Living to 100

At a national financial planning conference this year, I heard a speaker who is a Medical Doctor turned Financial Planner. She has all new clients go to Livingto100.com and complete the online questionnaire with her. The questionnaire gauges probable life expectancy and enables the planner to estimate a possible end date (end of life) for the client's financial plan. This is helpful not only for the retirement plan, but also to help clients understand the factors that insurance companies look at when calculating insurance premiums. For example, did you know premiums are much cheaper for people with BMI's (body mass index) lower than 28? Living to 100 asks for an email address at the end of the 15 minute questionnaire. I answered the questions and it came up with an estimated life expectancy of age 97. It also gives you feedback. For example, I was told if I cut my caffeine consumption I could add a 1/2 year to my life. That is not really enough to motivate me to change but you may find something that compels you to adjust current habits.

What do you think? Is this too personal? Or is there a benefit to adding something like this to the financial planning process? Share your thoughts with me by emailing linda@planningwithinreach.com.

Linda Rogers, CFP®, EA, MSBA is the owner and founder of Planning Within Reach, LLC (PWR). Originally from New Jersey, Linda services clients throughout San Diego county and nationwide. She leads the design of PWR's investment portfolios which utilize broad, low-cost investments that integrate environmentally, socially, and governance (ESG) factors.

Planning Within Reach, LLC (PWR) is a fee-only and fiduciary wealth management firm offering one-time comprehensive financial planning, ongoing impact-focused investment management and tax preparation services in San Diego and nationwide. PWR is a woman-owned firm that specializes in busy professionals and impact investors. Planning Within Reach, LLC and their advisors do not receive commissions and do not hold any insurance licenses or brokerage relationships.

Identity Theft Prevention Tips

PWR's Comprehensive Financial Plan includes a list of tips to prevent identity theft.  At a national financial planning conference last month, I gathered some additional items to add to that list.

1.  Use a VPN when appropriate  - A Virtual Private Network (VPN) can protect you when using public networks such as at hotels, airports and coffee shops.  A VPN service encrypts your data from the source (your device).  The service I use and pay for is Cloak VPN but there are others out there.

2.  Google your Name (and Maiden Name) - Look for your information on pages like mylife.com and whitepages.com.  I was shocked to not only find my current home address on whitepages.com, but all of my previous addresses from the last 10 years.  To remove your info, you need to claim your listing (free) and delete all the information.  Services like reputation.com will remove the information for you and continue to monitor the web as new sites pop up.

3.  Use a Password Tool - Password tools make it easier for you to have a challenging, unique password for all of your sites.  I use 1Password for Mac but there are others.  This page answers the most common questions I hear with regards to security concerns.

4.  2-Step Verification - While I have been recommending this for years for Gmail and Dropbox accounts, more and more sites are giving you this option.  Periodically review your most sensitive accounts and see if they are offering this additional layer of protection.  2-Step verification requires you enter the correct username and password AND enter a pin that was sent to your phone via text message.

What am I missing?  Email me so I can share it with others.  linda@planningwithinreach.com.

Linda Rogers, CFP®, EA, MSBA is the owner and founder of Planning Within Reach, LLC (PWR). Originally from New Jersey, Linda services clients throughout San Diego county and nationwide. She leads the design of PWR's investment portfolios which utilize broad, low-cost investments that integrate environmentally, socially, and governance (ESG) factors.

Planning Within Reach, LLC (PWR) is a fee-only and fiduciary wealth management firm offering one-time comprehensive financial planning, ongoing impact-focused investment management and tax preparation services in San Diego and nationwide. PWR is a woman-owned firm that specializes in busy professionals and impact investors. Planning Within Reach, LLC and their advisors do not receive commissions and do not hold any insurance licenses or brokerage relationships.

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Linda Rogers, CFP®, EA, MSBA is the owner and founder of Planning Within Reach, LLC (PWR). Originally from New Jersey, Linda services clients throughout San Diego county and nationwide. She leads the design of PWR's investment portfolios which utilize broad, low-cost investments that integrate environmentally, socially, and governance (ESG) factors.

Planning Within Reach, LLC (PWR) is a fee-only and fiduciary wealth management firm offering one-time comprehensive financial planning, ongoing impact-focused investment management and tax preparation services in San Diego and nationwide. PWR is a woman-owned firm that specializes in busy professionals and impact investors. Planning Within Reach, LLC and their advisors do not receive commissions and do not hold any insurance licenses or brokerage relationships.

Personal Finance For Children

When it is relevant for a client, PWR financial plans include a section on personal finance for children.  We compile information from a few sources including Money as You Grow.

Here are some age appropriate activities I started doing with my 3 1/2 year old.

1)  Identify what costs money versus what is free.  For example, we pay money when we go to the local pool.  We don't pay money when we go to the library, park or the beach.  Those are free activities.

2)  Explain that people can get money by working.  Mommy and Daddy go to work to get money.  A couple of neighborhood kids were selling snow cones one day - they were working too!

3)  There is a difference between what we need versus what we want.  We need to buy fruits and vegetables at the store or farmer's market.  We don't need to buy lollipops and cookies.  Those are special treats we get every once in a while.  We need a place to live and a car to drive, but we don't need an automatic bubble maker (yes - these exist!) or a new scooter.  Those things are nice to have, and we may want and enjoy them, but we don't need them.

Use these examples or create your own using the Money as You Grow site as a start.

Linda Rogers, CFP®, EA, MSBA is the owner and founder of Planning Within Reach, LLC (PWR). Originally from New Jersey, Linda services clients throughout San Diego county and nationwide. She leads the design of PWR's investment portfolios which utilize broad, low-cost investments that integrate environmentally, socially, and governance (ESG) factors.

Planning Within Reach, LLC (PWR) is a fee-only and fiduciary wealth management firm offering one-time comprehensive financial planning, ongoing impact-focused investment management and tax preparation services in San Diego and nationwide. PWR is a woman-owned firm that specializes in busy professionals and impact investors. Planning Within Reach, LLC and their advisors do not receive commissions and do not hold any insurance licenses or brokerage relationships.

Tip for Nannies

I had the pleasure of speaking with the Networking Nannies (@NNSocal) here in San Diego this April. One of the participants had a great question - is it risky for me to use my employer's credit card? What if they don't pay their bill? Does that affect my credit score and can creditors come after me? That led me to do a little research.  The reality is that today's nannies do much more for their employers besides childcare. They go grocery shopping, pick up dry cleaning and take the kids on fun outings. They engage in multiple transactions per day so it makes sense that employers want to add their nannies to their card. There are two ways to do this: Authorized User and Joint Account Holder.

Authorized users can use the owner's account but do not share any of the responsibility to pay off the card. Credit is not affected positively or negatively.

Joint Account Holders are equally responsible for the balance of the account and legally liable for the amount due.

Therefore, if you are a Nanny being added to your employer’s card, make sure you are being added as an Authorized User to protect yourself.

Linda Rogers, CFP®, EA, MSBA is the owner and founder of Planning Within Reach, LLC (PWR). Originally from New Jersey, Linda services clients throughout San Diego county and nationwide. She leads the design of PWR's investment portfolios which utilize broad, low-cost investments that integrate environmentally, socially, and governance (ESG) factors.

Planning Within Reach, LLC (PWR) is a fee-only and fiduciary wealth management firm offering one-time comprehensive financial planning, ongoing impact-focused investment management and tax preparation services in San Diego and nationwide. PWR is a woman-owned firm that specializes in busy professionals and impact investors. Planning Within Reach, LLC and their advisors do not receive commissions and do not hold any insurance licenses or brokerage relationships.