“We’re pleased and excited that Jeff has elected to partner with us,” noted Adam Schwartz a Regional Consultant for Genworth Financial Wealth Management.  “We feel strongly that our open architecture investment platform will provide Mr. Regan with the necessary solutions and institutional investment partners to help his clients realize their financial goals.”

Jeff has been a financial advisor for over 12 years.  He attended the University of Nebraska.  After a successful career in sales and management for a family-owned business in New England, He began his career in the financial services industry with Morgan Stanley as a Financial Advisor in 1997. Jeff joined Financial Network in October of 2008 and is now an Investment Adviser Representative with Financial Network in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Jeff believes and continues to emphasis the value of intelligent decisions and investing based on sound financial planning. Knowledge and experience play key roles in helping clients more effectively work toward their financial goals. Jeff remains active in the community. In addition to conducting investment and financial planning seminars, Jeff belongs to various professional organizations as a volunteer such as the Financial Planner Alliance, Legacy, Estate, Gift Planning and Planned Giving Professionals, Crown Financial Ministries and his local church.

 “Genworth Financial Wealth Management has developed some truly cutting-edge investment solutions,” stated Regan.  “I look forward to taking their structured investment process, building it into my practice, and sharing it with my clients to help them achieve their dreams.” 

 About Genworth Financial Wealth Management

Genworth Financial Wealth Management, a Genworth Financial Company, is an investment management and consulting firm dedicated to helping financial advisors build great businesses.  Genworth Financial Wealth Management represents the merger of two Genworth subsidiaries, AssetMark Investment Services and Genworth Financial Asset Management, and provides one of the most comprehensive fee-based investment management platforms in the industry, in addition to client relationship management tools and practice management programs.

About Financial Network Investment Corporation, member SIPC, is a full service broker-dealer and Registered Investment Adviser, providing financial planning, investment advice and brokerage services.

                                                                                                                                                                                            Contact:

Jeffrey T. Regan

Investment Advisor Representative Bio

Jeff attended the University of Nebraska. After a 12-year career in sales and management for a family-owned business in New England, He began his career in the financial services industry with Morgan Stanley as a Financial Advisor in 1997. Jeff joined Financial Network in October of 2008 and is now an Investment Adviser Representative with Financial Network in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Jeff believes and continues to emphasis the value of intelligent decisions and investing based on sound financial planning. Knowledge and experience play key roles in helping clients more effectively work toward their financial goals.

Jeff remains active in the community. In addition to conducting financial planning seminars, Jeff belongs to various professional organizations as a volunteer such as the Financial Planner Alliance, Legacy / Estate / Gift Planning and Planned Giving Professionals Group, Crown Financial Ministries and his local church.

Financial Network Investment Corporation, member SIPC, is a full service broker-dealer and Registered Investment Adviser, providing financial planning, investment advice and brokerage services.

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1.         Evaluate your current financial roadmap. 

Before you make any investing decision, sit down and take a fresh look at your entire financial situation. An important step to successful investing is knowing your current goals and risk tolerance. These factors may have changed with the current economy.

2.         Evaluate your comfort zone in taking on risk. 

Traditionally, if you have a financial goal with a long time horizon, you are likely to make more money by carefully investing in asset categories with greater risk, like stocks or bonds, rather than restricting your investments to assets with less risk, like cash equivalents. On the other hand, investing solely in cash investments may be appropriate for short-term financial goals. The principal concern for individuals investing in cash equivalents is inflation risk, which is the risk that inflation will outpace and erode returns over time. With today’s market volatility, investors must evaluate their acceptance and comfort zone for risk. Can you stomach the current up-and-down market for longer term goals?

3.         Consider an appropriate mix of investments. 

Historically, the returns of the three major asset categories – stocks, bonds, and cash – have not moved up and down at the same time. Market conditions that cause one asset category to do well often cause another asset category to have average or poor returns. By investing in more than one asset category, you’ll reduce the risk that you’ll lose money and your portfolio’s overall investment returns will have a smoother ride. If one asset category’s investment return falls, you’ll be in a position to counteract your losses in that asset category with better investment returns in another asset category.

One of the most important ways to lessen the risks of investing is to diversify your investments – both among asset categories and within asset categories. It’s common sense: don’t put all your eggs in one basket. By picking the right group of investments, you may be able to limit your losses and reduce the fluctuations of investment returns without sacrificing too much potential gain.

You’ll be exposed to significant investment risk if you invest heavily in shares of your employer’s stock. If that stock does poorly or the company goes bankrupt, you’ll probably lose a lot of money (and perhaps your job).

4.         Create and maintain an emergency fund. 

Most smart investors put enough money in a savings product to cover an emergency, like sudden unemployment.  Some make sure they have up to six months of their income in savings so that they know it will absolutely be there for them when they need it. During a downturn of the economy, this is particularly important. 

5.         Consider dollar cost averaging.

Through the investment strategy known as “dollar cost averaging,” you can protect yourself from the risk of investing all of your money at the wrong time by following a consistent pattern of adding new money to your investment over a long period of time.  By making regular investments with the same amount of money each time, you will buy more of an investment when its price is low and less of the investment when its price is high.  Individuals that typically make a lump-sum contribution to an individual retirement account either at the end of the calendar year or in early April may want to consider “dollar cost averaging” as an investment strategy, especially in today’s volatile market. 

6.         Consider rebalancing portfolio occasionally. 

Rebalancing is bringing your portfolio back to your original asset allocation mix.  By rebalancing, you’ll ensure that your portfolio does not overemphasize one or more asset categories, and you’ll return your portfolio to a comfortable level of risk.

You can rebalance your portfolio based either on the calendar or on your investments.  Many financial experts recommend that investors rebalance their portfolios on a regular time interval, such as every six or twelve months.  The advantage of this method is that the calendar is a reminder of when you should consider rebalancing.  Others recommend rebalancing only when the relative weight of an asset class increases or decreases more than a certain percentage that you’ve identified in advance.  The advantage of this method is that your investments tell you when to rebalance.  In either case, rebalancing tends to work best when done on a relatively infrequent basis.

7.       Avoid circumstances that can lead to fraud.

Scam artists read the headlines, too.  Often, they’ll use a highly publicized news item to lure potential investors and make their “opportunity” sound more legitimate.  This can be particularly true during troubled economic times when investors are frustrated. The SEC recommends that you ask questions and check out the answers with an unbiased source before you invest.  Always take your time and talk to trusted friends and family members before investing.

* * *

For more detailed information about topics discussed in this Investor Alert, please check out the following materials:

• Information for Investors on Recent Market Events

• Ask Questions

• Beginners’ Guide to Asset Allocation, Diversification and Rebalancing

• Get the Facts on Saving and Investing

• Invest Wisely: An Introduction to Mutual Funds

• 401(k) Debit Cards: What You Might Not Know

http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/financialnavigating.htm

The SEC has provided this information as a service to investors. It is neither a legal interpretation nor statement of SEC policy. If you have questions concerning the meaning or application of a particular law or rule, please consult with an attorney who specializes in securities law.

Watching the ups and downs of the stock market can be unnerving. Since September, the emotions of the American people have been on a roller-coaster ride that rises and falls with good news one day and bad news the next.

We’re all hoping for stability, but even if we escape a prolonged depression like that of the 1930s, we need to walk away from this crisis as changed people. Financial analyst Kevin Duffy notes that in the years building up to the crisis, the borrower was “a willing dance partner to the lender’s lead.” Duffy says that in June 2006, as many as 29 percent of mortgages taken on in 2005 were “already underwater.” The warnings were there, but our financial recklessness continued.¹

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were among the major partners in the dance. Although both entities were profit-driven corporations owned by shareholders, they also were government-sponsored enterprises. As a result, they “reaped the rewards of the private sector while enjoying the security of the public sector. Seemingly insulated from all harm, they became reckless. They constructed a giant pyramid of debt on a very small base of capital.”²

This year, we’ve witnessed one disaster after another as the seeds we planted in previous years bore their bitter fruits. And, in the midst of our own crisis, we may not have noticed the declines also taking place in countries like India, China, and Russia.

In the world of mutual funds, the Eaton Vance Greater India fund recorded gains as high as 114 percent in 2003, 45 percent in 2005, and 55 percent in 2007, according to Morningstar’s Gregg Wolper. “The typical China fund roughly triped in value between late 2005 and late 2007,” Wolper says. “ING Russia gained more than 65 percent in three separate calendar years between 2003 and 2007.” But this year the markets in all three countries have “plummeted.”³

For decades now, the philosophy of many in the industrialized world has been “me” and “more,” and people in other nations have adopted this thinking. But one thing we should learn from our current crisis is that this philosophy is a failed promise which often leads to disaster.

In an October 18 column, Fox News writer Nancy Colasurdo said she read on a message board that a woman broke up with her fiancé after he was laid off from his Wall Street job. “[W]hat does this economic downturn mean for the gold-diggers who had hoped to stake a claim on one of those high earners?” she asked. “Or for the women who had already snagged one and have now seen their net worth dwindle into the danger zone? And what about the men who sought the money and power in hopes of building material wealth to attract these one-dimensional relationships? How will they all define or redefine themselves?”⁴

Let me repeat an oft-repeated statement: Money can’t buy happiness.

In March, Science Magazine published an article on three studies dealing with the effect of income on happiness.⁵ The first study, involving 632 Americans, showed a direct relationship between happiness and spending money on others.

Another study involved a test group of employees who received bonuses. Those who spent more of their bonus on others experienced greater happiness.

Finally, there was an experiment involving people who were given $5 to $20 and told to spend the money by 5 pm that day. They were randomly assigned to spend the money on themselves, to buy a gift for someone else, or to make a charitable donation. You guessed it: The people in the latter two groups ended up with a higher rate of happiness.

Brian Hurlbut, author of Making it Count: Putting Meaning Back in Business and Relationships, is encouraging people to use the financial crisis as a wake-up call. “Get your eyes off yourself,” he says. “Others need you. You need others. Focus on those around you and give to their needs—whether emotional or financial.” Hurlbut says he’s not downplaying the importance of good self-preserving decisions. But, he says that once we’ve shored up our dams, we need to offer to help on someone else’s.⁶

When is your dam shored up? When you have enough. And, it’s critical that we all determine how much is enough. “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless” (Ecclesiastes 5:10 NIV).

In addition, we need to put our trust in God, not government. Writing for the Cato Institute, Johan Norberg says that after a financial crisis, we typically hear demands for new controls and regulations to keep it from happening again. But Norberg says the problem with regulation is that it’s “always a response to the last crisis. …The next possible crisis and its causes are so far unknown, and our regulations may have no effect or even make them worse.” Norberg says our best way to prepare is to become flexible and ensure that people and institutions are ready to “learn and adapt as soon as new information is available.”⁷

How do we become flexible? The answer is to become financially free and depend on the Lord. Government is not our Savior, Jesus is.

And, if you’re still tempted to depend on the government, think again, because the mortgage meltdown is “cheap compared with the coming fiscal firestorm fanned by unfunded Social Security and Medicare costs. Together, these programs hold unfunded obligations totaling $41 trillion—60 times larger than the proposed Wall Street bailout.”⁸

Our country desperately needs God, and we need to live in such a way that people want to know more about Him. Will you now live out his financial principles for your life? Will you be a changed person?

¹ Duffy, Kevin (2008, October 8). Looting the Responsible. Ludwig von Mises Institute.

² Surowiecki, James (2008, July 28). Sponsoring Recklessness [Electronic version]. The New Yorker, 84(22), 27.

³ Wolper, Gregg (2008, September 30). The Meltdowns You Might Have Missed. Morningstar.com.

⁴ Colasurdo, Nancy (2008, October 15). Tough Times Test Character, Relationships. FOXBusiness.com.

⁵ Dunn, Elizabeth W., Aknin, Lara B., Norton, Michael I. (2008, March 21). Spending Money on Others Promotes Happiness [Electronic version]. Science Magazine, 319(5870), 1687-1688.

⁶ eReleases Newsbureau (2008, October 10). Bryan Hurlbut, Author of ‘Making It Count,’ Says ‘Best Investment Is a Wake-up Call’.

⁷ Norberg, John (2008, October 7). Regulators Cannot Avert Next Crisis. The Cato Institute.

⁸ Riedl, Brian M. (2008, September 29). $700 Billion Bailout? You Ain’t Seen Nothin’. The Heritage Foundation.

http://www.moneylife.org/Insight/Articles/EconomyCrisis/HowTheEconomicCrisisShouldChangeYou.aspx

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Newscasts report daily that our economy is on a downward trend. People are losing their homes, highly-paid executives are losing their positions and having to settle for lower-paying jobs, food and energy costs continue to increase, and the list goes on.

While these facts are true, what we are experiencing is not new. In Jeremiah 29, the “weeping prophet” predicted long-term captivity. Israel would endure 70 years of hard labor before they would be allowed to return to their homeland. Let’s all hope and pray that our current economic downturn won’t last that long!

We have compiled a list of things you can do to survive or thrive in our current economy.

1. Learn to be content. (1 Timothy 6:6-9).
2. Pay your bills faithfully. Making your payments on or before the due date is a positive testimony to your creditors and a good example to your family/neighbors.
3. Prioritize your debt, making sure you don’t compromise your home or your transportation.
4. Negotiate with creditors as needed. Be proactive. Seek a meeting with them to make payment arrangements rather than waiting until you miss payments and they come looking for you.
5. Downsize if it puts you in a better cash position.
6. Pay extra whenever you can to accelerate payoff dates.
7. Have a garage sale to generate extra cash to pay down debt or to increase savings.
8. Work your way through the Crown Money Map.
9. Capitalize on your most valuable assets, your family.
10. Learn to garden, use fresh vegetables and fruit when in season, try a new recipe.
11. Cancel cable/satellite. Instead, read a book, play a table game, or share coffee with friends.
12. Explore bartering to save on outgoing expenses.

“A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it” (Proverbs 22:3).

http://www.moneylife.org/Insight/Articles/EconomyCrisis/HowToProsperInADecliningEconomy.aspx

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I have found that an effective roadmap for financial planning to be such:

First… ride, if you will, with someone you trust.

Second…Be a smarter saver than investor, that way you can invest more conservatively. It tends to lower your costs considerably providing better long term health and happiness!

Third…gather the real, honest and reasonable facts of where you’re at currently, where you want to go and then consider vehicles..if you will, that will get you there in good form…not to aggressive.

Lastly…consider having these two active ingredients in place, they are, “active management” and an “exit strategy” based on your personal risk profile.

To be a little more clear…don’t be so passive that you find yourself broken down on the side of the highway in the middle of nowhere.

Have a safe trip…and this way you can enjoy the ride!

Sincerely,

J Thomas Regan

Ellen Brandt  published @ http://www.babyboomerknowledgecenter.com

Baby Boomers Seeking a Slice Of Heaven…for our parents.

Speaking as a baby boomer..I will never forget the wisdom of the ages..the wisdom our parents and gr. parents taught us.

We are currently looking at a retirement community for my mother…and the place that allows her to continue life as she has or wishes will be the winner.

Having respect for our elders..for each other…what a novel idea!

Live wisely…after all isn’t that what they taught us to do!

J Thomas Regan

Capturing a global market could require a global model.

Some recent notes I thought might be of interest to you, your family and your business.

I hope you find this useful, if not, well then at least entertaining

 In it’s current state:

The market is down 52% from 10/09/2007 (as of 2/23/09).

All appreciation in price from 1997 has been erased.

Calendar year 2008 was the worst for equity markets since 1931.

This is simply an exaggerated version of the market cycles we’ve experienced many times: 1937, Feb 1942, 1974, 1982, & 2002

Money market fund balances as a percentage of the market cap of the Wilshire 5000

*August of 1982…start of the biggest historic bull market, therefore …

*Sept. 1982 money market balances were at 19% of Wilshire 5000

*October of 2002…30%

*March 2003…30% the double bottom

*November 2008…45%!

Is there an ocean of cash building up behind an earthen dam of fear?

When the dam breaks, with 11 Trillion dollars in cash from the sidelines…it will be too late for  investors who have been procrastinating or frozen out of fear and to discouraged to do anything…to benefit from the dramatic rise in the market.

Have the courage to take action…especially in the wake of adversity.

 Prepare yourself for perfect tolerance, uncertainty and ambiguity, because this is the territory where people achieve their financial goals.

One would have to agree that having a sound financial plan at such a pivotal point, like the present, would be paramount to capturing the market in the very near future?

We have seen what happens when we are invested at the bottom, based on a US economy, are you prepared to get whip lashed or left behind based on the forces of a global economy?

A person of good stature and experience could ask themself these questions…

Have I developed a zero tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity, the illusion of certainty?

Am I prepared and able to take action or will I be forced to react?  Victims react, opportunists act.

Am I willing to plan prudently, embrace past performance and focus on capturing the future rewards for the benefit of both my family’s and my businesses financial security?

Know this…when, where, or why it will stop…I don’t know; …but that it will stop is inevitable.

The context of which we plan will prepare you and your family for sound financial security in the many years ahead.

It is our intentions to meet with you and prepare you for perfect tolerance, uncertainty, ambiguity and this is the territory where people achieve their financial goals.

We have great deal of respect for your current talents, past challenges and future dreams.

Sincerely,

J. Thomas Regan

Development Director

PlanViser Financial                            

Direct 612-840-2842

Office 612-436-3756

jregan@planviser.com

www.planviser.com

Is it time for a new model?

Rebuilding your Financial Program could require a new global model for our new global market.

There has been an increased interest in having a written financial plan with maybe the addition of active ingredients called management and exit strategies.

This is also a time when high quality protected growth strategies are in vogue.

Good financial planning should involve qualified professionals who are experienced in the various stages of financial planning

Rebuilding your financial program will also require honesty, openness, transparency and integrity to establish a lasting trust.

Financial planning allows for the discussion, review and implementation of investment and risk management strategies that provide a sense of comfort and certainty…especially in uncertain times.

A second opinion is considered prudent, good management and acceptable.

While this is brief in nature, consider visiting our website and learning center @ www.planviser.com will provide more complete facts, e-seminars, case studies, articles and the necessary industry disclosures.

You can contact me directly for additional request, resources and meeting arrangements.

J Thomas Regan

Business Development Director

PlanViser Financial

jregan@planviser.com

www.planviser.com

(612) 840-2842