Mountain Views News          Saturday, October 25, 2014

B3

 

BUSINESS NEWS & TRENDS

 Mountain Views News Saturday, October 25, 2014 

FAMILY MATTERS By Marc Garlett


FROM “LESS” TO “YES”

The painful truth: Sellers who do not price their 
property competitively are the most likely targets 
of lowball offers. In soft markets, buyers are more 
prone to make low offers on listings seen to be 
priced too high. Listings that don’t sell usually 
require price reductions, which in turn often 
mean ultimately accepting an offer lower than 
you could have received by pricing aggressively 
from Day One.

 Since selling your home can be such an 
emotional and subjective experience, it’s easy to 
understand why you’d be reluctant to counter 
an offer below your asking price. But rather than 
feel insulted, try to see it as the beginning of a 
dialogue that could ultimately produce a sale. 
If you feel any of the terms or conditions of the 
offer are unacceptable, ask your agent to present 
a counter-offer. Sometimes buyers and sellers 
don’t really know beforehand what price they’ll 
accept until they’ve begun the negotiations. For 
example, a buyer might agree to a higher price 
than planned if interest rates suddenly drop. 
If you’ve received a lower than expected offer, 
but the buyersvhave proven their qualifications 
and commitment by securing loan pre-approval, 
you have grounds for serious consideration. The 
process of counter-offering can be swiftly settled 
or carry on ad nauseam. Be prepared to explore 
all options and act quickly before letting your 
negotiations fail. 

HOW TO ENSURE A LIFETIME OF CARE 

FOR A SPECIAL NEEDS CHILD

Parents of children with special needs usually 
share one overriding concern: what will happen 
to my child after I’m gone? They also often 
struggle with guilt for what they envision as an 
eventual destiny for their other children who may 
assume care of their special needs sibling.

 But I’m here to tell you, this is the kind of 
situation estate planning was made for. You can 
take action right now to ensure your special needs 
child has the proper care for the rest of his or her 
life. As you consult with your attorney to create a 
special needs trust or other estate planning tools, 
be sure to consider the following:

 The amount of financial support your special 
needs child will require over his or her life. Start by 
calculating how much support you are providing 
now. Then think about the support they will need 
as they reach adulthood and project what that 
amount will be all the way into their senior years. 
Consider if he or she will be able to provide any 
of their own support, or will rely completely on 
government benefits. Of course, you also need to 
estimate how much you are able to contribute.

 Governmental benefits protection. If your 
child already receives government benefits from 
Medicare or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), 
your plan will need to take this into consideration 
and not provide your child with too much 
income which would disqualify them from these 
benefits. Usually, a special needs trust will enable 
you to provide your child with additional income 
without losing governmental benefits.

 How your other children fit into your estate 
plan. A vast majority of parents want to ensure 
equal treatment for all their children when it 
comes to an inheritance. But sometimes, with a 
special needs child, this is not possible - especially 
if parents have limited financial resources. If this 
will be true for your family, be sure you talk with 
your other children about your plan, and discuss 
how distribution of other assets might help to 
even things up for them.

 Who will manage your special needs child’s 
finances. When you create a special needs trust, 
you will also need to name a trustee or trustees 
to manage the trust assets for the benefit of your 
child. Choose someone you know, who cares 
about your child, and who is willing to assume 
and carry out the responsibilities of caring for 
him or her. 

 On one hand, parents of special needs children 
are no different than any other parent. We all do 
whatever needs to be done to protect and provide 
for our children, no matter what. On the other 
hand, parents of special needs children often 
have to go far above and beyond what most other 
parents have to deal with. And the universal 
question of, “how do I want my child cared for 
after I’m gone?” becomes complicated and multi-
dimensional. But with special care and planning, 
those parents can also ensure their child’s care 
will continue in alignment with their desires, 
hopes, and dreams for the future, no matter what.

To you family’s health, wealth, and happiness,

A local attorney, father, and CASA volunteer 
(Court Appointed Special Advocate for 
Children), Marc Garlett is on a mission to help 
parents protect what they love most. His office 
is located at 49 S. Baldwin Ave., Ste. G, Sierra 
Madre, CA 91024. Call 626.355.4000 to schedule 
an appointment to sit down and talk about 
ensuring a legacy of love and financial security 
for your family or visit www.GarlettLaw.com for 
more information.


TIS’ THE SEASON FOR SOCIAL CAMPAIGNS

Constant Contact is known for email marketing 
but that’s not all they offer in their toolkit. 
Their Social Campaign tool allows you to offer 
coupons, download content or offer your fans 
a chance to win a prize. The strategy is called 
action gating and the mail purpose is to help you 
grow a quality, interested email marketing list. 
It works primarily with Facebook but you can 
leverage other social media tools.

Here are a few ideas for a social campaign:

Give away something that is directly aligned 
with what your target audience is interested in. 
For most businesses, giving away one of your 
products is the best way to go. Businesses like an 
auto shop or realtor could give away tickets to a 
local event or game. To enter for a chance to win, 
an email is required. Make sure to follow up with 
an email to everyone who entered, thank them 
for entering, announce the winner and give them 
a special discount or offer. 

Provide content that educates. This is good for 
businesses that serve other businesses (B2B). 
Share your expertise and offer really valuable 
tips or industry trends. They can only get your 
content if they sign up for your email. This is a 
great strategy for building your email list. 

Offer an exclusive coupon: Only people who 
sign up for your email list will get the offer, 
perhaps a certain percent off their next purchase 
or a coupon for something free next time they 
visit your store. You might consider partnering 
with a non-profit that aligns with your business.

About MJ: MJ and her brother David own 
HUTdogs, a creative services business that 
specializes in Internet Marketing strategies 
and Social Media. They offer social media 
management services and help their clients 
build a strong on-line presence. “Like” them 
on Facebook for trending news in social media, 
internet marketing and other helpful tips, www.
facebook.com/hutdogs.

Sign up for their upcoming classes, webinars and 
presentations at: www.hutdogs.com/workshops/
schedule 


RETIREMENT 

REPAIR MANUAL

BY GREGORY J. WELBORN

Interest rates just dropped again –who’d a 
figured they could go lower? – and the mortgage 
refinancing advertisements kicked into high 
gear. But while low interest rates are “good” 
for someone with a mortgage, they’re “bad” for 
someone in retirement who’s counting on some 
sort of stable income. If retirement is right around 
the corner, or if you’ve already walked through 
that threshold, here’s a brief retirement repair 
manual.

 Have A Flexible Retirement Date: If things 
aren’t looking so good because the portfolio 
is down and interest rates are down, consider 
moving retirement a bit into the future. You’ll 
be surprised how dramatic the impact can be on 
your long-term situation from postponing just a 
few years. If you already walked out that door, 
think about picking up a part time job in some 
field you enjoy. Bringing in a little more income 
moves you in the same positive direction, and, if 
it’s something you enjoy, you’ll be improving your 
quality of life.

 Choose Wisely When Making Your Social 
Security Election: At some point, you’ll have 
to tell the good folks in D.C. whether you want 
to take your social security benefit at age 62, 70, 
or the middle option. That decision will impact 
a lifetime of benefits. You may need some help 
in determining the right course, but generally 
speaking, if you have longevity in your genes and 
you’re of retirement age already, take the later 
payout date.

 Check Your Stock Allocation: I know; I’m 
beginning to sound like a broken record – and only 
people old enough to be considering retirement 
really know what a broken record sounds like. 
This analogy serves two good purposes. First, you 
may think twice before dismissing this perennial 
piece of advice. Second, it can remind you just 
how dynamic the economy is (all those new 
inventions that made the record player extinct). 
Owning a piece of this dynamic process (stocks) 
will help.

 Keep Spending Under Control: This isn’t an 
admonition to cut back “no matter what”. That’s 
counter-productive. You’ve worked hard to get to 
the place of being able to enjoy this next phase. 
But don’t hesitate either to look for areas where 
you can save without compromising lifestyle 
too much. We all have habits which cost money 
unnecessarily. Be wise, be prudent and have fun.

 If retirement is looking a little scary right 
now, there are things you can do to repair the 
plan. In most cases, a combination of the above 
– timeframe, earnings, stocks & spending – will 
get you through the lean times. The only critical 
mistake is putting your head in the sand. 

About the author: Gregory J. Welborn is the 
Managing Partner of First Financial Consulting, 
a fee-only advisory firm. He has worked with 
The Today Show, Kiplinger’s Magazine, and USA 
Today to provide objective financial advice to their 
readers and listeners. He has 3 grown children and 
is honored to be married to his wife of 25 years. He 
can be reached at gwelborn@ffconsult.net


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