Late Bloomer Wealth

Late Bloomer Wealth

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

Financial Education/Literacy

RE-Introducing myself to what I do, and WHY?

Leave a Comment / Financial Education/Literacy, Late Starters, LAUSD Employees, PreK-12 Educators / By

Sorry if I am projecting an unabashed self-centered blog post, but it is important to review who I am and what I stand for in writing this personal finance blog from consumer POV (that is, I am not nor will I ever be a professional financial adviser). You deserve to know! Being a non-professional in the financial industry provides a unique point of view that is not accessible from profit-motive financial blogs or financial advisers (and there are thousands of blogs and books and many of them are good). As you can see, I have no ads on my blog and I give away my two books.* My books have received great reader reviews on Amazon. Check them out, but don’t buy them as you can get them free here on my blog. Just click on the books on the right.

Next Generation Personal Finance

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Who would not like tons and MORE TONS of FREE teaching resources all in one website? All these amazing materials are from Tim Rezentta, the founder of Next Generation Person Finance. Tim provides EVERYTHING free which you need to teach financial literacy to your students. Yes, everything is free because he knows how important it is for people to know personal finance. He provides FREE training and a gazillion bits and pieces of valuable resources that you can use with your students immediately.
I discovered Tim and his Next Generation Personal Finance website just a few months ago. This website has so much information, ready to use resources, videos, teacher training opportunities and interviews with classroom teachers and financial literacy experts that you will not have to look anywhere else. Survey after survey says the same thing repeatedly that teaching financial literacy is as important to young people as teaching the basics. Finances can be incorporated into math and science that all teachers must cover. Tim has the material already for you from individual lessons to a complete semester plan. He has hundreds of videos. For example, an animated presentation of the difference between simple and compound interest. Colleagues! you do not have to search the web for money related or economic resources again! Its all on Tim’s website.

The Taming of an Annuity Hater

Leave a Comment / Financial Education/Literacy, LAUSD Employees, PreK-12 Educators / By

At first glance, I may sound hypocritical because I tell everybody I know to avoid annuities at the same time I own one. If you have read my blog and my two books, you discovered there exists one great annuity, which I now own. TIAA Traditional Annuity has 11 distinctive features I demand. Unfortunately, most people outside of the educational establishment do not have access to this one honorable, low-cost and appropriate annuity.

For years, I had despised all annuities because my naivete was taken advantage of when I was a young teacher. While getting sold two annuities was bad enough, the sales force never stops. They have no ethical standards what so ever! I blew a head gasket when I found out that I had a surrender fee on the second annuity after I specifically directed my agent to put me in an annuity which did not have a surrender fee. Wow! She just ignored my request because to do so she would not get a commission. What horrible ethics these agents live with and can sleep at night. That cost me $2000 in surrender fees.

For years annuities have been controversial for a good reason. They get bad press because annuities are costly, complicated and offer deplorable low returns. I am not the only one saying bad things about annuities. Legendary money manager Ken Fisher says on his TV ads that he “would rather die and go to hell than to sell an annuity.” That’s strong language against annuities.
This low-cost (and simple) annuity is rare. You do not have to search long and hard because I will tell you the company and the specific annuity I own. It is available to both higher education and many PreK-12 employers 403(b) plans. Los Angeles Unified has this one appropriate annuity available in the 403(b). It’s the same one I own now. Check it out.
My message to annuity insurance agents, are you up for a challenge?

Outhouse to Frugality + Schizophrenia to College Graduate = Financial Independence

1 Comment / Financial Education/Literacy, Frugal Habits / By

The Latest Post from Late Bloomer Wealth!
Part 1/2
Every personal finance book discusses infinitely that if you want to achieve financial independence, you must discover how to live within your means, and then save a little each month during your working career. It doesn’t really matter if you are young or old, high earner or less than average wage earner, I am here to share my experience for your edification.
As a 70-year-old, I have years of life to draw stories and experiences, so you can find your strengths and develop them. Hopefully, you will discover a few nuggets of how you can evolve into this wonderful state pursued by just about everyone–financial independence.
In Part one, I discuss what I discovered growing up on a dairy farm in Northern Wisconsin. The influence of my parent’s frugal habits motived me to begin saving right out of the gate, and my older brother’s serious schizophrenia motivated me to finish college.

Unexpected Advantages from Financial Literacy

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Is managing your money well considered romantically hot in the dating world? Yes, it is, according to a recent survey and a subsequent article by Bloomberg. The article reveals that a high credit score shows financial responsibility stood out much higher than intelligence, job title, physical looks, trustworthiness, and owning a nice car. This blog post addresses those of us who are single no matter what age and how financial literacy can help you achieve romantic happiness whether you are looking for love at the beginning of adult life or in retirement. Financial literacy is a huge plus. Read how I reclaimed my romantic life after my loss two and half years ago and how financial knowledge helped big time.

L.A. Teachers Financial Literacy Workshop

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Attention Los Angeles Unified School District Teachers and staff!
Another information packed financial literacy workshop will be presented on Saturday morning, March 17, 2018. Walk away with five hours of professional development! You will learn basic investing skills using the Award Winning 457(b) plan. You will discover CalSTRS 403bcompare.com website to learn how to evaluate the districts 403(b) plan so you will not get handed a product that looks after somebody else and not you. You will also walk away with resources so you can teach financial literacy to your students. Come on down! People have come more than once. You can attend as much as you want. We would love to see you.

Announcement: Investment Workshop for Los Angeles Teachers

2 Comments / Financial Education/Literacy, PreK-12 Educators / By

LAUSD Employees! Another personal finance workshop that you must attend. As will all of the past workshops offered, it is packed full of good information about how to invest and plan for retirement, use of CalSTRS’ 403bcompare.com, and how one of our colleagues used to be in the financial industry but decide to work with children. Read with participants said about previous investment workshops.

Book Review: “The Wisdom of Finance”

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After reading Dr. Desai’s excellent book twice, I could still benefit from a book club discussion to comprehend the enormous challenges that “The Wisdom of Finance” takes on. Thus, I present an amateur review of a complex problem from a do-it-yourselfer (DIY) regular investor. But the implications of combining humanity and finances have never been greater. The world is changing, the financial industry and the humanities had better get prepared for this inevitable evolution.

Steve’s 2nd Quarter 2017 Portfolio Report

7 Comments / Annual and per quarter returns, Financial Education/Literacy, Passive Investment Strategy / By

Hi Readers,
I am sorry that I have not been writing many blog posts. As many of you know I am still grieving the loss of my husband, co-author, companion and the kindest, insightful and funniest person ever–Dan. But the good news is that I am making progress. After 1 year and 9 months, I am beginning to enjoy this club I never planned on joining–the single club. I have nobody to be accountable for and I can do whatever I want. It still hurts sometimes, but that is to be expected. Like most of us who lost a close friend or relative, we will never forget them. And that’s good.

Life has a way of throwing both small petty stuff that interferes with our routine, and huge blows occasionally. One can never avoid the pain or the discomfort but to anticipate by thinking and planning for the future is always a good idea, whether it’s a personal loss or personal finance. Through my bereavement group participation, seeing a counselor, writing in a journal and maintain a connection with family and friends, and making new friends have helped a great deal.

Similarly, disruptions, volatility and market crashes also must be planned. Like my grieving experience, I have also sought help for modifying my portfolio. I rebalanced and took some distributions from my portfolio with the assistance of Vanguard’s inhouse Certified Financial Planner. I took out money to fund my retirement such as helping my niece and my sister financially, buying a new wardrobe, new eyewear, throwing a party for friends and relatives, making donations to Palm Springs Writer’s Guild and the Dharmachakra Buddhist Center and Gilda’s Cancer Center for their support of the bereavement group I attend, and planning on a return trip to Vietnam in 2018. The Vanguard financial planner made some excellent suggestions for rebalancing my portfolio and carefully making distributions to keep my capital gains taxes at a minimum.

Look at my portfolio and how I constructed it for low costs, diversification, stock bond split, and best of all SIMPLICITY.

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