Category Archives: Financial Independence

SEATTLE, Dec. 06, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Consilio Wealth Advisors announced today that Hao Dang will be joining the team as their Investment Strategist in efforts to continue elevating their investment advisory services.

Dang will be joining the company from an industry-leading $4 billion firm, where he served as VP of Portfolio Consulting since 2014. During his time there, he successfully led the charge of investment strategy for many different advisor teams.

"Hao is a total bar-raiser for Consilio Wealth Advisors. Not only is he one of the smartest finance minds I've ever met, but he has such a strong passion for serving others and an insatiable thirst for learning," says Nathaniel Donohue, Partner & Advisor, "We're grateful to have him on our team."

Dang's role will consist of spearheading the firm's economic and market outlook, portfolio model management, investment research, and trading. He says he found Consilio's approach to clients and capital markets to be absolutely unmatched. He's excited to be working with a team that's equally as passionate about educating others on how to exceed the goals they've set for themselves.

"Joining Consilio allows me to leverage my strengths to help working professionals and retirees reach their goals," says Hao Dang, "They've assembled an exceptionally talented team, and I'm excited about the future of this firm and what we will do together."

Partner and Advisor, Christopher Kaminski, is excited about Dang's passion to educate. Over the coming months, with the help of new team member Dang, Kaminski says you can expect to see their team rolling out additional capabilities very soon.

"Hao has a calm, methodical approach that perfectly matches the ethos of our firm," explains Kaminski.

To follow updates from Hao and the Consilio Wealth team, visit https://www.consiliowealth.com/.

About Consilio Wealth Advisors: Consilio Wealth Advisors, LLC ("CWA") is a registered investment advisory firm with experts seasoned in tech and retiree wealth management. Consilio partners with clients in two important seasons of their life. First, as they're accumulating wealth in the technology industry and second, as they're enjoying financial independence in retirement. In both seasons of life, it's important to make proactive decisions from a place of clarity and confidence. We're honored to empower our clients to do exactly that. To learn more about Consilio Wealth Advisors, visit https://www.consiliowealth.com/.

Contact: Nathaniel Donohue

Nathan.Donohue@consiliowealth.com

Related Images

Image 1

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.

Visit link:

Consilio Wealth Advisors Hires New Investment Strategist Hao Dang to Expand Investment Advisory Offerings - GlobeNewswire

How has life changed for Australians over the last twenty years? Are we better off? Are we healthier? How has family life changed? How have our attitudes changed?

The Household Income and Labour Dynamics (HILDA) Survey, administered by the University of Melbourne and now in its 20th year, is the only national survey tracking the life courses of Australians. The researchers go back to interview the same Australians each year, over 17,000 of them, providing a unique window on how our social and economic circumstances are changing.

It is the only nationally representative data source we have that provides rich information on the pathways people are taking, providing insights into what led them to where they are and helping us to understand whats changing and what may be driving the changes, says Professor Roger Wilkins, deputy director of the HILDA Survey Project at the University of Melbourne.

Overall he says HILDA reveals a relatively stable and well-functioning society over the last 20 years marked by lower levels of poverty and financial stress, a lower impact from crime and increasingly tolerant/progressive attitudes.

Read more

The results from HILDA provide a real counterpoint to the sense of gloom that can sometimes overwhelm contemporary views of the present, he says.

For example, while you can argue about whether inequality is too high or not in Australia, HILDA shows that the actual level of income inequality has been remarkably stable over the last 20 years, says Professor Wilkins.

But that isnt to say that everything is fine. In particular, HILDA shows that as a society we could be doing a lot better by single parents.

According to HILDA, 20 per cent of single parents are in poverty compared with just 4.5 per cent of coupled parents.

It also shows that young people are facing a more daunting time with the transition into financial independence, and the economic challenges from the pandemic will make that worse. Young people are taking longer to leave home and secure full-time work, and house prices are looking more out of reach.

The current survey is now underway and will provide a crucial snapshot of how COVID-19 has affected our collective lives. Professor Wilkins says the crisis and understanding its social and economic impact could be a circuit breaker for much needed policy reform.

HILDA over the last 20 years has told a story of two decades in the first 10 years of the century incomes rose strongly amid the resources boom, but since then living standards have stagnated, and that stagnation has in part been perpetuated by policy complacency, says Professor Wilkins.

Read more

For example, he argues a lack of investment in infrastructure has only started to be addressed recently, and tax reforms aimed at taxing labour less and property more are overdue.

So, what does HILDA tell us about how weve changed over the last 20 years?

We are clearly smoking much less. Since 2001 the proportion of Australians smoking daily has fallen significantly from nearly 19 per cent to now 11 per cent. There are also signs we may be drinking less regularly the proportion of people drinking alcohol five or more days a week is down from 15 per cent in 2002 to 11 per cent.

But despite those positive signs, obesity is rising with 59 per cent of people over-weight or obese, up from 54 per cent in 2006.

And the extent to which we are exercising doesnt appear to have changed in the last two decades despite the growing fashion for sportswear. Just over a third of us exercise for at least 30 minutes three or more times a week, but not every day, and that is virtually unchanged from 2001.

Also unchanged is the proportion of us doing very little. About 13 per cent report never exercising for at least 30 minutes each week. And the proportion of us exercising for at least 30 minutes every day is actually slightly down from nearly 14 per cent in 2001 to 12 per cent now.

HILDA also shows that Australians are increasingly vulnerable to psychological distress. The proportion of adults measured by surveys to be a high or very high risk of psychological distress has soared by about 30 per cent between 2007 and 2019, with women particularly more vulnerable.

Read more

The proportion of women at high or very high risk has risen from 17.7 per cent to just over 23 per cent, while the proportion of at-risk men has risen from 15 per cent to 19.4 per cent.

HILDA points to a dramatic fall in property crime like theft and break-ins in the last 20 years. The proportion of survey respondents reporting they were the victim of property crime in the previous year has dropped from 6.7 per cent in 2002 to 2.7 per cent in 2019.

There has also been a drop in the proportion of people experiencing violent crime from 2 per cent in 2002 to 1.2 per cent in 2019.

However more Australians in HILDA are reporting that they feel they are discriminated against on the basis of gender, age, ethnicity, religion or parental status when applying for a job. In 2008 about 7.3 per cent of respondents reported some sort of job discrimination in the last two years, and that had risen to 8 per cent by 2018.

When it comes to how we live, one of the starkest changes over the last two decades has been the rise in the number of working mothers.

Read more

In 2001, both parents were working in about 60 per cent of couple-parent families with dependent children. But that proportion has now increased to 71 per cent.

Probably reflecting the increased time mothers are spending in paid work, the proportion of families with pre-school children using childcare has almost doubled from 28 per cent to 53 per cent. And among those families using childcare, the average real spending on childcare (in 2019 dollars) has risen from $A130 a week in 2001 to $A205 a week.

The proportion of women working has risen from 53 per cent in 2001 to now 60 per cent, but women still tend to work fewer hours a week than men (32 hours versus 40 hours), and for less pay. On an hourly wages basis the HILDA data suggests that the gender pay gap has actually widened between 2001 and 2019 from 8.6 per cent to 9.4 per cent.

And while women are working more, within the family women continue to do significantly more unpaid work (house work and caring) than men.

Among different sex couples with dependent children, the woman is doing 21 hours more a week of unpaid work than the man, though that has narrowed significantly from 29 hours more in 2002.

This narrowing is being driven by a combination of men taking on a bit more of the work, and by women simply doing less unpaid work possibly reflecting the wider use of childcare as women increase their work hours.

On average men in these families have increased their unpaid work from 24.7 hours to 27.8 hours a week, while unpaid work by women has fallen from 53.5 hours to 48.7 hours a week.

Read more

Were also spending more on eating out rather than cooking at home. While household grocery spending has dropped 11 per cent since 2001, our spending on eating out has risen by 23 per cent.

Another big social change is the increase in university qualifications. In 2001 about 27 per cent of Australian aged 25-34 had a university degree, but that has now increased to close to 40 per cent.

The increase in degrees may be contributing to the delay in young Australians achieving independence, that is revealed in HILDA. Young Australians are staying home longer with their parents with about half of Australians aged 18-29 now still living at home, up from 41 per cent in 2001.

And in their first year out in the job market after full time education the rate at which young Australians have secured full time work has fallen from around 52 per cent in 2001 to 45 per cent now.

Rates of casual work are little changed over the last 20 years, with just under 25 per cent of employees employed casually in 2001 compared to 22 per cent now. However rates of casualisation are highest among the 15-24 age group at 56 per cent, and that is up from 51 per cent in 2001.

Read more

Older Australians meanwhile are working for longer. At the start of the century a mans average retirement age was around 62, but that has now risen to 67. Among women the retirement age has risen from 61 to 65.

HILDA shows that social attitudes towards marriage and parenting are becoming more progressive. The most striking shift since 2001 is the growing acceptance of the rights of same sex couples.

Attitudes in HILDA are measured on a 7-point scale with a score over 4 indicating agreement with a particular survey statement. In 2005 Australian men generally disagreed with the statement that same sex couples should have the same rights as heterosexual couples (score 3.3) but that has now turned around to clear agreement (score 5.2).

Among women in 2005 there was mild agreement (score 4.1) that same-sex couples had the same rights, but that has now swung to strong agreement (score 5.6).

Australians are also more accepting of a womens decision to be a single parent (men and womens attitudes changing from mild disagreement with the statement that it is alright for a woman to have a child as a single parent, to now clear agreement).

Read more

Men and women still tend to agree with the notion that children are happiest with both a father and mother, but the strength of that opinion has weakened (score now 4.2 among women down from 5.1, and among men 5.1, down from 5.8).

This rise in more progressive attitudes to marriage and family has been accompanied by a steep rise in the proportion of Australians dropping any religious affiliation. In 2004, some 25 per cent of HILDA respondents reported having no religious affiliation, but that has now risen to almost 40 per cent.

Economically, HILDA shows that households are generally better off with incomes rising and poverty and financial distress down over the last two decades.

In 2001 almost 17 per cent of people experienced at least two indicators of financial distress like not being able to make a mortgage repayment, or being unable to pay a utility bill, or having to skip meals for example but that has now fallen to 11 per cent.

There has also been a slight decline in the proportion of people living in relative poverty from 12 per cent in 2001 to 11 per cent now.

Income inequality has also been stable. The Gini Co-efficient is a statistical measure of income inequality where a score of 0 means everyone has the same income and a score of one means one person has all the income. In Australia, the Gini coefficient has remained firmly between 0.29 and 0.31 since 2001.

Read more

But household disposable income growth has stagnated in the last ten years. While average incomes jumped by 28 per cent between 2001 and 2009, since then incomes have grown by only just 6 per cent.

That stagnation has fuelled the concerns about housing affordability amid the continued boom in property values. HILDA shows home owners debt levels have more than doubled in real terms (2019 dollars) from $A168,300 in 2001 to $A355,400 in 2019.

Levels of home ownership meanwhile have dropped slightly some 65 per cent of households now live in an owner-occupied home, down from 69 per cent in 2001.

Banner: Getty Images

Read the original:

How weve changed in 20 years - Pursuit

Rebekah Nelson

Unpaid internships no longer serve students due to financial stress and lack of labor appreciation.

As the fall semester comes to a close, the search for internships for the upcoming year is in full swing. Many Baker students participate in short and long-term internships year-round as several academic programs require an internship experience to graduate.

Long praised for their ability to provide students with real-world experience, internships have been growing in commonality each decade since the 1970s. The increasing need for professional development opportunities has come at a great cost to students around the country. We have normalized unpaid internships under the narrative that trading our labor for free is necessary in attracting attention from future employers.

Over the years, legislation has upheld the legality of unpaid internships on a national level. The Fair Labor Standards Act states that employees are required to be paid for their work, though through legal loopholes, these interns are not considered employees by the organizations. If the employer can establish that the intern providing the work is benefiting more than the employer, then the legality indicates there is no need for the intern to receive payment. This ruling dictates that students are not entitled to minimum wage or overtime pay if they are not true employees and specifies that they are not entitled to a paid position after their experience is over.

Recent research from the National Association of Colleges and Employers shows that over 40% of interns go without pay. The exchange of free labor for the sake of opportunity costs students time and energy that could otherwise be spent in the workforce earning a paid wage. Not only do unpaid internships exploit populations that are particularly vulnerable to financial instability, but they also perpetuate existing socioeconomic disparities.

Internships widen the gap between students who have financial support to work for free and those who do not. Students who are able to sacrifice their time continue to climb ahead of those who cannot afford to work without pay. Its not easy to pay the ever-increasing cost of college tuition that has jumped over 1,200% since the 1980s on the salary of a volunteer.

In a time when the cost of living continues to increase and wages continue to stagnate, financial independence becomes increasingly out of reach for young adults and college-aged students. It is predatory for for-profit corporations to deny interns compensation for the work they contribute by justifying it with the benefit of experience. Post-graduation, internship experience means nothing when youre forced to settle for a job that pays the bills.

With the ongoing course of the COVID-19 pandemic, now is especially not the time to be idealizing unpaid labor. The so-called labor shortage has forced the nation to reconsider the way we work and live. Employers have become increasingly desperate for new hires while employees are demanding better conditions, salaries, benefits and work-life balance. Weve come to realize that expecting prospective employees to volunteer their time for organizations that generate revenue is neither admirable or acceptable.

For some, unpaid internships are the only option available for degree completion. At Baker, some internships may actually cost the student tuition money or travel costs in order to gain the necessary experience for graduation. As the work culture continues to adapt to the upcoming generations, its important to keep in mind these changes require social support and the stigmatization of exploitative practices. Unpaid internships do not provide an equitable opportunity for all students nor are its operations justifiable.

Though finding paid internships may be difficult or impossible depending on your program, there is growing popularity among micro-internships which are accessible online via websites like Parker Dewey. Interning is real work and is necessary for the stability of organizations. Fight for proper compensation because it is truly a matter of time before unpaid internships are a thing of the past.

Continued here:

It is time to end unpaid internships The Baker Orange - Baker Orange

The only woman bank cashier in America, or possibly in the world. Photograph, 1890.

The very first female U.S. senator was sworn in on November 12, 1922, representing the state of Georgia. Her name was Rebecca Felton. She was 87 years old at the time. Her tenure lasted one day.

Hers was a token appointment to placate new women voters when the sitting senator died unexpectedly. The special election was expected to produce a new senator before congress was back from recess. When Walter F. George won the special election, he allowed Fenton to be sworn in for one day to appease his female constituents.

Fenton, a prominent suffragette and unfortunately virulent white supremacist history is always unkind to those on its wrong side called out southern men for doing little for womens rights, writing that honeyed phrases are pleasant to listen to, but the sensible women of our country would prefer more substantial gifts. It had been just a little over twenty years since married women were allowed to open their own bank accounts, and own their own land. And yet, few did.

Even in the 1970s, fifty years later, married women in the United States could not universally open bank accounts or apply for credit cards without first procuring their husbands permission. And women couldnt obtain a loan without a male co-signer.

Between the years 1971 to 1976, Ruth Bader Ginsburg argued a number of cases that empowered womens rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution that set precedence for womens financial freedoms today.

Ginsburgs work paved the way for the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 which prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, or age in credit transactions.

47 years later, we are in a new era in which financial transactions are no longer gender-discriminatory. And thanks to DeFi and crypto-currencies, they are indeed gender-blind. De-centralized finance, or DeFi removes the central service, such as a bank or exchange, that exercises control over the entire system. Regulation is often lacking, but so is discrimination.

We live in an era in which gender equality should be the norm, not male-dominated nor female-overprotected, says Nimbus CEO Alex Lemberg. The financial world doesnt simply transfer assets to those with a good business idea, as it should. Although women have proved to be highly capable and successful in almost every single industry, finance is still dominated by men who may wrongly perceive women as risky or incapable of making financial decisions. DeFi offers a safe harbor for those facing gender discrimination in traditional financial institutions.

Alex Lemberg

The fact that Blockchain technology does not discriminate is one of the most positive transformations in financial systems worldwide, adds Lauretta Otoo of CQ Legal and Consulting.

The problem is that there are far fewer women than men taking advantage of the opportunity in DeFi. Men are twice as likely as women to hold Crypto. From my experience, women are financially cautious and very serious about finances, but the issue may be the lack of motivation to participate in something not directed toward them. Once women are motivated, participation won't be a factor, Lemberg continues.

Cynthia Quarcoo, Managing Partner of CQ Legal and Consulting, says that a barrier to entry could be a lack of technical background, making Crypto more complicated in an ecosystem constantly evolving over short periods of time. She adds, There is no secret formula for doing this, but women wont be convinced to join an industry that is underrepresented by females.

Quarcoos associate Otoo agrees its not any harder for women to understand DeFi, but women are less aware of its potential. Women need to know that there are a lot of entry points, and no need to be technical or specialize in cryptocurrencies. The ecosystem is versatile, offering opportunities regardless of background.

Further, in countries where womens rights lag far behind mens, DeFi gives women more opportunities to control their finances independently of men. We need to drive education and awareness that financial knowledge ultimately brings success. Women in all communities can use DeFi to create their financial safety net. I believe that this is also our mission to make women free to manage their own assets.

Quarcoo adds, Women can be financially included and attain their own financial independence because Blockchain is an ecosystem that allows for the participation of all persons regardless of gender, culture, or country. Even where women have few rights, all they need is access to the technology.

But what is more important and I never get tired of emphasizing this is the unidentifiable nature of DeFi. To DeFi, gender doesnt mean a thing. Women have the same opportunities as men built into the structure of the system, and to me, the main goal of the Defi sphere is to provide equal access to everyone, Lemberg concludes.

The internets easy access to information has made marvelous inroads for underrepresented communities worldwide. With the advent of crytocurrency and DeFi, that access is being extended to financial resources as well. We can only hope that over time, governments will follow suit.

Link:

How Defi Is Empowering Women To Create Their Own Financial Destiny, An Interview With Alex Lemberg - Forbes

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On December 7, the Museum of American Finance will present SPACs: The New IPO?, a timely virtual panel discussion with industry leaders involved in different aspects of taking companies public. Participants will discuss the role of SPACs as an increasingly popular alternative to the more traditional IPO, including:

The program will begin with an introduction by Michael Harris, Head of Capital Markets & Business Development, Citadel Securities. The panel discussion will be moderated by Sonali Basak, Global Wall Street Correspondent for Bloomberg Television.

Featured panelists are: Andrew Cohen: Founder & CIO, Difesa Capital ManagementE. Ramey Layne: Partner, Vinson & Elkins LLPDavid Panton: Managing Partner, SPAC Operations, Navigation Capital Partners, LPEklavya Saraf: Global Head of Spac Listings and Managing Director of Listing Services, Nasdaq

The program will be held from 5:00 6:15 pm (ET) on Zoom. The panel discussion will be followed by audience Q&A. It is free to attend, but advance registration is required. More information can be found at http://www.moaf.org/spacs.

SPACs: The New IPO? is sponsored by Citadel Securities and Vinson & Elkins. It is presented in partnership with the Fordham University Gabelli Center for Global Security Analysis.

About the Museum of American Finance

As a socially relevant organization, the Museum of American Finance seeks to improve understanding of the influence of financial institutions and capital markets on the US and global economies, and on individuals lives. The Museum is dedicated to educating the public on finance and financial history through exhibits, financial literacy programs and public events. An affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, the Museum seeks to empower individuals of all backgrounds to strive toward financial independence, while encouraging curiosity and discovery. For more information, visit http://www.moaf.org or connect with the Museum on Facebook or Twitter.

Read this article:

Museum of American Finance to Present Virtual Panel on SPACs: The New IPO? - Business Wire

While Ms Loh has taken a leap of faith career-wise, 29-year-old Anthea (not her real name) prefers to play it safe even though she is not happy with her work situation.

Anthea had largely enjoyed her work in the marketing department of a public relations firm, until it began to take on more projects amid the raging pandemic last year. While she normally ended work at about 8pm pre-COVID-19, she found herself staying up to the wee hours working to meet project deadlines, as working from home had blurred the lines between office and rest hours.

After a while of working overnight, I just felt burnt out and that it was no longer worth it, said Anthea.

However, she stuck it out for more than a year before leaving the company in July this year for very pragmatic reasons: She needed the money to pay her bills and did not want to dip into her savings.

Anthea is presently working in a contract marketing role at another firm that pays about the same salary but has better working hours. But she no longer enjoys working in the industry, and feels stuck in her current role.

After a while, I feel no purpose in what I am doing, she said.

For yet another millennial, 25-year-old Terence, the pandemic has led him to embrace the Fire movement, whose mantra is financial independence, retire early. Proponents believe that this can be achieved by saving hard, investing well and living frugally from young.

Having graduated from university last year, the bleak economic outlook at that time as COVID-19 decimated one key industry after another in Singapore and elsewhere nudged Terence into subscribing to the movement seriously, starting with saving his money.

There wasnt a major impetus to spend on anything we couldnt travel, and any plans I had such as graduation trips were out of the window, said Terence, who wanted to be known only by his first name.

His difficult job search after graduation made him more determined to be frugal with his spending, even after he finally landed a position with a consultancy firm in August last year.For instance, he would hold off upgrades, such as getting a new laptop, preferring to use his current model.

When the stock market bottomed out at the height of the pandemic last year, Terence, in line with a key Fire tenet, took the opportunity to invest, and has made healthy gains as the economy recovered.

I think even before COVIDI always knew I would try my best to climb the corporate ladder, he said. While the motivation is still there, a big part of it is now to achieve Fire as soon as possible.

While Ms Loh, Anthea and Terence have responded differently to the pandemic on the career front, they do have something in common: This once-in-a-generation crisis has forced them to re-evaluate or reshuffle their priorities in life, perhaps much earlier than people of their age were wont to do had COVID-19 not changed the world, literally, as we knew it.

And their respective choices take a risk to pursue ones passion; stick to a job even if you dont like it for the sake of financial stability; or find ways to enhance ones wealth quickly to make early retirement possible largely mirror that of other young adults, aged between 20 and 30 years old, interviewed by TODAY recently.

Indeed, based on findings of the inaugural annual TODAY Youth Survey, youths have a different take on what success in life means. No longer is it defined by the 5Cs cash, car, credit card, condominium and country club membership that were once deemed as the ultimate Singapore dream by an earlier generation.

See original here:

The Big Read: For youths, will pragmatism or passion rule as COVID-19 gives pause to rethink life's priorities? - CNA

Theres a reimagining of work and care coming out of the pandemic, which stands to disproportionately benefit working parents and mothers in particular.

Employers need to pay attention. It used to be cutting edge to provide paid leave and child care benefits, or to provide private spaces and breaks for women to pump. And such policies still remain the exception and not the norm. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, fewer than 1 in 4 parents has any type of formal family leave policy at work following the birth or adoption of a child. Many breastfeeding or pumping rooms are dank, depressing closets.

But now parents are asking for a more fundamental restructure of what work looks like and how to blend work and family life. Specifically, most workers regardless of gender or age are asking for increased flexibility, with parents particularly keen on it. A recent CNBC poll found that half of Americans are considering quitting their jobs, with working parents twice as likely to want to leave their current jobs.

In some ways, the desire for flexibility among working parents (and particularly mothers) is nothing new. Even pre-pandemic, a Gallup study of women and work found that lack of flexible hours and remote work were the main reasons that stay-at-home mothers reported they were not seeking jobs. Interestingly, these concerns significantly outpaced those of child care costs, despite almost the entirety of our national policy conversation focused on the latter.

A tight labor market, record-breaking resignations, and 18 months of normalizing remote work and opening eyes to the juggle of home and family life have only added to the cause.

Increased flexibility could be an upshot of the pandemic that has otherwise fallen heavily on working parents, and mothers in particular. More flexible schedules wherever possible could help women bridge the gap of having young children in the home. Relative to our peers in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the labor force participation of American women lags, which scholars have attributed in large part to lack of family-friendly policies. Given recent Pew polling that shows most dads feel like they spend too little time with their children, men may increasingly take advantage of such options also.

Some have expressed concern that more flexible options could result in mothers being mommy tracked. Certainly, we see fewer women internationally reaching the managerial heights that women do in the U.S., which is probably because of longer periods of leave. But in general, more options for structuring work and family life are likely to be better. And a wider normalization of such policies could help reduce some of the judgement women feel about making use of them. Mothers of young children tend to fear repercussions of asking for flexibility more than fathers of young children or other workers, according to a recent McKinsey and LeanIn study.

Others have expressed concern about company flexibility policies favoring parents over non-parents. But young children are worth differentiated treatment, and people dont stay parents of young children forever. This part of parenting lasts a small number of years relative to a 40-year career and is worthy of short-term investment, and at times, the inconvenience. Its in all of our interest to live in a country where the rising generation is tended to by parents who can be present and involved and ensure that their children receive high-quality early childhood care.

Companies can take action to increase flexibility, and likely the response will vary significantly. According to data from McKinsey & Company, an estimated 20% to 25% of the workforce could work from home three to five days per week without any loss in productivity. The portion of workers who could work from home at least one day a week amounts to 40%.

Employers can allow for more flexible hours, or even more predictable hours for scheduling child care, which often eludes hourly workers. A recent Politico story reports that Etsy groups its meetings into a three-hour block in the middle of the day from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to give workers more autonomy over their day. This also has the benefit of allowing parents to do school drop-offs and pickups or after-school activities.

In one of the closed sessions of the inaugural Politico Women Rule event (which I was part of), one company described trying out various flexible arrangements in 90-day increments to see what works best.

Some work, in particular for consumer-facing positions, inevitably will not have the same level of flexibility. But as workers shift into occupations with more flexible schedules, we may see more of a wage premium for in-person work. Indeed we are already seeing significant upward wage pressure for frontline positions.

All of which brings us to the future of work. The national conversation about paid leave and child care and family-friendly policies is long overdue, and its good we are having it. The U.S. is the only country in the developed world without a paid parental leave policy, and Americans have caught on. President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden have little in common, yet both have proposed federal paid leave plans.

Our existing patchwork of child care support leaves out the low- and middle-wage workers to whom arguably we should target the majority of our support. Democrats Build Back Better plan is a significant overreach and is likely to increase child care costs further, but we can do a better job directing support to families for whom child care costs arent just an inconvenience or uncomfortably large expense, but a structural barrier to work and financial independence.

Still, in many ways, its all the tip of the iceberg. The pandemic has revealed that the solution set for supporting working parents is much broader and deeper than a benefits sheet or the policy conversation in recent decades. As companies experiment with how to retain and recruit talent in this post-pandemic environment, they may just be unlocking a new future of work and care.

Abby McCloskey is an economist and founder of McCloskey Policy LLC. She has advised multiple presidential campaigns. Website: mccloskeypolicy.com

Find the full opinion section here. Got an opinion about this issue? Send a letter to the editor and you just might get published.

Follow this link:

The pandemic busted all notions of work-life balance, to the benefit of working moms - The Dallas Morning News

I am a 22-year-old woman living alone in Bengaluru. I have started earning this year. I came to know about FIRE (Financial Independence and Retire Early) movement and want to be financially free by 2032. Can you suggest how many SIPs I must do to archive my financial freedom?

--Avisikta Majumdar

Financial Independence and Retire Early (FIRE) is something that continues to encourage many people to start working on their investment strategy at an early age. There is no doubt that the definition of retirement may change over the years. Many of us will not completely retire and may take up some kind of part-time activity, but at that stage, the monthly income can reduce drastically. Hence, you need to build a reasonable corpus if you want to be financially independent and retire early. As you plan to become financially independent at the age of 33, you will have to invest a reasonable amount for the coming 11 years to build the corpus. If we consider monthly expenses of 60,000 as of today to take care of your mandatory expenses, lifestyle and travel, then you will need Rs.4.75 Cr at the age of 33 to become financially independent and take care of monthly expenses up to the age of 80 with annual inflation of 7%. To achieve the target of Rs.4.75 Cr you will have to invest in SIPs of Rs.2.02 Lakh per month assuming 10% p.a. return or Rs.1.80 Lakh if the return is 12% p.a. Ideally you should invest in equity funds as you have a time horizon of more than 10 years in your hand, at the same time you can hold your accumulated corpus in equities even after your early retirement. The funds that you can consider investing in to build your financial independence :

Any Nifty Index Fund (15%)

Mirae Asset Large Cap Fund (13%)

Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund (13%)

UTI Flexi Cap Fund (13%)

Canara Robeco Emerging Equities (12%)

SBI Focused Equity Fund (12%)

Kotak Emerging Equity Fund (12%)

Motilal Oswal S&P 500 Index Fund / ICICI Prudential US Bluechip Fund (10%)

Answer by Harshad Chetanwala, founder, MyWealthGrowth.com

Have personal finance queries? Send an email to mintmoney@livemint.com

Subscribe to Mint Newsletters

* Enter a valid email

* Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.

Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!!

Read the rest here:

I am a 22-year-old woman from Bengaluru. I want to be financially free by 2032. How do I achieve this? - Livemint

Nov. 21SPOKANE Miranda Newell, 36, was in the darkest moment of her life when she sought help from Union Gospel Mission.

Fresh from completing the hard work of getting sober in an inpatient program, she returned to her home in northern Idaho, hoping her family life would be happier and more functional.

Instead she found a difficult relationship with her boyfriend even harder.

"I didn't have anything to numb my feelings," Newell said. "I had to take a clear look at my life. I was so depressed."

She opened up to a friend, who suggested UGM.

"I didn't have anything no car, no job, no money, no housing other than my boyfriend's house," she said.

That was a little more than two years ago. With the backing of numerous services from UGM, including almost two years in a residency program the not-for-profit group operates for women in Coeur d'Alene, Newell is pursuing a career in health care as a certified nursing assistant.

The pay from her job at Kootenai Health in Coeur d'Alene is moving her closer to financial independence, although she's still living in a UGM apartment complex for graduates of its programs. She and the other residents pay a fee rather than rent so they can save money to afford housing on their own.

While the type of program Newell completed is not planned for the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley, UGM officials are excited about the progress they are making on opening a high-barrier emergency overnight shelter for men, women and children in the community.

The Lewiston shelter services will help individuals like Newell navigate out of dead ends and reduce the number of homeless individuals living on the streets, said Phil Altmeyer, executive director of ministries at UGM in Spokane.

At this stage, UGM expects that 70 of the beds in the shelter will be for women and children and another 30 will be for men at 419 Snake River Ave. in Lewiston, at the same site as its thrift store, he said.

Story continues

The organization hasn't yet decided when it will debut.

------

Altmeyer spoke last week at UGM's administrative offices adjacent to its Men's Shelter and Recovery Center at 1224 E. Trent Ave. in Spokane.

At midday, it was a busy hub of activity.

Recipients of help from the organization were doing chores such as cleaning windows, preparing dinner for that night and washing dishes.

Medical providers at a clinic were seeing patients, a service not likely to be offered in Lewiston because of different regulations in Idaho.

Dozens of men were sitting at tables in a day room to get respite from the cold. At least one appeared to have fallen asleep with his head on the table. An employee was staffing a room where clothing is distributed.

Other parts of the facility were quiet, including a chapel, where more than 40 Spokane-area religious groups rotate through providing daily services that residents of the shelter are required to attend. The beds in a dormitory-style sleeping area were empty during the day.

UGM is still figuring out what parts of its model will work in Lewiston, drawing on 70 years of experience that began when it opened at a different location close to what is now Riverfront Park in Spokane.

In 1951, the district, known as skid row, was where a collection of alcoholic men, generally in their 60s, would congregate. Many of them had stumbled out of train cars stopping at a nearby depot, said Linda Ziehnert, strategic partnerships and events coordinator at UGM in Spokane.

A woman used to walk in the area and began feeding the men she saw on her outings. UGM grew from the realization that a more comprehensive approach was required.

In the decades that have passed, the situation has grown even more complicated. Now, the majority of men UGM helps are in their mid-30s instead of being around retirement age. They usually are battling multiple addictions.

Still, Ziehnert said, she's witnessed countless instances where clarity has replaced addiction, allowing individuals' personalities to emerge.

The organization has extended its reach to include women who are without safe places to stay for reasons that include leaving abusive relationships and being recently released from prison.

In Lewiston, the emergency overnight shelter for men, women and children will be on one site and the residents will be separated by gender.

Single men and single women will live in dormitory-style rooms where they can keep their possessions. Moms with children will be assigned their own living spaces.

Everyone who remains drug- and alcohol-free, attends daily church services, completes daily chores and follows the shelter's rules will be allowed to stay as long as they are making progress toward goals such as landing jobs, Altmeyer said.

The rules include prohibitions against being threats to others and stealing. Second chances are offered, but with accountability, he said.

"We want to extend grace and forgiveness, but people have to take responsibility for their actions in that process," Altmeyer said.

UGM's standards are part of what enables it to help homeless individuals and be a good neighbor, he said.

While the Trent Avenue location was largely industrial when UGM opened, more upscale development has followed, including a medical office complex that's across the street, Altmeyer said.

For Newell, the structure UGM offered played a key role in her identifying a different direction for her life after years of chaos.

Even more important was the kindness everyone demonstrated toward her at a time she believed she had little value. That made her comfortable with the religious requirements of the organization even though she didn't become a Christian until she was a program participant.

UGM employees recognized and responded to her needs from her earliest interactions with them.

After she completed an interview that's part of the application process for the program she was accepted into, staff told Newell she would likely be placed in a few weeks. When Newell told them her need was immediate, the wait was reduced to a few days.

The women in her program were encouraged to pursue jobs that meshed with their talents and what they enjoyed doing.

UGM could offer that because the organization has an extensive network of contacts at employers open to hiring participants in UGM programs, Newell said.

Part of what she finds fulfilling about her job is that she supports patients encountering challenges she has faced and conquered, so she can give them hope they might be able to do the same.

She is being transferred from medical nephrology to behavioral health at her request because she believes she'll understand the struggles of the patients.

"(UGM) helped me realize I could use my past for good," she said.

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.

Read the rest here:

Charity helps the destitute find the light - Yahoo News

By Robert Berger

Forbes

Some of those exits were no doubt due to fear or layoffs. But others happily retired because, with the value of stocks and homes soaring, they could.

These Covid-19 retirees join a growing group of people. Motivated by stories from the FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) movement, some younger workers are aiming to retire decades before they reach 65.

Is retiring early realistic? Heres information on what it takes, as well as a discussion of some financial tools to help you navigate the road to retirement and be secure once you get therewhether that retirement is early or not.

Within the FIRE movement, the 4% rule reigns supreme. That rule, developed by financial planner William Bengen in the early 1990s, posits that, with a portfolio invested 60% in stocks and 40% in bonds, a retiree can spend 4% of their nest egg in the first year of retirement and increase their annual withdrawals by the rate of inflation with confidence that their money will last at least 30 years.

Forbes

Put another way, the 4% rule requires you to save 25 times your annual expenses before retirement. So for a $50,000 annual budget, youd need to have $1.25 million saved; for $100,000 in spending, youd need $2.5 million. Using retirement calculator Networthify, you can estimate how long it will take to save 25 times annual expenses. At a 20% savings rate and assuming a 5% after-inflation rate of return for your portfolio, it would take about 37 years; save 25% and the time drops to 31 years.

Bengens original rule was based on historical market and inflation data and on his back-testing of 30-year retirements from 1926 to 1976. Stretch retirement out to 40 or 50 years, as some early retirees do, and the 4% rule breaks down. For retirements to last 50 years, Bengen concluded, the initial withdrawal rate could not be more than about 3%a finding with significant implications that some FIRE devotees gloss over. At a 3% withdrawal rate and a 20% savings rate, it would take you 41 years to save enough. By then, it would be too late to retire early.

Forbes

But dont lose hope. Bengen tested withdrawal rates in increments of one percentage point. More recent research shows that with a traditional 60/40 portfolio, a 3.5% withdrawal rate should last 50 years or more. At that rate and by boosting the savings rate up to 25%, it takes about 34 years to accumulate enough to retire; with a 30% savings rate, it takes just 30 years. Factoring in Social Security, pensions and other retirement income (say, freelance work) would lower the assets needed further.

Managing money in early retirement ushers in a host of issues, beginning with the smartest way to manage and draw down the money one has saved. Financial advisors have created countless ways to generate a paycheck from retirement savings.

Forbes

One of the more popular approaches is the Bucket Strategy, which in theory sounds simple. Typically, you divide your retirement savings into three buckets. The first bucket holds cash equal to two years of living expenses. Bucket two consists of five years of living expenses in fixed income investments. And the third bucket invests whats left in stocks. The idea is to give retirees the emotional comfort of knowing they have some years covered with cash and fixed income investments in the event the stock market crashes. That way, theyre less tempted to panic and sell stocks when the market is down. But the bucket strategy is not so simple to implement. Retirees must decide when and how much to transfer from one bucket to the next. The strategy also fails to consider the overall asset allocation, an important consideration when it comes to sustaining an investment portfolio for five decades or more.

Perhaps the simplest approach is the best. As Bengen did in his 4% research, a retiree can withdraw money once a year for living expenses and at the same time rebalance their portfolio, returning it to the planned allocation regardless of which assets are used to fund living expenses. This approach keeps you from selling at the bottom. During a bear market, you sell fixed income to fund annual withdrawalsin effect, rebalancing to stocks. When stocks are high, they get sold, keeping equities in check as a percentage of your portfolio.

Early retirement brings both tax challenges and opportunities. One challenge is withdrawing money from retirement accounts without triggering a 10% early withdrawal penalty, which generally applies to money taken before age 59.5. Fortunately, there are ways to avoid the penalty, including taking substantially equal periodic payments from an IRA; taking distributions from a 401(k) after retiring at age 55 or older; and withdrawing contributions made to a Roth IRA.

Forbes

Even if you can avoid the 10% penalty, however, taking money from retirement accounts early isnt necessarily the smartest moveat least not if you want to minimize taxes. Its crucial to spend the right money first in early retirement. While there is no one right order of withdrawals for every situation, heres a good rule of thumb: Take interest and dividends from taxable accounts first, as they represent taxable income whether they are spent or not, then take principal from taxable accounts, then tap traditional retirement accounts and finally tap Roth retirement accounts, which can continue to grow tax-free for decades.

There are loads of exceptions to that rulefor example, you may want to take out money from a regular IRA for a Roth conversion. With a conversion, you transfer funds from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA and the amount converted is taxed as ordinary income (in most cases). Once in the Roth IRA, the money grows tax-free. Roth conversions can be ideal for some early retirees who arent yet drawing Social Security and find themselves in low tax brackets with little taxable income.

Tools for managing retirement have proliferated. Here are three that can help you plan.

Forbes

NewRetirement is, as its name suggests, designed specifically for retirement. You connect your investment accounts, both retirement and taxable, as well as your bank accounts, and the tool then walks you through an extensive interview process on aspects of your planned retirement. It then models your money throughout retirement, including the likelihood that it will last as long as you do. Features include a Roth conversion calculator, tax analysis and retirement plan withdrawal strategies.

OnTrajectory is similar to NewRetirement, but with a much different user interface. You add information about your income, expenses and debt and also link financial accounts or add them manually. From this data, OnTrajectory projects your lifetime income, expenses and net worth and calculates a Chance of Success score for your retirement plans. Among many other features, it also determines the best account order of withdrawals during retirement.

Personal Capital offers a free financial dashboard to track all aspects of your finances. While its not designed just for retirement, it offers a number of useful tools, including a robust retirement planner, a retirement fee analyzer, an asset allocation analyzer and an investment checkup tool that evaluates a portfolio based on your risk tolerance.

See the original post here:

How To Invest For Early Retirement - Forbes