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.
October is cybersecurity month and it is always a good idea to review best practices and stay up-to-date with current trends and schemes. Below we share cybersecurity tips and reminders for your online activity in an effort to mitigate vulnerabilities and avoid security threats.
As always, if you have any questions, please contact your client relationship manager.
1. Unsolicited phone calls – A primary red flag for cybercrime is when an individual receives an unsolicited call from a scammer pretending to be an associate of a legitimate business or organization asks for sensitive information such as that person’s log in information and password, etc. Remember, your bank, custodian or other financial institution will never contact you and ask for these details. If you receive a phone call that you think is fraudulent, hang up and call the main number for the organization and explain your experience.
2. Urgency and fear tactics – Bad actors can be convincing and when they increase the fear and threats they can manipulate individuals into releasing sensitive information, linking bank accounts and/or transferring money remotely. If you feel you are being targeted, pause and look at the facts as you know them and then reach out to your financial client relationship manager or a law enforcement agency if necessary.
3. Strong passwords – Create unique passwords with different combinations of letters, numbers and upper- and lower-case letters and special characters. Avoid using common and easily guessed information such as your child’s name or your birthdate. Additionally, steer away from reusing the same password for multiple websites as that increases the probability it will be hacked.
4. Update devices and software – When you receive a notice from your operating system, your web browser or the applications you use regarding a planned update, be sure to accept the update and participate. These revisions and upgrades often address security patches, software glitches and other vulnerabilities. It is important to keep your systems current which will reduce unintended access to fraudulent users.
5. Two-factor authentication – Two-factor authentication is the method of requiring two separate forms of identification to verify a user’s identity. For example, if you are logging on to your bank account from your laptop, you will then receive a text message from the bank that verifies you are in fact your self and then properly logs you in. Two-factor authentication is a simple way to protect your information and thwart bad actors from accessing data. We recommend using two-factor authentication whenever possible, particularly for financial accounts, health records, government agencies and other sensitive information.
6. Stay alert and use your best judgment – The most advanced tool we have to fight cybercrime is our existence as humans and our inherent intuition. Perhaps the email you received shows a company logo that looks outdated or fuzzy. Maybe the sender of the email has an email address that looks similar to an official address but appears to have a misspelling. Or, maybe the phone call you received tipped you off because of the terse manner of the agent speaking or the short timeline they gave you to provide information. Whatever the clues, be aware and proceed with due caution. As the adage goes, when in doubt, don’t act. Reach out to your financial advisor, call your banking institution or contact another trusted person that may help you understand if the request is legitimate, or recognize the intended criminal activity and shut it down.
If you have any questions or concerns, we recommend you reach out to your client relationship manager or email us at info@vcmi.net.
Cryptocurrency has been making headlines lately, from media coverage by prominent networks to Twitter weigh-ins by the likes of Mark Cuban and Elon Musk, but there is still a shroud of mystery surrounding it and its uses. The popularity of cryptocurrency has ebbed and flowed for over a decade but some companies are now ready to bank on where it could go in the future. Tesla just announced the purchase of $1.5 billion in Bitcoin and intends to start accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment. RBC analysts have suggested that Apple is ideally positioned to offer consumers the ability to buy and sell cryptocurrency via its Wallet app. Although opinions abound about how risky cryptocurrency is to own and its long term viability as a form of currency, one thing seems certain: as a concept, it’s here to stay.
