In my financial advising practice I help my clients to take inventory and check their wealth in five categories of assets that few have considered. Each of these categories represent a significant source of wealth or in some cases debt for the client. It is important to add strategies to build wealth in all five of these areas.

We start the process by defining the five asset classes and asking the client to rate the level of wealth in each account on a score of 1-10 with 10 being the highest and requiring no improvement. On the other end of the scale a 1 would need much attention and signify debt in this asset class. The five classes of assets are physical, mental, social, financial and spiritual. Continue reading →

Tax revenues are at all-time lows. This includes income taxes, sales taxes and property taxes etc.  Local, State and Federal Governments are running huge deficits and several are facing mandatory shut downs. No one will deny that budget cats are needed and I am sure we will see more activity in this area. Unfortunately the easiest way to make budget cuts is to stop new projects and to reduce the size of the government workforce. This increases unemployment and lowers spendable income by the unemployed.

Taxes revenues must be increased and it is difficult to get actual wage increases passed through due to bipartisan politics. This leads to what I call back door tax increases. These include raising taxes on services, estates etc. The concept I want to focus on is escheatment.  Escheatment laws deal with the distribution of unclaimed property.

I want to focus on life insurance. When an insured person dies it is the responsibility of the beneficiary to notify the life insurance company and file a claim. In some instances this may take months or years, especially if the beneficiary is unaware of the policy. Also the beneficiary may have predeceased the insured. Most states require that the insurance company pay interest on the death benefits until the claim is filed.

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On Friday April 8th the US Federal Government officially ran out of money and many government offices started the process of shutting down. The most notable of these were public parks and monuments, the Passport Office and the annual Washington DC Cherry Blossom Parade scheduled for the very next day.

In the wee hours of Saturday morning a deal was struck to fund a temporary one week budget. This deal is based upon a general agreement of signing a  final bill to fund the government for the remaining six months in the fiscal year sometime during the temporary one week extension.

In the end all the arguing and hoopla resulted in less than 1% in budget cuts.The results were so abysmal that not even the Cherry Blossoms showed for their parade. The news reporters are all blaming a late spring for the lack of pink fuzzy trees lining the parade route but for me this will always serve as metaphor for this ridiculous budget process.Still the floats and the marching bands proudly advance down the winter bare streets. Continue reading →