Protecting Your Money From Spendthrift KidsBy Daniel P. Seink, Esq., CELA Daniel P. Seink, Esq., CELA, Founder and Managing Partner of the Daniel P. Seink Co., Ltd.

Many people want to leave a legacy. They may want to provide for children or grandchildren, to help their family pay off debt, or to provide for their future education costs. Whatever their goals, there are many important considerations, and not all of them are financial.

We find that many families have concerns about the spending habits of potential beneficiaries or heirs. One study at The Ohio State University found that one in three people who received an inheritance spent it all within two years! Another OSU study found that most Americans will save only half of their inheritance. That same study went on to say that more than one third of inheritors saw a decline or no change in their overall wealth after receiving an inheritance. Heirs and beneficiaries may be too young, too impulsive, or just have trouble managing their personal finances. Most people don’t do well with a sudden cash infusion – the urge is to run out and buy something they want, rather than to save for their future, or for something they need. Fortunately, you have many options in terms of how you can leave a legacy.

A Quar ter ly Publication Vol . 9 Issue 2 / Apr i l 2017the WealthWATCHSM the WealthWATCHSM 1

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Protecting Your Money page 1 From Spendthrift Kids

Letter From The President page 2

How Successful is Your page 2Retirement?

Economic Commentary page 3

FIND US ON:

Daniel P. Seink

One option is to create a type of irrevocable trust known as a spendthrift trust. A spendthrift trust puts restrictions on withdrawals in place, and, properly constructed, has the added benefit of protecting the proceeds you leave the beneficiary from possible claims by his or her creditors. In fact, many people use the spendthrift trust, even if they don’t feel their beneficiaries will be irresponsible with their inheritance for this reason as well. The trust can help provide for heirs through periodic distributions at pre-determined ages. Ages of 18, 25, 30, 35, and 40 are commonly used, the assumption being that as your heirs age and gain more life experience, they will make better monetary choices. Spendthrift trusts can also sometimes contain provisions permitting the trustee to distribute money ahead of schedule but only for specific purposes such as education, medical expenses or other necessities.

There are also other less structured options. For example, you may consider making significant gifts to your children while you are still alive, when there is a specific, significant need. This way, you can ensure your money gets spent on what you feel is important, rather than what they may want or purchase on a whim. In many cases, if planned correctly and within certain limits, you can give a gift that is non-taxable for your beneficiary, and may have positive tax implications for you as well.

As with most people’s finances, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. The good news is that there are many options available, and with some thoughtful, careful planning, you can make sure that the legacy that you leave is the one you want.

For weekly updates and more information, check out our blog! You can find it at lineweaver.net/blog

Securities offered through Triad Advisors, member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through Lineweaver Wealth Advisors, LLC. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors is not affiliated with Triad Advisors. This is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as tax or legal advice. Consult your tax or legal advisor in regard to your specific situation.

2

by Jim Lineweaver, CFP®, President and FounderLE T TER FROM THE PRESIDENT

It’s hard to believe that we are already three months into 2017 – and it’s been an interesting year so far. With a new administration in place, there are many changes being proposed. There are a number of issues that we’re following closely, and we want to be able to communicate efficiently when something material happens that may affect our clients’ finances, insurance situation, or estate plans.

To make sure you’re getting up to the minute updates that affect you and your family, we’ve made some big changes in terms of communication. You may have seen the video that we shared in January, where we re-capped the 2016 markets and looked ahead to 2017. In the future, we will be sharing more timely videos via email, on our website and blog, as well as through our LinkedIn and Facebook pages. We encourage everyone to follow both our blog and our social media, as we share timely, relevant information and articles.

In addition, we also will continue to host our education series this spring, again to help share appropriate topics, as well as to help spark conversations with our clients about their needs. We’re working hard to offer more personalized and comprehensive service to you, and we hope that you’ll take advantage of all that Lineweaver Financial Group has to offer.

How do you get your head around a big change like retirement? Well, it takes a lot of preparation! One of the ways that we can help you is by providing a Retirement Success Score. Our software takes into account many different attributes, and we can then give you a score from 0-100% predicting how successful your retirement will be. By the way, this works whether retirement is 10 years away, or whether you retired 10 years ago – there are plenty of retirees who could be getting more out of their retirement!

For example, we were referred to a retired couple who came to us to see how they were doing. They had been retired for several years, and their retirement success score was 72%. They came to us because they felt that - even though they had significant resources - they weren’t able to do all that they wanted. When we dug a little deeper, we found that they really weren’t sure how much they were spending, and they had a great deal of debt on high interest credit cards. So, we want to share some of the steps they needed to take to improve their score:

1. They used an equity line of credit (ELOC) to pay off credit card debt – they went from 12-14% interest down to 4%, and it became tax deductible. That meant that their net after tax cost of money was less than 3%.

2. The debt will still be paid off in the same amount of time, but because it was at a drastically lower rate, it freed up more than $1,000 a month that could go towards other goals and objectives.

3. They agreed that, going forward, they wouldn’t put any balance on a credit card that they couldn’t pay off by the end of the month.

Look for Jim’s article, “It Pays To Coordinate – Haphazard Financial Planning Can Be Costly” in the March/April issue of Boomer and Beyond Magazine, or head over to Lineweaver.net for the online version. If you have questions about coordinating your own advisors, give us a call. We’re happy to help!

HOW SUCCESSFUL IS YOUR RE TIREMENT ? GE T YOUR RE TIREMENT SUCCESS SCORE!

VS

4. Because we freed up their cash flow, they were able to lower their IRA distributions, therefore allowing their IRA to grow faster for future expenses, while also lowering their taxes.

5. The combination of changing their non-deductible debt to deductible debt, along with lower IRA distributions, actually lowered their taxable income enough so that they lowered their Medicare premiums back down to their standard rates.

Not only did we increase their cash flow and decrease their expenses dramatically, but this process also changed their retirement success score to 95%.

We’re happy to offer your Retirement Success Score at no obligation to you or a friend – we want people have access to independent and unbiased feedback about their finances, so that they can make better decisions going forward.

Despite many headlines and shifts within the political realm, investors entered 2017 on an optimistic note and global markets got off to a quick start in Q1, posting strong returns across various fixed income, equity and alternatives asset classes.

A few market commentary themes so far through Q1 months:

• Stocks returned to new highs, regaining some of the momentum lost in late December. Buoyed by the prospects of a pro-growth domestic agenda, improved sentiment and positive Q4 corporate profits, the Dow Jones broke through the celebrated 20,000 threshold in January, and 21,000 on March 1st.

• International stocks recorded strong gains for U.S. dollar-based investors in January as equities rose across nearly all sectors and markets on the prospect of stronger global economic growth, better corporate earnings results, favorable currency exchange, and slow but rising inflation.

• There was little change in US Treasury Yields as the late-2016 selling pressure on U.S. government debt abated. (Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.) However, the U.S. dollar gave back some of its postelection gains as President Donald Trump and members of his administration made statements about the dollar being too strong against various currencies.

• Emerging markets stocks rose as the Federal Reserve reiterated its gradual approach to interest rate hikes, spurring demand for riskier assets. Developing country assets got a boost after Fed Chair Janet Yellen said in a speech that the bank would “adjust the stance of monetary policy gradually over time.” Her comments reassured markets that the Fed would stick to a cautious approach in raising rates despite expectations for faster U.S. growth and inflation under President Trump.

There are two interesting facts and lessons from Q1.

1. The post-election surge is the biggest since Eisenhower’s election in 1952 and regardless of political affiliation, it’s become an important reminder of the dangers of preconceived notions and attaching an investment theme or outcome.

2. This Quarter marks the one year anniversary where markets experienced the worst start in the history of financial markets. Recall that stock markets plunged for the first six weeks of 2016, and in the depths of negative performance, many investors began to panic and were looking to recalibrate portfolios. Interestingly, we were reminded of the dangers of extrapolation as we then saw double digit returns in S&P 500, US Small Caps, Emerging Markets, Commodities and High Yield bonds and 2016 turned out to be a fantastic year for markets. 2016 and the post-election period has served as a reminder for all of us investors, to do our best to avoid the noise along the way, and to adopt a deliberate long-term strategy. With continued uncertainties lurking with respect to governments and macro events, we continue to think that that’s a sound approach to adhere to this year.

Tune in to WKYC Channel 3 at 11:30am every other Sunday to see a member of our team on the Golden Opportunities show with Laurie Steiner, where we discuss current financial topics in an easy to understand format.

Upcoming shows and topics:

GOLDEN OPPORTUNITIES SHOW

ECONOMIC COMMENTARY3

83 Year Old Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Works Out Harder Than Arnold Schwartzenegger

In a recent interview with Politico, Ginsburg’s trainer offered to take an unsuspecting reporter through her bi-weekly workout. When Ginsburg was told, she said “I hope he makes it through!” If you’re interested in being as fit as Ginsburg, here’s what she does:

She starts with five minutes on the elliptical and some stretching. She then uses several machines, and for most exercises, she does three sets of 10 to 13 reps. Besides the bench press, where she puts up an incredible 70 lbs, she then does leg curls, leg presses, chest flies, and lat pull-downs.

After that, she does some seated rows and standing rows, one-legged squats, and 20 pushups. She also does a 30-sec-ond standard plank, and then 30 seconds on each side. Then comes arm and shoulder work using weights, all while seated on an exercise ball! She also holds the medicine ball up against the wall with her back, and alternates between squats and curls using 12-pound dumb-bells.

As if that wasn’t enough, she also does step-ups, and a series of other leg exercises, including more squats on top of an upside-down BOSU ball. After all that, she sits on a bench, again holding the medicine ball, stands up, throws the ball to her trainer, he throws it back, she sits down, and repeats.

Sunday, April 9, 2017Evaluating Annuities

Sunday, April 23, 2017You May Think You’re Diversified – But Are You?

Sunday, May 7, 2017Matching Beneficiaries With Your Wishes

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, CFP® (with plaque design) and CFP® (with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements.

HEALTHWATCH

http://lineweaver.net/virteom/uploaded_media/Modules/glmod_Modules_Meet-The-Team/PAMELA.JPG-1449603426.jpg

9035 Sweet Valley Drive Valley View, Ohio 44125 1-888-313-4009

4

Khloe is the newest member of the administrative team. She assists with managing and distributing information, as well as coordinating and setting appointments for Jim. She also works with other members of the administrative team by assisting with scheduling and preparing investment portfolios for clients.

Forbes estimated in 2011 that Scrooge McDuck was worth $44.4 bllion, which makes him worth about half of Bill Gates current estimated net worth.

Khloe graduated from Ursuline college with a Masters in Accounting and Finance in 2013. She grew up in Cleveland, and appreciates the changes she sees in the city, and what it has to offer. Khloe loves to go to the theatre, go for walks and is a foodie at heart.

She loves to help people and give back to the community, and she spends some of her spare time tutoring accounting and finance graduate students at her alma mater.

If you would like to receive our newsletter through email, please email Annika at Annika@lineweaver.net

EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHTKhloe Anderson, Client Relations

TRIVIA