Well, we can learn from our previous trades if we look at them objectively. Some Financial firms will tell you that you cannot time the market and some firms will tell you that you can. When is it right? When you have gains! When is it wrong? When you have losses and sometimes those losses are painful! Remember the pain. The pain will be a reminder of what we don’t want to do next time.

You need to make decisions when it is the right time for you given your life circumstances and/or family needs. There is rarely a right time to make the perfect decision. The thing to do is to make decisions for now, the moment.

If you cannot commit to an investment decision, then don’t make it! Do yourself and the people around you a favor and let it go. You may end up feeling badly thinking you’ve lost out on a good investment or you may feel like you did the right thing by letting it go.

Bottom line, the best decision is to do what feels right. Be disciplined. Know what you want and stay true to your investment style. When you start jumping around without focus, you may start to suffer and then everyone loses.

Be true to yourself! Your money will thank you.

By:

Erwin Gant, President

Gant Private Financial Management

Sometimes we need to reach back to economic times forgotten. Yea I know some history is not good, however we are talking about money, right? I’m not going to provide you with an academic parallelism between this “depression” and the “Great Depression” however I would like you to think about that area. If you are too young to remember, think about the old movies that you might have seen.

What am I talking about? The Simple Life… I recently had breakfast with a well-respected accountant. As usual we talked about investing and investing ideals, the effects that the bear market had on portfolios and financial behavior, and the cost of living today versus yesterday. He left me with this, “I’m doing better than my father however it seem things were better back then when we had a simpler life.”

That conversation reminded me about one of my favorite old jazz standards “Give me the simple life” performed by the well noted Ella Fitzgerald in 1969, written in Ruby and Bloom in 1959. Today we are spending money on everything- cell phones, the Internet, cable TV and radio. The homes we are living in are much grander than our parent’s home. The cars are more expensive and faster, and the coffee is sweeter and more expensive. We are spending more money on stuff… we need? In the mean time the bills keep rolling in on the stuff… we need? I have always said it is not how much you make, it is how much you spend. Don’t get me wrong, have some fun along the way to retirement, I encourage you to have responsible fun along the way; however, we must consider what we are spending on today.

I’m going to challenge you to find something to cut back on, something you “need”. I have cut back on my cell phone usage; hard at first, then I became free from care and strife (stress). Write back to me with what you cut back on and how you are doing with that. My goal is to help Philadelphia become the most financially fit city!!!!

It’s the simple life that we are trying to achieve …. It’s the good life, full of fun that seems to be the ideal.

I will leave you with a quote from the song “Give me the simple life” that will hopefully remind us of lessons forgotten and money saved.

“A cottage small is all I’m after. Not one that is spacious and wide A house the brings the joy and laughter With the ones you love inside You take the high road; I’ll take the low road Free from care and strife Sound corny and seedy, oh yes indeedy Give me the simple life.”

Erwin Gant, President

Gant Private Financial Management

The baby boomers are retiring in big numbers and more of us in the sandwich generation will have to step-up and help our aging parents. It is estimated that 5 million senior citizens a year are targets of financial scams. Why, because that is where the money is. Baby boomers are retiring with large pension accounts and scammers are after it.

Helping our aging parents, in short, is going to be tough. So how do you help your parents with their money? Very carefully! There are several things to remember about dealing with mom and dad’s money. The first thing is that it is their money! What they do with it or how they spend is up to them, not you. The second thing is that when it comes to investing, the investments should be suitable for a person your parent’s age, not yours, even if it is your inheritance. Be careful with investments with guarantees. Remember, your job is to make sure that they are not being taken advantage of.

Often times the victim of scams don’t recover any of the money they lost even if the individual is caught, the damage is already done, think Madoff . He was caught; however, investors did not get their money back. If your parents are receptive to your help, start by taking financial inventory such as wills, living wills, bank accounts, investment accounts, insurance contracts and any other important papers. Offer to go to meetings with their financial advisors, accountants or attorneys.

You should move slowly and engage your parents in this process; you don’t want your parents to feel inadequate. Take the support role by assisting and making suggestions to your parents. In my 20 years of advising, I have came across many situations where if someone took the time to help their aging parent with their finances bad situations could have been prevented.

If you find your parents are resisting your help, or you don’t feel comfortable with this you may be better off to suggest finding a professional financial advisor you trust to assist with this process.

Taking the time to deal with our aging parents today while everyone is happy and healthy will prevent a lot of stress and aggravation later.

Erwin B. Gant, President

Gant Private Financial Management

In the job market? What do you really need to know about sending your resume? After spending countless hours getting your resume prepared with excellent content and no spelling or grammatical errors, the last thing you want to think about is a cover letter, right? Wrong!

The cover letter is and can be just as important as the resume. It is your personal entrée depicting yourself to your potential employer. Most importantly it is your first communication as a possible employee, so there is no room for error!

What do you say in a cover letter? We recommend keeping it short and sweet. The cover letter is usually a quick read before opening your resume so you only have a few short moments to make an impact. It can include a brief introduction to why you feel you are the candidate for the position. Provide one or two examples or factual evidence to why you are the candidate for the job. You may also consider including in a sentence what brings you to the market. Make sure you close with your interest in the company along with your availability to answer questions or for an interview. Of course, thank them for their time and write your salutation.

Don’t forget: read and reread this letter, you do not want to have any mistakes or punctuation errors. Ask for a second pair of eyes to double check your final draft.

A recap for writing a cover letter:

• Research the name of the person receiving the resumes; address them by name.

• Dear “Mr/Ms x”:

• Do not write: To Whom It May Concern or Dear Sir/Madam:

• Do not attach the Cover Letter in a separate document, instead make your cover letter the body of your email or attach it in your comments.

• Customize each cover letter unique to each position/company.

• Do not use a canned letter.

• Keep it short and to the point.

• Introduce why you feel you are good for the position, use facts.

• Highlight your key experience/s that will get you the interview.

• State your enthusiasm and interest in their company.

• Include your contact information.

* As a reminder your resume should include your accomplishments and the value added which you provided to your employers not just a laundry list of what you have done. Consider including in your resume: overview/summary, chronological experience, job titles, dates of employment, technical skills, awards/accomplishments and education/certification.

By: Kristin Kane, Kane Partners Staffing Solutions | www.kanepartners.net

Decisions, decisions, decisions I estimate that we make some where between 50-100 decisions per day. Most of the decisions that we make are small ones, others require some thought. When we try to make a decision that require thought we try to make it carefully. We may enlist the help of friends and family or do research to try to come out with the best possible outcome. Regardless of the amount of effort we take in making decisions, some of them will not be the outcome we would like to have. Some of the decision we make will create character with others we will gain confidence. When we make a bad decision, we tend to try to correct the choice we made quickly and get back to breakeven.

OK Erwin what’s the point. Ok, here is the point. After the terrible year we had in the markets people tend to want to recover from the losses they may have experienced quickly. With the markets having a run up over the last 10 weeks, investors may try to recover what they lost over the last few years. This is understandable, after all you have worked for a very long time in pursuit of your dreams with wonderful plans for your retirement, which may include traveling or other plans you may have. However, this market has gone up without any real substance, for example employment increases. The market is very unforgiving; it does not care about your plans, your lifestyle or anything else.

Be careful, when trying to rebuild a devastated portfolio the decision you make at this point need to be made with extreme caution. This is not a decision you want to make to try to correct quickly or to try to recover the money you lost. Although the market has gone up over the last 10 weeks, it is not the “all clear to jump in sign”. Review your portfolio; understand what quantitative risk you can take, meaning how much you can afford to lose before you have to make changes to your lifestyle. Ask yourself and your spouse, what you can afford to lose and if you are willing to do so. Do this before you make your next move. The money that was lost in the market can not be regained quickly without taking significant risk. Be real careful with rebuilding your portfolio, I can not tell you how many clients that have come to me with accounts that are built on fear. Many financial advisors are building “fear portfolios” and the cost is you and your lifestyle. Ladies be real careful if you are doing this alone, because of how women are wired they are more likely to have “fear portfolio” that may not be in your best interest and can be more hurtful than helpful in the long run. I will blog about women and investments later.

When making decisions to rebuild your portfolio, control the urge to want to correct this decision quickly or try to regain your losses quickly. Try to keep your emotions in check. You can rebuild a beat-up portfolio, slowly. It will take time, patience and a defined investment discipline. Remember don’t stand still, money never sleep nor does it wait for you. Take a define investment approach that you can sleep with to rebuild your portfolio.

Erwin B. Gant, President

Gant Private Financial Management

It is an honor to be able to contribute my thoughts on Tracy Davidson’s blog. Tracy is the kind of person whose work I’ve always admired and who I’ve always wanted to work with. She is exceptionally professional, insightful and disciplined, knowing that about Tracy, makes me feel honored to be a contributor to this blog.

Over the last several months I have heard many stories. Stories about how people have lost money – a lot of money, mostly because of the stock market meltdown. As you can imagine this has caused havoc with people’s lives. Some people have to postpone retirement or delay sending their children to college. The last couple of years have not been the kind of years we would like to see regarding finances. However, we are here and looking forward to the road to recovery.. The one thing about bad markets and economies is that life does not stop. Thankfully life keeps on going and we must move forward. Moving forward means making tough decisions for now. As human beings, we can not afford to stand still. We are not designed to be still, if we do so then our minds and bodies becomes rusty.

So, what does this have to do with money? Well, during this difficult time we can’t afford to be still, we must react. Not looking at a problem does not make the problem go away; in fact it may cause the problem to become larger. Take the time to look at your financial statements, and if you don’t like what you see make some changes. So many of the stories that I have heard about how the economy has hurt people could be partly avoided by taking action. Because of the dynamics of money and the many choices that are available finding resources can be difficult. Money is as important as people’s health, and when significant health issues arise, people get a second opinion; investors should get a second opinion from a registered investment advisor when issues arise.

Losing a lot of money is never OK. As an investor you should expect to have some losing years, but never such a losing year that you lose half or even a quarter of your wealth! The art of making money is to not to lose it. Of all the books I have read about investing and making money in the market, I’m always reminded of Warren Buffet’s quote about investing, “ Rule number 1 don’t lose any money, Rule number 2, see rule number 1. “

Erwin B. Gant, President

Gant Private Financial Management

Today’s economic climate has had a huge impact on many people’s job search often leaving them with frustration and little results. With fewer jobs available and stiffer competition, many people asking the question… WHY? Why have I not received an interview or even a call back? I don’t get it… I can do the job!

Evaluating the question “WHY” is something every job seeker should do, especially in today’s economy. First one has to keep in mind the ‘job market’ has shifted, more people, less jobs which means you may/should have to change your strategy. Many job seekers have kept the same routine for job hunting and are expecting the same results as a few years ago.

 Most people are equipped with a current resume, which is usually well written and aesthetically pleasing with only minor mistakes, spelling or grammatical. Unfortunately, the problem is the resume lacks real content, the key component to getting a call/interview. The ‘content’ is unique to each job seeker and a cookie cutter approach to a resume might not be the best strategy. A resume is not just your ‘job description’ but should include how you added value to the job. A well written resume may include: accomplishments, awards, cost saving measures, special projects, and/or what distinguishes you from the competition.

 For those that are still not getting the call/interview… what now? First, I would suggest you pull up the job description and your resume. Does your resume actually say that you can do the job on paper? If not, this may be why you have not received a call. You do not appear qualified. Each company is looking for something different and you can’t assume they know you have done something because of your title. Be careful. There is a fine line between to much and not enough on your resume. Never lie or exaggerate on a resume. If you don’t have something do not put it. It’s grounds for immediate disqualification. Not sure how to phrase it, consult a professional. If you are applying to more then one type of job you should have more then one type of resume. It is the resume that will get you the interview or call back. If you haven’t spent the time or addressed what the company is looking for, especially in today’s economy, chances are you will end up in the ‘pass’ file.

 Thanks to NBC10 I had the opportunity to help a job seeker, Alessandro, in a similar situation. It wasn’t until we actually sat down and went over his resume and the jobs he was applying to that we found what was missing. Go to AS SEEN ON NBC10 to view the story of “Alessandro”. Hopefully this will show job seekers a little elbow grease and editing of a resume can go a long way, especially in today’s economy! If you are having a similar problem or not sure why you might not be getting the call, help is out there. The current economy has slowed the hiring process and with the high unemployment rate the number of applicants has increased, therefore companies are slower to hire and more selective with a larger candidate pool. Remain positive and don’t be afraid to change your tactics to get seen.

 As I like to say, it’s your resume that will get you the interview and the interview is what will get you the job. Your time and efforts should be invested in the resume!

Written By: Kristin Kane,  Senior Consultant

Kane Partners LLC| www.kanepartners.net