Vision Capital Management Financial Advisor Portland Oregon
Vision Capital Management has been providing clients financial planning and investment management services since 1999. Visit our site to find out more.
Vision Capital Management Client Relationship Associate, Gina Jacobson, CFP®, CDFA, was a recent guest on the podcast, “Wait. Hold Up… What?”. Gina spoke with host Dawne Hanks on women and finances, savings, and building a net and a nest as a woman. To listen to the episode, click the image above.
In the most recent installment of Vanguard’s “How America Saves” annual report, data suggested that Americans are participating in retirement savings accounts at record-high levels, mostly due to the adoption of automated enrollment and access to employer-sponsored plans. However, the concerning trend that caught the attention of financial advisors was the marked increase in consumers withdrawing funds from their retirement accounts in order to pay for emergencies. In pre-pandemic days, the rate of hardship withdrawals was approximately 2%, but Vanguard reported the most recent rate to be 4.8% in 2024, with the reasons including avoiding evictions and home foreclosures, medical expenses, and tuition costs.
We have outlined strategies below that will ensure you have a strong savings cushion and will avoid dipping into retirement funds earlier than necessary.
A solid budget is the foundation of financial stability. Follow these steps to establish a budget that works for you:
An emergency fund is a crucial financial safety net that prevents you from withdrawing from retirement savings in times of crisis.
High-interest debt can quickly erode your finances, making it tempting to withdraw from retirement funds. Reduce your debt burden by:
Building wealth outside of retirement accounts ensures financial flexibility.
Unexpected expenses often force individuals to withdraw from their retirement savings. Prepare for large costs with these strategies:
Protecting your retirement savings requires long-term commitment and discipline.
By implementing these budgeting and saving strategies, you can build a strong financial foundation and safeguard your retirement funds. Staying disciplined with your money today will ensure a more comfortable and stress-free future.
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There are many organizational methods for reducing our clutter and making our spaces more efficient, tidy, and serene. There is the “One-Touch Method” which bucks procrastination in favor of putting things away immediately after use, and the “Neat Method” which employs various color-coded containers and labeling for sorting and display. The KonMari method from Japan instructs organizers to ask themselves if their items still spark joy in them, and if not, to release the belongings with gratitude. And, yet another approach has risen in popularity, this time from Sweden, known as “döstädning,” or the translated “death cleaning,” which seeks to reduce clutter and stress from an aging person’s home and life.
While it may sound severe, the idea of döstädning is actually a very thoughtful and respectful exercise for both the individual and their loved ones. Contrary to KonMari, which centers on the individual’s attachment to their possessions, this approach asks how family and survivors will feel about the items left behind after a loved one’s death. Margareta Magnussen, author of “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning,” explains how employing döstädning can streamline an individual’s space and create a peaceful environment in which they can focus on what matters to them at that stage of life. The process of sorting and gifting belongings and communicating with family and friends about what they would like to have can often bring loved ones closer together, and may minimize the future burden on family members, allowing them to focus on grieving rather than a large clean-out project.
For those interested in the process of döstädning, professionals recommend the following:
While it may seem like a big undertaking, döstädning can give practitioners the chance to find memory and meaning in their possessions, as well as a sense of lightness and contentment when they let them go.
To connect with a client relationship manager, email info@vcmi.net.
We help clients with more than just their stock and bond portfolio and retirement planning. Watch and hear how we assist clients with planning for a family, preparing to take a bucket list trip and weighing options when considering a career change. If these are areas you would like to collaborate with a client relationship manager on, please email info@vcmi.net.
The book, “The Five Love Languages,” outlines general ways in which individuals express and experience love and affection in romantic relationships. They are Acts of Service, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Words of Affection and Physical Touch, and while they may not cover all kinds of communication, they can be a good shorthand to decipher yours and that of your partner. When it comes to money, it is important to notice and understand how we feel and communicate as individuals and then reflect further how that impacts our partner and finances as a couple or family. If an individual grew up in a home where money was tight and employment was unstable, finances may represent anxiety and worry. For another, a privileged upbringing where money was rarely discussed may later manifest as apathy around budgeting and savings. Financial planners and therapists tend to share the same basic tenets around relationships and money.
