Thursday, September 13, 2007

I am really pleased by the response we are receiving to our “Retirement Planning Today” seminars at Central NM Community College Workforce Training Center. We are having two sections of two classes each, as we usually do (including at UNM Continuing Education and at College of Santa Fe). We had never held the seminars at CNM before and were surprised by the excellent turn-out--35 people at the Saturday morning class and 50 at the Tuesday evening class.

Our practice is to send brochures to selected households, with people in the age bracket of 50-70, and we sent to some different zip codes than we had previously. That was the reason I wanted to hold the seminars at CNM: It’s in a different part of town, so we could mail to different people.

I think it’s really important for people of any age group, but particularly for this one, to get as much financial education as possible. Many people are missing education in the area of personal finances. And, since fewer jobs are available with the kinds of pensions people used to have, each person has to seek out the knowledge they need, so that they can either manage their savings more intelligently themselves or know enough to choose a person with expertise to do it for them. I have found that, for many people, delegating that responsibility to someone else frees up time for them to do activities they enjoy more.

I am enjoying teaching these retirement planning classes, although, since teaching is not really my forte, I have had to work at it. But, I like learning new skills, and love new challenges...if there were just more hours in a day!

Speaking of classes, in the past month, I also spent five full days taking classes. I learned more about Estate and Gift Taxes, College Education Tax Planning, and Tax Favored Health Care Plans and Medical Expenses, among other topics.

Here in the office we have also been working on getting out extended corporate tax returns, since the due date for those is September 17. And we still have a few extended individual returns to finish up before that deadline in October.

We are also planning for our annual Appreciation Event. This year, we are having it at a local restaurant, and we will have two speakers. Jeremy Jaramillo, Personal Trainer at Midtown Sports & Wellness, will discuss “The Latest Thinking on Health and Fitness Issues.” And Judith Phillips, author of New Mexico Gardener’s Guide: Revised Edition and Natural by Design: Beauty and Balance in Southwest Gardens will speak on “Garden Architecture: the Framework for Water Conservation.” We are pleased to have two such interesting speakers this year.

On the personal front, my wife, Iris, and I spent a week visiting family in San Diego last month. We shared a great time with some of the grandkids at Legoland and Sea World. Those were probably the highlights of the trip for “Grandpa Steve.”

Cameron Clark, the other Registered Rep in the office, went to Florida in August for a Centaurus Financial, Inc. (our Broker-Dealer) conference, where he learned a lot, especially about Centaurus itself. He said it was especially nice meeting the people. His wife, Sharon, joined him after the conference for a short vacation. The only problem was that it was way too hot and humid--they spent all their time by the pool in an effort to cool off. Going from the dry air of Albuquerque to Florida can be a difficult adjustment...he’ll just have to practice it more.

Speaking of weather, we have been blessed in Albuquerque this past week. Fall has arrived a bit earlier than usual. Temps are in the 80s. One day we only made it to a high of 78°, and nighttimes have been in the low 60s. In fact, last night it got down to 59°.