Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Focus On What You Control

Too many people concentrate on money issues that are out of their control. Market returns, government regulations, taxes, the Federal Reserve, etc. What will benefit us now and our long term finances is if we focus on those areas that we can control. Here are four areas we can impact today.

1. Have a Financial Plan in Place

As you move along in life your written financial plan will act as a GPS leading you towards your life and financial goals. What is important to you? How do you envision your life in 5, 10, 30 years? What will be my legacy? We help clients determine their needs, wants, and dreams to give their life and finances purpose.  Life can be random and we can’t plan for everything but, like a GPS, Peterson Wealth Advisory can advise alternate routes to achieve your unique financial goals.

2. Savings
The amount or percentage you save each month, year and decade will have a greater impact on your future financial lifestyle than returns. We provide advice on maximizing 401(k) and IRA contributions, ensure a sufficient emergency fund, adding to joint accounts and evaluating all personal assets.

3. Asset Allocation
Risk and return in an investment portfolio are largely determined by how you slice your investment pie. Too much in any one area can severely harm your portfolio and or limit your long-term returns. We implement, manage and monitor client portfolios with one eye on potential losses and the other on long-term gains.
  
4. Investment Costs
Would you like to save 90% or more on a car or any other purchase? That level of cost savings can be realized when you buy low cost index funds. Many of the exchange-traded funds (ETFs) we use have expenses of 0.10%. Compare this to active managers:
·       1.12% average cost in 2012
·       High turn over and trading costs
·       Only 24% of active managers beat the index over the past 10 years
Taxes are another cost we help clients limit. We like index funds that have little to no capital gains. When possible, we allocate specific types of funds across different accounts to take advantage of any beneficial tax treatment.