Looks like spring is finally here (hopefully to stay this time)! I can't wait until it warms up enough to get out on the boat! As most of you know, we've just completed an office expansion and upgrade. We had an open house this past Friday, and it was a lot of fun. Clients came in, the Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce participated, and we had a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the newly added space for our office. I want to thank everyone who participated in our event and made it a success. Kelly and Judy have been working hard on the decorating these past few months, and I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart. I gave them a vision of what I wanted, and they absolutely nailed it! Kelly and I are headed off to Chicago for a few days for our annual educational "Journey" event with our insurance marketing company Advisors Excel. We'll have leaders from our industry presenting, and as always we'll learn a lot. Kelly and I love these educational events. We are truly blessed to be part of one the best financial services organization in this country. I know that's a bold statement, but I'm happy to back it up for anyone who wants to take the challenge! We can't wait to get back and share some of the information that we learn at our conference, so stay tuned. We also have a few "Social Security Decisions" seminars next week at Epic Chophouse in Mooresville. If you'd like to sign up just send Kelly an email. The event information is on the events page of our website. Space is starting to get limited, so don't wait if you're interested. I'm working hard to wrap up my new book "Finding Safe Harbor in Retirement" within the next 6 months. It's been a work in progress, but I'm starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel. If anyone would like to get on the list to receive a free copy of my book when it comes out, just let us know and we'll reserve a copy for you. Don't forget to tune into our radio show "The Safe Harbor Retirement Planning Show" every Saturday morning at 10:00 WSIC AM. If you can't tune in, then check out all the archived shows under the radio tab on our website. Enjoy this month's articles, and as always don't be bashful if you'd like additional information.
Until next month,  James Stillman
Thank you to those that came out for our Open House on March 28th! It was really nice to see everyone and we appreciate the support!
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Mutual Funds: Are they a thing of the past,
and are they right for you?
Lake Norman Magazine, April 2014
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Hi folks! Recently, I've had numerous requests to write some articles about mutual funds and the mutual fund industry. I'm sure many of you have mutual funds built into your investment portfolios. If you have a 401k, then most likely your choices are from various mutual funds that are available with your plan. But is that the best thing for you? Why can't you choose individual stocks, ETFs (exchange traded funds), REITs, or annuities? If you have a retirement or investment portfolio and your advisor works through a broker dealer like Merrill Lynch, Edward Jones, Raymond James, etc., then I'll bet you a dime to a dollar you have a bunch of mutual funds.
I'm not saying that's bad. In fact, in some cases it's very good depending on your personal situation. Owning mutual funds can also be very bad in some situations. But have you ever wondered why all the mutual funds? Have you ever really checked out the cost, loads, or fees associated with many mutual funds? How efficient is mutual fund investing, really?
Over the next few months, I'll go over some of the basic pros & cons of mutual fund investing. I'll try and keep it simple and educational. I'll also discuss some alternative strategies in future articles, but first let's learn a little bit more about mutual funds.
Read More...
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Panic Selling
GFPC Thought for the Week (291)
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Synopsis
*Equities sold off hard on Monday due to concerns over Russia's move to deploy troops into southern Ukraine, and markets rebounded just as fast on Tuesday as the situation eased.
*Panic selling is a kneejerk reaction driven by human emotion rather than fundamental analysis, and equity markets are frequently impacted by this behavior.
*Markets put securities on sale every day, and the Investment Committee welcomes panic selling because these events represent some of the best times to buy equities.
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Failure Can Be Good
GFPC Thought for the Week (292)
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Synopsis
*Late last week, China experienced its first corporate bond default as the solar panel maker, Chaori Solar, failed to make an interest payment. *Although the payment was relatively small at 89.9 million yuan ($14.7 million), several market pundits in the media are calling for a domino effect, which could lead to a credit crunch. *The Investment Committee disagrees and actually applauds these types of failures in markets as controlled as China, because "moral hazard" is reduced and risk is more accurately priced.
Read More...
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All content is intended for informational purposes only. Any guarantees are for insured products only and are dependent on the claims paying abilities of the insurer. All investments carry some risk and you should be advised by your personal financial advidor before implementing any strategies discussed, as they are not suitable for everyone.
JDS Wealth Management Corporation's outgoing and incoming e-mails are electronically archived and subject to review and/or disclosure to someone other than the recipient. We cannot accept requests for securities transactions or other similar instructions through e-mail. We cannot ensure the security of information e-mailed over the Internet, so you should be careful when transmitting confidential information such as account numbers and security holdings. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to this message and deleting it from your computer."
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