Ricky Novak will be joining us for How To Invest Your Money in 2010 on March 27.

Ricky Novak is the President of Strategic 1031 Exchange Advisors, a consulting firm in Atlanta that specializes in 1031 exchange structuring for real estate investors and developers. Ricky also currently serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for the Atlanta Bar Association Real Estate Section for 2009 to 2010, as well as on the Board of Advisors for several Atlanta-based real estate developers or businesses. We’re happy to have Ricky as a speaker for March 27 event, and recently talked with him about real estate tax tips and investing advice for 2010.

Many speculate that the Fed will have to raise interest rates by late this summer or early next fall. Most of Ricky’s clients are real estate investors, so he advises them to be cautious about how rising interest rates could affect the cost of their investment properties.

The current economy altered the kinds of things Ricky emphasizes to his clients. The firm has been talking to their clients about re-evaluating their portfolios to really understand why they’re investing in real estate and adjust their investments accordingly. Whether real estate is a short-term or long-term investment for a client should also be considered.

“For the first time in a long time people are now looking at real estate as a long-term investment strategy. People before looked at it in the short term as a liquid asset, but people are now going back to the fundamentals of real estate,” Ricky said. “No matter how sophisticated or simple the investment is, whether it’s a single family rental home or a 1000-square-foot office space, make sure you can properly underwrite the property and make sure it’s a sound investment from the start.”

Ricky also talked about the tendency for real estate investors to overlook the benefits of a 1031 exchange. Understanding how the exchange allows investors to defer the potential taxation on the gain from a sale is something investors should look into. Above all, Ricky notes that 2010 is a transition year that will surely include lots of ups and downs. It’s a great time to reflect on where you are in your real estate portfolio, Ricky said, and have a strong long-term strategy with short-term goals within the plan.

Join Ricky Novak and other financial planning and tax advisors for a full day of investment advice. How To Invest Your Money in 2010 will be held at the Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Georgia. Buy your tickets now!

Most good financial advisors will give you a free initial consultation. They’ll get all of your information (which could be a 6-page questionnaire or longer, if they do it right) and then you’ll sit and talk about money.

It won’t be easy, because we all know it’s easier to talk about anything (food, sex, work, politics, bullies from kindergarten) than money. But, you’ll have some sort of conversation about your assets, cash on hand, budget, and investing philosophy.

Then, the financial planner will decide whether you fit neatly into the constructs he or she has created for his or her other clients or if your needs require a few tweaks. I’d venture to say that once the plan is set up, your planner doesn’t have to spend all that much time hanging out with you or even working with you.

Sure, some clients will need more hand-holding than others. Some will want their advisor to check in with them regularly. But as one financial advisor recently put it, “I have lots of time to work on building my business.”

That’s not to say you shouldn’t work with an advisor or that the advisor isn’t worth the money you’re paying. But the idea that you pay for what you get – so the more you pay the higher your returns – is one of the big fat lies of investing.

I had a conversation with a financial planner this afternoon who has 2,000 clients and says she has created a successful business on just two-tenths of a percent of assets. In numerical terms, we’re talking .20 of a percent.

She mostly gets paid by the shared 12b-1 fees, which are marketing fees charged by every mutual fund. She takes a piece of that action, only charging when recommending Vanguard funds, because Vanguard requires it.

Is her advice – and her returns – any less stellar because she charges less? I don’t think so. Her philosophy has booked great returns for her clients for 25 years.

Join us on March 27, 2010 for our next event How To Invest Your Money in 2010. Meet some top financial advisors, and get some great financial advice for very little $$. To get 40 percent off the full ticket price, use the discount code: clint   This code expires March 1, 2010 at 11:59pm.

Here’s a sneak peak at what’s coming up:

• State of the Economy – And why it, and an era of rising interest rates, matter to consumers and investors
• Goal Setting and Calculating Your Net Worth – If you don’t know where you want to go, we can’t help you figure out how much it will cost to get you there.
• Asset Allocation in a Volatile Stock Market – Should you shift around your asset allocation as you age?
• Tax Consequences of Investing – What you spend on taxes and on the costs of investing can really eat into your returns
• Stock Funds – Index, Managed Mutual, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), Lifestyle funds, and Other Places To Invest
• Bonds and Fixed Income Strategies – Bond funds and deciding whether buying bonds in an era of rising interest rates is a good idea or a one-way ticket to the poorhouse.
• Estate Planning Basics – How can you pass on what you have to those you love?

What would you like to know about investing? What questions can we answer for you?

Since the show’s inception, I’ve started each show discussing the economy. As we moved from boom to bust, my economic segments have focused on how today’s news affects investors and consumers.

The interesting thing about hosting a radio show is hearing what’s on my listener’s minds. They’re quick to call in and let me know whether they agree with what I’ve been saying or not. Their questions tell me what’s going on in their lives.

This week, I discussed how a new study is showing that homeowners who are underwater with their mortgages are defaulting at an even faster rate. I also regularly discuss the coming commercial real estate collapse, long-term unemployment and other news items.

So much of the economic news of the week (this week, it was the pending inability of countries like Greece, Spain, Portugal and others to pay back their debt, plus a “sneeze” from China) wreaks havoc in the stock markets – it’s tough to shrug it off and say, “Today’s news doesn’t matter.”

I think the economy and each week’s economic news matter quite a great deal – to consumers, to investors and to anyone else connected to business.

This week on the show, Wayne’s call struck me the most. Wayne is an attorney with decades of experience. Even two years ago, attorneys were doing well. Today, there’s no work, and Wayne is considering finding another line of work. He told me that the Atlanta Bar Association has a networking meeting each month for unemployed lawyers. The number of attorneys who attend each month is growing.

My husband, Sam, is a real estate attorney and he sees the same thing going on in Chicago. More attorneys are finding there is less to do. Many firms have “de-equitized” their partners, cut their salary and benefits, and fired hundreds of attorneys and support staff. When the $150,000 to $500,000 attorney jobs go away, that’s a lot of lost income not being pumped into the economy.

Wayne can’t quite believe that he is at this point in his career – and his life.

I could sense the anguish as he asked me the real question on his mind: “Ilyce, how close do you think we were to another Great Depression?”

My answer: “We were on a knife’s edge. And, we’re still very close.”

It’s clear to me that the chasm between Wall Street and Main Street in increasing and is unsustainable.

The good news? This could mean another “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity for investors.

Join us on March 27, 2010 for our How To Invest Your Money In 2010, as we explore these and other topics.

Let’s face it: the decade from 1999 to 2009 stunk for investors (and the economy in general).

It’s kind of a lost decade, with two recessions (including the worst recession in 70 years), millions of jobs lost, and a wipeout in the stock market. Not only did most investors lose whatever profit they had made by buying and holding, stocks, bonds, mutual funds or ETFs, many lost principal as well.

When it comes to investing, the fear factor is strong. It’s easy to be afraid when you watch all of your earnings melt away in a stock market crash. And if you’re in your 50s and 60s (or older) and were counting on that 401(k) cash to see you through your golden years, your stomach has probably been churning for months.

Add the significant loss of home equity on top of your stock market losses and it’s easy to see the depths of your financial fears.

A good financial advisor is there to listen to your fears and help you think your way through them. Financial advisors (and we’re talking fee-only at the moment) are there to help you make the tough decisions and help you set aside your fears and take a more objective look at what you have and how you’re going to invest it.

Everyone panics. The trick is you have to see through the fear factor and allow your investment strategy to work for you.

Don’t have an investment strategy? Well, don’t let your fears govern your investing philosophy. Learn how to navigate today’s choppy investment waters and be a smarter, less fearful investor.

If you’re looking to increase your knowledge about the stock market, find out more about our How To Invest Your Money in 2010 event, March 27, 2010 at the Gwinnett Center, in Duluth, GA (Atlanta metro area). You’ll hear how some of the smartest investors in Atlanta think about investing and how they advise their clients to diversify their portfolios to maximize growth and minimize risk.

Buy Tickets Now

I don’t know any serious investor who hasn’t, at one time or another, questioned whether he or she could time the stock market.

There are enough stock market “pros” out there, hawking newsletters and advice. While the better ones claim that no one can “time” the market, the timing of their newsletters make it seem as if they know something that you don’t.

Do they? Well, they probably know more about certain stocks or trends that they see. They may have researched companies, or sat in on company earnings conference calls. Perhaps they know people who work at a particular company (let’s hope they’re not trading on insider information). Or, perhaps they’re the ones making the market for a particular stock, buying and selling.

But no one, to the best of my knowledge, has been able to figure out how to time the stock market. And, I’ve never met anyone who could tell me what lottery tickets to buy for tomorrow’s drawing.

Which is why it’s always disheartening to hear investors advise buying or selling based on what looks like market timing. And it makes me feel worse to know some folks are listening.

When it comes to investing in the stock market, here’s what I believe in: Knowledge creates opportunity.

• I like knowing about the products I use and the technology used to make them.
• I like knowing how industries intersect and what various companies and countries are using to enhance those connections.
• I like watching what my teenagers and their friends are doing with their friends, and seeing how they consumer technology and media.
• And, I like reading about trends that define the next generation.

I don’t time the stock market (I’d be phenomenally bad at it.) But I do try to educate myself enough to take advantage of opportunities that come up – and they do… every day.

If you’re looking to increase your knowledge about the stock market, find out more about our How To Invest Your Money in 2010 event, March 27, 2010 at the Gwinnett Center, in Duluth, GA (Atlanta metro area). You’ll hear how some of the smartest investors in Atlanta think about investing and how they advise their clients to diversify their portfolios to maximize growth and minimize risk.

Buy Tickets Now