Archives for May 19, 2019

Personal Finance 101 for blended families

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Many people in America live in a mashup of families. According to the Step Family Foundation, 1,300 new stepfamilies are formed every day.

Bringing together two households can be challenging, especially when it comes to finances.

Here’s how to navigate this tough terrain.

Have money talks sooner, rather than later

Realize money management will be different as this new family comes together. “Did one person previously control all the money? Was there open communication about finances? Was there financial infidelity?” asks Brian Brandow of Debt Discipline in Ronkonkoma.

Money conversations are a top priority, especially if children are involved. Maybe there were certain standards of living that will be affected by a new financial reality. Talk about any resulting lifestyle or budget changes with the youngsters in the family.

“Involve them in age-appropriate ways in family budgeting decisions, like creating grocery lists and planning vacations so they begin to get a sense of how far money goes,” says Sara Rathner, a financial expert with NerdWallet.com.

“The couple should agree on a plan for their money. Figure out how and who pays the bills, what amounts will be spent on different budget categories. Get on the same page,” says Brandow.

Choose whether to save together, or to have separate bank accounts to support the family. “Either way, open communication between parents is critical to avoid disappointment or resentment later,” says Michele Lee Fine, a financial representative with Guardian in Jericho.

Update documents

If you were married to your now-ex the last time you drafted a will and chose beneficiaries for your life insurance, and for bank and investment accounts, make updates. Says Rathner, “Wills don’t supersede accounts with named beneficiaries. Consider changing your will to ensure that your biological children inherit your assets instead of your new spouse.”

Why Working as Long as Possible May Not Be a Safe Retirement Bet

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Employees are saving more than ever, with average 401(k) contributions in the first quarter of 2019 coming in at $2,370, according to new research from Fidelity Investments — a 15% increase over last year.

While that’s good news, the bad news is that those savings still may not be enough to retire comfortably. Researchers also found that baby boomers had an average 401(k) balance of around $357,000. That may sound like a solid figure, but when you’re withdrawing tens of thousands of dollars each year in retirement, it may only last a decade or so.

If your savings are falling short, you have two options: save more now, or work a few more years to give yourself more time to continue saving. For those who are already stretched thin financially, the first option may not be realistic. In that case, they may decide to work as long as they can to build a more robust retirement fund.

At first glance, that seems like a smart move — and it is, to some extent. But it’s not without its drawbacks.

The perils of planning on a delayed retirement

There’s nothing wrong with working as long as you can. In fact, if your savings aren’t where you want them to be, it’s a good idea to delay retirement. The issue arises when you risk being forced into an early retirement.

More than a third of workers say they plan on retiring at age 70 or later, according to a recent report from the Employee Benefit Research Institute. However, the survey also noted that the median retirement age was 62, and 43% of retirees said they ended up retiring earlier than they had expected — primarily as a result of health issues or job loss.

Furthermore, nearly 8 in 10 workers said they expected to work in some capacity during retirement, but only a quarter of retirees actually did so. In other words, workers are not only retiring earlier than they’d planned (missing out on years’ worth of potential savings), but they’re also not earning as much in retirement as they’d expected.

If you’re basing your retirement plan on being able to work into your 70s, you could be in for a rude awakening if you’re forced into retirement earlier than you’d hoped. Retiring a few years early may not seem like a huge deal, but there are two major disadvantages: First, you’re missing out on more time to save, and second, you’re spending more time in retirement, so you’ll need even more money than you’d planned to last the rest of your life. And if you’re spending, say, $30,000 per year in retirement, retiring even five years early can cost $150,000 more than you’d expected.

That’s not to say that you shouldn’t delay retirement if you’re short on savings. But it is important to have a backup plan in the event that your retirement doesn’t go exactly as you expected.

Using Social Security to your advantage

While you ideally shouldn’t rely on Social Security benefits for the bulk of your retirement income, they can be a game-changer if your personal savings aren’t cutting it. That said, choosing the right time to claim Social Security can impact how beneficial it’ll be.

A major factor determining how much you’ll receive every month is the age at which you begin claiming benefits. You can start claiming them as early as age 62, but if you do that, your benefits will be cut by up to 30%. To receive the full amount you’re theoretically entitled to every month, you’ll need to wait until you reach your full retirement age (FRA), which is between age 66 and 67 depending on the year you were born. If you delay claiming until past your FRA (up until age 70), you’ll receive a bonus of up to 32% on top of your full amount.

Many people choose to retire and claim benefits at the same time, but the two don’t necessarily have to happen simultaneously. In fact, if you have to retire earlier than you’d anticipated, it may be smart to delay claiming benefits to earn those bigger checks.

The biggest advantage of delaying benefits is that you’ll receive bigger checks every month for the rest of your life. So if your personal retirement savings run dry and Social Security benefits are your sole source of income, having a little extra each month can go a long way.

One thing to keep in mind, though, is that if you retire early and also delay claiming Social Security, you’ll need to survive on your own savings until you start receiving benefits. If your savings won’t last that long and you need Social Security just to make ends meet, you may have no choice but to claim earlier than age 70.

Life expectancy is another key factor in deciding when to claim benefits. While you can’t predict exactly how long you’ll live, if you have reason to believe you won’t be spending decades in retirement, it may not be worth it to hold off on claiming Social Security. On the other hand, if everyone in your family has lived into their 90s or beyond, holding out as long as you can to receive more money each month could be a good choice.

Playing the (educated) guessing game

At the end of the day, planning for retirement is a big guessing game. You can plan everything down to the dollar, but if you lose your job a few years earlier than when you expected to retire, that meticulously thought-out plan flies out the window. That doesn’t mean, however, that you can’t be strategic about your retirement choices.

Life will undoubtedly throw curveballs your way. You may be able to work until you’re 100 years old, or you may be forced into retirement at age 60. There’s nothing wrong with planning on working longer, but if you can roll with the punches and adjust your plans when unexpected challenges arise, you’ll be prepared for anything.

Stocks To Watch: Retail On Display

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Welcome to Seeking Alpha’s Stocks to Watch – a preview of key events scheduled for the next week. Follow this account and turn the e-mail alert on to receive this article in your inbox every Saturday morning.

Retailers cap off the Q1 earnings season in style as Target (NYSE:TGT), Best Buy (NYSE:BBY), Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW) and Home Depot (NYSE:HD) all step up to the plate next week. Investors are still digesting the impact on retail of stinging tariffs amid a solid economy and Walmart’s (NYSE:WMT) hint of higher consumer prices. The focus next week also turns back to the Federal Reserve, with FOMC minutes due out on May 22 along with speeches rolling in from Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker, New York Fed President John Williams, Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren and Fed Vice Chairman Clarida. Will any more corporate carveouts be announced as a potential remedy to global pressures to follow on Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (NYSE:BUD) Asian operations IPO announcement and Volkswagen’s (OTCPK:VWAGY) trucking unit IPO reveal? PMI prints will blaze in from Europe and the U.S. on May 23, while May 24 could be a snoozer with pre-Memorial Day trading volume typically low and the bond market closing early for the BBQ weekend.

Stock to Watch: Allied Motion Tech (AMOT)

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Investors may be closely watching the levels on shares of Allied Motion Tech (AMOT). After a recent scan, we can see that last month’s opinion signal is 16% Sell. This is the combined signal for the previous month when applying a wide array of studies based on price movement. Using these same guidelines, the signal for last week stands at 48% Sell, and 72% Sell for the previous trading session. Investors may also be interested in the strength and direction of the opinion signals. The opinion direction is currently Strongest. This is a measurement over the past three trading sessions that provides an indication of whether the latest recent price movement is following the signal.

A Buy or Sell signal with a “Strongest” direction indicates that the signal is gaining strength. The opinion strength signal is presently reading Strong. This is a longer-term gauge verse the historical strength.

Many investors may have noticed that when the stock market has been running bullishly hot for quite some time, market tops can be a very busy place. Trading interest may be noticeably higher when the good times are rolling. This can be tricky because often times, prices may become inflated and somewhat overvalued. Traders will need to pay much more attention to what is going on at the tops of these bull runs. When interest is heightened, traders who got in at much better prices may be looking to unload the winners for quick profits. Doing the proper research can help clear out some of the fog that comes with an oversaturated market. Chartists will most likely be paying attention to price moves and trying to spot the next series of trends that develop. Spotting a trend earlier than the crowd may help the trader sell before the big drop or buy before the big rise. Learning how opportunities unfold and present themselves in the stock market may take a lot of time and effort to master. Professional traders are typically a few moves ahead of the novice and relatively naive trader. Getting to that next level should be on the mind of any dedicated trader or investor. Learning from past mistakes can make a huge difference in the future of the trader’s profits and psyche.

We are also noting that the company’s current book value is 11.21. The book value is the per share value of a company based on its equity available to common shareholders for the trailing 12 months.

Shifting the gaze to some longer-term technical indicators, we can see that Allied Motion Tech currently has a 60-day commodity channel index signal of Hold. The CCI indicator is typically used to scope out overbought and oversold levels. The 100-day moving average verse price signal is Sell.

As we move deeper into earnings season, investors may be trying to figure out how to best position the portfolio for the rest of the calendar year. Maybe things haven’t gone as well as planned in the first half of the year, and a few tweaks need to be made to bolster profits in the second half. Closely watching the earnings reports may be a good way to see what companies are getting things right, and what companies have some work to do. Many investors will take notice if a company posts a much larger earnings beat or miss than expected. Not only will the stock most likely become a bit more volatile, but overall interest may be heightened as investors try to piece together the puzzle and figure out why there was such a discrepancy between estimates and actuals. Once the dust settles and the picture becomes a little clearer, investors may be able to properly rotate in or out of a certain name or sector. Finding stocks that look good on paper but have fallen out of favor with certain investors may be a good place to start doing some further number crunching. Locating those overlooked sectors with growth potential might be a good way to uncover those stocks that are ready to make a run.

Tracking current trading session activity on shares of Allied Motion Tech (AMOT), we can see that the stock price recently hit 35. Since the start of the session, the stock has topped out with a high of 35.45 and bottomed with a low of 34.71.

Dedicated investors tend to spend a lot of time trying to decipher the correct procedure for beating the stock market. This may involve figuring out a proper strategy, and deciding which stocks to start with when constructing a portfolio. Building a portfolio does not have to be a frantic race. In fact, not rushing into things may end up putting the investor in a good position to succeed. There are times when tough decisions need to be made when dealing with the equity market. Spending enough time to assess all the possibilities before making an investing decision may pay off down the road. As most investors know, there is no magic formula for coming out a winner in the stock market. Acquiring the most possible knowledge about the markets and individual stocks can play a vital role in the long-term success of the individual investor.

Stocks to Watch: Aphria Inc. (TSX:APHA) Down -2.64%

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At close of market on Friday, Aphria Inc. (TSX:APHA) stock finished trading at -2.64%, bringing the stock price to $9.21 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The stock price saw a low of $9.17 and a high of $9.44.

The company’s stock was traded 3,753 times with a total of 1,573,147 shares traded.

Aphria Inc. has a market cap of $2.31 billion, with 250.71 million shares in issue.Aphria Inc and its subsidiaries produce and sell medical marijuana. Its products include Capsules, Oral solutions, and Vaporizers. The company’s operations are based in Leamington, Ontario. It is focused on producing and selling medical marijuana and its derivatives through retail sales and wholesale channels.

Stocks to Watch: Surge Energy Inc. (TSX:SGY) Down -2.92%

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At close of market on Friday, Surge Energy Inc. (TSX:SGY) stock finished trading at -2.92%, bringing the stock price to $1.33 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The stock price saw a low of $1.32 and a high of $1.37.

The company’s stock was traded 628 times with a total of 896,448 shares traded.

Surge Energy Inc. has a market cap of $417.59 million, with 313.98 million shares in issue.

Surge Energy Inc is a Canadian company which is engaged in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas from properties in western Canada. The company generates its revenue from the sale of petroleum and natural gas products such as Oil, Natural gas liquids and Natural gas, of which a majority of the revenue is derived from the sale of oil.