Category Archives: In The News

November 2021 Financial Planning and Capital Market Review – By John Kvale

Hello and Welcome to our November 2021 Financial Planning and Capital Market Update!

If you are too busy to read, feel free to listen as we describe our post and thoughts in friendly podcast audio format as well as Video!

Newbies –

We like to articulate our thoughts and review on a Monthly basis our Financial Planning Tips, Capital Markets thoughts and current events!

Hope you enjoy!

Break In: The Brain is at it again….

Some very nice publicity for Donald, aka “The Brain” here in this post along with a neat link to the industry article.

November 2021 Video

YouTube

Financial Planning Tip(s)

New Retirement Limits

In this post titled “401k Plans Year 2022 Limits ($20,500 + $6,500 Catch Up), IRA Stay Same ($6,000 + $1,000 Catch Up) … Hmmm?” We go over the new limits and discuss why the catch up provisions are staying the same… the Hmmm part!

We go over not only the 401k and similar limits, but also the IRA and Roth limits and catch up provisions as well.

All of this from a handy IRS announcement found here at this link.

Capital Market Comments

TSA Throughput Update

One of our favorite monitoring of information is the individual TSA numbers that check passengers at the point of entrance.


Here in this post we discuss the latest updates and take note of the TSA’s new easier to graph for us, formatting… NICE!

Have a Great Day, Talk to You at the End of December!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents

Repeat Timely Article – Personal Update Reminder Story, Broken Water Heater at 8222 Douglas … Pertinent Article – When NOT to file an Insurance Claim … USA Today and ABC News Runs Our ORIGINAL Credit.com Article …

This is a repeat article from earlier… given the local and nationwide damage caused by the recent storm we thought it worth a re-run! Much of this article is around when not to file a claim, near the end of this post there are good tips on what to do should there be severe damage!

While at the Perot Museum putting the final details on our November 14th upcoming event … this text hit Jen’s Cell …

Water is leaking in the kitchen and has covered the rug ….

followed shortly by…

Building people are here and have stopped the leak ….

Not even knowing each suite at our building had a small water heater for hot water, we were surprised to find our little friend had given up existence after what seems to be several decades of light use at most:

Water Heater JK Financial

Just by coincidence we were reviewing our Insurance Coverage as the annual bill was in our hands for payment, AND the Perot Museum was asking for coverage as well.

In knee jerk reaction …NOT thinking of our own earlier-written article (see following) the phone number to the insurance company was found, but never dialed…. thankfully …

For the record, we are paying out of our own pocket, a very reasonable rate to have the baby water heater replaced as it is mandated by our lease, but we never created a CLUE report…

Original Post – See Below:

A few years back, Credit.com came to us and asked to write articles occasionally. With good feelings and spreading the better Financial Planning word in mind, we accepted and our first article hit the printers. The following is from the original post here at Street-cents.com AFTER the article had run in the appropriate channels.

USA Today NBC News Runs Our Article

USA Today Article Circle JK

On Monday, August 3, USA Today ran our Insurance claim related article… that originated from YOU, the best friends and clients in the world.

After originally being published by credit.com and having  ABC News run our article, we thought surely we were done … Nope…

ABC News Article

Thanks USA Today, we enjoy your publication very much … even more now!

Here is the Original Article in Full

One of the main reasons for having insurance is to offset risk, especially major risks and losses. We pay many insurance premiums throughout our lives to various carriers for a multitude of different risks. When a possible claim occurs, an initial thought might be “I am finally cashing in on some of those premiums!”

Think Twice Before Filing a ClaimUSA Today Article Circle JK

Not only do you want to strategize before filing your possible claim, you might want to hold off on even calling your insurance company. The premiums paid in our lifetimes reflect an amortization of the possibility of the risk occurring. The greater the risk, the greater the premium. If you are a constant “claimer,” your premiums will reflect this.

Do you have a CLUE?

Various carriers have been known to treat calls as a claim without the insured’s knowledge. Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange, CLUE, is a database that keeps records of claims. LexisNexis offers a handy service that allows easy research of five years of claims data. It is a terrific service as a buyer but not a database you want to land on accidentally from an inquisitive phone call.

The easiest defense against this problem is to know your coverages and your deductible amounts. With the knowledge of what your insurance covers and the amount (i.e. ring, roof or fender) you are armed with the power to make your own decisions and not put yourself in a possible accidental or unworthy claim.

ABC News Article

Speaking of deductibles, if at all possible, carrying a high deductible will likely save you money over the long term. Most insurances can be looked at as a defense for a major event. Not reaching to your insurance to cover minor or lower cost repairs or replacements is a terrific defense against higher long term premiums. If you are a claimer with lower deductibles, it is highly likely you will have higher than necessary premiums in your lifetime. One important planning tip is that it is critical to have adequate emergency funds available to cover all of your deductibles.

What are some examples of NOT filing a claim?

The easiest example is a car accident that is just barely over your deductible. It is likely that a $1,500 or even $2,000 claim against a deductible of $1,000, through eventual higher insurance premiums, may quickly turn your claim into a negative financial transaction over the longer period of time. Thinking of your premiums again as an amortization of your claims will help you in determining if you should file a claim or not.

Filing a claim against an asset that has been depreciated in coverage to a small dollar amount may not only hit your CLUE report but could also result in higher immediate premiums, plus put you on the list for being dropped should you have several other claims in a short period of time. If you are dropped by a carrier, your new carrier with this knowledge may adjust your NEW premiums accordingly, as a higher risk. Not all carriers will even offer coverage to someone who has been dropped. That’s another reason to think twice before filing that claim.

Your cherished ring was lost accidentally. Your deductible is $1,000 and you think the ring is worth $3,000 but you have not had it appraised, was not itemized on your policy and have no way of proving the value. It is highly likely you will get little, if any, by claiming this loss and your file will be marked with a claim.

So when should you file a claim, sometimes quickly?

Automobile accidents that involve an injury, personal liability or severe damage to another vehicle, even though your car was not harmed are cause to pick up the phone and bring your insurance company up to speed with the situation. Tell your story first, directly to your carrier, in order to protect yourself and arm your carrier with as much information to help defend in the situation.

Catastrophic damage to your asset is clearly cause for notification and in most cases, the sooner the better. Major geographic damage often causes a large backlog of claims all at once, making it better to be at the front of the line.

Lastly, another money saving tip, if you decide to pay out of your pocket for your repair or replacement, be sure to let the service company know this. There are often different prices for insurance related and out of pocket services.

Have a great “No CLUE Report” Day !

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

http://www.jkfinancialinc.com
http://www.street-cents.com
8222 Douglas Ave # 590
Dallas, TX 75225JK Street Cents Logo

J.K. Financial, Inc. D Magazine Best Wealth Manager Award … John Kvale 14th Consecutive D Magazine Best Financial Planner Award

For those in the Dallas area, you may want to pick up this month’s edition of D Magazine…..

J.K. Financial, Inc. Announced as Best Wealth Manager D Magazine Recipient

This is a peer nomination process and vetting by industry professionals and approved by the editors.

But look carefully on page 35 rather than the center fold as we insisted on going with a different, more casual … and in our minds appropriate picture… and statement.

Not confiding in the more formal picture pushed us to a different section…once again well worth it in our minds.

John Kvale Fourteenth Consecutive Best Financial Planner

It’s an honor to once again be nominated by peers and approved by editors as D Magazine’s Best Financial Planner for the fourteenth time in a row…

Thanks very much and congratulations to my peers who also were nominated.

Wow time flies !

Have a Great ‘D Magazine Honored’ Day and Wonderful Weekend!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents

Merger Approved, Expecting Minimal Changes… Multiple Conventions …. Friday

This Tuesday, October 6, 2020 the TDAmeritrade/Schwab merger was approved by the regulators …. it’s a big merger, hence the time for final approval…

As they say, now the real work begins… we expect mostly transparency and behind the scene actions for the next 12-18 months…

Coincidentally and with good timing, the big annual convention is all on line and later this month…. any interesting findings will certainly be shared…

Speaking of convention, ANOTHER convention (NAPFA), we have never attended, has gone virtual … at the end of the month has garnered our attendance as well…

Ahhhh… but today is a Friday, heading into an early October weekend…. nice and cool here, with an injured tennis player, home for a few….

Enjoy and talk to you next week !

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

street-cents

DOJ Approves Merger, Great News for The Brain …. Sports is starting (Big Weekend) …. Shark Week begins too … Travels … Friday

As mentioned here, TDAmeritrade and Charles Schwab agreed to merge early on in the year, (wow that seems like a long time ago- digressing) and due to government regulations, the DOJ (Department of Justice) needed to bless the deal – antitrust thoughts – too big, monopoly questions … it was on hold!

DOJ Approves – Brain in the Driver’s seatDonald Capone

Good News …. the deal was approved, and even better news for The Brain, as noted here and here, is an expert with a very special portfolio management and trading technology, which the combined companies announced this week would be a part of the new joint effort.

Not only that, but The Brain is already a part of a new Beta group, which had gone silent… (likely to start up again) to integrate even more features which The Brain will be a major advisor….

Well Done Donald!

Sports Starts = A Full Weekend! Golf, Basketball, Baseball, Football

Long time followers know, that while the family is a total Tennis nuts and crazy family, your’s truly was a collegiate golfer, helping pay for three years of college via scholarships.

This weekend, a Major Championship on the favorite West Coast time makes for the perfect late evening … Sunday night viewing of the final nine of the Tournament.

Basketball (NBA) continues it’s fast tracking season with only a few more games until the abbreviated playoffs.

But don’t stop there …. Baseball (MLB) after a few scares, missed games due to infections and paused events, seems to be back on track….

NFL  …. professional football start more workouts in full force too !

Shark Week Starts – A Family FavoriteShark Week Logo

Sunday night, hopefully just after a fantastic final Golf Championship concludes,  a family favorite begins…

Break in, coincidence or not? – After a few years of moving to earlier calendar (family dislike) it is now back to early August – Ok … digressing again…

SHARK WEEK 

Discovery Channels Shark Week commences at 8 PM Central Sunday Night and airs until the following Sunday….

In a hitting home on some programs … Jen at the office mentioned an unusual occurrence in her home town of Long Island, that we both think are a part of the special…

Friday Travels

If you are still with me (THANKS)  … long post for a Friday – much appreciate your time, you may recall a few special events for the Mrs. – will be out next week but tethered electronically …. and already have some very interesting Economic and Market News to speak of – tease tease – nerd nerd too!

Ahhhh….. but it is a Friday, enjoy your day, your weekend, your friends and family and chat with you next week from afar!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.
A Dallas Texas based fee only
Financial Planning Total Wealth
Management firm.
jkfinancialinc
street-cents

Surprises Finally Announced! – D Magazine Best Wealth Managers, Thirteenth Consecutive D Magazine Best Financial Planner – Wharton Guest Host Sirius Satellite “Live” Your Money, National Show

For those in Dallas, be sure to grab the latest D Magazine off the shelf …

The picture was taken in front of our Building and it came out great … less Grey showing in Your’s Truly this time…

Knowing that what we do is a team effort makes for a wonderful appreciation that the team is included in this award …congratulations guys!

D Magazine Best Wealth Managers

2019 Final Approved Dmagazine Best Wealth Manager

 

 

 

D Magazine Best Financial Planner

Very proud to have the team included above and also honored to be nominated for the thirteen – yep – thirteenth consecutive time… maybe the Gray was hiding..haha

Best_Financial_Planner 2019

Sirius Satellite Live Guest Host Wharton School,Your Money with Kent Smetters

When it rains it pours…. wish we could have spread all of this fun out over more than a day …

Last night I was honored to co-host a one hour live radio show with Wharton Professor, Ken Smetters on Sirius radio, channel 132 – re-runs will occur all week from 4-5 Central time if you are so inclined…

Sirius radio restricts prohibit us from recording or replaying any portion of the show!

The show is always fun and gets the adrenaline flowing as the fitbit surprising shows no increased heart rate… sure felt like it !

JK Sirius

Have a Great “Surprises Finally Announced” Day!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.
A Dallas Texas based fee only
Financial Planning Total Wealth
Management firm.
jkfinancialinc
street-cents

Big News Update…. Even More (2) Fun News Items to FINALLY Tell Next Week!

We have had a few funny but snide remarks for our Tease here a while back….

Guess what?

Now we have TWO announcements to make NEXT week!twins - kuala-lumpur-1820944__480

One is bound by an authority beyond our control… hint hint

One is bound by superstition… BIG hint hint…

Not earth shattering …  we don’t want to make too much out of them…but as our prior Tease mentioned you never know how long it will last… and now that is times Two !

We promise to let you know as soon as we can, next week!

Until then…shhhhh

Pretty rainy here … hope you have a Great Weekend !

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.
A Dallas Texas based fee only
Financial Planning Total Wealth
Management firm.
jkfinancialinc
street-cents

 

Big News Update…. Even More (2) Fun News Items to FINALLY Tell Next Week!

We have had a few funny but snide remarks for our Tease here a while back….

Guess what?

Now we have TWO announcements to make NEXT week!twins - kuala-lumpur-1820944__480

One is bound by an authority beyond our control… hint hint

One is bound by superstition… BIG hint hint…

Not earth shattering …  we don’t want to make too much out of them…but as our prior Tease mentioned you never know how long it will last… and now that is times Two !

We promise to let you know as soon as we can, next week!

Until then…shhhhh

Pretty rainy here … hope you have a Great Weekend !

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.
A Dallas Texas based fee only
Financial Planning Total Wealth
Management firm.
jkfinancialinc
street-cents

 

Personal Update Reminder Story, Broken Water Heater at 8222 Douglas … Pertinent Article – When NOT to file an Insurance Claim … USA Today and ABC News Runs Our ORIGINAL Credit.com Article …

While at the Perot Museum putting the final details on our November 14th upcoming event … this text hit Jen’s Cell …

Water is leaking in the kitchen and has covered the rug ….

followed shortly by…

Building people are here and have stopped the leak ….

Not even knowing each suite at our building had a small water heater for hot water, we were surprised to find our little friend had given up existence after what seems to be several decades of light use at most:

Water Heater JK Financial

Just by coincidence we were reviewing our Insurance Coverage as the annual bill was in our hands for payment, AND the Perot Museum was asking for coverage as well.

In knee jerk reaction …NOT thinking of our own earlier-written article (see following) the phone number to the insurance company was found, but never dialed…. thankfully …

For the record, we are paying out of our own pocket, a very reasonable rate to have the baby water heater replaced as it is mandated by our lease, but we never created a CLUE report…

Original Post – See Below:

A few years back, Credit.com came to us and asked to write articles occasionally. With good feelings and spreading the better Financial Planning word in mind, we accepted and our first article hit the printers. The following is from the original post here at Street-cents.com AFTER the article had run in the appropriate channels.

USA Today NBC News Runs Our Article

On Monday, August 3, USA Today ran our Insurance claim related article… that originated from YOU, the best friends and clients in the world.USA Today Article Circle JK

After originally being published by credit.com and having  ABC News run our article, we thought surely we were done … Nope…

ABC News ArticleThanks USA Today, we enjoy your publication very much … even more now!

 

 

Here is the Original Article in Full

One of the main reasons for having insurance is to offset risk, especially major risks and losses. We pay many insurance premiums throughout our lives to various carriers for a multitude of different risks. When a possible claim occurs, an initial thought might be “I am finally cashing in on some of those premiums!”

Think Twice Before Filing a ClaimUSA Today Article Circle JK

Not only do you want to strategize before filing your possible claim, you might want to hold off on even calling your insurance company. The premiums paid in our lifetimes reflect an amortization of the possibility of the risk occurring. The greater the risk, the greater the premium. If you are a constant “claimer,” your premiums will reflect this.

Do you have a CLUE?

Various carriers have been known to treat calls as a claim without the insured’s knowledge. Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange, CLUE, is a database that keeps records of claims. LexisNexis offers a handy service that allows easy research of five years of claims data. It is a terrific service as a buyer but not a database you want to land on accidentally from an inquisitive phone call.

The easiest defense against this problem is to know your coverages and your deductible amounts. With the knowledge of what your insurance covers and the amount (i.e. ring, roof or fender) you are armed with the power to make your own decisions and not put yourself in a possible accidental or unworthy claim.

Speaking of deductibles, if at all possible, carrying a high deductible will likely save you money over the long term. Most insurances can be looked at as a defense for a major event. Not reaching to your insurance to cover minor or lower cost repairs or replacements is a terrific defense against higher long term premiums. If you are a claimer with lower deductibles, it is highly likely you will have higher than necessary premiums in your lifetime. One important planning tip is that it is critical to have adequate emergency funds available to cover all of your deductibles. ABC News Article

What are some examples of NOT filing a claim?

The easiest example is a car accident that is just barely over your deductible. It is likely that a $1,500 or even $2,000 claim against a deductible of $1,000, through eventual higher insurance premiums, may quickly turn your claim into a negative financial transaction over the longer period of time. Thinking of your premiums again as an amortization of your claims will help you in determining if you should file a claim or not.

Filing a claim against an asset that has been depreciated in coverage to a small dollar amount may not only hit your CLUE report but could also result in higher immediate premiums, plus put you on the list for being dropped should you have several other claims in a short period of time. If you are dropped by a carrier, your new carrier with this knowledge may adjust your NEW premiums accordingly, as a higher risk. Not all carriers will even offer coverage to someone who has been dropped. That’s another reason to think twice before filing that claim.

Your cherished ring was lost accidentally. Your deductible is $1,000 and you think the ring is worth $3,000 but you have not had it appraised, was not itemized on your policy and have no way of proving the value. It is highly likely you will get little, if any, by claiming this loss and your file will be marked with a claim.

So when should you file a claim, sometimes quickly?

Automobile accidents that involve an injury, personal liability or severe damage to another vehicle, even though your car was not harmed are cause to pick up the phone and bring your insurance company up to speed with the situation. Tell your story first, directly to your carrier, in order to protect yourself and arm your carrier with as much information to help defend in the situation.

Catastrophic damage to your asset is clearly cause for notification and in most cases, the sooner the better. Major geographic damage often causes a large backlog of claims all at once, making it better to be at the front of the line.

Lastly, another money saving tip, if you decide to pay out of your pocket for your repair or replacement, be sure to let the service company know this. There are often different prices for insurance related and out of pocket services.

Have a great “No CLUE Report” Day !

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

http://www.jkfinancialinc.com
http://www.street-cents.com
8222 Douglas Ave # 590
Dallas, TX 75225JK Street Cents Logo

Preview: Donald “The Brain” On Deck Speaker – History of Our Software – Annual Conference of Thousands – Travels

Mid-week, we (DC and I) travel to the West Coast for an annual gathering of thousands of our peers, along with consultants, asset firms, and as many technology firms that you could shake a stick at…. with a new cell phone (and more importantly camera and battery), twitter followers ( @johnkvale ) can check some pictures that will be posted – and of course we will have items here as well… hopefully later this week….

A History of Planning Technology

Technology allows great things as most everyone knows. Over the last several decades, the Financial Planning and Portfolio Management process has adopted technology… as has our firm.

Originally the seemingly unstoppable power of Excel continued to improve speed, make for greater accuracy, and ever detailed specifications.

As a firm, we gravitated from the powers of Excel (Once upon a time this was done with pencil and paper – we know some that still do it this way today!) on to a heavy server burdening system, then on to a slightly lighter in house/on-line system, finally to the web based/full on-line systems (each time with much heartache and heartburn.)

Enter Donald “The Brain

Donald “The Brain” On Deck this WeekDonald Capone

With an almost from scratch to modern day software background as mentioned above  – Excel to server/web/cloud systems, Donald, who has always been in charge of this, immediately understood the challenges, necessary views, and possibilities when an all-new, completely cloud based on-line system became available.

As a Beta tester, and later almost a technology consultant (offered up enhancements that were eagerly accepted) Donald has been a go-to person for our modern day software and the firm that created it!

In the spirit of helping as many as possible, Donald will be on panels during the annual conference this week helping fellow advisors understand the power, simplicity, accuracy and productivity enhancements that we utilize, much to our software providers pleasure.

It is a great honor to be asked to do this before thousands of your peers- Well Done DC!

Spirit of the Conferencemeetings-1149198__480

We know what your thinking … big party that you get to write off the expenses? Once upon a time many years ago – maybe! NOT TODAY – showing our age I guess…haha

Today, we have a working list of items to review with various providers (all of the team has been gathering wish lists and needed understanding items for the last month from each perspective), multiple meetings as soon as we hit the ground, specific questions from you guys/clients in the field on certain subject matters, as well as a full schedule of planned viewing of panels of others, that we are not specialists in!

Several years ago, while solo and a morning of too much coffee, multiple new items were agreed upon and contracts signed ( i.e. New Web site provider, other tech services). Upon return, the gang was NOT happy (sorry guys) as we tried to digest everything over the next several months… we have learned to keep things bite size, but we will certainly stay informed!

Look for an informative post on Wednesday as we travel, then likely a brief post of Friday as we make our way back home, with frequent twitter posts and likely a deluge of posts here once we get our feet back on the ground …. stay tuned – Can you tell we are excited and ready to go?

Have a Great “Inform and get informed” Day/Week!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.
A Dallas Texas based fee only
Financial Planning Total Wealth
Management firm.
jkfinancialinc
street-cents