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~ Our quarterly newsletter that celebrates the joy and experiences in life, along with a few other things. ~
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Welcome to the 4th Quarter-2018 edition of The Karp Quarterly. Our newsletter celebrates the joy and experiences in life. We share updates on our families, happenings and news from the quarter, recipes and travel tips.
This is your newsletter! Please let us know if you have a recipe to share, travel to a fun place (send a picture) or even have a gardening/home repair tip. Most importantly, feel free to share a great story that we can share with others.
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Life Balance 
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Each year, as we head into the holiday season, I try to focus my message on the importance of our relationships, whether with family, friends or with yourself. I do this because I believe that there is a natural life balance that is only maintained when we give equal weight to the things money cannot buy. I think David Rockefeller sums it up best, as he is quoted:
"I am convinced that material things can contribute a lot to making one's life
pleasant, but, basically, if you do not have very good friends and relatives who
matter to you, life will be really empty and sad and material things cease to be
important."
No one can deny that the Rockefeller family certainly did not ignore the value of accumulating wealth. In measuring one's personal wealth, what balances the materialistic items? Is it the good well achieved by sharing that wealth through charitable organizations or by directly helping people in need. To you I ask, what in life has $0 monetary value but huge life value?
There is no doubt that there is never a good time of year for stock market volatility, even though this is normal market behavior (ups/downs). However, given a choice, I would pick the holiday season with its focus on relationships, giving and spiritual uplift. What a great way to stay in balance. As a Turkish Proverb that I found says, "No Road is long when traveled with good company."
We wish you and your family a healthy and happy holiday season and continue to work hard to make your financial journey peaceful. We hope that this year and every year, going forward, is filled with quality time with friends and family.
Remember...
Put a smile on someone's face each and every day, and you will be rich beyond your wildest dreams.
Warmest Regards,
Jeffrey R. Karp
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On the Homefront
The Karps
The Karps can easily say that everything else in their lives pales in comparison to the big event of their daughter Erin's wedding. They actually got to hold the event twice; the first attempt was "hurricaned" by Florence, although they did manage to hold an intimate affair in the backyard, they just turned the rehearsal into the real thing. Missing many of friends and family at the first function, they held another full wedding about a month later, where all were present. The saying is "third time's the charm", but they are done with wedding ceremonies.
This has been a lost year for travel, but they did manage to take a few days in Charleston to visit friends. In general, the summers are spent on Lake Norman and on tennis courts. Their grandson did get his first tennis lesson from grandpa, though...and a star is born.
On the other side of the age spectrum, they celebrated Jeff's Mom's 90
th birthday, who shows no signs of slowing down.
The Kendalls
When summer ends, school begins. The twins, Braden and Peyton, started middle school, and Tristan and his friends are the BMOC's in the final year of elementary school. As a surprise pick in the elective category, both Braden and Peyton are taking band this semester.
So with school starting, that also means a new year of sports, each of the boys participating in two sports each. Braden with baseball and soccer, Peyton with soccer and flag football and Tristan with soccer and baseball. Its going to be a busy fall!
As far as any other mini-vacations, after the big trip to Disney in June, there was just a quick 3-day weekend trip to Atlanta to see a Braves game on Friday night and then an Atlanta United soccer match on Sunday.
Pertaining to finances and continuing education, other than a few conference calls and group meetings with portfolio managers, this quarter was relatively quiet for Jeff. Events and meetings, and even the conference calls, help Jeff to continually educate himself and stay abreast of the latest financial news that could impact you.
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Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
12 servings
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken, 3-4 pounds
- 3 quarts water
- 1 large onion, diced
- 3 large carrots, peeled and sliced
- 3 large stalks of celery, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, diced
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 t dried sage
- 1 1/2 t dried thyme
- 1 t dried rosemary
- 1 t dried marjoram
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 12oz bag of noodles
Directions
- Place the chicken in a large Dutch oven or soup pot. Cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the chicken is falling off the bone, about an hour.
- Remove the chicken, and let cool to touch. Remove the meat from the bones.
- Add the onion, carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaves, sage, thyme, rosemary, and marjoram to the broth. Bring back to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the veggies are tender, 15-20 minutes.
- Add the noodles, just a few at a time, to the simmering broth. Once all noodles are added, also add in the chicken. Boil noodles for 3-5 minutes until they are tender.
- Season with salt and pepper, and serve.
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Travel Tips
The 11 best islands in the world for retirement
By
Kenneth Kiesnoski
Have you always dreamed of whiling away your retirement years on an island somewhere but think it's an economically unfeasible pipe dream?
Think again, advise the editors at
InternationalLiving.com, who have compiled a list of 11 "great value, picturesque islands across the globe" that are not only renowned for a welcoming atmosphere but also boast the type of creature comforts and public infrastructure to which Americans are accustomed.
"Folks often dream of retiring to an island - usually it's a search for romance, fun and an escape from the pressures of modern life," said Jennifer Stevens, International Living's executive editor. "But for many it remains a fantasy, as they assume it's too expensive."
But, she added, "it doesn't have to be. If you choose the right island, you can actually live well for less than the cost of staying in the U.S."
For a sample of prices for rent, restaurants, groceries and other daily items on these islands, try the calculators on
Numbeo or
Expatistan. Price data may not be available for some areas.
1. Malta
This island nation, situated in the Mediterranean Sea between Sicily and Tunisia, may be - at 122 square miles - the smallest European Union member state in size, but it's packed with "something for everyone," according to InternationalLiving.com. The weather's warm year-round, and it's easy to communicate, thanks to locals' fluency in English (a legacy of one-time British rule). Although the euro is the coin of the realm in Malta, the dollar goes "surprisingly far," with couples living comfortably for $2,600 per month.
2. Mallorca, Spain
The largest island in Spain's autonomous Balearic Islands archipelago, Mallorca is a summer holiday hot spot. The island offers 1,405 miles of Mediterranean coastline dotted with marinas, harbors and beach coves. InternationalLiving.com reports that a couple could live well in sunny Mallorca for just $2,500 a month.
3. Penang, Malaysia
Malaysia might not leap to mind as an obvious place to move for most Americans, but InternationalLiving.com reports that the exotic and largely English-speaking island of Penang has been a magnet for those in the know for decades. Penang offers what the website calls a "luxury life on an affordable budget," with a couple's monthly expenses ranging from just $1,500 to $2,500.
Happy island hunting!
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When You Retire Without Enough
Start your second act with inadequate assets, and your vision of the future may be revised.
How much have you saved for retirement?
Are you on pace to amass a retirement fund of $1 million by age 65? More than a few retirement counselors urge pre-retirees to strive for that goal. If you have $1 million in invested assets when you retire, you can potentially withdraw 4% a year from your retirement funds and receive $40,000 in annual income to go along with Social Security benefits (in ballpark terms, about $30,000 per year for someone retiring from a long career). If your investment portfolio is properly diversified, you may be able to do this for 25-30 years without delving into assets elsewhere.1
Perhaps you are 20-25 years away from retiring. Factoring in inflation and medical costs, maybe you would prefer $80,000 in annual income plus Social Security at the time you retire. Strictly adhering to the 4% rule, you will need to save $2 million in retirement funds to satisfy that preference.1
There are many variables in retirement planning, but there are also two realities that are hard to dismiss. One, retiring with $1 million in invested assets may suffice in 2018, but not in the 2030s or 2040s, given how even moderate inflation whittles away purchasing power over time. Two, most Americans are saving too little for retirement: about 5% of their pay, according to research from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Fifteen percent may be a better goal.1
Fifteen percent? Really? Yes. Imagine a 30-year-old earning $40,000 annually who starts saving for retirement. She gets 3.8% raises each year until age 67; her investment portfolio earns 6% a year during that time frame. At a 5% savings rate, she would have close to $424,000 in her retirement account 37 years later; at a 15% savings rate, she would have about $1.3 million by age 67. From boosting her savings rate 10%, she ends up with three times as much in retirement assets.1
Now, what if you save too little for retirement?
That implies some degree of compromise to your lifestyle, your dreams, or both. You may have seen your parents, grandparents, or neighbors make such compromises.
There is the 75-year-old who takes any job he can, no matter how unsatisfying or awkward, because he realizes he is within a few years of outliving his money. There is the small business owner entering her sixties with little or no savings (and no exit strategy) who doggedly resolves to work until she dies.
Perhaps you have seen the widow in her seventies who moves in with her son and his spouse out of financial desperation, exhibiting early signs of dementia and receiving only minimal Social Security benefits. Or the healthy and active couple in their sixties who retire years before their savings really allow, and who are chagrined to learn that their only solid hope of funding their retirement comes down to selling the home they have always loved and moving to a cheaper and less cosmopolitan area or a tiny condominium.
When you think of retirement, you probably do not think of "just getting by."
That is no one's retirement dream. Sadly, that risks may become reality for those who save too little for the future. Talk to a financial professional about what you have in mind for retirement: what you want your life to look like, what your living expenses could be like. From that conversation, you might get a glimpse of just how much you should be saving today for tomorrow.
This material was prepared by MarketingPro, Inc., and does not necessarily represent the views of the presenting party, nor their affiliates. This information has been derived from sources believed to be accurate. Please note - investing involves risk, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the services of a competent professional. This information should not be construed as investment, tax or legal advice and may not be relied on for avoiding any Federal tax penalty. This is neither a solicitation nor recommendation to purchase or sell any investment or insurance product or service, and should not be relied upon as such. All indices are unmanaged and are not illustrative of any particular investment. There is no guarantee that a diversified portfolio will enhance overall returns or outperform a non-diversified portfolio. Diversification does not protect against market risk. Examples used are hypothetical and are not representative of any specific situations. Your results will vary. The hypothetical rates of return used do not reflect the deduction of fees and charges inherent to investing.
Citations.
1 - investopedia.com/retirement/retirement-income-planning/ [6/7/18]
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