Wehner's Wisdom Spring 2013

Karen S. Wehner ♦ Wehner & Associates ♦ 4565 Wilson Street, Minnetonka, MN 55343 ♦ Phone: (952) 937-5072

This Quarter’s Successful Client Michelle Town

I met Michelle back in the mid 90’s. I’ve seen her accomplish a huge amount during these last few years! First and foremost, she’s doing a great job raising her daughter, Michaela. Michaela just turned 15! Can’t believe how time flies! In addition to raising her daughter Michelle has been a major help to her dad – latest example is helping him find an assisted living facility, where he could pal around with others and get the help he needs. She serves great lunches at a local restaurant in Edina, and has done it for years. The thing that impresses me most about Michelle is her ability to manage the money she has! She’s been able to keep her debt low to non-existent, and still finds money for the fun things - she just remodeled her kitchen with wonderful maple cabinets. The next thing on her list is college for Michaela! The most difficult part of finances, in my opinion, is keeping the bills low, and she’s done a beautiful job of mastering it. It’s a special treat to serve Michelle.

Consumer tip: Credit Rating and Identity Theft

It’s been a while since this topic was discussed, so I thought it might be helpful to revisit it. I can’t stress it enough - your credit rating is a big huge chunk of your financial life. It determines the rate you pay to borrow money for your major purchases, such as your house or your car. Did you know it can also determine the rate for your car insurance or whether you get hired for the job you want? I can’t stress enough how important it is to check your credit on a regular basis. 60 Minutes recently did an informative story on mistakes on credit reports. 1 in 5 people have errors on their credit report, and some of those errors are serious enough to cause a denial of the credit, or job rejection. The reason it made 60 minutes is because of the difficulty in correcting the errors. Even though it may be difficult to get the errors removed, at least knowing where you stand is important. Sometimes finding errors on your credit report can even be the first step to detecting identity theft! Get the report from Experian, Transunion, and Equifax. The information may or may not be the same from each. An annual report is free once a year and anytime you are denied credit. Don’t take chances with your future or your identity – make sure it’s accurate! It can be done online at www.freecreditscore.com (probably the fastest and easiest.)

It’s TaxTime

Just a quick reminder – April 15 is the deadline for contributions to both Traditional IRA’s and to Roth IRA’s for 2012. Also, the maximum contribution limits went up. It’s now $5500 if you are under 50 and $6500 if you are over 50. If you’re married it’s $11,000 and $13,000, depending on your age. Please come see me – I can help you figure out if you’re better off with a Roth or Traditional, and lots of other things as well.

Wehner and Associates Calendar for the Year!

Lots of great stuff happening here this year! We have a total of 3 events – wanted to make sure I let everyone know as far in advance as possible so you can mark your calendar!

The first event is an educational event that might just help with your future planning – I’ll be presenting some great information on social security – how it works, how to determine the best way to make the most of the program, when to start to take it, and how it affects your tax bill. I’ll be doing this on Saturday, May 18, 2013 starting at 10:30 am here at my office. Light refreshments will be served. More details to come shortly!

The second event will be the annual Wehner and Associates Summer Party to be held Friday, June 14 right here in the back yard. It will be an evening event starting at 6:30. Mark your calendar! The details to be coming in an invite next month!

The third event will be another educational one – this one around a topic we are hearing a lot about – health insurance. Date will be sometime in September or October, and I’ll be sending details as we get closer.