Sharing my latest thoughts on money and life, with an eye to empowering more women to financial confidence.

I'VE BEEN PONDERING

You've heard me say before - and if we have worked together for years, perhaps you've heard me say it ad nauseum! - but I'm going to say it again. Investment markets also go down. And that does not freak us out. The attached flyer from mutual fund company Dimensional makes this point using the analogy of a fire drill (thus the odd red circles in the image below - I guess they are fire alarms?).

To reiterate, only six times was it down more than 20% for the full year. I have two points to add.

1. Notice they're talking about drops of 20%. Don't let the news scare you with drops of 1% or 2%!
2. Remember that (if you're a client) we have made plans for your short-term money and your long-term money. That's why we're forever asking about your cash reserves and what expenses might be upcoming. Because we know to always expect the possibility of a temporary downturn -- and your short-term money should not be at risk of that.
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Markets going down is just normal! Expect it, and don't let it freak you out. 😅

TOPS FROM OPS

🚨 MORE FRAUD CAUTIONS 🚨

Here's one I hadn't heard of before. You get a text from your bank or investment company (or apparently from them) saying they're reaching out about suspected fraud, or a computer virus, or something else that feels scary and urgent.

You reply by text. 💬

They call you. 📞

They ask you for a code sent to your phone.

Feels like your everyday two-factor authentication, right? But it's not, because in this case, you didn't reach out to the financial company, they (actually, someone pretending to be them) contacted you.

What's happening behind the scenes, on the fraudster's end, is they're using that code to change your username and/or password to access your bank or financial account! ​Here's the whole story.​ Then they can easily transfer money out - to themselves!

And the kicker - because you gave out the two-factor code, the bank doesn't have to reimburse you. You broke the rules. ARGH! It gets trickier and trickier by the day.

Here's the bottom line:

• Don’t respond to any inbound messages that appear to be from financial institutions. Do not give them any information!
• Separately reach out to a phone number that you know is genuine (like the phone number on the back of your credit card) to ask about what’s going on.
• Treat multi-factor authentication codes with the utmost security and caution. If you accidentally give one to a thief, that’s quite possibly all they need to get into your account.

Keep this stuff in mind, and talk about it with your family and friends! If you have heard of a scam, you’re 80% less likely to fall for it, according to AARP.

RECENT SIGHTINGS

I always love going back to my alma mater, and the other week was doubly fun because I was invited to speak on a panel on Prepping for Retirement at Duke’s Women’s Weekend biannual conference. We had a sold-out room of 90 women in various phases of preparing for or living through “retirement,” whatever that might mean to them.

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​In ​Episode 129 of Take Back Retirement​, Kevin and I talked about smart ways to make charitable gifts. Did you know that writing a check, even with a tax deduction, is not always the most effective way to give? And if you’re 70.5 years of age or older, you want to know about qualified charitable distributions! Give a listen - and please share with others who should know 🎤

PERSONAL

I turned 59 last month. I really don’t get agitated over birthdays - after all, each day of life we turn another day older. But somehow entering the last year of my 50’s feels momentous! And it has me thinking about how to celebrate my 60th next year. I’m open to suggestions!

LET'S CONNECT!

How do you deal with big birthdays? What’s your most memorable birthday to date? Reply and let me know!

Be careful out there,

Stephanie

Whenever you're ready, there are three ways we can help:

1. Download our free Roadmap for Financial Clarity.
2. Schedule a no-strings-attached meeting with us to see if we're a good fit by scheduling an appointment here: link to calendar.
3. Feel free to reply to this email with any questions you might have, and we'll do our best to provide a helpful response.