Do you remember the day you first said “Hey I just received an email?”
Yes there was the silly commercial saying to go along with it … “You’ve Got Mail!”
Bet today, if you are like most, when you first check that email from an absence…. You shudder as the device pulls in more and more of those once admired and even desired emails!
Time Of the year for “Unsubscribe”
Over the next month, make a personal goal to Unsubscribe from those unwanted emails…. it will feel cleansing and refreshing….
Here are some tips:
Email browsers that have an unsubscribe button don’t work well
Scroll to the bottom of the email and look for the Unsubscribe link and click – we find this is your best way to get off the list
Give all emails about a week before re-unsubscribing – even daily emails for some reason take a few business days to cycle through
It may be necessary to repeat the unsubscribe request in certain instances
Do this for a few weeks to a month and you WILL see results-
Doing this annually will keep your email cleaner, but they will come back in many cases… so an annual clean up is helpful….
Lastly, if convenient, have an extra email that you have junk mail sent to and attempt to keep your primary email just for important information!
Two and 1/2 issues in one week… No one was harmed, but it was a great reminder, they are out there!
As we mentioned in our post just prior to this one, the Grand Enchilada of Tax Forms enters the mail and electronic systems this week. These most popular forms are due by the end of January and fraudsters are taking notice.
Keep your eyes and ears out for anything suspicious!
Vault Saves Day Twice
Here in our real life experience post, we ended up needing the Vault to help save time and a HUGE hassle at a far distant Tennis Tournament. Who would have thought they would be so strict in identification at a Tennis Tournament?
Here is a neat reminder of what might do into your very own Personal Vault:
Legal Documents □ Wills □ Deeds □ Revocable & Irrevocable Trusts □Power of Attorney □ Codicils (Supplements made to a Will) □Living Wills/Health Directives □Prenuptial Agreements □ Buy/Sell Agreements □ Contracts Social Security and/or Veteran’s Administration Info Insurance Policies (Life, LTD, Disability, Medical, Car, Property) Medical Records Bank & Investment Statements □Pensions, IRAs, Annuities etc. □Investment Accounts □Stock Options/Certificates Liabilities □List of Credit Cards with contact information □ Mortgages □Loans Taxes □Tax Returns □ W-2 Forms Identification □ Birth Certificates □ Drivers Licenses □Passports Family □ Adoption Papers □ Marriage License □Pictures □ Audio Files □ Video Clips Property □Titles to Homes, Autos, Boats, etc. □ Warranties Employment Benefits
Capital Market Comments
Interest Rates
10 Year Treasury touches 2.70% – Where to next?
After floundering in the low 2% range, it appears interest rates may be on the rise. This is just in time as the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) are set to raise short term rates several times this year and the one thing we DO NOT WANT is an inverted yield curve (more on this another time).
We have argued higher rates are helpful as long as they move gradually.
Here is our December 2017 Monthly review. If you are too busy to read, feel free to listen as we describe our post and thoughts in friendly podcast format.
In our post, here and here we discuss the Medicare Means testing levels, both historic and what we are faced with in 2018.
Due to the faster lower Tiers of income, the Social Security Administration has casted a wider net for all of us.
Here are the new levels, again from our post AND in even GREATER details in our Q1 2018 Newsletter.
A life event change may create relief – Life events not limited to the following-
Marriage
Divorce/Annulment
Death of Your Spouse
Work Stoppage
Work Reduction
Loss of Income-Producing Property
Loss of Pension Income
Employer Settlement Payment
Please see our Q1 2018 Newsletter for detailed instructions on how to get relief from these faster grabbing surcharges.
Personal Spring Cleaning in the Winter
Personal Reminder Email Tip
In our post mid-month here we discussed cleaning your emails to lower the Tidal Wave of daily emails.
After almost four weeks we are down to a trickle.
What was most interesting were the different experiences of who was up front and nice about the “Unsubscribe” request and who was down right dirty about letting us off their list. Surprised and disappointed with some companies.
Capital Market Comments
VIX – Fear Index Goes into Hibernation
We initially wrote in our Newsletter article and Blog post here, the VIX went to sleep … after another few closes below 10, we are coining it “Hibernation”
From 1990 to 2016 this Fear index closed below 10 a total of 9 times. During the year 2017, it has closed below that level 52 times and counting !!
Wow … Hibernation!
Interest Rate Increases
Just few years ago, with former FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) chair Ben Bernanke running the show, a miscalculated mention of a pending interest rate increase threw the Capital Markets into a tail spin – and that was just a mention of one small .25% increase. WOW-
When the history books are written on this period of time, FOMC members “Listening” to markets may be prominent, and possible reason for success.
In 2017, the FOMC raised rates 3 times with very little market disruption. They are on record for 3 more in 2018. The best part of this, market participants are not throwing a hissy fit and seem to be welcoming the increases.
Today, we think NOT increasing the rates as forecasted would cause more harm than increasing – exactly the opposite of just a few years ago. Way to pivot FOMC officials.
Seems like only yesterday “You’ve got mail” was exciting and breath was held for the next email. Fast forward to today and 200+ emails daily is routine.
About two weeks ago a decision was made to cut the volume of emails down on the research/personal email.
The personal email intakes all the daily research and had become the go-to recipient for any “must give email info” for whatever item was being purchased or reviewed. The business email has no research and is just reserved for client contact as much as possible.
The Unsubscribe Experience
Certain not a pioneer in this exercise but check out these results.
Daily emails of 200+ were the regular occurrence. Miss a day or heavens two … the tidal wave of email deletions was very time consuming.
After deleting only the necessary emails … be honest here. The line in the sand for this exercise was if there was no recent memory of opening the email … “Unsubscribe!”
The first day after 10-15 Unsubscribes, the time was too much and the delete button took over.
The next day around 10, followed by a declining amount daily. After a week, the Unsubscribe was used only a few times AND the 200+ daily email count was down to well under 100.
One interesting item was learned during this experience. Many of even the more “Proper” email sources were very difficult to complete the Unsubscribe experience, making for a bit of a brow raiser concerning the legitimacy of the company itself. Definitely leading to hesitation for said product in the future.
Now missing a day or two will not feel like an email tidal wave is waiting… Go ahead, give it a try … so what if it’s not spring, you can still do some cleaning!
Holiday Schedule
Next week is normal, BUT the school calendar has pushed our gang’s Holiday break to the first full week AFTER the New Years !
Our official start of 2018 will be the 8th of January … we will remind again.
Have a Great “Less Email Cluttered” Friday and super weekend.
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. To determine which investments may be appropriate for you, please consult your financial advisor prior to investing!
Background
The is the vocal portion of J.K. Financial, Inc. a Dallas Texas Based Fee Only Total Wealth Financial Planning Firm. Founded by John Kvale, a Dallas Texas Fee only Financial Planner and Total Wealth Manager.
January 2018 Podcast Video, Financial Planning and Capital Market Update- By John Kvale
Hello and Welcome to our January 2018 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 format.
January 2018 Video
Financial Planning Tip (s) –
Fraud Reminder
As we mentioned in our post just prior to this one, the Grand Enchilada of Tax Forms enters the mail and electronic systems this week. These most popular forms are due by the end of January and fraudsters are taking notice.
Keep your eyes and ears out for anything suspicious!
Vault Saves Day Twice
Here in our real life experience post, we ended up needing the Vault to help save time and a HUGE hassle at a far distant Tennis Tournament. Who would have thought they would be so strict in identification at a Tennis Tournament?
Here is a neat reminder of what might do into your very own Personal Vault:
Legal Documents □ Wills □ Deeds □ Revocable & Irrevocable Trusts □Power of Attorney □ Codicils (Supplements made to a Will) □Living Wills/Health Directives □Prenuptial Agreements □ Buy/Sell Agreements □ Contracts Social Security and/or Veteran’s Administration Info Insurance Policies (Life, LTD, Disability, Medical, Car, Property) Medical Records Bank & Investment Statements □Pensions, IRAs,
Annuities etc. □Investment Accounts □Stock Options/Certificates Liabilities □List of Credit Cards with contact information □ Mortgages □Loans Taxes □Tax Returns □ W-2 Forms Identification □ Birth Certificates □ Drivers Licenses □Passports Family □ Adoption Papers □ Marriage License □Pictures □ Audio Files □ Video Clips Property □Titles to Homes, Autos, Boats, etc. □ Warranties Employment Benefits
Capital Market Comments
Interest Rates
10 Year Treasury touches 2.70% – Where to next?
After floundering in the low 2% range, it appears interest rates may be on the rise. This is just in time as the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) are set to raise short term rates several times this year and the one thing we DO NOT WANT is an inverted yield curve (more on this another time).
We have argued higher rates are helpful as long as they move gradually.
So far so good!
Have a Great Day!
John A. Kvale CFA, CFP
Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.
A Dallas Texas based fee only
Financial Planning Total Wealth
Management firm.
www.jkfinancialinc.com
www.street-cents.com
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Posted in Economy, FOMC, General Financial Planning, Interest Rates, Investing/Financial Planning, Market Comments, Monthly Review, Video
Tagged IRMAA, Rates, Unsubscribe, VIX