Late Bloomer Wealth

Late Bloomer Wealth

Dedicated to Helping K12 Teachers with their 403(b) & 457(b) plans.

Month: April 2020

Anatomy of Survival in 2020

Leave a Comment / COVID-19 Pandemic, Politics of Personal Finance, PreK-12 Educators / By

This blog post is long. I have a lot to discuss and share because there is a lot to share and discuss. So, I have broken it up in pieces for your reading comprehension and comfort. In the end, I hope you will take from this crisis to plan for anything life could throw at us.
First, allow me to pontificate on this worldwide epidemic for the 10,000-foot level.
A few radical individualists strongly feel that we don’t need a civilization to survive. Fortunately, most people would agree their extreme view is way over the top politically and a dangerous delusion sponsored by hyperactive anti-government crusaders.
In the middle of this unprecedented attack by an unseen enemy, people around the world need a strong central government. The government can respond to emergencies when the country needs devices, money, research for a vaccine and cure.
But a strong government is not just for short term emergencies. It is the bedrock for our modern and advanced civil society which stands on the shoulders of local, state, and federal governments, public protection institutions, and a justice system paid for by the public known as taxes. Civilization itself depends on it.
We are not retreating to a time in human history in which humans had so much freedom, they killed one another for something to eat. This current virus is a great equalizer. COVID-19 knows no gender, race, faith, politics, geographies, country, income, or wealth. We are in this together–the sure way to fix this mess is to work together. We need all the help we can muster, all hands-on-deck!
Second. In this stage of my life, I want to share with you how I planned and learned from my mistakes about previous health scares, national and international crises, and especially financial crises. This is a big topic requiring a lengthy blog post as I have lived, breathed, suffered personal and financial losses, and experienced many national and international crises in my lifetime.
Outside of the Great Depression of the 1930s and WWII, I have lived through those previous crises. My health crisis was personal, but I have discovered that my cancer survivor status and getting wounded in “Nam” also helps and protects me today with COVID-19. I am happy to be alive and want to live a little longer so I will wear a mask to protect myself and my neighbors.
We will get through this current worldwide epidemic. But how will we be at the other end? Many things will change—where and how we work, shop, entertain and socialize has already been changing long before this current epidemic. But this virus and the aftermath will speed up these changes by a milestone.
What I am hoping to offer is a way to exploit and take advantage of the current serious drama. Doesn’t it almost always come suddenly, unpredicted, and uninvited? Isn’t always how we respond to unwelcome events rather than the event itself?
But how we respond, whether positive or negative, does come with a price. I have sometimes painfully learned that crisis, challenges, and upheavals both personal and socially are opportunities to discover and learn new skills and knowledge to evolve to be a better person. Who doesn’t want to improve on ourselves, our families, our community, and our world? Is this worth the uncomfortableness and sometimes pain? I believe so.
What I have learned in my seven decades of living is that extremely negative and painful times don’t last forever, but neither does those wonderful euphoric days. One of the most painful times of my life was losing Dan, the love of my life for 40 years, but I have lived to experience one of the most wonderful days of my life, getting married to Georgiana just 4 weeks ago on March 21st, 2020. Still, I have always been grateful for the many more just ordinary and peaceful days that are amazing about life—the simple things—such as enjoying a beautiful flower growing in my back yard or listening to the birds chirping as spring brings new life, and nature starts all over again.
This blog post is a result of my sincerest opportunity to lift our hearts and our minds based on my experience with previous episodes as one ordinary citizen, who lived in memorable and historic times.
This crisis is not much different than previous in that it is not about just you or just me. It is about all of us, caring for each other.
I hope you will enjoy my post.

Financial Shark Attack and Repellent #6 in this Series

Leave a Comment / Annuities, LAUSD Employees, PreK-12 Educators, Shark Attack Series / By

Number 6 in this long series of 67 shark attacks and repellant posts on how to protect yourself with a little financial know-how.
In this series, you will discover shark repellent by finding a genuine fiduciary financial adviser. A fiduciary is a financial professional who looks out after your best interests over theirs. Now that’s REPELLENT against the predatory attacks by unethical and self-conflict professionals who only look at getting commissions and high fees FROM YOU. Make no mistake, in the public K12 world the 403(b) greedy sharks are EVERYWHERE!
A fiduciary financial adviser should construct a well-diversified low-cost Vanguard portfolio like the one I constructed for myself and have used now for 15 years with good success. Fiduciaries are not sharks.

Amid COVID-19/Stock Market Crash, We Married Virtually!

1 Comment / Annual and per quarter returns / By

African killer bee attack, Bobcat visit, deadliest stock market crash since the 1930s and the worldwide pandemic did not deter Georgiana and me from getting married on Saturday, March 21st. However, it was not without major emotional and strategic adjustments in how and where we married.

On the morning of March 12th, we still intended to follow thru on our original wedding plans involving 50 guests at a beautiful venue. Georgiana, my fiancé, worked hard for weeks. The setting was a beautiful outdoor destination wedding on a little known but ancient labyrinth where our vows would have been exchanged with an outdoor dinner, toasts, first dance, cake cutting and DJ dancing after watching the sunset on the first day of spring. We had never had a formal wedding before, so we were looking forward to our day.

However, as we know now, events beyond our control changed everything. The COVID-19 scare had massive negative effects on our economy, our collective emotions and the financial markets. At the end Thursday, March 12, the broad markets DOW, Nasdaq and the S&P500 lost 10%, the biggest percentage loss in 33 years! In dollar amounts, my 7-figure portfolio declined $60,000!

We started getting messages from our wedding guests who decided not to come for obvious reasons, the virus news was not only getting worse by the day but by the hour too. We thought it would be safe because the ceremony and celebration will be held outdoors. But we were wrong and decided to cancel as the writing was on the wall. Our governor ordered a stay at home policy.

What a week leading up to March 21st! Everything CHANGED again! Read about one of the happiest days of my life but also the scariest, NOT because my portfolio had declined, but because of the unknown virus that is now spreading throughout the world, and here at home. And then what a whipsaw week for the markets, up and down, but mostly down continued until the end of March and the time for this Quarterly Report.
Read how Georgiana and I managed to marry safely and with family and friends attending “virtually” with “Plan B.” We took necessary precautions as recommended by the Center for Disease Control (CDC).

Despite the terrible time our country and the world are going through, you can be assured that old fashion planning ahead still works. With mindful flexibility, following common-sense health precautions and getting your financial emotions under control long before negative markets strike, as of right now, our private life and our finances are fine. We are grateful and lucky.

Since this is a financial blog, read and see how my portfolio performed as expected, complete with visual graphs and tables, and wedding pictures, and additional surprises.

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