Be Wealthy & Smart

Learn one crucial thing for you to review under the new tax act. In this podcast I review some changes made under the new legislation and the one thing you must do to be smart with your money. A link to the article is on my website at www.lindapjones.com.

Learn how and where to begin investing and why it shouldn't be with individual stocks. This is a listener question from Instagram. She said, "I'm listening to all the podcasts, reading all recommended books (and then some) but I get stuck with hoarding knowledge/questions and not actually taking action. Still trying to figure out how to read charts, prospectuses, where do I go for p/e ratios, and what are all those other #'s and %'s, etc.? There's the investor part of this question and the mindset part, so I'll cover both. If you'd like to get a short wealth building idea from me each week, sign up for "11 Quick Financial Tips to Boost Your Wealth" at www.lindapjones.com.

Learn the causes of the stock market's wild swings and how to know when the bull market will resume. What is causing the swings in the stock market? Why have we gone from low volatility to high volatility? How will you know when it is over? I share with you details from one of my Be Wealthy & Smart VIP Experience webinars. It's my investing inner circle just for members. I go in depth about: What the market is telling us about volatility going forward. What is causing the stock market to drop? What are the signs to watch for to know if it is over? Check out the Be Wealthy & Smart VIP Experience here: http://lindapjones.com/vip Limited offer, use promo code "SMARTVIP" and save 50%!

Learn what to do when the stock market is volatile. The stock market pulled back 1600 points in one day. A new record. I saw one TV reporter make a big deal of a 500 pt drop because that's what happened in the crash of 1987. Percentage-wise that was a 22% decline vs. a few percent. Yesterday the Dow dropped 567 then gained 567. Don't pay attention to the number of points it moves, pay attention to percentages. Now that the Dow is so much higher at 25,000, it would take a drop of 5,500 points to equal 22% like in 1987. Stock market pull backs, and crashes, are part of investing so you need to have a strategy to handle them. Rather than hoping they won't happen, you have to accept them as part of investing and learn what to do because the stock market drops about 10% every 11 months on average. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has dropped 20% 12 times since the end of WWII. That's about every 6 years. You have 3 choices whenever there is volatility: Buy, hold or sell. Since there are bigger corrections every 6 years, that is the best time to buy. It will also feel the most scary. People will move from complacency to panic. It's just how it works. You can hold for the long-term. It's good to make sure your asset allocation is where you want it to be. If you are going to need the money in less than 2 years, then you may want to be aware of how much risk you are taking. Is it the right amount? You usually don't want to sell, because there are dead-cat bounces that happen after a large decline. Panic selling is never a good idea. So your options are really hold or buy. If you're dollar cost averaging like in your 401k, then you are buying regularly and automatically. It's common for funds to invest at the end of the month, and if the market is a little lower than the month before, then you will buy lower. Start to think opposite of the crowd. Watch the sentiment indicators. They poll investors and tell us whether they are optimistic or bullish or pessimistic or bearish and what percentages are which. Usually if 60% are optimistic bulls, then the market will pullback and get a little fear back. Fear is actually good because markets are said to climb a wall of worry. When too many people are expecting it to move higher, it's like everyone is on one side of a boat and you know what happens then. More volatility happens until the fear comes back into the market and some move to the other side of the boat. So here are some things to think about: 1) Is your asset allocation (percentages in small, mid, large, etc.) correct for your age and circumstances? The younger you are, the more you want in stocks. 2) Are you keeping a long-term view? 3) Volatility is part of investing. Usually the best thing to do is nothing. Just ride it through, unless you want to buy. 4) The only thing that will help is time, so give it time to work it's way through. 5) Expect pullbacks, they are normal and eventually end.

Learn how to shorten the path to wealth. It's listener question Friday! Yesterday a listener asked me what was the quickest way to become a millionaire? Although getting rich quick is not recommended because it's usually accompanied by high risk of loss, I want to talk about something related to it that is important for you to know. First, let's talk about what creates wealth? When creating wealth, the one thing that matters the most is the rate at which you compound money. It's not all about how much money you have to start with. Compounding grows your money and creates additional money. Learn more by listening to the podcast. If you'd like short wealth building ideas emailed to you once a week, join my email list at http://lindapjones.com by opting into the "11 Quick Financial Tips to Boost Your Wealth."

Learn 2 things wealthy investors believe about working with financial advisors. This comes from a Spectrem Group survey. The survey graphics are posted on my website at http://lindapjones.com. While you're there, get "11 Quick Financial Tips to Boost Your Wealth." Subscribe to the podcast to get updated when new shows are uploaded!

Learn one way you may be missing out on free money that could add up to $100k or more to your retirement plan. This is an article from CNBC.com. The link to the article is here: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/28/missing-the-employer-match-could-hurt-your-retirement-goals.html This episode is sponsored by Betterment: Did you know Betterment is the largest independent online financial advisor with more than $10 billion in assets under management with more than 300,000 customers? Their service helps to improve long-term returns and lower taxes for retirement planning, building wealth, and other financial goals. Betterment's tax coordinated portfolio can increase a portfolio's value by an estimated 15% over 30 years. Their annual advisory fee is only .25%, with unlimited messaging access to their team of licensed financial experts through a mobile app. Of course, investing involves risk. For listeners of Be Wealthy & Smart, you can get up to 1 year managed free, visit betterment.com/bewealthy that's betterment.com/bewealthy. I'll also post these links on my website at: http://www.lindapjones.com/how-to-find-free-money-for-your-retirement/

Learn why wealth building is about making good decisions. An example is the popular trend of buying subscription boxes which could be usurping your future wealth. Find out why $1,000,000 could be the opportunity cost. Be Wealthy & Smart has over 1.2 million downloads. Subscribe and don't miss a single episode! Get easy wealth tips at http://lindapjones.com.

Learn if a Financial Advisor is a good fit for you and what the signs are to look for with Joe Saul-Sehy of the Stacking Benjamins podcast. In this episode, I interview Joe Saul-Sehy. He's also my co-host (along with Miranda Marquit and Doug Goldstein) on the Money Tree Investing podcast. Joe and I talk about what makes a good Financial Advisor and when to cut them loose. Did you know Betterment is the largest independent online financial advisor with more than $10 billion in assets under management with more than 300,000 customers? Their service helps to improve long-term returns and lower taxes for retirement planning, building wealth, and other financial goals. Betterment's tax coordinated portfolio can increase a portfolio's value by an estimated 15% over 30 years. Their annual advisory fee is only .25%, with unlimited messaging access to their team of licensed financial experts through a mobile app. Of course, investing involves risk. For listeners of Be Wealthy & Smart, you can get up to 1 year managed free, visit: http://www.betterment.com/bewealthy I'll also post these links on my website at http://lindapjones.com, podcast 368. Please subscribe to Be Wealthy & Smart so you're updated when new episodes are available and leave us a review - we love to hear from you!

Learn how the tweak made in a prior podcast moved my credit score from 817 to a perfect 850. This is part two of a podcast I did about investigating a 30 point drop in my credit score, even though I pay it off every month. I made a tweak in podcast number 251 and I share the results with you on this podcast. Even if you pay your bills off every month and don't carry a balance on your credit cards, there's one thing that might be impacting your credit negatively. I fixed it in podcast 251 (listen for all the details on how to raise your credit score) and on this podcast I give you the awesome results of the tweak. My FICO score report is posted on my website at http://www.lindapjones.com, podcast 367. Get "11 Quick Financial Tips to Boost Your Wealth" at http://lindapjones.com. Please subscribe to the podcast to get notified as soon as new podcasts are uploaded.