krogias

Peregrine Financial Group and a missing $200 million? Cedar Falls, Iowa, the Heartland, where corn is tall and people are honest. It's of small towns where people leave their keys in their cars and they don't lock their front doors. Embezzlement of this nature happens in New York, Greece, but not in Iowa. Peregrine Financial Group was an Iowa-based brokerage firm and the CEO allegedly used $200 million of his clients’ money to keep the business going. He attempted suicide and confessed to embezzling in his suicide note. If this can happen in Iowa, it can happen in your neighborhood and with you investment counselor. I do not want to imply that all financial advisors are dishonest, but the few bad ones remind us to keep on our toes. A few basic points to keep in mind as you talk to your financial professional: 1. No one is going to be or should be more concerned about your financial wellbeing than you. It is your money and your future. You need to take responsibility for your fi...

Question : What enables you to both eat healthy and be a good steward of your community?  Answer: Buy a share membership to your local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Through a CSA membership, you are buying seasonal food directly from a local farmer. In a CSA, the farmer offers a set number of "shares" to the public. A share consists of a box of farm produce. You purchase a share up front at the beginning of the year and in return, you receive a box of seasonal produce each week throughout the season. Information about CSAs and how to find one in your community can be found at http://www.localharvest.org/ Advantages for the Farmer • Market your produce prior to the growing season • Receive payment early in the season, which provides cash flow • Connect with those who will be consuming your produce Advantages for You • Fresh food, packed with flavor and vitamins as they will be consumed or frozen very soon after they are harvested • Exposure to...

I was talking with a colleague the other day about student loan debt. She shared back "Perhaps we are thinking about student loan debt in the wrong way. We will go into debt $20,000 - $40,000 or more for a new car and not think twice. But we start to panic when a student graduates with $20,000 - $40,000 in debt. The car will last 6-10 years, but your education will last a lifetime." Now I don’t want you to go into debt to finance your college education if you don’t have to, but I want you to think of your college debt as an investment that will last a lifetime. In Chris Farrell’s article “College Degree Still Worth the Cost Despite the Risk ”, he quotes a study at the Booking's Institute that shows the return on investment for a college degree has been about 15% a year for the past 60 years. Not a bad return if I do say so myself, given the stock market has only shown a 6.8% return on investment over the same time period. However with college, like any investment, there i...

As we rush around getting last minute gifts, we should also be mindful of the end of the year for tax reasons. Here are a few items to check off your list before 2012 rolls around. - Last Minute Charitable Contributions: Time to get in the last minute charitable contributions for the 2011 tax year. Is it time to clean out your closet and make a donation to Good Will? Can you afford to give a little extra to a charitable cause? It has been a rough few years for a lot of people and your donation may be just what your favorite charity needs to help those in need. -  Unreimbursed Medical and Dependent Care Accounts : These are your "use it or lose it" accounts. You have to use the money by the end of the year or you forfeit your balance. If you have money in these accounts, maybe it is time to get your eyes checked or a new pair of glasses. Make sure you have paid all of your dependent care expense and that your balance is zero.   - 529 or Educational Savings Deposits: In some ...

Black Friday is less than a week away and there is no place I would rather NOT be than shopping at 4:00 a.m. when the stores open.   I will be in my bed sleeping off a good Thanksgiving meal of smoked turkey and ham with all the fixings.    But as we get into the season of spending, shopping and giving; here are some ideas to keep in mind. When shopping for gifts make a list and check it twice.   Find out where you can get the best deal and make a budget for your gift giving. This may be a tougher holiday season financially so it is even more important than ever to keep both hands on your purse strings as you walk into stores playing holiday music and seeing displays that say “buy me!”   Using cash and the envelope system of budgeting keeps you within your budget. Using credit cards provide some protection, however you may be tempted to spend beyond your budget. Credit cards are governed by the Fair Credit Billing Act which provides you specific rights to dispu...

The day has come. We are beginning to see the ramifications of the Durbin Amendment - Dodd-Frank Act , which became effective October 1, 2011. The amendment imposes limits on the fees that banks can charge merchants for each customer debit card purchase. To compensate, some banks are looking to make up for the lost revenue via other means, such as charging you a fee for the use of your debit card and/or checking account. You have options as to where you do your banking. It is important to select an institute where the service and products best match your needs. ABC News has compiled a list of the 10 largest banks and how much each is charging for basic checking accounts and the debit cards . Additionally, you can learn about your local bank and credit union options online. It only takes a few minutes to do a side-by-side comparison as to your options but can save you significantly over the long run.

In my Senior Seminar class at Mount Mercy University we are reading "Good to Great" by Jim Collins. Chapter 2 is on Level 5 Leadership. As I read this chapter, I couldn’t help but to think how each one of us can be a leader in personal finance and how we can take some of the principles from Jim Collins and apply them to our daily lives. Collins describes a Level 5 Leader as someone who “builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will.” We all want our families to be successful and I want my kids to be more successful than me (building enduring greatness). A central theme of this chapter is setting up the company for future success and not worrying about individual success. Our last blog entry was on how much money it will take to retire so I naturally put the two together. I want my kids to be able to retire and live successful lives, so I want to set them up for future success. The questions are how do I do that and am I doing...