Will spring ever get here? I've had about all the excitement I can handle when it comes to the weather this winter. Snow storms, the temperature flopping up and down, etc. I guess after being here now for about 16 years, I've gotten spoiled. As most of you already know, we moved here from Wisconsin, so we've had our fill of winter weather as a family. But soon we'll all be complaining about how hot it is, right? Not me. I'm looking forward to some boat time out on the lake! In any event, we're moving right along here at the office. My knee replacement surgery, I think will be a success as I'm getting better all the time. It's just a slow process healing and getting the range of motion back. I want say a special thank you to all the folks that have reached out to me with encouragement and have taken the time to see how I'm doing. THANK YOU! Our office expansion and renovation is about 95% complete, and I think it's turned out very well. We plan on having an open house at the end of the month, so be on the lookout for an invitation to attend. No big deal, just a little get together so folks can see the new office. We're in the process of planning some fun client events, so keep an eye out for that also. On the business side of things, we've been quite busy these first few months this year. New strategies and tools are coming on line every day, and some are quite impressive. New indexing strategies for some of our Fixed Indexed Annuities have opened up more opportunities for higher growth, while obviously still protecting principle at all times. This has also enhanced the opportunity for greater income growth, again while protecting you from market risk. It's all good stuff; it's just a matter of learning what's available and how to properly use it. On a special note - For those of you who are concerned about leaving a legacy or concerned about tax problems for children or grandchildren (if you have IRAs for example), or concerned about Long Term Care costs eating up your estate, listen up. New asset based strategies have come to market that are just plain awesome! I don't have time to explain them in detail now, but here's a quick example of the power of "LEVERAGED MONEY" in retirement planning. Age - 67 female / $100k single deposit (this was from what I call dead money that was sitting in a savings account earning nothing) / $100k is 100% liquid at all times / Death Benefit is $160k immediately tax free to heirs / Long Term Care benefit (nursing home coverage) is approx. $400k. What? Really? Well, that's just too darn good to be true, right? What's the catch? Well, there is one catch. You have to be insurable. No you don't have to be able to run a marathon; you just have to be insurable. But what a great way to LEVERAGE your hard earned dollars against an insurance company to protect your assets, and therefore leave a legacy to your family. Like I said, simply awesome! But you need to take the initiative to check it out, and we're here to help you. Just give us a call. Enjoy this month's LKN article and Global Financial's Thought for the Week. Don't forget to listen to our radio show "The Safe Harbor Retirement Planning Show" Saturday morning at 10:00am on AM 1400, or go to our website for uploaded previous shows and LKN articles. Until next month,  James Stillman Save The Date Now that we've completed work on our office expansion, we'd like to invite you all to come and take a look. We will be having an open house on Friday March 28th (late morning). Nothing fancy, just some light snacks and good company. Please let us know if you are interested in stopping by. Invitations will be going out in the next couple of weeks. | 
