What Does Independence Mean to You?

America's Independence Day celebrations will be taking place this weekend.  We wish you a wonderful and safe holiday!  Independence is a glorious thing.  I value my independence as a citizen and also as a financial professional.

Veritas (Latin for truth) is the name of the company I founded after many years of working in the financial industry. I had discovered, to my increasing discomfort, that much of what I and my fellow financial advisors were taught was not really the whole truth. I was urged to sell products that increased the brokerage company’s bottom line but were not necessary in the best interest of our clients. I was also encouraged to push the next “hot mutual fund” or “safe” or "guaranteed" product, and I was unknowingly promoting actions that increased the costs of investing for my clients.

Veritas is an RIA (Registered Investment Advisor) which means we are an independent firm. We have no affiliations that require us to watch a bank or brokerage company’s bottom line. This give us increased control over fees and costs—savings we can pass on to you.

What else makes us different? Here is a brief comparison of retail financial products, mutual funds and/or other actively-managed funds at traditional financial firms:

• High turnover rates (undisclosed fees)
• Market timing (speculating with your money)
• Stock picking (gambling with your money)
• Track-record investing (past performance has ZERO correlation with future performance!)
• Overlap (not true diversification, just lots of ’stuff”)

In contrast, the Free-Market Platform we use at Veritas is:

• Focused on appropriate asset allocation & true diversification
• Grounded in Nobel-prize-winning academic research
• Focused on efficient market return
• Has NO hidden costs

Our independent status means more efficient investing, no revenue sharing (kickbacks to favored companies), no “smoke & mirrors,” genuinely individualized financial coaching, and an opportunity to gain greater peace of mind.

We serve clients who are as serious about their investing as we are. Are you ready to make your financial future a priority? Call 920-893-5262 to find your how you can become a more successful investor.

Margaret Wittkopp
Veritas Owner and President
Investment Advisor Representative

A Day in the Life of a Financial Advisor

I recently heard Margaret Wittkopp laughing and subsequently found her viewing the hilarious video we are sharing with you today. I watched over her shoulder, and we laughed till we nearly cried. 

Put out a "Do Not Disturb" sign, sit back with your cup of coffee (or whatever) and watch. (Disclaimer: There is one naughty word toward the end.)



After we finished watching the video, Margaret said, "That video was so funny but the sad thing is that I have heard every one of those things. Just not usually all at one time."

So, did you see yourself anywhere?

Lies and Truths #6: Magazine Covers

This post continues our "Lies and Truths" series.  To see the other posts, click on the link "Lies andTruths" found both at the bottom of this post and in the sidebar under LABELS. 

Here is the next TRUTH:

No one ever prints a magazine cover with NEXT year's top performing funds.

Not even the fund companies or brokerage companies know what funds or stock are going to do well next year.  If they did, they wouldn't NEED hundreds of funds and fund managers.  Instead, they would have one predictably sound mutuall fund. They don't.  They hedge their bets.  They create new products for you. 

In reality, they have no idea what their so-called "experts" will produce.

Long Term Care: Why NOW May be the Time to Act

By Veritas Insurance Advisor Paulette Ruminski

Please take a minute of your valuable time to read this somewhat frank information about a very important topic.

Many of us put off thinking about Long Term Care (LTC). I know it’s not a particularly pleasant topic, and I would prefer to be talking about the beautiful summer months ahead or maybe the World Famous Walldogs coming to Plymouth in June! However, a delay in becoming informed about LTC could be a costly mistake, both short and long term. Why? Because the cost for LTC protection is based on both your age at the time of application (typically the younger you are, the lower the cost), and your health status. Unfortunately, many of us (even in our 50s) are finding that current health factors may not allow us to purchase LTC coverage.

As we go through life we face many risks: auto accidents, home fires, life threatening illness and even death. We usually protect ourselves, spouses, and families against these risks with insurance. Today, however, especially as we are living longer due to the benefits of enhanced medical technology, the overlooked risk is the risk of needing long- term care. In fact, did you know…

o   3 in 900 (.33%) = Odds of having a car accident

o   7 in 900 (.77%) = Odds of having a home fire

o   21 in 900 (2.3%) = Odds of being admitted to a critical care unit

o   630 in 900 (70%) = Odds of needing long term care

There also seems to be a false sense of security that Medicare and Medicare Supplements will cover our long term care needs. Take a look on page 4 when you receive Your Social Security Statement, the annual publication sent to all workers (or at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/). “Medicare does not pay for long-term care, so you may want to consider options for private insurance.”

The emphasis on plans today is not as much about a skilled nursing facility as it is to help you stay in your own home, pay you a guaranteed monthly benefit (regardless of expense), and even pay family or friends to care for you.

Would you like to learn more about your options, including 2011 tax deductibility advantages and your asset protection through the Wisconsin LTC Partnership Program? Please give me a call at 920-893-5262.  If you are in the Sheboygan County area, you may want to attend our one-hour educational seminar, June 16, 2011 at 12:00 noon a.m. (lunch) or 5:30 p.m. (dinner) at Mill Street Grill in Plymouth. Seating is limited, so we would appreciate a call to let us know you will be joining us.

Investor Education: What's In It For YOU?

At Veritas, one of our primary purposes is education. The more informed you are about how investing works, the less you will be swayed or distressed by the ups and downs of the stock market. If you stay fully invested, truly diversified, and maintain the proper asset allocation, you CAN withstand the fluctuations of the market—and may even profit from them.

Margaret and Jeremy, our financial coaches,  often talk to people who say  they are doing all right because their financial rate of return is about the same as everyone else's. While we understand the kind of malaise that can set in when things just seem overwhelming or unchangeable, now is NOT the time to be complacent. What you don’t know can hurt you, and what you do know can help you! If you take advantage of the many educational opportunities we provide, you can become a more informed investor—and most importantly—you can gain true peace of mind about investing! 

Each month we offer another class from our Investor Education Series along with a complmentary lunch or dinner at the Mill Street Grill, Plymouth's newest restaurant. Most classes last about an hour or so. One hour out of a month to gain genuine understanding and peace of mind is worth making time for—don’t you think? We do too, and that is why we will keep finding ways to help you be a wiser, more confident investor.

Click on the "Learning Opportunities" tab in our blog header to see a list of classes offered in 2011.

Call us at 920-893-5262, or enail Dorcas at dorcas.george@veritasinvesting.com or Cathy at cathy.knuth@veritasinvesting.com and we will be happy to send you a reminder postcard when new classes are coming up. 

We are also happy to provide complimentary workshops for your group, workplace, or other gathering and can offer classes designed for financial novices to seasoned investors (what you don't know can be surprising), for couples, and for high school or college-age groups.  Just give us a call to explore options.

After the Crash: is the Sky Falling?

Margaret Wittkopp
Veritas President and Financial Coach
Investment Advisor Representative

On the wall at Veritas Financial Services hangs a photograph that my daughter, who was living in Virginia, sent me. It is not particularly impressive, just a car parked at a curb. The street and the nearby grass are dusted with about a half inch of snow. More about that in a moment.
Are you feeling skittish about the stock market? Do you wonder if you might be better off putting your hard-earned dollars in a certificate of deposit, your savings account--or under your mattress?

No, I wasn’t serious about the mattress, but I often talk to investors who are fearful about their portfolio. And who could blame them? After all, here are a few headlines from leading financial publications and newspapers. They probably will not surprise you:

1. “Wave after wave of selling again moved down prices on the Stock Exchange today and billions of dollars were clipped from values.”
2. “The…volume of retail sales went down an estimated 10% last year."
3. “In one hectic week, the paper value of the 1,545 stocks listed on the Big Board plunged by $30 billion—which is more than the GNP of Australia, Sweden, and Ireland.”
4. “The U.S. banking system has been stretched very nearly to the limit.”
5. “The recent crash bears an uncanny resemblance to the crash of 1929.”
6. “Most Americans have lost faith in the stock market.”

What may surprise you about this gloomy list of quotes is that the first one is from 1929, the next is from 1947, then 1962, 1974, 1989, and the last one is from 2002.

I could share many more such headlines, but the point is that market ups and downs do not mean that the financial sky is falling. They happen.

The reason stocks have historically returned more than fixed income over the long-term is precisely because stock holders endure the volatility of the market. Without the volatility (risk) that goes hand-in-hand with stock ownership, the returns associated with stocks would diminish, and so would the attendant wealth.

There are many positive things that we can learn from a look at investing history, including the crashes. Here are just two: First, there is ALWAYS a recovery, and second, the highest historical returns follow a crash. In fact, the single largest recovery followed the single largest crash! What happened to the investors who decided to “put their money under the mattress?” Right. They lost.

Remember the photograph story? My daughter sent it to me for a laugh. She was astounded that a snowfall that would hardly merit a passing comment in Wisconsin managed to shut down the entire city of Norfolk, VA. The picture hangs on the office wall to remind me of a very important fact: IT IS ALL ABOUT PERSPECTIVE.

If you would like to learn what else history’s market crashes have taught us, Jeremy or I would be glad to talk with you about your investments.  If you are out of the area, we still may be able to set up a meeting, or perhaps we can connect on Skype. 

Just give us a call at 920-893-5262. 

Understanding Your Financial Statement

Does your investing statement make your eyes glaze over?

We understand--and we can help you make sense of theose pie charts and graphs and numbers.  You might be surprised what your financial statement reveals! 

If you are in the Plymouth area, join us this evening at 5:30 at Mill Street Grill (506 East Mill Street) for a complimentary dinner and the lastest Investor Education class!  Just call 920-893-5262 to let us know you can join us!

A Simple Way to Help Your Family

This post is reprinted from our main website.

If you have a current will, count yourself among the minority of Americans who have done their heirs an important service.

A will’s primary purpose is to help convey titled property. It’s not a good place to communicate your wishes regarding personal matters or to provide specific instructions for your survivors in the event that something were to happen to you.

A letter of instructions can help your family cope during a difficult period by providing information that has no place in a will — such as the location of the will itself.

Where’s the Will?

A letter of instructions doesn’t need to be an eloquent treatise on the meaning of life and the importance of family. Its job is to guide the survivors, so it can take the simple form of a list or the casual tone of a letter to an old friend.

Here are some common topics to address:

• Where to find important legal documents, including wills and trusts, birth and marriage certificates, insurance policies, deeds to real property, and vehicle titles

• Bank and retirement account numbers, and the location of safe-deposit boxes and tax returns

• Contact information for people to notify, such as lawyers, accountants, and clergy

• A list of creditors and any bills that need to be paid in order to keep the household running smoothly

• Instructions for the funeral and any pre-arrangements with a funeral home and/or cemetery

• Your wishes for the distribution of personal possessions, jewelry, heirlooms, and other keepsakes

Once you have drafted a letter of instructions, tell key family members where it is kept and leave copies with trusted advisors. Take the time to review it regularly to help ensure that it contains the latest information.

Lies & Truths #5: You Don't Know What You Don't Know

This post continues our "Lies and Truths" series.  To see the other posts, click on the link "Lies & Truths" at the bottom of this post or the one found in the sidebar under LABELS. 

Most investors know what the brokerage community or financial press want us to know.  They have trained us to accept their version of reality over the span of our entire lives. 

There is a complete body of investing information discovered and develped in the halls of academia.  Most people do not even know that it exists.  This is the real wisdom you need to create wealth and abundance.

We believe, "An fnformed investor is a better investor."  This body of information is so vital to you that we offer at least two classes every month drawn from this proven, academic research.  Click here to find our upcoming workshops, or call us at 920-893-5262.

We're Back!

Well, we never really left, but we did have to discontinue our blog for a while. We are now operating independently of a broker-dealer so we can utilize Blogger once again. We also have a Facebook page. To find our page just click the Facebook link in our sidebar.

Our series "Lies and Truths" will continue soon! You can check the first four entries in the series by clicking "Lies and Truths" in the Links section found in the sidebar.

We'll be tweaking things here for a bit, so bear with us and check back often.