Providence Wealth Planning

Special thank you to our superhero clients at Kaiser Permanente! We have many clients who are nurses, doctors and essential workers who are putting themselves in harm’s way to save lives. Stay safe, everyone. We will get through this. Baskets and photos courtesy of Aaron Johnson.

What are you doing differently to cut costs right now? Comment with your ideas and maybe you’ll help a neighbor out.

A lot has changed in the month of March. We send out our prayers to all of you and your families. We want to know: what have you done differently now that you’ve been quarantined? With no sports on TV, no sit down restaurants, no concerts or comedy shows to attend, and for some, no work... what are you doing to fill up your time? #BecauseFamilyIsImportant

Just going to leave this here...

Keep perspective right now. In the long term, things will be fine. DO NOT cash out your investments. Don't solve a short-term problem with a long-term disaster.... If you're in an industry that's impacted at the moment, take care of the 4 walls of your budget first. 1. Food 2. Utilities 3. Shelter 4. Transportation Dial things back. Pause paying extra on debt, save money, and get part-time work if you can to help weather the storm. You got this.

A car lease is a rip-off. It is the most expensive way to operate a vehicle. When you give the leased car back, you will have paid the car company more than t...he car has depreciated during that time. During the lease, you’re also maintaining the car as if you owned it, but you’ll get charged fees for excessive wear and tear, or if you put too many miles on it. For example, if you paid $24,000 over the life of the lease, and it went down $15,000 in value during that time, then it cost YOU an extra $9,000 to lease the car for that period of time. That's their profit. Another thing is that the interest rates on a vehicle lease are not disclosed because the Federal Trade Commission doesn't define a lease as a debt, so there is no federal disclosure required. Therefore, you have no truth in lending disclosure sheet provided. The interest rates you get charged are unbelievably high. That’s where you’ll realize you got screwed over. People get sold automobile leases because they are told that it’s what sophisticated people do. Don't fall for it! Pay cash for a car you can AFFORD.

Great article here on why you need to hire a financial planner rather than doing retirement planning on your own. Vanguard concluded that a retirement plan, if properly managed by an experienced adviser, can produce as much as a 3% net benefit beyond a do-it-yourself (DIY) investor. What’s astonishing is that many of the big Wall Street firms considered by most to be trusted names have been hanging their shingles out as retirement planning firms. However, very few have done much to provide advice for their customers on massive issues like maximizing their Social Security benefits or efficiently coordinating withdrawal strategies to help clients minimize the impact of taxes on their retirement income.

Today is Giving Tuesday. Held the Tuesday after Thanksgiving each year, it’s a day meant to kick off the Christmas and holiday season with an international day of charitable giving. Did you know that Providence gives back? On the last Friday of every month, we congregate as a team and choose a few different charities to support for the month. We love consistently helping some causes routinely, such as the Orange County Ronald McDonald House, Corona Life Services, Peppermint Ridge (Corona) and Rays of Funshine, INC to name a few. We’re curious. What causes are important to you? Our goal is to support charities that promote family, Because Family’s Important. With that in mind, we’d love to know what causes inspire you to give your time and/or dollars.

We at Providence hope that you all have a blessed day spent with family and friends. No matter our differences, no matter our current circumstances, take time to be thankful for everything that is great in your life and in the lives of those you cherish.