These tax hikes will affect every U.S. taxpayer, not just the rich.

The Congressional Budget Office predicts that middle income Americans will be paying about 29.6% more in income tax in the next few three years than they paid just last year. But there’s more bad news in this forecast.

Inflation will be higher than it has been for the past 20 years. And market volatility and uncertainty are also expected to continue.

Before we examine into the best likely solution for riding out tough economic times, we must understand a few key principles.

The first principle is the marvel of compound interest. If you were playing a round of golf and you bet 25 cents on the first hole and then progressively doubled that bet for each of the next holes, your bet on that final 18^th hole would be $32,768. This is the miracle of compounding at work.

But in order for the wonder of compound interest to be fully realized, there is another marvel we must understand. This compounding should take place in a tax-favored environment. This means that the money grows tax-free instead of simply tax-deferred such as in an IRA or 401(k). Tax-free can mean 50 to 100% more money at retirement than if we put off paying those taxes to a later date where we anticipate being in a lower tax bracket. This is a big gamble, especially with tax rates on the rise.

Remember that a single dollar, doubling every period for 20 consecutive periods, can grow to $1,048,000 but only if it’s tax-free. That same dollar doubling for 20 consecutive periods in a taxed-as-earned environment like a CD, a savings account or mutual fund will only amount to $27,000. That difference alone should justify learning how to start your money accumulating in a tax-free environment.

Even if you build up a million dollar nest, with deferred taxes, like those in an IRA or 401(k), the IRS will be claiming at least a third of that money in taxes. That leaves you with just $660,000 that you can actually spend. And remember, that’s not even taking inflation into account.

Too many Americans assume they’ll be in a lower tax bracket after they retire, but then find out that, without the deductions they once had, they’re paying a higher tax rate than during their peak earning years.

The bottom line is that you can have more net spendable income by using a tax-free vehicle than if you use a tax-deferred one.

Stop Making the Same Mistakes

There are six common mistakes that cause people to miss out on money that they could have been putting toward retirement planning.

They use short-term investments for long-range goals.
They use long-term investments for short-range goals.
They keep large amounts of money sitting in the bank earning 1% interest.
They use “crawl” investments like CDs and money markets that crawl toward the finish line.
Sometimes they use “walk” investments like annuities that keep them walking toward the goal of financial independence.
They use IRAs and 401(k)s to save for retirement without understanding that these are not the best way to save.

Among the key flaws with many of these approaches is that they lack liquidity, safety of principle, tax-free growth, and a predictable rate of return.

Folks who plan on waiting until age 70 and a half and then taking minimum distribution in order to save on taxes are in for a rude awakening. They’re not saving on their taxes; you’re simply postponing and delaying the inevitable. Such a strategy will dramatically increase the amount of taxes they’re going to pay in the end.

They could have got it over and done with by repositioning that money into a better savings vehicle, paying the applicable taxes, and having that money be tax-free from that day forward.

By the same token, getting out of debt by sending extra principal payments to the mortgage company is not a safe or liquid way to go. Those who do this are earning a zero rate of return by using this approach. Likewise, those who have a 15-year mortgage may be making a $100,000 mistake.

To get better results than you’re currently getting requires being willing to learn and apply the proper strategies to make that happen.

Visit with a Missed Fortune advisor today to learn more.

Stop Giving Your Golden Eggs to the Taxman

admin — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 11:00:54 +0000

This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:

Upcoming Free Webinar

Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet Tuesday, September 11th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.

Click Here to Register Now

The Chicken Metaphor

Many people are nurturing a goose that they’re counting on to lay golden eggs for them during their golden years. This will be their retirement income.

Whether it’s your business or real estate or apartments or even if you’re socking away money in an IRA or 401(k), there are a few things you must understand about taxes if you’re to enjoy the fruits of your labors.

To illustrate, let’s use the metaphor of using chickens to produce eggs for you to represent your retirement nest egg producing income during your golden years.

Let’s say that you start out with 4 chickens, each producing one egg per day. To simulate the taxes that you must pay, let’s say you’ll be paying a federal tax rate of 25%.

This means that of those four eggs produced each day, you are only allowed to keep three. The other egg represents the tax you must pay. Many financial advisors would advise you to put your retirement money into a tax-deferred vehicle where you can keep all four eggs, but eventually you’ll still have to cough up some of those eggs in taxes.

Now suppose that your egg-producing operation grows and you now have 8 chickens producing an egg a day. Because you’re paying your taxes on the back end, you’re now giving up two of those eggs to Uncle Sam. Now you’re only netting 6 eggs a day. By the way, if you were to use a Roth IRA, you’d still be in the same boat and still be netting only 6 eggs per day.

Of course, this is true only so long as you stay in the same tax bracket.

Many people set about creating a bigger nest egg in the hopes that they’ll be paying less in taxes when they finally retire. But this is no longer axiomatic.

Increasingly, we see people paying as much or more in income tax at retirement due to tax hikes and a lack of deductions that they enjoyed during their peak earning years. Their homes are paid off so they don’t have a mortgage interest deduction. They’re no longer contributing to their retirement plans so they don’t have that deduction either. Even the exemptions they enjoyed when their kids were at home are now gone.

Some people find themselves paying more income tax in their golden years even when their actual income has dropped by 40% or more. The trick isn’t simply to get more egg-producing chickens, it’s to let that egg production take place in a tax-free environment so you can keep more of your eggs.

Safeguarding Those Eggs From Rising Taxes

If your eggs are accumulating at a 4% growth rate, it will take at least 18 years for your egg production to double. This rate is based on DALBAR’s estimate of the kind of returns realized by folks who invested in mutual funds over the past 20 years.

On the other hand, if you were enjoying an 8% growth rate, you’d double your egg production in just 9 years. This means that in another 9 years you’ll have doubled your growth again or quadrupled your egg production. That means you’d now have 16 chickens producing eggs instead of just 8 chickens.

Remember, if that egg production is taking place in a tax-free environment, you’re realizing 16 eggs per day. But if it were taking place at 4% growth in a tax-deferred environment, you’ll only realize 8 eggs per day and you’ll be handing over 2 of those eggs each day to the taxman. Think about that. You could be netting 16 eggs a day tax-free or you could be netting 6 eggs per day.

It’s a world of difference, but it’s one that ‘s not widely understood by most financial advisors, CPAs, and even tax attorneys.

If you wish to learn how build your nest egg safely, tax-free, and at a predictable rate of return, you need to understand and use the Missed Fortune strategies.

Visit with a Missed Fortune advisor today to learn more.

Better Results Spring From Better Strategies

admin — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 11:00:41 +0000

This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:

Upcoming Free Webinar

Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet Tuesday, August 28th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.

Click Here to Register Now

The Way Things Have Always Been Done

We all get comfortable doing things a certain way. When we’re getting the desired results, that’s great. But what about when the results aren’t what we’d want?

Do we stubbornly hang on in the hopes that we’ll get a different result? Or do we change our game plan?

These questions are critically important as they relate to taking ownership of our financial future. For instance, the average American taxpayer has roughly $4,000-$5,000 a year that is going down the drain. These are otherwise payable taxes that could be diverted to more productive causes like savings, investments, or a retirement nest egg.

The only reason people keep letting that money slip away from them is that they don’t yet know how to put it to better use. They haven’t learned how to reposition their assets without increasing their outlay by one dime. They haven’t learned how to minimize taxes.

These represent little things that can add up quickly over time. By not repositioning that money, they give up the possibility of an extra $6,000-10,000 or more a year that could be growing and compound for future use.

Most people tend to accumulate their money in two general categories. One is their retirement savings such as 401(k)s and IRAs, the other is in real estate; usually meaning their home.

If you are following the crowd by socking away money in an IRA or 401(k), you could have 2-4 times as much money saved at the end of the day if you were accumulating that money in a tax-free vehicle, rather than a tax-deferred or taxed-as-earned account. Likewise, if you’re trying to get out of debt by sending extra principal payments to your mortgage company, you may be missing out on a fortune because you don’t know what you don’t know.

Finding The Money That’s Going to Waste

There are six common ways that people miss out on money that they could have been putting away for their retirement planning.

They use short term investments for long range goals.
They use long term investments for short range goals.\
They keep large amounts of money sitting in the bank earning 1% interest.
They use “crawl” investments like CDs and money markets that crawl toward the finish line.
Sometimes they use “walk” investments like annuities that keep them walking toward the goal of financial independence.
They use IRAs and 401(k)s to save for retirement without understanding that these are not the best way to save.

The key flaws that many of these approaches lack include liquidity, safety of principle, tax-free growth, and a predictable rate of return.

If you believe that waiting until you’re 70 ½ and taking minimum distribution will save you on taxes, you’re in for a rude awakening. You’re not saving yourself from taxes; you’re simply postponing and delaying the inevitable. Such a strategy will dramatically increase the amount of taxes you’re going to pay in the end.

You could have got it over and done with by repositioning that money into a better savings vehicle, paying the applicable taxes, and having that money be tax-free from that day forward.

By the same token, getting out of debt by sending extra principal payments to your mortgage company is not a safe or liquid way to go. And you’re earning zero rate of return by using this approach. If you’re sitting there right now with a 15-year mortgage, you may be making a $100,000 mistake.

If you wish to get a better result than you’re currently getting, you must be willing to learn and apply the proper strategies to make that happen.

Learn how by visiting with a Missed Fortune advisor today.

Tactics For Weathering Turbulent Times

admin — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 11:00:41 +0000

This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:

Upcoming Free Webinar

Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet Tuesday, August 7th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.

Click Here to Register Now

A Dream Solution

The economic forecast isn’t looking too promising. With the expiration of the Bush tax cuts at the end of this year and the imposition of new taxes to shore up increased government spending, taxes are headed higher than ever. These tax hikes will affect every taxpayer, not just the rich.

Even the Congressional Budget Office says that most middle income Americans will be paying about 29.6% more in income tax in the next two to three years than what they paid just last year. But that’s just one part of the forecast.

Inflation will be higher than it has been for the past 20 years. And market volatility and uncertainty will be along for the ride as well.

Before we delve into the dream solution for weathering tough economic times, there are a few key principles that you must understand.

The first of these is the marvel of compound interest. If we were out playing golf and were to bet 25 cents on the first hole and then double that bet for each of the next holes, the bet on the final 18^th hole would be $32,768. This is the power of compounding at work.

To truly realize the miracle of compound interest, there is a second marvel that must be understood. The compounding must take place in a tax-favored environment. This means tax-free accumulation and not simply tax-deferred such as in an IRA or 401(k). Tax-free will mean 50 to 100% more money than if you defer those taxes to a later time, especially with tax rates on the rise.

Remember than one dollar, doubling every period for 20 consecutive periods, will increase to $1,048,000 but only if it’s tax-free. That same dollar doubling for 20 consecutive periods in a taxed-as-earned environment like a CD, a savings account or mutual fund will only amount to $27,000. That’s a big enough difference to justify learning how to get your money accumulating in a tax-free environment.

Even with a million dollar nest, if you’ve deferred taxes such as in an IRA or 401(k), the IRS will be taking at least a third of that money in taxes. That leaves you with just $660,000 that you can actually spend.

The bottom line is that you can have more net spendable income by using a tax-free vehicle than if you use a tax-deferred one.

Stopping Money From Going Down the Drain

What if, for every $500,000 that you could accumulate for your retirement, you could have a million instead? Who’d rather have twice as much without having to come up with a dime more?

Surprisingly, most Americans tend to simply follow the crowd and save for retirement in 401(k)s and IRAs. They send extra principal payments to the mortgage company like their financial advisors tell them to do. By doing so, they are missing out on a fortune.

They could be enjoying double or even triple the amount if they’ve saved, by simply redirecting otherwise payable taxes to more productive causes. Most Americans are wasting $6,000-$10,000 each year this way. That’s money going down the drain.

If you can identify this wasted money and put it to work with compound interest in a tax-free environment, that could mean an extra one to two million dollars in their nest egg. Every million dollars that you add to your retirement savings vehicle could provide you with an extra $60,000-$100,000 a year in tax-free retirement income.

With an average baby boomer couple, one of them will make it to age 96. Those who don’t wish to outlive their retirement savings would be wise to learn these Missed Fortune strategies.

Learn more by visiting with a Missed Fortune advisor today.

The Two Forces Intent On Eating Your Retirement

admin — Sun, 20 May 2012 11:00:24 +0000

This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:

Upcoming Free Webinar

Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet this coming Tuesday, May 22nd at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.

Click Here to Register Now

All attendees receive a bonus hardcover copy of Last Chance Millionaire, Doug Andrew’s New York Times best-selling book.

How to Lose a Third or More of Your Retirement Without Even Trying

When it comes to creating a predictable retirement and future, it’s essential to stop clinging to the strategies that are failing to produce satisfactory results for so many.

These strategies include the widely accepted practice of socking away your serious money in an IRA or 401(k). It’s not that these methods can never work; it’s the fact that there are far better ways to acquire money for your future.

One of the areas where these strategies consistently fall short is how they approach taxes. Too many people who’ve saved their money in an IRA or 401(k) find at retirement that taxes gobble up nearly a third of their nest egg due to the tax-deferred nature of these accounts. They also run the risk of finding themselves in a higher tax bracket than they’ve ever been in because they no longer have the deductions they once enjoyed.

There’s a world of difference in what happens when a person accumulates their retirement in a tax-deferred vehicle vs. a tax-free vehicle.

To illustrate this, let’s suppose that you were able to sock away $10,000 per year for 30 years in a tax-deferred IRA or 401(k). With an average of 7.2% yearly compound interest, you’d have a nest egg of over $1 million at the end of that period. That sounds like a sizable sum of money, but it’s simply not enough to last most people through their retirement.

Here’s why: If you’re pulling out just the interest of $72,000 a year or $6,000 month from that account, you’re going to be paying roughly a third of that income in taxes. That leaves you with only $4,000 a month to purchase your gas, groceries, medicines, and everything else you need. This is purely from the effect of taxes. With the Bush tax cuts set to expire and the looming threat of Congress raising taxes, your monthly income could take another hit.

And we haven’t yet even touched on how inflation further degrades the purchasing power of your nest egg by increasing the cost of living. The possibility of depleting one’s retirement nest egg with eleven years may be a painful reality to many.

Those who wish to avoid these pitfalls would be wise to consider a change in strategies.

The Solutions That Are Hiding In Plain Sight

The solution of many financial advisors is to tell people to sock away six times the amount of money and they’ll be just fine. But who can afford to put away $60,000 a year when they’ve been putting $10,000 a year up to this point?

Then answer can be found in redirecting otherwise payable taxes to a retirement vehicle where your money can accumulate tax-free. Not only will the money grow tax-free, but also it will remain tax-free as you start to withdraw it and will eventually transfer tax-free to your survivors. Best of all, this is done fully within IRS Code guidelines that have been on the books for many generations.

By redirecting those otherwise payable taxes into your tax-free retirement account, even an extra $500-$600 per month will grow your nest egg in a big way as the power of compound interest goes to work for you.

Another part of your strategy is to link your returns to those things that go up when there is inflation. This way, when inflation goes up to 5%, you’ll be enjoying predictable returns of 10% allowing you to outpace the rate of inflation. By taking simple, effective steps to counter the effects of taxes and inflation, you’ll have a retirement nest egg that you’ll never have to worry about outliving.

If you don’t yet know how to do this, it’s time you learned.

Start by visiting with a Missed Fortune advisor today.