Friday Five at Five: September 8, 2023
1. Professionals are back to work
So, I have been writing about this for a little while now.
There is the “unwritten” rule on Wall Street that the “professionals” take off from Memorial Day through Labor Day. That they all go on vacation, go to their yachts or houses in the Hamptons.
While this is somewhat hyperbole, I do believe there is some truth in the “sentiment”.
I was an investment advisor working with the public from 1997 through 2017. Now, I sit behind a computer, program our software with advice and let people know how to invest their 401k/403b/TSP plans through our Plan Confidence Dashboard.
As an investment advisor, I personally experienced the slow down that occurs between Memorial Day through Labor Day. There was nothing “magical” about this time. It was just that kids were out of school, the weather was finally warm in Chicago and many families were on vacation and spending quality time with their families.
The last thing they wanted to do was sit down with an advisor talking about their money. As my clients finished their vacations and their kids went back to school, they became more focused on their financial goals and finishing year end as best as they could. This always occurred around Labor Day.
So, welcome back to work to you and all the other “professionals” who have put summer behind us and are focused on closing out 2023 as strong as possible!
2. 401k Tip: Check your beneficiaries
I try to remind our clients every single year that it is extremely important to double-check the beneficiaries on your 401k accounts. In fact, it is extremely important to double check your beneficiaries on all of your accounts.
Why?
This issue has already been through the courts.
Whomever is listed as your beneficiary is the one who receives the money.
It doesn’t matter what other arrangements have been made in writing. It doesn’t matter if you are divorced, and your spouse has waived all their rights to your plan.
If you do not change the beneficiary, your employer is required to payout your money to whomever they have listed on your beneficiary form.
So, please. I beg you. Double check your beneficiaries today!
Make sure your money will go to who you want if something bad were to happen to you. And be sure to double check every year and make sure you confirm (in writing) that your money will reach the ones you intended.
3. RANT: Horrible Car Buying Experience
I have only purchased two cars new for myself in my 50 years around the sun. I usually buy high quality, low mileage cars with an extended warranty. And I keep the car for a long time.
I have purchased several cars through Car Max. They have changed the car buying “experience” since 1993.
If you are not familiar with Car Max, they don’t haggle on used cars. They get quality cars, price them “as is” and (it is my understanding) that they pay their salespeople the same amount of “commission” regardless of the car you purchase. They want you to buy a car from them, but they have no incentive to sell you one car over another.
Due to an unfortunate auto accident, my daughter’s Toyota Corolla was totaled in late April. After fighting with the insurance company on the value of the “totaled” car, we finally got it paid off and were in the market to purchase another vehicle.
So last week I went out with my daughter on her 18th birthday, and we were looking for a new Toyota Corolla. She knows the exact color, make, options, etc.
The price for used, low mileage Corollas is about the same as a brand new one. So, I told her that we can look at new ones.
We looked online and see that many dealerships have exactly what she is looking for.
Or so we thought!
We found out that the dealerships will add cars that are “coming soon” but they don’t yet have possession of and advertise them as if they are on their lot.
We talked to “Tommy” at a Toyota dealership an hour and a half away from our house and he told us that they had 13 of the exact car that we are looking for. That they do the most volume of any Toyota dealership in the state of Florida.
The next day we grab our coffee, head out early and drive up to see Tommy. He made us sit in the showroom for 20 minutes as he wasn’t even at the dealership an hour after they opened.
Then he told us that they do not have any of the models we were looking for and tried to sell a different one. When I told him that I was pissed because he told me yesterday they had 13 on their lot, he just shrugged it off and then tried to sell us a used car.
After we left, two of Tommy’s “supervisors” frantically called and said that they had the exact car we were looking for on the lot and we should turn around and come back.
Apparently, Tommy knew what he wanted to “sell” and did not care about what we wanted to “buy”.
Unbelievable!
Then we drove an hour to another dealer to see “Prince” who told me that they have the exact car we wanted but it was listed as “used”, due to the dealership having to buy it to meet Toyota’s quotas. He gave me a price of $25,500 over the phone, sent it in an email and recorded a video of the car. So, I knew they had the car and it was at a price I agreed with.
When we got there, the price was miraculously changed to $28,800 due to “market conditions” changing in 24 hours and there was an additional mandatory $4,000 “Toyota Care” package their dealership required you to buy. Making the price $32,800 before taxes, title, etc. Not the $25,500 that Prince told me over the phone and sent in an email.
Again, I left furious.
This is not what Car Max does!
Are new car salespeople now more unscrupulous than used car salespeople?
After a couple of other experiences, which were more time wasting than unscrupulous, we drove to the Toyota dealership 15 minutes from our house.
They had the exact car we were looking for, just the wrong color.
They tried to convince my daughter that a blue car was just as sexy as a white one. But my daughter stuck to her guns. She knew what she wanted.
So, they ordered the EXACT car that my daughter wanted, negotiated a fair price and it will be here next week.
I do believe that is the last of my “new car” buying experiences that I will be doing, as I told my daughter she is responsible for buying her own cars after this one.
I will go back to Car Max in about six or seven years when I put over 200,000 miles on my current car and I will deal with people who want me to do business with them, regardless of what they want to sell!
4. Future Proof Conference next week
I am totally excited about going to the 2nd Annual “Future Proof” conference in Huntington Beach, CA next week. (Although I am not looking forward to the extremely long flight and switching from east coast time to west coast time).
Last year I kept seeing the highlights on CNBC. I was like, “I will be there next year”. It was dubbed the “Burning Man for Financial Professionals”.
And hopefully it is (without the rain that stranded everyone for a few days this year in the mud).
So, expect next week’s Friday’s Five at Five to contain a lot of information that I have learned at Burning Man, I mean, the Future Proof Conference!
Did you hear about the guy who invented the “knock – knock” joke?
He won the “no bell” prize!
Kevin T Clark, RF™ is the CEO and Co-founder of Plan Confidence Corporation.
Kevin is an ERISA Nerd and one of only a hundred(ish) Dalbar certified Registered Fiduciaries (RF™) in the United States.
He has been helping hard working Americans invest their money since 1997!
Plan Confidence Corporaiton is an SEC registered investment firm specializing in providing advice to hard-working Americans investing in their employer’s retirement plans (401k, 403b, TSP, etc).
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#futureproofconference #cornydadjoke