The scholarships, in partnership with Pathways to Success, were given to two local students pursuing business degrees at 4-year institutions.

Brandon Vandenburg and Sarah De La Cruz were selected from a pool of over 1,000 applicants. Vandenburg is from Palm Desert, and is currently attending the University of San Diego.  He is a graduate of Xavier College Prep.  De La Cruz is from Desert Hot Springs and is graduating from Desert Hot Springs High School.  She is planning to attend Cal State Long Beach in the fall.

To be considered for the scholarship, students had to meet certain criteria which included a GPA of 2.0 or above, an unmet financial need, fulltime student status, as well as show leadership contributions and commitment to their career goals.

“Integrated Wealth Management is committed to giving back to our community by providing the tools and financial assistance to succeed,” said Integrated Wealth Management, President and CEO Jim Casey.  “These are two very deserving students and we are excited to help them achieve their dreams of going to college and pursuing a career in business.”

This is the first year Integrated Wealth Management has given scholarships to deserving Coachella Valley students. In addition to the scholarships, the students have an opportunity to participate in a summer internship program with Integrated Wealth Management that will introduce them to many facets of the financial services industry.

Pathways to Success is changing the culture of going to college by offering sizeable scholarships to Coachella Valley undergraduate students with demonstrated financial need who wish to complete a college degree.  Pathways to Success provides the financial resources and student support services to students who have clear career goals, students who have demonstrated leadership or involvement in their community or school, and students who have the desire and motivation to succeed.

The scholarships are one of many initiatives that Integrated Wealth Management is doing to promote their Financial Literacy Initiative.  The mission of the Integrated Wealth Management Financial Literacy Initiative is to empower the community by promoting financial literacy, educating through advisor provided content and programs, and providing scholarships to students pursuing business degrees. The goal is a community of financially proficient individuals who are prepared to make important personal financial decisions throughout their lives.

Integrated Wealth Management is an independent wealth management firm representing hundreds of individuals, businesses, and nonprofits. Integrated Wealth Management focuses on helping its clients attain their current and future financial goals by providing an exceptional level of personalized service and financial advice, and adapting quickly to changing client circumstances, market conditions or tax laws.

The full-service firm provides:  Wealth Management Services, Fiduciary Services, 401(k) Design and Management, Investment Reporting Services, Financial and Retirement Planning and more. They have offices in Marina Del Rey, Palm Springs and Palm Desert.  For more information:  www.IWMgmt.com or 866-888-6563 x. 113.

Allow yourself the freedom to leave your investments alone for at least 3-6 months. Haste in investing, whether buying or selling is dangerous at this emotional time. Those who never handled their own money can become prey to an onslaught of well and sometimes ill meaning advisers. As soon as you feel up to it, start to plan you future. The steps listed below should be followed as closely as possible in the order presented. It keeps things orderly and it leaves the tough life choices for the last, when you have put some distance between your self and the plan.

Find all important documents the most important task is record keeping. Don’t lose track of your financial life. Once again the computer is invaluable. Record keeping includes bills, outstanding balances, Investments and Bank statements

Start by gathering the most important documents. Here are some of those documents you will need to be able to get your hands on.

Birth Certificate
Social Security Card
Life Insurance Policies
Investment statements
Mortgage documents
Deeds
Leases
Trust, Will and estate documents
Pension, Profit Sharing and 401K statements
Cemetery deeds
Employment contracts
Partnership agreements
Divorce Agreements
Marriage Certificates

You will need to created new income, expense worksheets. Compare income to expenses based on your new circumstances. If there is a shortfall, its time to make a budget. If the picture looks rosy, its time to systematically save what you can in a money market fund, until you’re final investing strategy is put in place.

Write down your assets and liabilities for an accurate view of your net worth. Once you have a picture of your assets and income, take a practical look at the daily tasks for managing your money.

Walk yourself through your financial week. Determine a procedure to pay bills, make deposits and withdrawals, pay taxes and get weekly cash.

Clean up your credit. Get copies of you credit report. Clean up any errors in the reports. If an ex-spouse has credit problems, write a letter of explanation to the reporting agencies as allowed under the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. Tell the service your situation, explain your hardship and that the credit problem was not caused by you.

Re-title your property. If you are divorced, there was probably a distribution of property made wither by agreement or ordered by the court. Either way, it should be clear who now owns the home, the accounts and other assets. Similarly, if you are widowed, a will probably may have made ownership clear. Hopefully you planned the inheritance together.

Your attorney will likely change the title on deeds, but when it comes to investment accounts insurance and other securities, you will probably have to do it yourself. Go back to your asset list and gather the pertinent documents. Order at least 10 copies of the death certificates or legal orders. You may also need a tax waiver, proving that all the estate taxes were paid if you are widowed.

Systematically contact all the institutions that hold your accounts, and get the paperwork they require to transfer title.

Set you individual Goals. All this work introduces you to your own money story. Once you realize how much you spend, receive, own and owe, its time to make some lifestyle decisions. Do you want to move? Go back to school? Retire? Travel? Set your own goals.

Reassess your risk management needs, a code word for insurance a much neglegted matter for the suddenly single is how much and what type of insurance you need. You may have too much, if you are holding life insurance. Or you may want to change the beneficiaries. On the other hand, if you are now the sole supporter of a child, you will want to increase your life insurance. If you support yourself by working, check out disability policies. It’s the only way to remain independent if you can’t work.

Consider professional help. Once you’re sure you can cope with it all alone, think again, Financial Advisers sometimes can find issues and help you achieve your goals in a more systematic approach that you can by yourself.

Mark Hayek is a Senior Financial Advisor at Integrated Wealth Management.

For more information contact Mark at 760-834-7200 or Mark@iwmgmt.com.

See full bio: Mark Hayek

Integrated Wealth Management is a Registered Investment Advisor.

Even in retirement, your portfolio may need to be positioned for both growth and security. Growth to meet the challenges of a long life and the impact of long-term inflation and health care, but also sources of secure income to ensure that your daily essential living expenses will be met.

This is a good time to think about your priorities and align your assets to support your personal goals (not just your financial aspirations). In fact, you may need to reposition your assets to accommodate a longer life with fewer assets than you previously thought.

When we talk about reevaluating and establishing financial goals, it shouldn’t just be about seeking a 10% average annual return on your investments over the next five years. You should consider what you actually want to do with your money. What is the purpose of it – to live out your life comfortably and secure, or to live in luxury, entertain, and travel extensively? The latter lifestyle may no longer be your priority, so before you determine what changes to make in your finances, it’s important to establish what you want from your life.

During this continuing era of slow economic recovery, remember that one of the key components to managing wealth is managing risk. In addition to the traditional sources of retirement and estate planning, consider today’s popular insurance options, such as annuities, long-term care, and life insurance policies.

Just because we are living longer doesn’t mean we’re going to remain healthy throughout our longer lives. In the past, seniors who lived long lives tended to be healthier in their senior years, which meant they had lower medical bills. But while some credit goes to more active, health-conscious, smoke-free lifestyles, it’s safe to say that today’s seniors owe more to prescription drugs and medical advances for lengthening their lifespan.

And as we all know, health care costs money – lots of it. In fact, Fidelity Investments found in its 2011 Retiree Health Care Costs Estimate study that a 65-year-old couple retiring this year with Medicare coverage will still need $230,000 to pay for medical expenses throughout retirement, excluding nursing-home care.

Speaking of which, with a longer life comes the greater likelihood of needing assisted living or long-term care. According to the Genworth 2011 Cost of Care Survey, assisted living averages $39,000 a year, and nursing homes average more than $70,000 a year – per person. For a couple, this kind of care could cost far more than their annual household income during their highest earning years.

Some of the things you can do to plan for a long life come down to repositioning your assets – as well as your approach toward life. For example, lifestyle factors can contribute significantly to both how long you live and the quality of life you lead. Areas where most of us could easily pay more attention include lower caloric intake, higher vegetable and fruit consumption, a higher fiber diet, lower body fat, and regular exercise.

Studies have also found that people who feel the most socially connected are four times less likely to develop serious illnesses. A Brigham Young University study reports that social connections – friends, family, neighbors, or colleagues – improve our odds of survival by 50%. In fact, the study asserts that low social interaction is the equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day or being an alcoholic (Source: Social Relationships and Mortality Risk, July 2010).

Life is long, and it’s getting longer with each generation. They say that life gets in the way of even the best-laid plans, and it’s true. Every plan – even a financial plan – requires tweaking and adjusting periodically to account for current events. However, your personal goals may well remain the same for the rest of your life. So if you establish the purpose of your money – what it is that you want out of life – then you can reposition your assets to help you reach those goals.

The bottom line is whether you are still working or already retired, you now need more than ever to have a sound financial plan to cover your retirement income needs.

Reesa Manning is a Senior Financial Advisor at Integrated Wealth Management.  For more information, call Reesa at (760)834-7200, or reesa@IWMgmt.com.

See full Bio: Reesa Manning

Integrated Wealth Management is a Registered Investment Adviser.

….volatility, that is.

Like a yo-yo, the market has bounced around lately. Once again, debt issues in Europe made headlines as Spain became the latest problem country. That, along with some disappointing economic growth data from China, helped spark the volatily. Because of its massive size, any slowdown in China is closely watched by market participants.

As a sign of the big swings this year, the Dow Jones Industrial closed the day up or down by at least 100 points on four out of the five days for the week of April 16, 2012, according to Barron’s.

Highlights from that week included:

• China’s economy expanded at the weakest pace in over three years last quarter, missing consensus economic forecasts.
• Yields on debt in Spain jumped due to a weak debt auction, renewing fears that the European debt crisis could start affecting the global markets again.
• Several U.S. banks reported earnings that underwhelmed investors, resulting in weakness in financial stocks.
• U.S. inflation remained under control which may leave open the possibility for further Federal Reserve intervention should economic data deteriorate.

Sources: The Wall Street Journal, Yahoo! Finance

THE “SHOVE IT” INDICATOR as highlighted by CNBC made a noteworthy gain in February suggesting consumer confidence may be increasing. You’re probably wondering, “What in the world is the ‘shove it’ indicator?” Well, every month the government conducts a Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or “JOLTS” for short. One of the data points in the JOLTS report is the number of workers who quit their job as opposed to being laid off. And, in February, for the first time since September 2008, the quitters were in the majority.

What does this mean? Generally speaking, people who quit their job are typically more confident that there is another job waiting for them when they voluntarily leave a position. Nicholas Colas, chief market strategist at ConvergEx Group says, “Quits go hand-in-hand with consumer confidence.”

This positive JOLTS data point follows a disappointing government jobs report for the month of March where only 120,000 new jobs were created. Also, the preliminary March reading of the University of Michigan’s consumer confidence survey showed a decline from the previous month. Analysts had expected confidence to stay flat, according to International Business Times.

This conflicting economic data gave the bulls and the bears ample ammunition to bolster their respective case. And, conflicting data like this may lead to a continuation of the yo-yo as investors try to predict which direction the economy is headed.

Weekly Focus – Think About It

“Expectation is the root of all heartache.”
–William Shakespeare

Jim Casey is the President and CEO of Integrated Wealth Management. For more information visit www.iwmgmt.com or call Jim Casey at 866-888-6563 x315.

See Full Bio: Jim Casey

Integrated Wealth Management, Inc. is a Registered Investment Adviser.

Age 21: Generally, this is the age that employees are eligible to enter into an employer provided 401(k) plan. Employers, or plan sponsors, are allowed to exclude employees that are under 21 years of age. A recent IRS survey of 1,200 401(k) plan sponsors found that 64 percent require employees to be at least 21 before they can participate in the 401(k) plan. As well, 61 percent of companies that offer a matching contribution require employees to be at least age 21 to qualify. Starting to save early can make a tremendous difference, given the amount of time the investments will have to grow for years to come.

Age 50: Beginning at age 50, you can defer paying income tax on more of your retirement savings in your 401(k), 403(b) or federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan. At age 50, individuals can contribute a “cach up” contribution, which for 2012, is an additional $5,500 towards your retirement account.

Age 55: Retirees who leave their job during the calendar year that they turn 55 or later can take a 401(k) withdrawal without having to pay the 10 percent early withdrawal penalty, however, income taxes will still apply. If you are planning on taking a distribution, make sure you do not roll your funds to an IRA before taking the distribution. If distribution is taken from an IRA, the 10 percent penalty WILL apply.

Age 59 ½: The 10 percent early withdrawal no longer applies, however no distribution is required.

Age 62: Workers are eligible to receive Social Security benefits starting at age 62. While many are anxious to receive their social security benefits, payments will be reduced significantly. A worker born in 1950 who applies for social security benefits will receive 25 percent of the payment the worker would have received had they waited until age 66 for the rest of their life. Also, don’t earn a significant income in the years prior to full retirement age. If so, the benefit will be reduced by $1 for every $2 earned over applicable incomes.

Age 65: Medicare eligibility begins at age 65. The initial enrollment period starts three months before the month you reach age 65 and ends three months after your birthday. If you aren’t covered by an employer sponsored plan, it is also a good idea to sign up for Medicare part B right away, as delaying will increase premiums by 10 percent each 12 month year period an individual is not enrolled.

Age 66: Baby boomers born between 1943 and 1954 qualify for the full amount of social security they have earned at age 66. For those born between 1955 and 1959, the full retirement age gradually increases from 66 and two months to 66 and 10 months. Once you reach full retirement age, you will also be able to work and claim social security payments at the same time without having any of your payment withheld.

Age 67: The Social Security full retirement age is higher for younger workers. Eligibility for unreduced social security payments for workers born in 1960 or later begins at age 67.

Age 70: Social Security payments to continue to grow by 8 percent per year for each year you delay claiming up until age 70. The longer you can postpone, the better benefit you will receive, especially if you have longevity in your family. After age 70, there is no additional benefit to delaying claim to social security.

Age 70 ½: Withdrawals from 401(k)s and IRAs become required at age 70 ½. If you do not withdrawal the correct amount, the IRS will charge a 50 percent excise tax on the amount that you should have withdrawn from your qualified retirement account. The first distribution is due by April 1st of the year after you turn 70 ½. After the first year, you are required to withdrawal the correct amount every year by December 31st.

Brandt Kuhn, CFP® is Integrated Wealth Management’s Wealth Strategist and financial planner.  For more information, please visit www.IWMgmt.com or contact Brandt Kuhn at (760) 969-7102 or Brandt@IWMgmt.com

See Full Bio: Brandt Kuhn

Integrated Wealth Management, Inc. is a Registered Investment Adviser.

Jim Casey, President and CEO of Integrated Wealth Management said “We are honored to have Mark and Reesa receive this award. Client satisfaction is our number one priority and to be recognized for this is of great importance.”

A survey was provided to approximately one in four high-net-worth-households (more than 50,000 consumers), and 1,800 financial services professionals within the Palm Springs area. Survey respondents were asked to evaluate wealth managers they knew through personal experience and evaluate them based upon nine criteria. Both negative and positive evaluations were included in the scoring, and only wealth managers with a minimum of five years of experience were included in the evaluation. Each wealth manager was reviewed for regulatory actions, civil judicial actions and customer complaints as reported by regulatory agencies. The final list was reviewed by a panel of local and financial service industry professionals. ###

Integrated Wealth Management is an independent wealth management firm representing hundreds of individuals, businesses, and nonprofits. Integrated Wealth Management focuses on helping its clients attain their current and future financial goals by providing an exceptional level of personalized service and financial advice, and adapting quickly to changing client circumstances, market conditions or tax laws.

The full-service firm provides: Wealth Management Services, Fiduciary Services, 401(k) Design and Management, Investment Reporting Services, Financial and Retirement Planning and more. They have offices in Marina Del Rey, Palm Springs and Palm Desert. For more information: www.IWMgmt.com or 866-888-6563 x. 113.

Through a program called quantitative easing, central banks around the world have flooded the world economy with the equivalent of trillions of U.S. dollars. Quantitative easing involves central banks making large-scale purchases of debt – usually government or mortgage debt – and paying for that debt by creating money out of thin air, according to The New York Times. The hope (and remember, hope is not an investment strategy) is that with more money sloshing around the global economy, interest rates will drop and that will stimulate demand and increase economic growth.

If all goes according to plan, the economy will recover and then the central banks will sell the bonds they purchased and “destroy” the money they received for selling the bonds. When the whole cycle is completed, the net effect is no new money is created, according to the BBC. Optimists say this is an appropriate activity for central banks when the economy faces major hurdles. Pessimists say the central banks are unlikely to turn off the spigot and we could end up with runaway inflation.

And, yes, it’s a big spigot. Just between the U.S. and the United Kingdom, more than 2.5 trillion dollars of new money has been created since 2008, according to Reuters and the BBC.

On top of that, the European Central Bank made more than 1 trillion euro available to banks in the form of cheap three-year loans in just the past few months. The hope (there’s that word again) is that banks will use this money to lend and invest, and, thereby, boost the economy, according to Bloomberg.

All this “easy money” has helped fuel a strong start to many of the world’s stock markets this year. The big question is, will this easy money be the bridge that gets the world economy back on a self-sustaining growth path or is it simply keeping the patient addicted to an unsustainable monetary policy?

Effectively answering questions like this keeps our job very interesting!

QUANTITATIVE EASING HAS LED TO A STEALTH “TAX” ON SAVERS in what’s been called “financial repression,” according to Bloomberg. As mentioned above, one goal of quantitative easing is to lower interest rates. On that score, it’s succeeded since interest rates are super low all along the yield curve. Unfortunately, there’s a problem with that – interest rates on many bonds and savings accounts are lower than the rate of inflation. This means savers are losing purchasing power (the stealth tax) while debtors are able to pay back their debts in inflated (i.e., “cheaper”) dollars. Savers are effectively being “financially repressed.”

The public debt of the U.S. is more than $15 trillion, according to the Treasury Department. The annual interest expense on that mountain of debt is more than $400 billion. Not surprisingly, the government wants to keep interest rates low because that will keep their interest payments low. Also, by tolerating some inflation, that debt pile can be paid back in inflated dollars. So, who loses in this deal? It’s the diligent American saver who lives below their means and has to endure very little interest on their savings.

Government policy makers are well aware that their actions are, to some extent, helping debtors at the expense of savers. They also know that in this complicated, global economy, there’s no easy way to make everybody happy and still get us out of the fiscal hole we’re in. Knowing that, we’ll keep doing our best to help you prosper.

Jim Casey is the President and CEO of Integrated Wealth Management. For more information visit www.iwmgmt.com or call Jim Casey at 866-888-6563 x315.

See Full Bio: Jim Casey

Integrated Wealth Management, Inc. is a Registered Investment Adviser.

“Much Ado About Nothing” is one of Shakespeare’s famous comedies and, surprisingly, the title succinctly summarizes the U.S. stock market in 2011.

There was “much ado” during 2011 as we experienced one of the most volatile years on record. For example, regarding the S&P 500 index stocks, Bloomberg said, “Individual stocks were more volatile than in 2009 and 2010, with 55 losing more than 30 percent this year compared with a total of 13 in the prior two.”

On top of that, “Stocks swung at a daily rate of twice the 50-year average after the S&P 500 reached a three-year high in April.” After hitting that high in April, the S&P 500 then plunged 19 percent over the next five months. Continuing the whiplash, the market staged a remarkable comeback and that’s where the “about nothing” comes in to play.

By the time the final trades were placed on December 30, the S&P 500 ended the year exactly where it started – and we mean exactly! It started the year at 1,257.6 and it ended the year at 1,257.6. Yet, during that time, it moved up or down a total of 3,240 points when you sum the absolute daily changes on a closing basis, according to The Chart Store via Ritholtz.com. So, after all the volatility, after all the worrying, the market ended the year right where it began. Whew!

Despite the year ending in a push, here are 10 newsworthy items that hit the headlines.

1. Europe reached crisis mode. Several European countries experienced severe budget problems including Greece and Italy while the dithering of European politicians kept markets on edge. The three main causes of the crisis were 1) excessive government spending leading to 2) excessive government debt coupled with 3) slow economic growth.
Source: Anthony Sanders, Professor of Real Estate Finance at George Mason University, December 15, 2011

2. Interest rates continued to fall. The 10-year Treasury ended the year yielding below 2 percent and the 30-year yielded below 3 percent. On a total return basis, the 30-year Treasury jumped 35 percent in 2011, which is higher than every stock in the Dow Jones Industrial Average!
Sources: The Wall Street Journal; Barron’s

3. The Middle East rose in protest. Mass protests swept the Middle East, governments were overthrown, and the political landscape was dramatically reshaped. The reverberations will last for years.
Source: The Economist

4. Apple and Steve Jobs were everywhere. Apple was 90 days away from bankruptcy in the late 1990s, but through the magic of Steve Jobs, the company briefly became the world’s most valuable company in 2011 – surpassing Exxon! The iPhone was the #1 most searched term on Yahoo! for the year. And, yes, Steve Jobs passed away from cancer at the much too young age of 56.
Sources: Bloomberg; Yahoo! News

5. Japan was rocked with a massive earthquake and tsunami. The devastating power of Mother Nature claimed more than 15,000 lives, shocked financial markets, and disrupted business around the world. The pain and scars of this tragedy will remain for many years.
Source: Bloomberg

6. The U.S. credit rating got “dinged.” In August, Standard & Poor’s downgraded the AAA credit rating of the United States due to political bickering and unsustainable budget deficits. The stock market promptly fell yet, surprisingly, interest rates ended the year at extremely low levels.
Source: Bloomberg

7. Gold kept its luster. Despite weakness at the end of the year, gold prices finished the year in positive territory for the 11th consecutive year. In times of uncertainty, investors have shown a preference for the yellow metal.
Source: The Economic Times

8. Foreign stock markets took it on the chin. Unchanged in the U.S. looks good compared to China, which fell 22 percent; Hong Kong, down 20 percent; Brazil, down 18 percent; Germany, down 14.7 percent; and Britain, down 5.6 percent. There’s no place like home!
Sources: Associated Press via Yahoo! News; Bloomberg

9. Burgers and banks were bookends. The best performing stock in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 2011 was McDonald’s, which rose 31 percent. At the other extreme, Bank of America was the worst performer dropping 58 percent. Looks like a lot of people ordered an extra fry with that Big Mac.
Source: Associated Press via Yahoo! News

10. “Planking” became a worldwide phenomenon. Traced back to a 20-something Australian, planking involves lying face down on the ground with your arms at your side. The “trick” is to do it in unusual places or atop peculiar objects. The unrelated “fitness” version of planking also made headlines in 2011 when a 71-year-old Wisconsinite named Betty Lou Sweeney set a new Guinness World Record by holding an abdominal plank for an incredible 36 minutes and 58 seconds. What’s even more incredible is in 2009 she was “severely overweight and nearly died from complications from an infection that went septic and shut down her kidneys.” Two years later and 100 pounds lighter, she set the world record. Yes, there’s hope for all of us!
Source: Yahoo! News

Weekly Focus – Think About It

“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.”
–Michael Altshuler, speaker, entrepreneur

Happy New Year!

Jim Casey is the President and CEO of Integrated Wealth Management. For more information visit www.iwmgmt.com or call Jim Casey at 866-888-6563 x315.

See Full Bio: Jim Casey

Integrated Wealth Management, Inc. is a Registered Investment Adviser.

With a rise of 8.9 percent for the year, the S&P 500 index has now risen eight of the last nine weeks. Some analysts cite improving economic data, solid corporate earnings, and a stronger job picture for the bubbling stock market, according to Reuters.

But, before we get too carried away, the S&P 500 index would still need to rise about 15 percent to match its all-time record high of 1,565 hit back on October 9, 2007, according to The Wall Street Journal. The gap is not as wide if you reinvested dividends since October 2007. On that score, the S&P would be just 3.5 percent below its all-time high.

If you look at the broad stock market as measured by the Wilshire 5000 index, which tracks more than 3,700 U.S. stocks, we’re at a record high. That index eked out an all-time record high last week assuming reinvested dividends, according to The Wall Street Journal. So, from the market’s peak in October 2007 to the trough in March 2009 and back to the peak in March 2012, it was a long and winding road of about 4½ years.

We talk about the importance of thinking long-term and this market cycle round-trip is a great example of what we mean. Things looked bleak near the bottom in early 2009, but here we are three years later and the market has surged and the economy seems to be healing. Patience is indeed a virtue

CAN WE LEARN FROM OTHER PEOPLE’S WISDOM? The answer to that question is yes since no one of us is as smart as all of us. With that in mind, here are eight tidbits of investment advice from Jeremy Grantham, the co-founder and chief investment strategist of GMO, a $97 billion global investment management firm.

1. Believe in history. While past performance is no guarantee of future results, we should pay heed to history and avoid using the words “this time is different.” As the old Wall Street saw goes, “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.”

2. “Neither a lender nor a borrower be.” Don’t borrow money to invest. If you do, “it will interfere with your survivability.”

3. Don’t put all of your treasure in one boat. This is investing 101 and it’s a basic tenet of sound investment practices.

4. Be patient and focus on the long term. Another piece of sound advice that is easier said than done – but it is well worth striving toward.

5. Try to contain natural optimism. While optimism may be a good survival characteristic, it can get in the way of good investment results. How? If you’re too optimistic, you may dismiss bearish news and go down with a sinking ship while those who had their eyes and ears open reached out for the lifeboat.

6. But on rare occasions, try hard to be brave. There may be times when it makes sense to be bolder than normal. If the odds look stacked in your favor, Grantham says it might make sense to be brave.

7. Resist the crowd: cherish numbers only. It’s easy to get caught up in the euphoria of a crowd – that’s how manias get rolling. But, as an investor, you have to put your analytical hat on, ignore the crowd, and sharpen your pencil (or calculator or computer!).

8. “This above all: to thine own self be true.” In order to succeed as an investor Grantham says, “It is utterly imperative that you know your limitations as well as your strengths and weaknesses. If you can be patient and ignore the crowd, you will likely win. But to imagine you can, and to then adopt a flawed approach that allows you to be seduced or intimidated by the crowd into jumping in late or getting out early is to guarantee a pure disaster. You must know your pain and patience thresholds accurately and not play over your head.”

While there are many top 10 lists of how to be a better investor, these eight from Grantham are a nice place to start.

Weekly Focus – Think About It

“Risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.”
–Leo Buscaglia, Ph.D., professor, New York Times bestselling author

Jim Casey is the President and CEO of Integrated Wealth Management. For more information visit www.iwmgmt.com or call Jim Casey at 866-888-6563 x315.

See Full Bio: Jim Casey

Integrated Wealth Management, Inc. is a Registered Investment Adviser.

Casey, also known for his philanthropic way of doing business, attributes the continued success of the company to a strong team, which includes the 20th year of VP of Operations Heather Santana, as well as a staff of over 15 wealth managers, business development and support staff.

“I am very proud of our company, and the way we do business.” said Casey, “It is important to us not to take things for granted and continue to give back and support and service our clients and the community any way we can.”

Financial advisers and Integrated Wealth Management employees currently give their time and money to over 20 different local and national charitable organizations by way of board seats, sponsorship, and endowment management.

These organizations include The Screen Actors Guild Foundation, The Actors Fund, Desert AIDS Project, The Living Desert, La Quinta Art Foundation, and more. Casey also currently sits on the board of directors for the Desert AIDS Project, and this year was the co-chair of the Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards, which raised a record amount of money.

Integrated Wealth Management is an independent wealth management firm representing hundreds of individuals, businesses, and nonprofits. Integrated Wealth Management focuses on helping its clients attain their current and future financial goals by providing an exceptional level of personalized service and financial advice, and adapting quickly to changing client circumstances, market conditions or tax laws.

The full-service firm provides: Wealth Management Services, Fiduciary Services, 401(k) Design and Management, Investment Reporting Services, Financial and Retirement Planning and more. They have offices in Marina Del Rey, Palm Springs and Palm Desert. For more information: www.IWMgmt.com or 866-888-6563 x. 113.