Financial Frontlines®

 A legacy is more than just the assets in your estate.  It includes ensuring that your affairs are in order so as not to add to the burdens of grieving survivors. You need to make the right preparations for that One Great Certainty in life to avoid creating problems for loved ones at a time when they are least prepared to deal with them.

If you died tomorrow would your executor know where to find your will or other important documents?  Would your family know your preferences for funeral arrangements or how to distribute personal property?

Consider the following to help make life easier for your loved ones:

• Carefully review your will to ensure it accurately reflects your wishes.
• Consolidate important documents in one safe place and make sure your executor has access to everything.
• Discuss your wishes with your executor and heirs particularly if there is a possibility that your heirs might misunderstand (or worse, dispute) the distribution of your assets. 
• Prepare an informal letter of instruction regarding funeral arrangements, gifts of personal property and who to notify (including MOAA).
• Write your own obituary.
• Make sure you have an Advance Health Care Directive to authorize someone to make decisions for you if you become incapacitated. 
• If you need assistance see your attorney.

Still working? Will be for a while? Is the primary means of saving for your future your 401k/TSP? Should be if it’s not. How is your 401k/TSP money divided among the investment options available in your plan? Will those options work in the future?

We know that the 1980s and ‘90s provided solid returns in stock and bond markets. We know that the 2000s, though not a repeat of the ‘80s and ‘90s, were still pretty good for the stock and/or bond markets. The economy of past 30 years provided an environment where the stock and bond funds in our 401k/TSPs flourished.

Enter the ‘10s and beyond. The conditions of the ‘80s, ‘90s and ‘00s probably won’t exist; the falling interest rates, low inflation, high productivity (information age), low unemployment. We look to the future and see big deficits, high inflation, rising interest rates, and changing world markets. This prediction of an economic situation doesn’t bode well for stock and bond investments.

You need options better suited for the future. Things like real estate, short-term bonds, foreign bonds, international/emerging market stocks, inflation-adjusted bonds, commodities, and floating-rate funds should be a part of your portfolio allocation. Plus, you’ll want to count on dollar-cost-averaging and re-balancing to get you through the wilder market swings.

****DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED AGAIN TO 18 March 2011.****

Calling all service members who served after September 11, 2001 and were stop-lossed; the Service kept you longer than your service commitment date. It is estimated that there are 86,000 former service members eligible for this pay.

You earned extra pay due to your stop-loss service time but you have to apply to get the money. Surviving spouses may also qualify for this money.

The deadline to file for retroactive stop-loss pay was just extended again by Congress to 18 December 2010 (was 3 Dec). The original-original deadline was 31 October.

Each service member is due $500 for each month of stop-loss service.

Please help spread the word if you know anyone who served in the armed forces after September 2001.

To apply to go: http://www.defense.gov/home/features/2010/0710_stoploss/