Broker Check

Enjoying The Journey - April 2019

Stock Market Update

In the fourth quarter of 2018, volatility increased as the market sold off from early October through late December. It is our view that there were two primary factors. We believe the biggest reasons were first concerns about the Federal Reserve raising interest rates and selling bonds to reduce their balance sheet, and second the tariff war. We saw the market bottom in late December and move up in Q1 2019.  Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell announced in a press conference on January 4th that the Federal Reserve would no longer be on autopilot to raise rates in the next two quarters of 2019. Instead, they would look at the economic data and take a wait and see approach. Investors liked the change in policy by the Federal Reserve and we saw a rally begin that has lasted for the next several months.

There are now some economists seeing signs of economic indicators that the economy in the US and abroad is slowing. Many companies are reporting earnings are growing at a slower rate in 2019 than in 2018. Earnings for companies in 2018 were above average for many companies due to the corporate tax cuts implemented in late 2017. Also, GDP growth in the US is expected to be slower in 2019 than in 2018. The key question investors are watching is will the slowing economy cause a weakening in the stock market as the year goes on?

You can find our monthly commentary on the stock market on our website by clicking the link below. If you would like to get this market commentary emailed to you monthly, let Ingalill or your advisor know and we will add you to the distribution list.

Monthly Stock Market Commentary
We're Looking for a Few Good Tax Preparers

We're Looking for a Few Good Tax Preparers

From time to time, our clients are looking for someone to prepare their taxes and they ask us to refer someone. We are looking for tax preparers that are Enrolled Agents or CPAs, that you enjoy working with and who are working to grow their business and take on new clients.

If your tax preparer fits this description, please email us with their name, address, phone number and email. We will contact them to see if they are a good fit for us to refer to them to our clients.

Follow Us On Facebook

Follow Us On Facebook

Did you know that Financial Journey Partners has a corporate Facebook page? We would love to have you follow us on Facebook. To do that, select the link below to go to our corporate Facebook page. Then select "Follow" under our logo at the top of the page. 

You will find information posted there about Financial Journey Partners that you may not find anywhere else.

BlackRock Women's Summit

BlackRock Women's Summit

On April 3-4, 2019, Elaine and Linda attended the BlackRock Women's Summit in San Francisco.  BlackRock manages $3T in assets and is one of the largest asset managers on the planet. They learned more about BlackRock's investment strategies, products and views of the market. They also heard presentations by other successful women advisors and women in our industry. 

The conference provided ideas on new investment strategies to evaluate and ideas on how we can improve the ways we serve our clients. It also confirmed that the systems and processes we implemented in the past year have put us in a position that is among the top in our industry.

Social Security Seminar

Social Security Seminar

Join us for a Social Security Seminar with guest speaker, Jennifer Taboada, Vice President at BlackRock. 

We will answer common Social Security questions that include:
- Rules for calculating your SS benefit
- Things to consider when deciding when to start collecting SS benefits
- Rules for collecting SS retirement benefits
- Strategies for collecting SS retirement benefits
- SS benefits for widows
- SS benefits for divorced spouses
- Taxation of SS benefits

This is a free seminar. It is a great opportunity to bring your friends to learn more about Social Security. We would enjoy meeting them and see if there is any way we can help them. Please RSVP with arielle@financialjourney.com or 408-963-2889.

Estate Planning Seminar

Estate Planning Seminar

This is a great opportunity to get your questions answered by our guest speaker, Attorney Kelly McHaffie.

We will answer common questions that include:
- How do I specify the health care at the end of life for myself or my parents?
- How does the Estate Tax work?
- What is probate and how does it work?
- How should I select beneficiaries for my accounts?
- For my 401k, is it better to list my kids or my trust as the beneficiaries?
- How does a Beneficiary IRA work?
- What is the difference between a will and a trust?
- How do I get a living trust?

Date:  May 9, 2019, Thursday
Time:  5 pm Dinner, 6 pm Seminar
Location:  101 Metro Drive, Suite 264, San Jose, CA  95110

This is a free seminar. We encourage you to bring your friends to learn more about Estate Planning. Please RSVP with arielle@financialjourney.com or 408-963-2889.

Annual Client Appreciation Party

Annual Client Appreciation Party

Join us for a fun night at the Clos LaChance Winery in San Martin. In our client survey this year, the top choice for a venue was a winery and we delivered!  While the winery is located in San Martin, the valley full of vineyards will make you feel like you are in Napa Valley.

It's going to be an amazing event and we hope you can make it. 

Learn about wine from the experts at Clos LaChance and what makes their vineyard so unique. There will also be Wine Tasting and Line Dancing. Dinner will be provided.

Date:  September 29, 2019, Sunday
Time:  5:30-8:30 pm
Location:  Clos LaChance winery, 1 Hummingbird Lane, San Martin, CA

Please RSVP with arielle@financialjourney.com or 408-963-2889.

Check Out Our Blog

Check Out Our Blog

We want to remind everyone about our Blog. You can read the article "The Differences Between Bull and Bear Markets". Watch for additional articles there in the near future.

Retirement Plan Limits Change in 2019

The IRS announced that the maximum contribution limits are rising in 2019 for some retirement accounts. A few of the highlights include:

- Traditional IRA annual maximum contribution limit increases from $5,500 to $6,000.
- 401k annual maximum contribution limit increases from $18,500 to $19,000.
- The Catch-up Provision for people 50 and over remains at $1,000.
- The annual income limits to be eligible to contribute pretax to a Traditional IRA and post-tax to a Roth IRA also changed.

There are more details about these changes in the Retirement Plan Contribution Chart.

Retirement Plan Contribution Chart
2019 Calendar of Events

2019 Calendar of Events

Upcoming events for 2019:

4/25/19       Social Security Seminar
5/9/19         Estate Planning Seminar
9/19/19       Stock Market Update
9/29/19       Client Appreciation Party
October       49er Tailgate and Game  (Special Invitation Event)
November   49er Tailgate and Game  (Special Invitation Event)

What is a Special Invitation Event? These are events that are designed to be fun for our clients and to also help us grow our business. These are high quality, smaller events. Clients who attend can bring a friend, co-workers or relatives who may need help with their investments and to introduce us to them so they can become a great new client.  You can find out the latest details for our events by going to our website at the link below.

Our Team

We wanted to remind everyone of the responsibilities of each of our team members, and who you can call if you have questions. Call any of us directly whenever you have a question.

Elaine Manley, Financial Advisor:  408-963-2854
Scott Manley, Financial Advisor:  408-963-2855
Linda Tjiputra, Financial Advisor:  408-963-2896
Ingalill Skoogh, Client Services:  408-963-2858 (Scheduling appointments, helping with any service issues)
Arielle Rowe, Marketing Events Manager:  408-963-2889 (RSVP and any questions about events, creating account forms)
Jennifer Michaelsen, Financial Planning Analyst:  408-963-2884 (Financial planning, supporting the Client Portals and insurance analysis)
Flavio Pando, Jr, Investment Analyst:  408-963-2877 (Placing trades, researching investments, answering questions about the market)
Lynne Houghton, Client Services:  408-963-0242, Working Fridays only (Social Media and Marketing)

Contact Our Team
Event Photos

Event Photos

Did you know you can find the photos from all our past events on our website? Go to Events, Past Events, select the date of the event and click on the link for "Photos". You can also select the link below to take you to the same page. We hope you enjoy the photos as much as we do!

Online Account Access

Online Account Access

Just a reminder. You can access your accounts online at your Financial Journey Partners Client Portal. Go to our website (www.financialjourney.com) and click the green "Client Login" button in the upper right hand corner of the page. You can also go there now by clicking the link below.