6 Smart Money moves

Ken Dolan: Hi, everybody. We’re glad you join us. Remember the Beatle song, Today it’s your birthday. I mean happy birthday, Daria. Daria Dolan: I’m in black. I’m in mourning. Ken Dolan: In front of all. Daria Dolan: Now, that you’re older. Ken Dolan: In front of all our Dolans.com family. I will do something that I’ve done every year and that is sing. I will serenade you happy birthday. So here it goes. Daria Dolan: You’ll never sing another one on my birthday if you do that. Ken Dolan: Instead of singing, okay. Daria Dolan: Okay. Ken Dolan: Instead of singing, let’s do this. Let’s talk about— Daria Dolan: I do five money things every year on my birthday. Ken Dolan: Maybe we’ll do those now. Daria Dolan: Can we do this? Ken Dolan: But guess what? I have a little surprise for you, and she doesn’t know this. I have a six. Daria Dolan: Oh! Ken Dolan: Yes, I do unless you’ll hear one here. Daria Dolan: Okay. Ken Dolan: So these are five things and I’ll add one more. Daria Dolan: Okay. Ken Dolan: On your birthday do what? Daria Dolan: Alright, I really I do this more than once a year, but it seems like it’s the only time it gets done. Ken Dolan: Clean out your wallet. Daria Dolan: I take my wallet and I dumped it out. It’s amazing what you’ll find in there. All voter’s registration cards that aren’t any good anymore, airline mileage programs that’s you haven’t use and then taken your points away. Ken Dolan: I saw a four-five years worth of insurance cards too by the way. Daria Dolan: Yes. Ken Dolan: The bank cards in 1865. Daria Dolan: Oh, wow! Ken Dolan: I’m just—Oh boy, birthday dogs okay. Daria Dolan:: He’s not going to last long. Ken Dolan: Voter’s registration cards, mileage cards, insurance cards, anything. You know, I’ll tell you how I classified Daria. Daria Dolan: Business cards from people you don’t even don’t remember who they were. Ken Dolan: How about stuff you can’t even explain and why it’s there? Daria Dolan: Exactly. Ken Dolan: Okay, alright. Daria Dolan: So what I do is I get rid of all that. I tossed it out after shredding or ripping it up and anything we can’t explain now. Ken Dolan: Yeah. Daria Dolan: But put the wallet back in my person, you know what? It always feels lighter. Your pants pocket or your purse will also feel lighter. Ken Dolan: Hold on before you put your wallet. Be back on your personal wallet back on your pants if you’re a guy. May I suggest you to do this, I know you do this. In fact, they just did it. Photocopy all your credit cards. Daria Dolan: Oh, right. I forgot to mention that. Ken Dolan: Yeah, before you put it back. Photocopy all the credit cards because if— Daria Dolan: Front and back. Ken Dolan: Front and back because if your cards are lost or stolen,your wallet or purse is lost or stolen at least you’ll have it there. Daria Dolan: And then. Ken Dolan: You put them in a safe place. Daria Dolan: Put that in a safe place and you might even want to let family members know where that safe place is, supposing you’re on a business trip. Somebody swipe your wallet. You lost your credit cards. You call home. They can’t find it to use it. Ken Dolan: No good. Daria Dolan: You’re not going to be able to call the credit card company while you will, but you have to do it the hard way. Ken Dolan: Okay, that’s one. Number two, clean out all your financial papers. I mean like all those notices, those statements at the CDs matured or— Daria Dolan: Or the contracts that it will mature. Ken Dolan: Yeah, stuff like that. Daria Dolan: In 1999. Ken Dolan: Yeah, 1989 and something that we get all the time, and we’re talking about tossing. People asked, “When shall I toss out my brokerage statements? I’ve got them like from 10 years ago. They’re all laid in a box in the attic.” The answer is we like one per year the end of the year maybe back three or four, by the end of the year statement maybe back three or four years. Daria Dolan: Yeah. Ken Dolan: That’s all. Daria Dolan: Yeah. Ken Dolan: I don’t know. Daria Dolan: Then, what you want to do is shred everything. If you don’t have a shredder I strongly urge you to invest in one because you don’t want to just be throwing out bank statements and brokerage account statements, etcetera. It has got your numbers on it. It has got pertinent information, your bank, and your broker’s name. You don’t want that so make sure you shred it then while we’re going through financial stuff. Ken Dolan: How about bank statements? Six months, maybe six months. Daria Dolan: Yeah, six months, what I usually do is I keep a file for tax purposes, so I keep the entire year’s bank statements. Then when it comes time to file taxes once the tax process is over then I shred all of those and get rid of them. Ken Dolan: We just read on the paper—oh that’s number two, number three. We read the paper that about $15 Billion of US savings, bonds have stop paying interest so may I suggest on your birthday as a good—it’s like changing the batteries. We should put also change the batteries when you’re help when you’re firing your house alarm. Daria Dolan: Well, usually that’s good when you fall back. Ken Dolan: You spring forward. Daria Dolan: You spring forward. Ken Dolan: Alright, anyway go to saving bonds because we don’t want you to be one of the $15.1 billion of bonds that have stopped paying interest. What you may want to do, we tell our people already on a television all the time. You’ve got a pencil, are you ready? Okay, TreasuryDirect.gov, one word, www.treasurydirect.gov. Why, why are you sending me there? Savings bonds, wizard will take you about five minutes to download it when you plug in the date, the denomination of the treasury of the savings bond when you bought it and it fits up, what the interest is, what the principle is worth from the 30-day, spectacular. Daria Dolan: Absolutely. Ken Dolan: Alright, that’s number three. Daria Dolan: And next, you may not like this one, but get out your will and review it. You’ll be amazed how many years go by people that you’ve name in there. Ken Dolan: You maybe change law states. Daria Dolan: Guardians that you’ve named for your children and now your children are on their PhD’s somewhere and don’t really need guardians anymore. Maybe you’ve moved from one state to another or you have a vacation home in a different state. All these reasons are reasons to review your will, and if you’re sitting there same lawyer you don’t have to because I don’t have a will. Ken Dolan: Don’t tell us that. Daria Dolan: Then use your birthday to go get a will. You’ve got two choices to get your assets to your loved ones. Ken Dolan: Alright. Daria Dolan: Either you designate it by drawing up a will or your state’s going to do it for you and you may not like the way the state divides up your estate. Ken Dolan: Alright, that’s number four and I’m letting Daria do it two in a row because I’ll tell you why I’m letting her to do number five because I have a surprise number six. So you do both. Daria Dolan: Okay. Ken Dolan: Yeah. Daria Dolan: Sit down, get that broker’s statement out the latest one and review your investments. Get out your 401K statement. Get out your IRA statements. Take a look at how you’re invested and see whether everything still makes sense. You’re a year older maybe. You’re year close to the retirement possibly. You may want to start changing the mixed on something. If you don’t take a look at what you’ve got, you won’t know whether you need to change it or not. Ken Dolan: How many types of people called us on radio and television Daria saying, “I wouldn’t check my broker statement. I just get them. I don’t want to look at and I throw them on the drawer. And come back to when the drawer is full once a year.” Do you want to hear number six? Daria Dolan: Yes, I’m not telling you to do that. We’re saying that’s a bad thing. Ken Dolan: It’s the bad thing to do. Number six, are you ready? You’ll be very impressed. Daria Dolan: Okay. Ken Dolan: Make sure that you get before your birthday the personal earnings and benefits estimate statements from Social Security. Daria Dolan: Okay, yeah. Ken Dolan: It comes before your birthday. Yeah, it comes— Daria Dolan: Several weeks before. Ken Dolan: It comes automatically. Social Security System says, “Every year, here’s what you’ve got. Here’s what you built up and sort of this at the moment depending how much you’re worth. Here’s what you’ll get when you retire on Social Security.” It’s supposed to come automatically. My only warning is if you don’t get it by your birthday and you’ve been paying in the Social Security, make sure you get it. Daria Dolan: One other thing on the personal earnings benefits estimate statements. When you get it I know that the first thing you want to say is, “How much I’m going to get if I keep burning it this rate?” Take a look at the other page where they’ve got the columns of how much you’ve paid in each year to make sure that you’ve got the right amounts credited there. You’ve only got three years to fix that before you’ve lost the opportunity for bigger benefit. Ken Dolan: www.SSA.gov, that’s Social Security Administration.gov if you’d like to know more about tips and anything else going on in Social Security. It’s amazing that at least we have our tip either back and call 1800-7721-1213, is the national number for Social Security 1800-7721-1213 and never at anytime with my head leave my body when I gave that number. Now may I say two final words to you, on behalf of all the members of the Dolans.com. Daria Dolan: I know what it is and I’m going to cry. Ken Dolan: Happy birthday.