Great Final Photo From Harrisburg

The stop is Harrisburg was very successful and one of our volunteers wanted to show everyone what a beautiful day it was while the bus was in town.


Also, if you have not had a chance to read the article about the stop in The Patriot-News, click HERE.

Photographic Evidence of the Harrisburg Bus Stop!

More Thoughts From Harrisburg, PA

Mike Helveston, a NAPFA Registered Advisor, manned the bus today in Harrisburg, PA. He was joined by several other advisors from Rodgers & Associates of Lancaster, PA.

A lady wanted to know how to open an IRA. She has a few thousand dollars to invest but the last time she open a mutual fund IRA she put it all in an international fund which is now about half of what she invested. Mr. Helveston recommended opening an IRA with a low cost provider such as Vanguard or Fidelity and selecting a Target Retirement Fund or a balanced fund for diversification.

A gentleman approached Lee Pelko of Rodgers & Associates about what he should do with his investments. He had his TIAA-CREF and Ameriprise statements with him. Ms. Pelko helped him to figure out his asset allocation between stocks and bonds and also gave him some tax advice on realizing losses in 2008 due to the down year in the stock market.

Rick Rodgers, president of Rodgers & Associates was approached with questions about how to shelter his new income from a gas royalty. The man was concerned because this will probably only last for 1 year. Rick discussed making retirement contributions or a charitable contribution for a tax deduction to offset this gas income.

Big Success at the Harrisburg, PA Bus Tour Stop!

NAPFA-Registered Financial Advisor Alan Campbell, CFP joined a team of volunteers today at the tour stop in Harrisburg, PA. The bus was located at Strawberry Square, a popular shopping destination right across the street from the State Capitol Building. Although Governor Rendell did not stop by for some advice, several state employees did. Here are some of the questions Alan answered today:

I spoke with a retired man who received royalty income this year from an oil & gas investment and was looking for a way to shelter it. He asked if he could write off the loss by giving the funds to his girlfriend or daughter and I explained that although he may see them as a charity, the IRS does not. In the end, we agreed that he would be better off paying the taxes and keeping most of the funds because he didn’t want to give up control of the funds.

I also meet with a woman who felt that stock in Ford Motor Co. was a great bargain at less than $2 per share and asked how to buy it. I explained what a discount broker was and encouraged her to look into TD Ameritrade or E-Trade.

Overall, I was impressed with the both the quantity and the quality of the questions asked. Our location was across the street from the state capital building and many of the people who approached us were state employees on their lunch breaks. A good number of them were thinking about retirement in the next few years and wondering what to do with their pension options when they do retire.

Photos From Albany

Your Money Bus Attracts Media in Albany

NAPFA-Registered Financial Advisor Joyce S. Cole, CFP, of J. Cole Financial Advisers, Inc. was at the tour stop in Albany and had a chance to be interviewed by Demetra Ganias of ABC. They talked about the goals of the Your Money Bus (to help Main Street get involved in learning how to manage their money through budgeting, managing their spending, and through keeping debt manageable). Paying off debt as a prerequisite to a meaningful savings plan. The retirement plan through work is the best deal around- dollar cost averaging a pay at a time getting various prices in a down market is a good deal.

NBC reporter Abigail Bleck interviewed Cynthia Zalewsky, CFP regarding how a consumer would go about securing an auto loan in this environment and basic car buying and financing tips. There was an auto show going on during our event so the topic was one of relevance.

ABC reporter Demetra Ganias also interviewed Cynthia Zalewsky, CFP on how we have become a nation of financial illiteracy. We discussed the lack of inclusion of finances in the education curriculum at every grade level of our school system. We also discussed the culture of consumerism and with it the acceptance of excessive leveraging ,that has evolved in America and its effects which we are now experiencing. Getting back to the basics of budgeting, saving, reducing debt and managing your financial house is what is important. The behavior change needs to start at this level.

Questions From Albany

Today in Albany, NAPFA-Registered Financial Advisor Bill Jerome spoke with a woman who works for Social Security. She was wondering if she should reduce her deferred compensation plan contributions because of the poor stock market. Many of her co-workers were reducing their contributions. We told her that her thinking was backwards; that stocks are on sale dirt cheap, and she should be increasing her contributions to her deferred comp plan and her Roth IRA not decreasing them. The stock market will recover. Now is the time to be taking advantage of the 50% off sale in the markets, and you should be contributing as much as you can afford to your retirement plans.

Another man had a question about whether or not it was a good time to be buying municipal bonds. Interest rates in the municipal bond market are fairly high right now, typically over 5% which is good for tax free income. They are usually safer than similar corporate bonds, since municipalities tend to not default on their debts.

Cynthia Zalewsky CFP, another NAPFA-Registered Financial Advisor at Saratoga Investment Solutions Inc. was manning the bus in Albany today.

She spoke with a gentleman inquiring about whether he should own bonds. We discussed the viability of quality municipal bonds with his taxable money and Treasury Inflation Protected bonds for his tax deferred accounts. Another gentleman had a question regarding in-service rollovers from a 401K/profit sharing plan to a self-directed IRA.

A woman stopped by wondering what asset classes she should be in today given the current market conditions. I recommended changing her current deferral percentages so that she is deferring more to the stock market via a total stock market index fund and a small cap index fund. We also discussed a TIPS fund available to her in her deferred compensation plan.