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Learn 11 financial moves to make in 2017 1. Identify any mistakes made in 2016 - Stocks to sell, trim losses 2. Review & rebalance portfolio - Make sure you own some small caps 3. Consider strategic investments in high growth areas - Spice up your portfolio with India, silver, China, tech, etc. - What can you buy low? Commodities? Uranium? Miners? 4. Reduce debt - Refi or pay off 5. Avoid long-term bond funds - 30 year bonds have the most risk in a rising interest rate environment 6. Save and invest more - Savings accounts have low interest rates, investment accounts offer potential of higher compounding, but have more risk. 7. Think over large purchases - Do you really need a new car? - Could you invest instead? 8. Start a side hustle for extra income? - Never easier to start a business 9. Consider how big picture changed and how it will affect you - New President, lower taxes? - Interest rates rising - Banks in Europe in crisis? 10. Things that didn’t change - Debt in USA - Your work? Income? Mortgage?

Learn what 2016's Top Stock Funds are according to Investor's Business Daily. Hard copy of the numbers are posted on my website at www.lindapjones.com, podcast 217. While you're there, get my free report, "11 Quick Financial Tips to Boost Your Wealth" to move your net worth forward in 2017 and beyond! www.lindapjones.com

Learn the Best and Worst Performing ETF's in 2016 according to Investor's Business Daily. Get the information in print form at my website, www.lindapjones.com, podcast 216. While you're there, pick up the free report, "11 Quick Tips to Boost Your Wealth" and get your net worth moving in the right direction in 2017 and beyond. www.lindapjones.com.

Learn which companies have been paying rising dividends for 25 straight years. Many people are looking for higher interest rates because bonds are paying low interest rates, for example, .88% on a 1 year Treasury bill and 2.4% for 10 year Treasuries. To help you find some substitutes for bonds, I’m sharing dividend paying stocks with you. They are companies that have steadily and consistently raised their dividends for 25 straight years, which is an indication of excellent and consistent cash flow. You may also want to look at corporate bonds - high quality, not junk bonds. This is a report from Investor’s Business Daily of the S & P 500 Dividend Aristocrats index. Statistics are on my website at www.lindapjones.com. Podcast 215. To get “11 Quick Financial Tips to Boost Your Wealth”, go to www.lindapjones.com.  

Learn why contrarian indicators move opposite to the crowd. British economist, John Maynard Keynes identified features of financial markets that subject prices to herd-like behavior. “The herd-like nature and influence of animal spirits in financial exchanges, and its potential to shift independently of changes in objective facts, is, according to Keynes, a primary, ineradicable source of economic instability.” Groups move together in crowds and it impacts markets. Media is calling it “animal spirits” - Bloomberg, Barron’s, financial websites. The cover of Barron’s says Dow 20,000, pre-conditioning you to think it’s going there. Look inside Barron’s for some bullish indications that are saying the public is 63% bullish right now. Here are the reasons you need to be a contrarian investor: 1. When a good investment becomes obvious, it’s very late in the game. This means when you’re judging solely by price or return and something has gone up 100% or is crossing 20,000, you are one of the last ones in! I often te

Learn from a listener question: Will the Dow Go to 50,000 Without a Rest? Listener question: Dear Linda, My friend say the market is off and running and will go to 50,000 from here. Will the Dow shoot to 50,000 without a rest? Raoul The Dow is only 30 companies large companies like American Express, Caterpillar, Chevron, McDonald’s and Walt Disney, and some tech like Apple, Cisco Systems, Microsoft, Intel, and IBM. Stocks move in waves called cycles. It’s the nature of things. Nothing goes anywhere without a pause or move in the opposite direction for long. The indicators look extended. The MACD looks toppy, relative strength is overbought, consumer confidence is 63% bullish - which is a bearish indicator. Way above the 50 day moving average - all show the market will rollover soon. How low? Don’t know yet, see if it breaks support. To get “11 Quick Financial Tips to Boost Your Wealth”, go to www.lindapjones.com.

You’ve heard me talk about following cycles. We are in the midst of several cycles happening simultaneously. Bonds lost over $1.7 trillion in November. The FED was talking about raising rates and bond market anticipated FED raising rates. Five year Treasury note went from .91% in July to 1.87% recently - a double! Thirty year yields went from 2.1% to 3.06% or a 50% move. Enormous! A 30 year mortgage is now 4.125%, still a good, low rate historically, but that rise in interest rates could move some adjustable rate mortgages by 25%! Interest rates are a 30 year trend and are rising again. This has had a negative impact on real estate since some sales have slowed and foreclosures are actually on the rise again. It’s not surprising since interest rates have been skyrocketing. Interest rates also impact currencies and although the dollar has trended stronger, other currencies around the world have had wild swings in value, not the least of which is the pound, which was recently at a 31 year low! Higher rates make

Learn The Leading ETF’s of 2016 To get “11 Quick Financial Tips to Boost Your Wealth”, go to www.lindapjones.com.

Top holdings are Apple, Amazon, Facebook - poor performers this month. There’s been a rotation of leadership in the S & P 500 since the election. These have been strong: Financial Medical Energy Construction-related materials Those are up 10% since the election (total 80 companies); 30 are banks and financial firms. About 50 financials are up at least 5%. In the S & P makeup: 14% financial sector 14% healthcare 20% tech (largest sector) 12% consumer discretionary   To get “11 Quick Financial Tips to Boost Your Wealth”, go to www.lindapjones.com.  

I love talking about the importance of mindset in wealth building. We haven’t visited mindset for a long-time, so I thought we would today. Recently I was reading about Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos. He was a successful investment banker who quit his job. Left in the middle of the year and left his big bonus. Talked to his boss about it, who said great idea, but better for someone else who does this stuff! Think long-term for life decisions. He calls it "Regret Minimization Framework". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwG_qR6XmDQ Project your life forward to age 80. Look back on your life. Minimize the regrets in your life. Look back on your life. He wouldn’t regret trying to participate in the internet. Wouldn’t regret failure. The one thing he would regret is not having tried. That would haunt him every day. Gets you away from the daily pieces of confusion, like leaving his bonus. Think long-term to make good life decisions you won’t regret later.      

4 Choices for a Former Employers' 401(k) Hi Linda, I would like your opinion on the following; my wife is beginning a new chapter in her career and starting a new job after 11 years.  She has a 401k with a significant amount of funds and now we have to make the decision on what to do?  The one decision that has been made is that we will not withdraw any money from the account, but we are not sure what our best option is: 1 Keep it as is within her old company’s 401k plan? I am not a fan and I know that we could incur administration fees plus we have a limited investment selection. 2 Rollover into her new company’s retirement plan? My reservation with this option is again having limited investment options. 3 Fidelity has a 401k rollover IRA plan that allows us to have full control of our investments (funds, stocks, etc.). I like this option but I know you are fan of ROTH IRAs better, but if we try to convert from a 401k to a ROTH IRA—would we get taxed? We believe the best option is #3 but I value your opinion

Q. Linda, I bought a 2002 Porsche Boxster in 2013 for $13,000, low mileage, not much to repair until this year, I think my repair cost became 4K. I guess my car still worth about $8000, do you think I should trade in for another car? or drive to the ground? The engine is still very good, no problem in driving, but a little here and there problems are annoying. First, good for you for buying a used car! You saved yourself thousands of dollars and I hope you were able to invest some of that extra savings. When a large repair bill occurs, it can create a crossroads - fix or trade in? Here are some things to consider: 1. A $4,000 repair is still a lot cheaper than buying a new car, especially a new Porsche! New cars lose about 20% the first year, so that’s a big hit. 2. Often a larger bill will occur every 3 to 5 years. If it’s more frequent than that, consider a trade. Paying $4,000 every 5 years is still a lot cheaper than buying a new car. 3. If you feel like you’re being nickled and dimed to death, consider a

Learn about stock market seasonality and cycles in this interview with Garrett Jones from Peter Eliades Stock Market Cycles Management, Inc. Get 11 quick tips to boost your wealth at www.lindapjones.com.

According to Nat’l Association of Realtors, who is buying homes in 2016? Let’s take a look at who is buying homes, by marital status: Married 66% Single females 17% Unmarried couples 8% Single males 7% Interesting because from 2005 - 2010, 20% were single females, but only 15% in 2015. Homebuyers’ median income: Married couples $99,200 Unmarried couples $84,800 Single males $69,600 Other $69,100 Single females $55,300 So although single females have lower incomes than others, they are a big group of buyers. Why? 1. Possess own home 38% 2. Change in family situation 11% 3. To be closer to family/friends 9% 4. Desire for smaller home 7% 5. Retirement 5%   To get “11 Quick Financial Tips to Boost Your Wealth”, go to www.lindapjones.com.  

These are financial moves, not a pro or con commentary for a candidate. Check your taxes - income deferred if possible If Trump gets the 15% corporate tax rate in, then look for the dollar to soar and almost $3 trillion to come home. 2. Health care - look for new plans. Participate in health savings accounts - a savings account used in conjunction with a high-deductible health insurance policy that allows users to save money tax-free against medical expenses. 3. Faster growing economy. Possible raising of the economic growth to 3 - 4% annually. During the Reagan years the stock market boomed and the economy boomed. I hope that can happen again! 4. FED has signaled higher inflation will be allowed. Expect higher interest rates. 5. Cycles don’t change based on who is President. Cycle going into higher inflation favoring commodities - metals, mining, grains, agriculture, farmland, etc. One sobering fact - inheriting $20 Trillion in debt is a lot. I don’t believe taxes can pay that back. At some point we will hav

Learn how to look at investment opportunities in stocks like Amazon. (CANSLIM Method) Listener question Friday! One of the members of the Be Wealthy & Smart VIP Experience asked this question: Linda, Do you have an opinion on Amazon stock? We live in the Seattle area and have watched Amazon change the entire landscape of Seattle. Because the fundamentals always say Amazon is too expensive, we never bought any stock, but you said not to worry about the PE ratio too much on growth stocks. What's your thought on this hometown company? Mandy   What are some of the things to consider when looking at an individual stock to buy? Consistency of earnings CANSLIM: C - Current quarterly earnings per share. Have they increased quarter over quarter in a year? A - Annual earnings increases over the last 5 years? N - New products, management and other new events. In addition, the company’s stock reaching new highs? S - Small supply and large demand for stock? Acquiring their own stock? L - Leader or laggard in an indust

Learn whether it makes sense to buy or rent a high-end home. Interview with Jason Hartman of the Creating Wealth podcast. http://bit.ly/wealthpod To get “11 Quick Financial Tips to Boost Your Wealth”, go to www.lindapjones.com.

Learn what to look for with dividend stocks. I saw an article about 3 stocks that are a “must own” for retirement. Whaaat? One was a huge telecom, one was a gas company and one was an insurance company. No where did it talk about earnings growth or dividend growth. I’ve talked about stocks. What makes them go up. It’s all about earnings. Dividend stocks are no different, except they also have a nice dividend. You still want to have companies that are high quality, steady growth, increasing dividends, etc. IBD does a good job of curating dividend leaders. I’ve taken their list and picked 10 that seem to me to be a good mix and diversified. 1. International Paper 4.11% 2. Altria Group Inc. 3.7% 3. Toronto Dominion Bank 3.67% 4. IBM 3.67% 5. Cisco 3.4% 6. Paychex 3.34% 7. Prudential Financial 3.31% 8.Merck 3.13% 9.Qualcomm 3.1% 10. Proctor & Gamble 3.07% Again, all the credit goes to IBD, but I wanted to share a list of dividend paying stocks that are quality and fit all the aspects we talk about. You can f

Learn ways technology is impacting value investing and ways it’s not. Have you checked out the Creating Wealth podcast yet with Jason Hartman? It’s full of amazing information and over 700 podcasts about real estate investing. If you like this podcast, you’ll like that one too. http://bit.ly/wealthpod Excited to have podcast #200! Thank you for listening to Be Wealthy & Smart! If you’re a regular listener, I’d love to have a review from you and hear your thoughts about the show! Listener question Friday! Here’s a question from Torben. Hi Linda, I've listened to your podcast for several months now and find it very useful. Your pragmatic approach to finance is very applicable in real life. I personally apply the value investing approach with inspiration from the growth investment theories. Perhaps you could do a podcast about value investing? From Graham and Buffet, over the ModernGraham approach, to how value investing will play a role in an investing world, where tangible assets are much smaller than int

Learn why individual stocks are never in style and why they might be right for you. Have you checked out the Creating Wealth podcast yet with Jason Hartman? It’s full of amazing information and over 700 podcasts about real estate investing. If you like this podcast, you’ll like that one too. http://bit.ly/wealthpod If you’ve listened to me for a while, you know my story - that I was in the financial world working for money management firms. It was sacrilege to invest in stocks on your own. I did it any way and I turned a 5 figure investment into $2 million in several years. When I first got into financial services, there were “stockbrokers” who picked stocks for you. They had companies they built positions in and would put all of their clients in them. If it changed they would sell them all out of them. I had a friend who was my mom’s age who was the secretary of the stock analysts. When they recommended stocks, she bought them for herself. She retired a multi-millionaire even though she had a modest salary.