Manarin Investment Counsel, Ltd.

Omaha, NE - Manarin Investment Counsel advisor Aron Huddleston has recently earned the Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) designation.

From the CFA Institute website:

CFA Institute is a global, not-for-profit organization comprised of the world's largest association of investment professionals. With nearly 100,000 members and 137 regional societies around the world, we are dedicated to developing and promoting the highest educational, ethical, and professional standards in the investment industry.

...

The CFA charter is respected as the gold standard of professional credentials within the global investment community. The prestige of the charter is due, in part, to the challenging nature of the exams.

Aron is Vice President of Manarin Investment Counsel and a Portfolio Manager of Lifetime Achievement Fund.

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All of us who work feel the bite that Social Security taxes take out of our paycheck.  Most of us take comfort in the hope that when we retire, Social Security will be there, giving back all the money that we paid into the system over the course of our careers.  Isn't that how it works?

Well, the short answer is no, it doesn't work that way.  The Social Security taxes deducted from your paycheck are not sitting in a special account someplace, earmarked to be returned to you upon your retirement.  Instead, the taxes you pay today are used to pay benefits to today's beneficiaries, just as when you retire, the benefits you receive will come from the taxes paid by people who are still working.  This arrangement works as long as there are enough people sending in taxes; it doesn't work so well if the number of current workers per retiree is decreasing.

The baby boomer generation (those born between 1946 and 1964) have started to retire.  This large group retiring, coupled with increasing life expectancies and decreasing birth rates, means that the number of retirees will grow faster than the number of workers. 

According to the Social Security Administration, the number of workers sending in Social Security taxes to pay each retiree's benefits has plummeted from 42 workers per beneficiary in 1945 to 3.1 in 2009.  What is more is that this number is projected to go down even further to 2.1 workers per beneficiary by 2040.  Since the ratio of workers to retirees is expected to continue declining, a shortfall in future Social Security funding is likely.

The trustees of the program project that by 2014, the Social Security benefits it pays out will exceed the amount of money coming in.  Moreover, they are forecasting that the "trust fund" will be exhausted in 2037 unless changes are made.

What does all that mean for you?

Well, that depends on how old you are and what changes the United States government decides to implement.  If you are nearing retirement, it is unlikely that your Social Security benefits will change dramatically.  Younger workers, however, are more likely to see sweeping changes in the way Social Security works in the form of higher taxes, lower benefits, or a combination of the two.

Key Point: This was never intended to provide Americans with all of the income they would need in their retirement.  Social Security is only one leg of a three-legged stool that also includes pension plans and personal savings.  With concerns mounting over the stability of one leg of the stool, retirees need to take control of their retirement by investing in personal savings plans such as IRAs and 401(k)s.

Visit us at Manarin.com.

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Photo Credit: Fabricator of Useless Articles

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Last month Aron Huddleston was invited to speak to Portfolio Practicum at Creighton University led by Dr. John Wingender.   

An overview of the course:

Portfolio Practicum is a two semester "hands-on" undergraduate course in the College of Business at Creighton University.  The class oversees a student managed investment fund with approximately $2.5 million in equity investments for the Creighton University Endowment Fund.  Eligible students apply for the class during the Spring semester of their Junior year.  Applicants enter an interview process to gain acceptance to the class for the following academic year.

Excerpts from Aron's presentation are broken out by topic below.

An overview of Manarin Investment Counsel and the clients we work with:

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Ownership and making your money last through retirement:

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On the management and creation of Lifetime Achievement Fund:

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Our reason for owning gold:

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Future investment decisions: What has our attention?

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Do you think of yourself as a rational investor? 

Before you place your next trade be sure to answer that question.  No investor is rational all the time.  Inevitably, some decisions are made on emotion and gut instinct - but for your sake, and your bottom line, I hope it's not too many.

So here we are today with the stock market humming along nicely over the last few weeks.  Most stock market indexes are up over 70% for the past year and we see more positive economic data each day.  But it's the rational investor in us that tempers too much excitement because the economic and geopolitical storms will someday return. 

This steady incline can't go on forever without a blip.  An event within our borders or in some remote corner of the world could set off  another downturn so we must remain prepared. 

Here's the lesson:  Keep your emotional seatbelt tightly fastened and don't be surprised when something happens.  Consider it a buying opportunity.  Maintain a rational investment strategy aligned with the lessons of monetary history, namely that the government and the Fed will continue creating money from thin air resulting in loss of purchasing power of investments tied to the value of the US dollar. 

My best guess is that the population will soon discover the difficult truths about the corrupting effects brought on by the federal deficit, unfunded liabilities, federal debt and growing political power.  This all has an impact on investments, jobs, careers and retirements and eventually a tipping point will be reached.

Remain psychologically and financially ready.

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Visit us at Manarin.com

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As the April 15th deadline approaches are you finding yourself frustrated with getting your tax return filed?  Or are you simply one of the many who is fed up with our existing tax code?  Wouldn't it be nice if all we had to complete each year was a four page document and then our taxes would be done?

That's what the above image represents.  Actually it's page 1 of 4 of the Form 1040 used in 1913.  No joke - you can check out the full document yourself here. 

"But Roland," you say.  "The thought of a simple tax filing process like the one used in 1913 in today's world is absurd.  We live in a different age now - things are much more complex.  If we went that route we'd be taking a step backwards in the advancement in our society."    

Ok, so maybe YOU didn't say that but the arrogant elitists running the show in Washington sure are saying it and they're doing everything in their power to make you believe it. 

If you have friends falling for this government tomfoolery, have them watch this quick video from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation with the CATO Institute's Dan Mitchell explaining the flat tax:

This will show in concise terms how the flat tax would benefit them, their families and their businesses while at the same time eliminate corrupt special interest rewards. 

My favorite quote from the video:  "This [flat tax] post card is so simple that a 3rd grader or even a politician could easily file a family tax return in about five minutes."

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