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Newsletters>
March Newsletter
March 1, 2008
ESTATE PLANNING IN LIMBO
With a ticking clock and a lame duck administration, many
of the provisions of the current tax law are set to expire
in less than three years. This state of uncertainty puts
Estate Planning in legal limbo and leaves advisors and
clients in a precarious situation. Will we spend the next
ten years unwinding Family Limited Partnerships or continue
creating Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts? Please join us
as Nancy Hughes, JD, walks us through the rocky terrain of
Estate Planning in the 21st century.
Nancy Hughes, JD, of Hughes & Scalise, P. C. specializes in
tax and estate planning, estate and trust administration,
charitable gift planning, and corporate and business
succession planning.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
CHARLES J. (PETE) MCCARN, CFP®
Lately, I have noticed distinct anxiety surfacing in my
clients minds. Even when the account is still doing well,
they are watchful, alert and poised for something… like the
proverbial other shoe…to drop. They display this in
different ways. Some call to ask about the mechanics of
the money market sweep. Others want to know what’s in
Bernanke’s mind, as if I could tell. But the ones I worry
about are the ones who haven’t said anything much, even
when I call to reassure them. They seem to be a bit
detached from reality and helpless, something like victims
of the market cycle. It’s a silent scream.
What should we do in such a situation? We don’t really
know the future better than they do! But if we have really
done our best to prepare their portfolio for heavy weather,
we can say honestly and with confidence that conditions
will improve in time. We can encourage them by saying that
the plan we’ve crafted for their portfolio is still intact
and that it is doing what it was intended to do. We can
say that we are paying attention to their investments and
will be there for them if they feel uncomfortable.
We are something like physicians….financial physicians …and
we need to know the symptoms of anxiety and treat the
cause. Our clients depend on us. That is why our
profession is so important!
Pete
PUBLIC OUTREACH MESSAGE
PAT BURRIS, CFP®
I don’t know about you but I feel blessed - blessed for
many reasons, for family, friends and good health, but
especially blessed to be working in our profession.
Everyone, everywhere, from the highest net worth individual
to the homeless can benefit from the guidance those of us
in the financial planning field provide.
Last year I was especially blessed to have assisted our
chapter implement Fiscally Fit, a financial literacy
program for women and children at Pathways, a transitional
shelter for homeless women and children. The Fiscally Fit
program provides Pathways residents educational tools for
budgeting, debt management, banking, insurance and other
financial areas allowing them to move more easily from
transitional housing to independence. The program is a
series of six courses taught by you, our FPA members and
volunteers. The next series of classes will begin on April
3rd from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm and run for six consecutive
Thursday evenings, April 3, 10, 17, 24, May 1 and 8.
Classes are held at the Pathways facility downtown on
Richard Arrington, Jr. Blvd. All the course materials,
handouts and PowerPoint presentations are provided.
Even though the Fiscally Fit program has only been offered
one time, there is no doubt it is a huge success. There
were 18 women and 15 children who participated in the first
program; with 16 of them rating it as “excellent” and 2 as
“good”. And 5 of the women that participated last August
have addressed all outstanding issues on their credit
report since taking the course!
Pathways served 263 women and children last year and
another 77 moved from their shelters to transitional
apartments while they continued to address credit issues,
etc. You can see the need for the Fiscally Fit program and
the success it can help the residents achieve.
We need you to help make Fiscally Fit successful again this
year. We are in need of teachers and assistants for the
Women’s classes, 3 children’s classes (ages 5-7, 8-10, and
11-13) and teens. If you are interested in volunteering to
teach one or more classes, assist a teacher or would like
more information, please contact me at
pat@meldfinancial.com or Sarah at fpa_na@bellsouth.net.
If you are not familiar with Pathways, I strongly suggest
you visit their website at www.pathwayshome.org or read the
overview on the attached 2007 Pathways Annual Report
Summary ..\Pathways\Pathways Annual Report 2007.doc
Thank you in advance for helping us continue the success of
our partnership with Pathways though the Fiscally Fit
program.
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