SPEAKER’S CORNER: Nine Tips for Avoiding Financial Stress While in Transition; Former PSGCNJ Member Eric Lathrop Gives Back

Speaker's Corner

By Sonny Palko
Career transition and job search can be challenging enough, but when you add financial uncertainty to the mix, worry can easily keep you up at night. On October 15, 2012, PSGCNJ alumnus and now successful wealth advisor, Eric Lathrop, spoke to our members with the following goal: To help you sleep better at night.
Eric presented various ways to better manage finances during career transition, including taking inventory of your assets and reducing unnecessary spending. He suggested that being proactive in the development of a personal financial plan can help you through your transition and beyond.

  1. List all you sources of income.
  2. List your monthly expenses.
  3. Improve cash flow by consolidating debt; refinance your household mortgage, if you can, especially if you haven’t refinanced in several years.
  4. Understand the options you have with your previous employers’ pension and retirement savings (401K, 403b, 457b, etc.). There are advantages to consolidating assets outside of those accounts.
  5. Rolling over company retirement savings into an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) can provide greater control and greater investment choices.
  6. A Variable or Fixed Annuity may be a better replacement for your pension and/or form a core base for your IRA as it guarantees future income.
  7. Using retirement savings for daily living expenses should be a last resort due to taxes and penalties for withdrawal prior to Age 59 ½.
  8. Understanding the amount of your income sources, cash flow, taxable and retirement savings can help you establish or get advice on a Financial Plan for a near-term or long-term time horizon.
  9. A properly implemented Financial Plan can protect you against taking undue risks or indicate that you may need to take on more risk just to keep up with inflation, and help you sleep better at night.

Eric Lathrop provided additional reference material for PSGCNJ members including the attached Managing Your Career Transition brochure and a Managing Your Finances Through a Career Transition Checklist. Eric was also kind enough to extend an offer of assistance to PSGCNJ members who may have additional financial planning questions. He can be reached via e-mail at eric.lathrop@LPL.com.
Eric Lathrop brings more than 28 years of experience to Insight Financial Services, including two years as a financial advisor with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and many years of account management experience with AT&T; Telcordia; Atrion Corporation; and Arbinet, Inc. Eric holds securities FINRA Series 66 and Series 7 in NJ, NY, PA and FL with LPL Financial; and he is licensed to sell life and health insurance. He received his bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College and MBA from Rutgers Graduate School of Management. His website is: www.insightfinancialservicesllc.com
ManagingYourFinancesThroughACareerTransitionChecklist_CMG
career_transition_brochure_NYL

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