Summer is an important season to pay attention to your health. You need to watch your sun exposure, make sure all that extra sunlight isn’t disrupting your sleep and keep the weight you might gain from those ice cream sundaes under control. It’s also the perfect time to take a look at your financial health. Here are five areas you can analyze to make sure you’re in good financial shape moving forward: Do you have a budget and are you sticking to it? Are you adjusting your budget for inflation? It isn’t enough to spend less than you make, you also need to account for rising costs of essentials like food, fuel, clothing and housing. Are you saving enough for an emergency? Ideally, you should have saved three to six months of living expenses to tide you over in case of an unforeseen emergency like job loss, illness, natural disaster, fire, major appliance replacement or vehicle repair. Are you paying off your debt in the most effective way? The first step is to analyze your debt situation and review the applicable interest rates. Then, set up a payment plan and stick to it. Do you have an income gap and, if so, how will you address it? A retirement income gap occurs when your income stream from Social Security, pensions, and/or rental property is not enough to cover your retirement budget. Before you retire, you need to know how you will cover this gap. Will you withdraw from an IRA? If so, how much can you afford to withdraw without losing principle? Do you have an annuity? If so, what will your start date be to turn on your payment stream? How will taxes impact your retirement budget? It is important to know the difference between qualified accounts, like traditional IRAs and 401(k)s, and non-qualified accounts, like your checking or savings accounts. You will need to pay taxes on withdrawals… | Read More »
General
In loving memory of Pat Schabo, our colleague and friend
Pat Schabo lived with a twinkle in her eye and the kind of work ethic that went beyond time sheets and job descriptions. During her 25-year career at Winch Financial, she helped build the company from an intriguing idea in a developing industry, to an award-winning establishment with a wide-ranging, loyal client base and more than 18 employees. When she retired in 2008, Pat left a legacy of cheerful chatter and keen attention to the task at hand. “We had so many laughs over the years,” said client services specialist Kris Kersten. “She made the day go by so fast and she was always there with a smile.” Pat passed away on Monday, May 22. She was 84-years old. “I will miss Pat and I thank her for supporting me every day at work for more than a decade; standing me up straight; giving me gentle, firm encouraging nudges to carry on,” said Winch Financial President Sam Winch. “Her love, care and understanding never escaped me. I will never forget her kindness and grace….and the occasional risqué story. There are not enough thank you’s to say to begin to show my forever appreciation and gratefulness for every minute I got to share with Pat.” Pat had a lasting impact not just on Winch Financial employees, but on their families as well. “She was always there for my mom and dad,” said Tanya Winch, now a financial advisor and member of the company’s board of directors. “She was solid as a rock, loyal, very efficient and extremely kind to us. I remember her hands always being busy. I adored her and (her husband) Donnie. What gems!” The stories of Pat’s exploits and her cheerful approach to problem solving lingered long after her retirement. There was the time she and her coworkers spent a cold March afternoon tramping through icy mud in their work shoes to find Christina’s lost dog, Maxie. “When… | Read More »
The life of Pi
There’s a lot of inspiration in a slice of pie. Much like retirement planning, it all starts with a seed. If you plant the seed early enough and water it just right, it grows into a tree with apples plump enough to sustain you when you need to harvest them. You have to time the apple harvest carefully to maximize the flavor of the apples and their ability to sustain their nutritional value. And then there’s the dough, a perfect blend of two very common ingredients – butter and flour. But, you need to cut that butter into the sifted flour exactly right for the flakiest dough, and only the best bakers can manage that. Most people need a little help. Just like life, you’ll want to add sugar and spice to your pie, and everyone’s preference is different. You have to figure out what proportions best suit you before you seal the crust. Sometimes you need to tweak the recipe to suit your own needs. We can help with that. We’ve been helping people bake their perfect slice of retirement pie for more than 40 years. Happy Pi Day from all of us at Winch Financial. We hope your pie is extra delicious today.
#ValentinesforVeterans on #SendaCardtoaFriendDay
We are celebrating National Send a Card to a Friend Day by putting together some Valentine’s Day cards for our military servicemembers. We are excited to participate in the Soldier’s Angels Valentines for Veterans program, which facilitates the distribution of holiday cards to deployed service members around the world or hand-delivers them to veterans in VA Hospitals across the country. Charity Navigator rates Soldier’s Angels a four-star charity, which is another reason we feel good about participating in this program. They are asking for a donation of $1 per card to defray the cost of mailing them. If you’d like to join us in sending a little love to our veterans, you can either drop your cards off at our office by Friday and we’ll make sure they get to Soldier’s Angels in time to be distributed, or you can send them directly to this address: Soldiers’ Angels Valentines for Veterans 2895 NE Loop 410, Suite 107 San Antonio, Texas 78218 Before sending your Valentine’s Day cards, please keep these tips in mind: The deadline is Feb. 14. Cards can be store-bought or handmade. Individually wrapped candy can be included if it is attached to the card. Include $1 per card, cash or check. You can include an envelope if you want, but not necessary. If you include an envelope, do not seal it. At your discretion, you are welcome to include your return address in the event the recipient may write back to you. However, it is also OK if you do not include any personal information.
Giving Tuesday calls for both generosity and vigilance
By both design and calendar placement, Giving Tuesday is meant to be the palate cleanser that allows us all to digest and breathe a little easier following the ominously titled Black Friday and frenetic Cyber Monday. Meant to call attention to charities in need of support, Giving Tuesday began here in the United States and has since spread across more than 709 countries. The timing of the day also allows tax savvy adults aged 72 and over to donate their Required Minimum Distributions directly to the charity of their choice. (Of course, they can do this throughout the year, but the deadline to withdraw your RMD is Dec. 31 and many people do this in December.) In addition to altruism, Giving Tuesday also inspires a call to vigilance. We encourage everyone to research their charities carefully and to choose their donation method wisely. An international day of giving presents the perfect opportunity for people with nefarious intent as well. Here are five tips to keep you safe as you make your donations and shop online this holiday season: Hover your cursor over a link before you click it so you know exactly where that link will take you. When you look for something in Google or any other search engine, make sure you sift through the results carefully. Many companies intentionally mimic others and pay to be listed above them in search responses. If you are intrigued by something you see on social media, exit the app and initiate a fresh search for information about the company. Avoid clicking directly on links you see on social media. Before you input your credit card information, make sure the address includes an https:// at the beginning. HTTPS is an indication that a company or nonprofit’s website encrypts data to protect the information you give it from cybercrime. Be very wary of public Wi-Fi when you are making a monetary transaction. If you… | Read More »