Category: Financial Security

5 Things to Look for When Hiring a Financial Advisor

Interview Kathleen E. Owings.

Financial Advisor, Kathleen Owings can discuss the topic of how to go about finding and hiring the right financial planner for your individual or family needs.

Some key points that Kathleen Owings
on hiring a financial advisor:

 In today’s day and age people spend more time on their devices checking out their social media feeds rather than thinking about their financial future and hiring a financial planner or adviser. Most people stumble into relationships with financial professionals without a real plan for their engagement and do not research their options ahead of time. If you put some time and attention to the process, you will be much happier in the end—and hopefully have a long-lasting relationship with a financial professional that supports the goals for your financial future. Here are 5 tips when looking for a financial professional:

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401k Investments Amid the Current Coronavirus Crisis

Interview Kathleen E. Owings.

Financial Advisor, Kathleen Owings can discuss the topic of how to go about finding and hiring the right financial planner for your individual or family needs.

Some Key Talking Points From Kathleen Owings
on 401k Investments Amid the Current Coronavirus Crisis:

It is completely normal to feel nervous and less than secure sometimes when it comes to our investments—especially when the country (even the world) seems to operating on shaky grounds. But even though we are experiencing some major market volatility amid the Coronavirus, here’s some helpful, solid advice when it comes to long-term investments like your 401k:

  • Investors should remain calm and not make any rash decisions about their investments in the midst of these market movements.

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The Coronavirus Threat and Your Investments: Should You Freak Out?

Interview Kathleen E. Owings.

Financial Advisor, Kathleen Owings can discuss the topic of how to go about finding and hiring the right financial planner for your individual or family needs.

Some Key Talking Points From Kathleen Owings
on the Coronavirus Threat and Your Investments:

People are closely watching how the stock market dropped last week and are starting to get nervous. The Fed adjusted interest rates, yet the market didn’t react as positively as they had hoped (that day). Should people be overly concerned? 

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401(k) Contributions Advice

Interview Kathleen E. Owings.

Financial Advisor, Kathleen Owings can discuss the topic of how to go about finding and hiring the right financial planner for your individual or family needs.

Some key points that Kathleen Owings
on 401(k) Contributions:

Before Increasing Your 401(k) Contributions

The first thing I encourage clients to think about before they increase their contributions is how much debt do they still have. Student loans, car loans, personal loans are all too common. So, before a client increases their contributions I ask them to look at the debt to see if those additional dollars can be put towards the debt. If they have the debt under control, then we also look at college savings for their kids. If they have not started a 529 savings account for their kids then that is another place we would look for additional savings.

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Nursing Home Fears: Mitigating the Financial Burden

Available for Interviews: Glenn Matecun.

Glenn Metecun, CELA, is certified as an Elder Law Attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation. Here are some talking points on how to financially plan for nursing home costs:

Married and concerned about one of you going into a nursing home?

7 Essential Tips on Financial Plans

Interview Kathleen E. Owings.

Financial Advisor, Kathleen Owings can discuss the topic of how to go about finding and hiring the right financial planner for your individual or family needs.

Some key points that Kathleen Owings
on 7 Essential Tips on Financial Plans:

  1. A financial plan is a person’s roadmap for their financial goals. Everyone should have a financial plan. Most people think or believe that these plans need to be complicated, but in reality financial plans should be simple and answer complex questions for people. Questions such as how much do I need to save to retire, or how much should I be savings for my child’s college education need to be answered. Continue reading “7 Essential Tips on Financial Plans”

Planning Wisely for the Possibility of a Recession

Kathleen Owings, a Financial Advisor and Principal Owners of Westbilt Financial Group, has had first-hand experience of living through a recession at a young age—all the more for making her the wise and successful asset manager she is today.
Talking points that Kathleen Owings can expand 

on her experience of living through a recession:

  • During the summer, some financial analysts predicted a 50/50 chance of America falling into a recession. Over the last couple of weeks, tensions have eased to around 25%. Preparation and protection is essential in the unfortunate possibility of a recession.

 

  • I have lived through two recessions in my adult lifetime: the Dot-Com Bubble Bust of 2001 and the Great Recession of 2008-2009.

 

5 Tips for Millennials and Early Retirement

Interview Kathleen E. Owings

They say it’s never to early to start planning for retirement. If the millennial generation is wise, they can position themselves to be in a more secure financial place—affording them a more comfortable life in their senior years.

Talking Points From Kathleen Owings
on Millennials and Early Retirement:

    1. Look at your employment benefits and see how they can be leveraged for greater savings for retirement. Be sure to take advantage of any matches at work in retirement plans to help boost your savings. This can be done today by looking at your benefits book or by talking to your Human Resources Department. Continue reading “5 Tips for Millennials and Early Retirement”

Fall Cleaning for Finances

Interview Kathleen E. Owings, financial advisor.  People often thing Spring Cleaning… Well, fall is really the perfect time for a fall cleaning… for your finances.

Some Key Points From Kathleen Owings
on Fall Cleaning for Finances:

  • Fall is a great time to clean out your home office. Many of us pile up old bank statements, credit card bills, etc., in our offices. Either shredded it yourself, or get a box together and look for a community shred event to get rid of the extra clutter and reduce any potential documents that could be used by an identity thief.
  • Be sure your beneficiaries are up-to-date on your life insurance policies and investment accounts.
  • Look at your budget and start planning for the holidays. Now is a great time to plan for your upcoming vacations to visit family and as well as plan for gift-giving for the kids and the family at large.
  • Now is a great time to either create or review your household income and expense budget to plan for the upcoming year.
  • Review your benefits that are provided through your employer to see if you want to make changes during open enrollment next year.

The right planning now sets you up for a more secure, happier future.  🙂

Kathleen E. Owings
Principal and Financial Advisor
Westbilt Financial Group
www.westbiltfinancial.com

Available for Interviews: Kathleen E. Owings.

Kathleen E. Owings was named one of the 4 Under 40 in 2018, a prestigious award given by the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors to only four young advisors in the country. Kathleen manages assets for individuals, families, and businesses to the highest standards of fiduciary duty.

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PR Managing Editor
MEDIA AMBASSADORS
Success In Media, Inc.
Jo@SuccessInMedia.com

How to Negotiate Medical Bills

Interview: Carol Barkes

 

This comes from a communications expert, Carol Barkes. Here are some talking points for an interview on how to negotiate medical bills:

1.Make yourself have the difficult conversation.Many times, people avoid communicating about bills that they cannot pay. This makes their position much weaker and potentially escalates the bill to a collection agency. Instead, have the difficult conversations and be honest about your capabilities to repay. Your honesty and lack of avoiding the situation will typically create a more collaborative relationship with the provider.

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