Quote of the Week:
Sounds Crazy Might Work
"It is possible to do whatever you choose, if you get to know who you are and are willing to work
with a power greater than ourselves to do it."
~ Oprah Winfrey
Talk Show Host
Entrepreneur
Good Morning...
This email is long overdue.
I have met many people lately who do not completely understand the control they have over their
401(k) & IRA plans.
THIS is IMPORTANT.
YOU have complete control to do what you want with your 401(k) as it pertains to choice of
investments, how much to contribute, whether or not to keep all of your money in your fund
managers investments or in cash or both, etc., etc.
Most of the people I meet do not take their 401(k) as seriously as they should yet, when surveyed
about how they will retire comfortably, the first thing most refer to is their 401(k) or IRA. That's like
someone saying that being healthy is important while smoking a cigarette! It just doesn't work that
way so, taking it seriously is something that all should do.
Please everyone, please... it is crucial that you pay close attention to the markets, your retirement
depends on it. If you do not want to pay attention to the markets, hiring someone to do that for you
is an absolute must. You need someone looking over your money, even if it's in a 401(k) and
especially if it's in an IRA that you started on your own or as a result of a rollover from a job you
no longer have. Your plan administrator will not do it so, someone has to. Who do YOU have
advising you right now?
ASK ME WHY. If you have money in a 401(k) with an employer your no longer work for, it's
important that you roll it over to an IRA ASAP. It's especially important to do that THIS year!
DID YOU KNOW? By law your 401(k) administrator / company cannot give you financial planning
advice. It's true. It's a conflict of interest to advise you because they have a financial interest in
your plan. Yep, you heard me right.
There is a serious breakdown in this country as it pertains to retirement planning. A 401(k) is a
great tool but, a useless one if no-one is intelligently advising you on what investments to choose
within your plan, IF ANY, especially NOW! Ask me why. Makes sense to have someone giving
you advice on your future, doesn't it?
Let me just put this out there so you'll understand how important this is. Let's suppose you
used to work for Enron. Yes, just play along. I have no doubt in my mind that Enron indirectly or
directly encouraged their employees to invest their 401(k) money in company stock, which is
of course illegal. Had those employees hired a competent advisor instead of listening to their
employers advice, they wouldn't have lost their entire retirement. Why? Simple, a good advisor
would never encourage someone to put a large portion of their retirement into company stock.
Are there exceptions to the rule? Oh absolutely but, those exceptions are hard to come by and
I'm sure that conservative stop losses were put in place in every case.
This is just an opinion but, soon and maybe even now may be an important time to move a
majority or all of your 401(k) investments into cash or other safe than most investments.
Again, you CAN do that. My million dollar (literally) advice to you is to have your 401(k) reviewed
immediately by a strong advisor that is willing to advise you to make investment moves with your
interests in mind before his own. I have an IRA and I have it reviewed regularly, so should you. If
you do not know and trust any, I can refer you to someone I trust who can help.
Be careful with your future.
To Your Financial Wealth,
Kurtis Kooiman
President
Silverstar Finance, Inc.
DRE Lic. 01213343
Society for Financial Awareness
Kurtis's LinkedIn
Bus: (714) 274-9325 Ext. 14
Fax: (714) 274-9365
P.S. Not excited about talking money? Ok, fine. Just fax or email me your retirement statements
and I'll have them reviewed for you. Sheesh!
Just a little story about something that happened with me this week. Being that I have taken on more of an educational roll in my career as of late, I found out that I'm entitled to some pretty reasonable insurance rates on my homes and car because of my chosen profession. Well, I've had one insurance agent that I've worked with for years...someone I'm loyal to and go to every single time I have an insurance need (except health insurance...for that, I go to myself being that I'm licensed to provide it). I called on the other insurance company last week because I wanted to find out for sure if they were able to lower my insurance rates and sure enough, they were able to lower the rates and by quite a bit.
What am I to do NOW? I've been loyal to my agent for years but, here's a chance for me to save some money during times where I really need to save some money!
Well, here's what I did. In my mind I truly felt the need to share this with my agent. After all, he's been my "go to" guy for years and the last thing I would want to do is get a new insurance policy without at least giving him a chance to match or beat my new quote. He's been good to me for years and he deserves to know if I'm shopping around for a new agent or for an additional agent. For all I know he may have just been off his game the last year or so and didn't think to look into my situation. After all, it's not like I ever asked him to do that so, I certainly can't fault him for that, could I?
Here is my email to my agent this morning:
"Ken,
I'm writing because I've been introduced to a company that specializes in giving insurance to educators. They are able to beat the homeowners quote on my Taft Street property by nearly $400 per year in exchange for me insuring my primary for about $70.00 more per year. This is something I am exploring and felt compelled to share that with you should you have anything you'd like to share or if you would like to try to match or beat their offer.
Will you please let me know? I'm looking to make a decision by weeks end.
Hope you are doing well.
Thanks.
Kurtis"
Why did I handle this situation the way I did? For me, it's simple. I've had clients leave without me knowing it and it felt pretty bad, especially when I never had the chance to compete. I can't imagine doing the same thing to my agent, especially since I've experienced first hand what it feels like to lose a client and not even know it. I later found out in most instances that it wasn't because they didn't like me, it was just because they were offered something a bit better than what they currently had and for whatever reason, were afraid to tell me about it. Shopping around is smart, not offensive and not something that anyone should be ashamed of. It's the right thing to do. I do it, you do it, most everyone does it. For me, I choose to give those who I've been with for years the right to compete fairly with other agents. His client base is his livelihood and he deserves a chance.
Even as I write this email my agent is shopping around for a new policy and I have no doubt I'll hear back from him any minute now. I feel better already.
Give those who you've trusted in the past a chance to compete with someone new. You will preserve your relationships, they will thank you for the opportunity and openness and you'll feel much better about the decision you ultimately make, whether you choose to work with a new person or stick with the ones you've already got, I promise.
Have a great week!
To Your Happiness,
Kurtis Kooiman, CMPS
Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist
Silverstar Finance, Inc.
Society of Financial Awareness
Kurtis's Active Rain
Kurtis's LinkedIn
Bus: (714) 892-1002 Ext. 313
Fax: (714) 892-1092
Parting Thought: "A good goal is like a strenuous exercise - it makes you stretch." ~ Mary Kay Ash
Quote of the Week:
"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."
Albert Einstein
Physicist
Will Homeowners and Buyers Lose $45,000?
Ann Arbor, MI August 13, 2009 – Federal Reserve officials met yesterday and issued a statement saying that their program to purchase $1.25 trillion of mortgage-backed securities will be winding down by the end of year. “The Fed is the single largest buyer of mortgage bonds in the market today,” said Gibran Nicholas, Chairman of the CMPS Institute, an organization that certifies mortgage bankers and brokers. “The way mortgage companies set their interest rates is by figuring out the price that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are willing to pay them for the mortgage. Fannie and Freddie set their price by figuring out what investors on the bond market are willing to pay them for the Mortgage-Backed Securities (mortgage bonds) that they issue. When the Fed stops buying mortgage-backed securities, the demand for these bonds will be much less, and mortgage rates will go higher.”
Since the Fed began purchasing mortgage bonds and intervening in the mortgage markets, interest rates on fixed rate mortgages have dropped a full percentage point below where they would be otherwise. “Take out the Fed’s subsidy, and mortgage rates are likely to drift back up by at least one percent,” Nicholas said. “A one percentage point increase in mortgage rates – from 5.25% to 6.25% - would cost an extra $127 per month and $45,730 in interest over the life of a $200,000 30 year mortgage. This is exactly what could happen in 2010 once the Fed stops buying mortgage bonds.”
Fed officials have been signaling for some time that their unprecedented interventions in the mortgage markets may come to an end or even be reversed once the economy begins to improve. “While we don’t believe the Fed will start selling mortgage bonds right away, we do believe that rates will start drifting higher in 2010 once the Fed stops purchasing mortgage bonds,” said Nicholas. “After all, it’s not every day that the Fed spends a whopping $1.25 trillion to subsidize mortgage rates. Take out this enormous subsidy, and the average person with a $200,000 mortgage who refinances or buys a house stands to lose $45,000 over the life of their home loan. That is why homeowners and buyers should really talk to their Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist and take advantage of this window of opportunity to refinance or buy a home while rates are artificially low.”
I hope that you found this information to be useful and informative.
Whether you're considering a refinance or buying a new home, don't make the mistake by trying to time the market. You may live to regret that mistake for many years to come!
Have a great week.
To Your Success,
Kurtis Kooiman, CMPS
Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist
Silverstar Finance, Inc.
Society of Financial Awareness
Kurtis's Active Rain
Kurtis's LinkedIn
Bus: (714) 892-1002 Ext. 313
Fax: (714) 892-1092
Parting Thought: "A good goal is like a strenuous exercise - it makes you stretch." ~ Mary Kay Ash
So the question is, do you qualify for the any of the new mortgage programs?
Since last week, I have been contacted repeatedly by clients, friends and family wanting to know if they qualify for any of the mortgage relief programs that have been signed into law over the past few weeks.
More details have been released by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on how they will handle refinance transactions authorized by the Home Affordable Refinance program. The complete details of both programs can be found by accessing the program guides from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but I will point out some of the highlights below to help answer your questions.
Lenders and investors are in a holding pattern as they determine if and when and how they will accept these transactions. Even though this legislation has passed - they are not all required to participate. In all cases loans will have to be refinanced with the existing owner of the loan today. Meaning, if Fannie Mae is the owner of your loan, the loan must be delivered to Fannie Mae and underwritten according to their guidelines. The same is true for Freddie Mac.
So how do you know if your loan is owned by Fannie or Freddie?
You have the ability to do this by contacting your loan servicer (company that sends you your mortgage statement) and asking...or you can do this by using the links below. If you need help, I can submit the information for you, simply send me a copy of your current mortgage statement. Note that your property address must be entered exactly as the agency has it on file, or it may not be found (ie: Rd or Road? St or Street?)
Let's look at the guidelines for both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and some of the key factors I see that will impact or enhance your ability to participate. Even though these are some of the highlights, you can also read more detailed guidelines on your own.
One key point to remember is that these are the guides from the Freddie and Fannie. And just as participation in the programs is voluntary, individual lenders and servicers may choose to implement constraints that deviate from the guidelines on their own.
Fannie Mae
Qualifications for a refinance
Additional Resources:
Hopefully I've helped clarify some of the confusion...unfortunately, there's probably more coming. =)
All the best,
Kurtis Kooiman, CMPS
Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist
Silverstar Finance, Inc.
Society of Financial Awareness
Bus: (714) 892-1002 Ext. 313
Fax: (714) 892-1092
Parting Thought: "Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence." ~ Robert Frost
Quote of the Week:
"The greatest thief this world ever produced is procrastination, and he is still at large."
~ Henry Wheeler Shaw, 1818-188, Humorist
Good Afternoon Fine People!
Well, a New Year and as of today, a new President, is upon us...and not a moment too soon I might add!
Let's face it, last year was ugly! Yes, uuuuugly. And with the ugly, and with the confusion, and with the chaos has come a beautiful thing that lies within the ugliness of the numbers and that one thing is Opportunity. Your opportunity is tremendous! Our opportunity to meet new clients and meet once again with existing clients is tremendous!
NOW is NOT the time to Procrastinate! This thief called Procrastination is still at large and should have no part in your life! It's time to fire him...and now!
Why?
Watch this short video to find out...
 |
What's Happening in 2009?
About this video: |
http://vimeo.com/2900915
Yeah, Yeah, I know...I do stupid things sometimes. Case in point, releasing the first and only take of this video! These videos are embarrassing enough that I rarely watch them. On occasion I'll force myself to watch and at that very moment I'm reminded why I should just NOT do that! And for the record, this mess of a recording was Jason's idea! =)
Please don't forget:
Act Now To Reduce Your 2009 Property Taxes!
www.silverstarfinance.com/tax
Experience Equals Results...
Have a Fantastic Week!
Warmest regards,
Kurtis Kooiman, CMPS
Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist
Silverstar Finance, Inc.
Society of Financial Awareness
Kurtis's Active Rain
Kurtis's LinkedIn
Bus: (714) 892-1002 Ext. 313
Fax: (714) 892-1092
Parting Thought: "Thinking small isn't hard. It's just a habit. A habi
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