Case Study for Effective Accountability for Elderly

Are you responsible for an elderly parent or relative? Let me share with you a story of one of my clients, and ask yourself does this sound familiar.

Roger is 66, this year he has finally retired after years of hard work, but unfortunately he is working as hard as ever because his aging mother and aunt are suffering from various illnesses, including both physical and mental issues including the onset of Alzheimer’s. He travels to see them frequently and does his best to monitor their bank accounts and to help them both with bills and money issues. Each day he logs into their different accounts and attempts to monitor all their activity, banking, credit cards and household expenses, it is time consuming and a major burden and only something that you would do for a loved one.

If you or someone you know is like Roger, caring for another person’s finances, helping with their health issues, and you are getting worn out, please consider a using a process that family trustees and advocates have used for over a decade.

iSteward, is a tool and process to help those like Roger that are overwhelmed by the time and energy it takes to stay on top of their loved ones that mean so much. How can iSteward help?

iSteward is a fast and easy way to organize and make the complex more simple. It is a private, safe and secure website where everything can be monitored and reviewed with the touch of your fingertips. There are custom alerts in one place for all accounts. No need to login to all the accounts and monitor anymore as iSteward has tools to help you. We like to think of it as a personal financial home page, with added layers of safety and security.

First, iSteward is NOT is transaction site. What do we mean by that phrase? No movements of money whatsoever, unlike banking, credit card and brokerage account sites, there is never any movement of your funds through iSteward. This web portal is designed to ease security pressures and allow for the very best in monitoring and reviewing of all your different accounts.

If you are working with multiple professionals, such as a health care advocate, an elder-care attorney, tax professionals and financial advisors, iSteward process will serve as a central depository for secured information. You no longer have to trust on outside emails and attachment files; rather utilize the iSteward state of the art file security system to deliver sensitive materials to those different professionals.

As we all grow older and have become more cautious over technology, the more sense it makes to have a secured Non-Transactional portal to see everything and be on top of it all in one place. This safe and intuitive process is easy to set up and monitor all activities of brokerage accounts, banking, tax, insurance and legal issues. There are thousands of professionals using this technology daily to do just that- collaborate and provide secure information and planning.

Want to learn more then check out other iSteward blogs and articles at www.StewardshipMatters.net, and while you are there watch a short video on iSteward.

Financial Planning: Getting from Here to There

If your financial plan is not addressing inflation right now, then you are cheating your future and that of your family. Real financial planning engages coaching, knowledge on various options and strategies, and how to implement and follow the progress of your individual plan. There is a lot more than crunching numbers, and that is where we help you with your personal financial planning process, which will help you get from Here to There. The following video is a quick primer on one of the processes we use to help clients plan their resources and become good stewards for their families. Click below to view.

iSteward a Safe Place for You

Why is iSteward safe for you and your personal financial information? First, unlike banking sites and bill paying portals iSteward does not allow banking or any types of transactions or transfers period. iSteward’s Wealth Management System employs the most advanced security features and protocols to keep your data safe, private and secure, 24/7/365. Comprehensive security protection measures include password protection; secure socket layer encryption, firewalls, intrusion detection, audits, inspections and more. You can be confident that your important information is safe and secure.

It allows you to get a clear, easy to understand picture of your finances with graphics and data. This allows you and your advisors to be able to make a plan with both you and them saving time, and the frustration from having your financial data that is incorrect or out of date. Imagine you have multiple financial relationships and even some financial accounts that are held in a business name or with previous employers’ retirement accounts, now you can have all of your information consolidated and seeing all of it together to address your allocation to company or industry.

You are traveling or it’s a weekend and need access to important legal documents, now you can access anywhere in the world your personal vault document or perhaps a copy of your passport making the trip to Embassy much faster and easier to navigate. Perhaps you left a family member with another care giver and the hospital needs documents to treat them and you open your virtual vault and simply email it to the parties with a simple click.

Unlike portals that are driven by a banking or investment relationship the iSteward is driven based on sound planning advice for a fee, rather than the same “old park your CD here” and we will help your organize your stuff planning.

We want you to know that stewardship encompasses all aspects of your life, and is not about only a part of your life like giving away some money. iSteward can help.

Values Based Investing

Here is one radio personality view of values-based investing.

“Dave does not use a values-based investing approach. Here’s why:

1) In values-based investing, you pick between two similar mutual funds that align with your beliefs–a good concept.

2) However, few of these funds stand up to Dave’s criteria for picking mutual funds (five-year or longer track record of strong rates of return, professionally managed by a team of mutual funds managers, etc.)

3) This is a very personal decision you will have to make, and it is sometimes referred to as a slippery slope. If you no longer invest in funds that might invest in a company that supports abortion, to be consistent, you will need to stop shopping at the grocer that sells pornography. You would also need to stop banking because nearly all banks contribute to United Way, which supports Planned Parenthood.

4) Do not choose these funds out of guilt.”

The above philosophy was similar to mine own after I was ridiculed by some hard core non values-based investment firms in the early 1990′s. Back then the financial the industry taught me to believe values-based approach was nothing more than a marketing gimmick or excuse for money managers to prey on an investors emotions. I have learn a lot since then and in fact a tremendous amount of change has occurred within the values-based fields in the past decade.

I agree wholly with items 1 and 4. After 27 years of reading and studying, along with applying values-based investment principles in everyday practice it does work. Values-Based investing is not for everyone. In 1986 the first investment I helped my first client with was Calvert Social Investment Fund and they were thrilled with the fund’s values and value they received for their investment. In fact they came into the office telling me they did not want to be a part of any companies doing business in South Africa because of the politics of that country. Rarely does an investor ask for values-based investments, most investors and advisors know very little or next to nothing about the more than 500 + value based offerings today. Some of these investments have 20 year track records and are considered top picks in their respected categories. Today, there are screened Exchange Traded Funds in addition to mutual funds and private money management offerings.

Let’s address the 3rd item above: His example of grocery store selling pornographic materials is both ignorant and a lame excuse. Here are 5 compelling reasons why: 1) Focus and where profits are derived in business, reveal values 2) Technology and resources are better today than ever before in screening values 3) Leaders in nonprofits have engaged deeply in investing in values based companies 4) Individual investors are demanding more and better ways to align with their values 5) Impact and results are proving values-based investing is a really good thing.

A question I would have for Dave above is this. Can you draw a personal line in the sand as it relates to your values or standards in the following way? You have a choice between two grocery stores located next to each other and similar prices and service and selection on the key ingredients. Store A displays and promotes gambling and pornography openly and is one of the larger vendors in the state for these services. Store B has lottery tickets available at service counter and does a little business in this area (less than 1% of their profits) and does not promote pornographic materials like Store A. So now what do you choose?

Nowadays there is great news; there are now tens of thousands of auditors and consultants inside public corporations looking at where profits are derived and reporting daily to various services such as the MSCI, GMI, ICCR and others. We know who sells what and the profits they make on these items, including: land mines, gambling devices, alcohol, tobacco, firearms, abortion related services, usury, toxins or polluters of the environment. This is not a perfect science, rather taking steps either towards your values or away from your values. It’s about you and your values.

Please understand that these values, or screening for these values is important tool in aligning your values with your investments. By screening you can also find excellent money managers and investment products that cater to your individual values. This was not true when I first started almost 3 decades ago.

Financial Tools For Professional Women

It is no surprise to any of us, that 57% of the workforce is made up of women. Now there is exciting news for professional women, there are useful tools to track your goals and progress with little to no effort. Save time and energy by having all your family and financial data online and at your disposal 24/7. This can include your different financial investments and family budget presented in a secure and useful package to help you make wise choices about for your family’s needs, paying off college loans, planning for future educational expenses and your retirement. It’s called iSteward and having a process like this will help you change for the better your planning and investment decisions.
Click on the video below to see how it can help you.

What is iSteward?

iSteward is an online collaborative tool that leverages the best security technology, which helps to provide individuals and organizations better management of their assets and liabilities. The personal financial planning platform allows for individuals to track daily their investments to make sure they stay on target to reach the goals set out in their financial plan. It allows you the opportunity to utilize the adjustments options to correct for both under and over achieving investments. Tax Professional and Attorneys both love the features in iSteward that provide a secured portal to exchange planning and tax information. Helping to reach your Retirement & College Planning have never been easier.

To better understand iSteward and the value it will provide to you, we recommend you watch the short video below.

Fair Trade as Solution to Poverty

Guest writer: Lizzie Wirgau

OUR STORY

We started Market Colors in August of 2011. Throughout our trips to Malawi and Kenya, we came face to face with “poverty” in a new way. What we previously thought was just a distant land became a place filled with friends and some of our favorite, and most difficult, memories. Pictures in Time Magazine sent us back to visits with refugee women across East Africa. We found ourselves awake at night, restless… anxious and willing to do whatever God called us to do.

On my second trip to Malawi, I met Gloria and Tiliangati. Gloria was 8 and Tiliangati was just a baby. Their mother, Lamas, had AIDS and was dying of pneumonia. I learned that when Lamas died, she would not have anything to leave to her children and her neighbors would have to look after them. It wasn’t because she was a bad mother. As a single mother, she simply did not have the means to provide for them. We sat outside her hut, placing hands on Lamas, asking God to comfort her and provide for her children. She passed away 8 days later.

OUR SOLUTION

We want to equip families in Africa. There are groups throughout the continent teaching women like Lamas how to become skilled craftsmen. They are showing them there is another way: provide for themselves in an honest way that honors the Lord. As often the sole providers for their large families, the craftsmen are fiercely driven. They have an extraordinary work ethic and exceptional drive and determination. But these craftsmen have such a small market where they can sell their products. We want to equip them to take their products from the village market to the world market. We believe that Market Colors can and will do this through promoting and selling their products through our e-commerce website. Our work is centered upon the goal of creating thousands of sustainable jobs throughout the continent.

We sell products made by groups in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Malawi. Some products we carry are: purses, laptop cases, iPad carriers, scarves, rugs, and accessories. Our competitive edge lies in the fact that each product is 100% handmade and accompanied by a product card, providing details about the African craftsman who made it.

Rather than doing charity work with just instant gratification, Market Colors equips men and women to sustain themselves for years. All surpluses are reinvested in Africa. Public support is raised to expand our reach to new groups of craftsmen throughout Africa.

We are a nonprofit organization utilizing the most current domestic and international business practices, Internet technologies, marketing tactics, and international finance to create a successful and sustainable business model. We honor the World Fair Trade Organization’s 100% Fair Trade commitment and have established fair trade working principles of our own.

Visit our store! Add us on Facebook and Twitter. Follow our blog. Spread the word about the craftsmen!

Together we can transform lives throughout Africa.

Lizzie Wirgau
Founder

What is a Investment Screening?

Welcome to the first of a three part blog on investment portfolio screening. Today we will deal with aspect of screening your portfolio of the negative societal vices that are well hidden inside both corporate and mutual fund holdings.

There is an old saying, In the land of the blind (majority of wealth advisors), even the one-eyed person can be king. Now I do not presume to be a king, rather I see my vocation as one of helping investors to see what can be done to improve the process of aligning their values, with their investment portfolio, and how that can be implemented in the area of using screening technology. With nearly 25 year to the exposure and implementation of screening for financial investments, and countless conversations with experts and investors alike, I believe I have the experience to talk with investors and to open up their eyes about this important investment tool.

Historically, the process of investment screening started when the Methodist and Quakers over 200 years ago were approached by large trading companies, that were in the business of slavery, in those days slavery was very profitable. The Methodist and Quakers took a stand against slavery and encouraged others to not invest with the “Trading Companies” that were participants in slave trade. It took time but others followed suit by not investing in these companies and then the capital markets (banking), quickly dried up for a once very profitable business venture and eventually the end of slavery.

Why screen your investment portfolio for negative issues? What is a negative issue for you? Does it really matter to you? Or is this just another gimmick to give investment professionals the opportunity to call something more custom?

What would you do if…? Your mother or father died of lung cancer at an early age and now you are angry at the tobacco companies. Do you wish to have your hard earned investments be associated with any tobacco companies; even inside your mutual funds, annuities and stocks.

That was just one example of a negative societal issue, there are countless others; pornography, abortion, human trafficking, alcoholism, environmental.