Inside this issue 1–2 Stepping in

Financially for a Relative at a Time of Need

2 Technology Corner 2 Ways to Afford Your Retirement Account Catch-Up Contributions 3 The Silversage Family 3 Service Spotlight: Private Client Web Sites 4 Recipe of the Month

Wisdom is knowing what to do next, skill is knowing how to do it, and virtue is doing it.

David Starr Jordan

Spring ThoughtsAs the days and plants alike begin to

grow, resolve yourself to get outside and explore mother nature’s beauty. We live in a “golden time” of access to adventure. Walk in your neighborhood park, or Yosemite. Cruise the beach boardwalks, or mountain bike tougher trails. Whatever your age and ability, there’s a path for you. And encourage your children and grandchildren to explore our wonderful world!

Stepping In Financially for a Relative at a Time of Need

No one wants to give up control of his life. That’s true for someone who’s 20 or 80. If you sense an older relative is slowing down, or if a serious illness is threatening the finances of any loved one, it’s time to fashion a thoughtful plan.

A good first stop is a financial planner—a financial expert with the experience to step into a tense situation and help you create a system for locating key information so you can make the necessary critical decisions. Of course, the best way to set up a system is to work with the relative before there’s a problem, or in the early stages of illness. Some suggestions:

Understand their condition and strike a cooperative balance: Initially, try to understand the crisis. Before talking about money issues, do everything possible to understand their feelings about how they want to handle family, work and money issues at each stage of their illness. It’s not unreasonable for someone to want to keep control until the point when they really have to give up the reins. Get them to talk about what they believe will be triggers for them to give up control, and then find out how they would like to proceed and formulate a transition plan.

Talk about legal documents: Does this parent, relative or friend have a will

or trust and necessary medical directives in place? At a very minimum, a will governs the distribution of a person’s assets according to the wishes of the deceased. A more comprehensive revocable trust may also be considered for larger estates and those subject to special needs and circumstances. Both documents maintain control of distributions, rather than leaving it up to the probate courts. Health directives name a single individual to manage all key health decisions if a patient cannot make them. Additionally, a durable power of attorney may be necessary to manage her finances, and other legal documents can be drafted to run her business if she becomes incapacitated. The future of her business should be addressed in collaboration with other family members as well as key co-workers or executives. Enlist the help of a certified financial planner™ practitioner and necessary tax and legal experts for guidance through this process.

Discuss long-term care provisions: According to the aarp, the average nursing home stay is 2.5 years. Whether an individual chooses long-term care in his own home or in a facility, it’s important to understand that most of the cost of care, including daily living expenses, will not be covered by private health insurance or Medicare.

Get a handle on bills and other key financial events: With foresight and help from the older person, survivors would have a much easier time running or settling matters in his absence. Such planning goes beyond having simple wills and powers of attorney in an easy-to-find location. It makes good sense to establish the following:

•Electronic transactions: Older relatives tend to trust traditional means of paying bills, but automatic bill pay is an excel-lent benefit for caregivers or relatives charged with managing someone else’s

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Spring 2010Volume 2, Issue 3

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continued from page 1 finances. By programming in all of the bill payment

dates, you greatly reduce the risk of late payments. Automatic bill payment should be part of the process when an elderly relative establishes a joint checking account with a caregiver or holder of a financial power of attorney. Most important, once those automatic transactions are established, all the security codes and passwords must be kept in a safe place for all to access.

•Set up a home maintenance schedule: If the relative is hoping to return to the home, or if it must be sold at a later date to pay bills or to settle the estate, it must be maintained to assure its future value at the time it is reoccupied or sold.

•Set up a correspondence system: In addition to the stress of helping someone who’s ill or incapacitated, the sheer amount of paperwork associated with a serious illness can shake the most unflappable person. Again, a certified financial planner™ practitioner with special skills in working with elderly clients can help you set up a system for collecting and sorting that information as well as non-medical financial corre-spondence. If the house is unoccupied, reduce the risk of identity theft by buying a shredder for all mailed materials that don’t need to be filed.

•Pull credit reports: Get permission from your relative to pull the three annual credit reports they are entitled to during the year so you can confirm all accounts are current and that identity thieves haven’t targeted their accounts.

Ways to Afford Your Retirement Account Catch-Up Contributions

Turning 50 might not be everyone’s idea of excitement, but saving for retirement gets a boost for those 50 and older. That’s because people age 50 and over can make “catch-up” contributions to iras and most workplace-based retirement plans. These special contributions are in addition to regular contribution limits, allowing individuals to maximize the amount of tax-advantaged retirement savings they can stash away.

The catch-up phenomenon has never been more important as American workers attempt to rebuild retirement savings hurt by recent market losses. For calendar year 2010, here are the standard contribution limits and catch-up amounts:

1 Traditional and Roth iras have a standard contribu-tion limit of $5,000 with an over-50 catch-up contribu-tion of $1,000 for a total contribution limit of $6,000.

2 simple iras have a standard contribution limit of $11,500 with an over-50 catch-up contribution of $2,500 for a total contribution limit of $14,000.

3 401(k), 403(b), 457(b), Roth 401(k) and Roth 403(b) plans have a standard contribution limit of $16,500 with a catch-up contribution of $5,500 for a total con-tribution limit of $22,000.

So, where to find the money? Here are some suggestions to make it happen:

Earn more: Consider taking on extra freelance work or a part-time job that you enjoy. The extra earnings can extinguish debt and maximize your savings.

Cut out the extras: What are your non-essentials? Can you live without gourmet coffee and reduce restaurant meals? Do you really need premium cable? Can you give up your landline and use a cell phone that matches the calling plan you’ll need? How about a higher insurance deductible?

If you can do it safely, take over home and auto maintenance yourself: Learn as much as you can about maintenance tasks, and estimate the cost of materials and your time before doing them yourself. Previous generations made do-it-yourself a necessity. You might save money.

Turn down the thermostat and park the car: Lower the temperature at home, especially at night. Raise it for comfort only when you must. Consider public transit, biking and walking; you’ll save money, and it’ll do wonders for your health. You’ll be surprised at what you can do.

Go debit: Debit cards wearing a bankcard logo are welcome at most stores where credit cards are accepted. This way, you pay cash without carrying cash.

Buy used for yourself: If you need clothing, a car or a new watch to replace the old one that’s past fixing, it might be worthwhile to buy second-hand at shops or on the Internet. Plenty of people have unloaded items in relatively good shape to bring in cash during the recent downturn.

Get in the habit of saving money on everything.

Have you logged into your Private Client Site yet?In December we launched our new website: www.silversageadvisors.com. An important feature is the Private Client Site, where you can organize your financial affairs in one conve-nient place. You have the ability to review your accounts, look at and run reports, and upload documents for storage in your document vault. We have received very positive feedback thus far, and many clients are excited about this tool.

All clients with email addresses have been sent instructions for how to access their Private Client Site. If you have not already done so, please take a moment to make sure you can access your site. Please feel free to contact us if you need any assistance.

Technology Corner

The Sage, page 3

It’s more common for families to establish the account at a young age of the child with a more modest lump sum and an accompanying systematic monthly contribution plan that fits the family’s monthly budget. Regular savings deposits are highly recommended.

529 plan investments grow tax-deferred, and withdrawals used for qualified higher education expenses are free from federal income tax. However, if withdrawals are used for other purposes, the earnings portion of the withdrawal will be subject to ordinary federal income tax, any applicable state income tax, and an additional 10% federal penalty.

A 529 College Savings Plan can be a powerful tool for obtaining your family’s college funding goals. Please contact our office to discover how a 529 Plan may help your family.

Email Addresses:Jeff Garell, President

jgarell@silversageadvisors.comDaniel Sands, Vice President

dsands@silversageadvisors.comAryn Sands, Director of Operations

asands@silversageadvisors.com

529 College Saving PlansA quality education greatly increases a child’s chances

for success, but it can be expensive. Annual tuition inflation tends to run from 6% to 9%. A 529 Plan will help cover these costs, give the owner control and provide potentially tax-free withdrawals.

A 529 Plan is a state-sponsored investment plan named for Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code. It is designed to provide families with a flexible, tax-efficient way to save for higher education. You can use the money to pay for qualified higher education expenses, such as tuition, fees, room and board, books and supplies at any eligible college, university, technical or graduate school in the U.S., as well as some foreign institutions. Accounts can be opened by both parents and grandparents. Since the account is in your name, you control the asset and its distributions for the needs of the student.

Contributions may be via lump sum or regular deposits, or both. You can contribute up to $130,000 in a single year per married couple filing jointly ($65,000 per individual) for each beneficiary without incurring federal gift tax as long as you don’t make any other gifts to that beneficiary for five years. These larger lump-sum contributions may benefit grandparents needing to reduce estate taxes and help fund their grandchildren’s education.

TheSilversageFamily

Service Spot light

1 The Garell Family in Mammoth during Ski Week.

2 Mason Garell in Washington, dc for an 8th grade field trip. The Lincoln Memorial and reflecting pool in background.

3 Jeff Garell and Daniel Sands biking in the Santa Ana Mountains.

4 Jackson Sands gets his first bike for his 2nd birthday!

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☛ Don’t Forget!Individual Tax Filing and ira Prior Year Contribution Deadline is April 15.

The Sage, page 4

Ingredients1 (28-oz.) can tomatoes4 C. vegetable broth 1 (15-oz.) can black beans, rinsed

and drained1 (15-oz.) can kidney beans,

rinsed and drained1 C. frozen baby lima beans1 C. chopped onion1 green bell pepper, seeded and

chopped2 cloves garlic, minced1 tbs. minced pickled jalapeño

(from can or jar)2 tbs. chile powder2 tbs. dried oregano2 tbs. ground cumin1 tsp. ground coriander1 to 2 tsp. hot sauce1/2 C. shredded jack cheese

Vegetarian Chili

Looking for a tasty, easy-to-make and healthy chili recipe? This alternative to tradi-tional chili won’t disappoint, as the generous amounts of spices give it great home-made flavor. It’s the perfect dish to feed the family or bring to your next potluck.Serves four to six people.

1 In a slow cooker or crockpot, combine all ingredients except the shredded cheese.2 Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours.3 Just before serving, top each serving with shredded cheese.4 For extra variety, you can serve chili in round loaf bread bowls.

If you have a recipe that you would like to share with the Silversage family, please email us (info@silversageadvisors.com) or call the office.

Securities offered through Geneos Wealth Management, Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory Services offered through Silversage Advisors® and Geneos Wealth Management, Inc., Registered Investment Advisors.

Silversage Advisors®Registered Investment Advisor

19200 Von Karman AvenueSuite 370Irvine, California 92612

Phone 949-223-5175 Fax 949-223-5183 email info@silversageadvisors.com

Enduring Financial Wisdom

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What’s Cooking?