One way to get compensated for that loss of income: Long Term Care Insurance.  Some policies pay wages to the family caregiver for in-home care.   When you and your siblings are discussing how to take care of your parents, maybe you’ll chip in together to buy a Long Term Care policy. If your parents have a policy, see if they can add that coverage.

If you are considering a Long Term Care policy, call a fee-only financial planner to help you navigate the choices. A fee-only planner is not allowed commissions, so has no incentive to sell you a policy. We can help you evaluate the various options for benefit amount, duration, inflation rider, etc.   Plus we get better deals from the same insurers because we don’t go through a full-commission agency.

Also we know Geriatric Care Managers who can help you assess your needs if you are at critical decision points. Their help is worth every penny.

If it’s too late for a Long Term Care policy, consider calling local social service department to see if your county has any family caregiver programs. Fulton County Georgia doesn’t offer much, but many other places do.

Retirement planning is my focus, but I am a comprehensive financial planner in Milton/Alpharetta who can help you with tax planning, investments, estate planning, planning for aging, insurance, and college planning too.    Mike Dayoub,   WEBSITE  770-361-3139

Impact:  Employees fail to diversify and regret the missed opportunity to capture wealth for their family before share price declines.   As a young engineer in the 1980’s, I paid rapt attention to the stories from engineers working at a company my company (DCA) had bought.   Their refrain: “always get some of the money off the table while you have a chance.”    I remembered that during my own fortunate experience during the high tech bubble of the late 1990’s.

How do you prevent that mistake?   Get a professional evaluation of the true value of your shares and options.   Volatility can be calculated and forecasted depending on your company’s maturity and landscape.   A truly special financial planner can help you recognize what those options are worth to YOU, and that is the key.

Other top mistakes:

Inaction.    The stories I could tell you.   Whiz kids who end up worthless while thinking they’ll invent another big hit and another IPO.     Or yikes, how about the guy who had denial procrastination and let in-the-money options expire without exercising them?

Failure to use an expert.    An experienced financial planner can help you navigate blackouts, vesting schedules, family uncertainties, and tax hurdles such as AMT, estate tax, gift tax, and income tax to construct the best portfolio to lock in the value of your options.   With the right combination of hedges, portfolio design, and estate planning tools such as trusts, gifts to family, and charitable contributions, you can maximize your net worth and your family’s wealth.

You probably have a spreadsheet with your options and like I did in the 1990’s, you probably love to punch in large future stock prices to dream about your future net worth.  I guarantee my spreadsheets and tools are better and will help you lock in more value.

Incredibly, many employees do their own taxes, make huge filing mistakes and end up paying far more tax than needed.   When we’re talking hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes, it’s worth it to use a CPA experienced with stock option exercises and valuations.

Overemphasis of taxes.    Taxes are the 2^nd priority.  Sadly, too often employees let taxes be the driver for option decisions and have agonizing outcomes where they pay taxes without capturing value.

Those are the most common mistakes.   There are others.   Give me a call if you want to meet and talk about your situation.  The first meeting is always free.

Mike Dayoub is a fee-only financial planner in Alpharetta Milton Atlanta and he loves saving you money.  HIS WEBSITE Call me at 770-361-3139 if you’d like to discuss employee stock option strategies.

Don’t get financing at the dealership.   Before you go shopping, use a credit union.   Example for car loans under 2%:

Join the Pentagon Federal Credit Union.   You can qualify for that credit union by also joining the National Military Family Association (a great charity to support military families)    Congrats, now you can get new and used car loans and avoid getting ripped off at the dealership.

Mike Dayoub is a fee-only financial planner in Alpharetta/Milton. 770 361-3139 his website and he loves saving you money.

So how can you tell your advisory firm calls you a muppet?   Here are some clues.

You might be a muppet if your advisor doesn’t call itself a fiduciary.  Fiduciary means the firm is committed to placing your interests ahead of their own.  It’s easy to muddy the precise definition of fiduciary, but any firm that refuses to use that word is more likely to sell you something instead of protecting you.  Any firm that has some fiduciary advisors but other non-fiduciary also advise you?  They’ve done a good job of muddying the definition.

You might be a muppet if your advisor does not explicitly disclose all sources of revenue.   Big stock brokerages don’t tell you how much they get in 12(b)1 fees from the mutual funds as “marketing fees”, an incentive for them to place you in funds that enrich themselves instead of you.

You might be a muppet if your advisor doesn’t explicitly tell you what commissions they receive for an insurance product or an annuity.

You might be a muppet if your advisor keeps switching you around between investments.   There is lots of debate on “actively managed” vs. “passive investing”, but statistics consistently prove the more frequently trades are made for you, the more likely you will underperform the market as a whole.

You might be a muppet if your advisor shows no memory for why you’re investing, for what timeframe or for what goals.

You might be a muppet if your advisor has no awareness of your tax situation and doesn’t review your 1040 before you file.    That’s a sign your advisor is focused on before-tax return on investment, and not on your after-tax return.

You might be a muppet if your advisor calls you to sell you something more often than they call to find out how you’re doing or what you need.

Mike Dayoub is a fee-only financial planner in Alpharetta/Milton. 770 361-3139 his website

Read the fine print.   X out the clause about arbitration and initial it.   Decline if possible.   You know it’s a bad deal — the nursing home would get to choose the arbitrator.

Call me if you want a pointer to a Geriatric Care Manager who can tell you which homes in your area have added that arbitration clause.

Mike Dayoub is a fee-only financial planner in Alpharetta/Milton. 770 361-3139 website

True, dividend paying stocks are offering higher payouts.   The columnist acknowledges that stocks have higher volatility.  The columnist worries that stocks are sensitive to inflation, but fails to mention that stocks are actually less sensitive to inflation than bonds are.

Source: Credit Suisse Global Investment Returns Yearbook 2012

This sensitivity means if you expect inflation to rise, bonds will fare worse than stocks.

However, the columnist also fails to mention that there’s a good chance tax rates will rise on your qualified dividends next year.   That makes dividend-paying stocks a less attractive substitute for bonds.

So what should you do?   Here’s the simple approach.   Get your asset allocation worked out first.   A simple allocation between stocks and bonds might work, the more conservative you are, the higher your bond allocation should be.   Worried about inflation?   Make some of those bonds TIPS (Treasury Inflation Protected Securities)

Talk with me if you need help with this.   You need to understand TIPS also have risks of their own.   You also might need help choosing between a TIPS ETF, mutual fund, or individual bonds.

Mike Dayoub is a fee-only financial planner in Alpharetta/Milton. 770 361-3139 website

But it makes you wonder what would happen if those tax rates rose.

Among other things, it would make dividend stock funds a less attractive alternative.  Lately in our low interest rate environment, some investors have more money in dividend paying stocks so they can treat the dividends like an interest payment (I suppose unworried about the ups and downs of the equities that are paying those dividends).   This attraction to dividend-paying stocks would diminish.

The tax change would also shuffle the preferences for where we invest in certain assets, our taxable accounts vs. our IRA and 401(k).   (Example: we like corporate bonds in our retirement accounts vs. munis in our taxable account)   In that hierarchy of preferences, dividend stocks are less attractive in the taxable accounts.   (The whole hierarchy is much more complex.  Call me if you want the complete logic.)

Dividend stock funds would also noticeably drop in price if Wall Street thought Congress would approve those tax increases.

So even though this particular tax bill may not pass, it highlights the need to revisit your asset allocations and the value of a flexible portfolio.

Mike Dayoub is a fee-only financial planner in Alpharetta/Milton. 770 361-3139 website

What I like about it:

The American Dream.  Snowed in playing Rock Band.  They’re perfect!   His hair is perfect.   Her teeth are perfect.   Enjoy the fruits of your labor, mythical ice family.

I’m not being sarcastic about this:  Sure we all have a tiny bit of “wealth envy” when someone else has more than us — and there’s always someone with more.  But I don’t begrudge anybody the right to buy their spouse a car as a gift.

I also like the fact that the ad is effective.   Most people hate the ad, but still Lexus sells a lot of cars in December.

What I don’t like about it:

Spending pressure!   All the families that think “Oh great, now I have to buy my spouse a luxury car for Christmas?”   (Confession: my gut reaction to the ad was this.)

I’m anti-consumerist.   I live “The Millionaire Next Door“.  I drive a Chevy.   Of course I dislike the commercialization of Christmas.

As a financial planner, I know a few families who could benefit from some budget discipline at Christmas.

My Conclusion:

If the ad works for Lexus, fine with me.   But if you’re my client, we better do a Christmas budget before you blow your savings on that gift.
Mike Dayoub is a fee-only financial planner in Alpharetta/Milton. 770 361-3139 website

1. If, When and How to Retire
2. Let’s Talk About Money
3. Changing Roles and Identities
4. Time Together, Time Apart
5. Intimacy and Sexuality
6. Relationships With Family
7. Health and Wellness
8. Choosing Where and How to Live
9. Social Life, Friends and Community
10. Purpose, Meaning and Giving Back

I got this from “The Couple’s Retirement Puzzle” a book by Taylor and Mintzer.

Makes sense to me.   I try to make sure my clients have had these conversations.   Which reminds me of another book I am thrilled to recommend “Difficult Conversations” How To Discuss What Matters Most.   There is nobody who cannot benefit from this book.

Call me if you want to discuss either of these topics.

Mike Dayoub is a fee-only financial planner in Alpharetta/Milton. 770 361-3139 website

It’s better to know where your 401(k) ranks than it is to contribute without confidence, or worse, under-save for retirement.

I can evaluate its quality and tell you where it ranks in

• generosity of the company match
• quality of the investment fund choices you’re given
• what costs you’re being charged (both hidden and disclosed) which every year skim off your nest egg

Give me a call and I’ll do the work for free, just to get a chance to know you, tell you about my services, and maybe someday you can mention me to your friend who needs an advisor.

Mike Dayoub is a fee-only planner in Alpharetta/Milton. 770 361-3139 website