Greetings & Happy New Year!

In this newsletter for January 2015, you will find:

An article on how to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft
In the News/Updates
"Change is a Good Thing" Blog Post

Cyber Fraud & Identity Theft

At our last Lifestyle Event this past November, we had a fantastic and eye opening presentation on cyber fraud and identity theft by our featured speaker Dean Hancy of PC Bits. Dean’s presentation was not only educational, but also quite scary after we learned how easy it is to become a victim of fraud while using your computer. We ended up going over our allotted time because there were so many questions on this important topic.

Our featured article this quarter is on How to Protect Yourself From Identity Theft. You can read the article by clicking on the title above or CLICK HERE. If you are interested in additional resources on this topic, please contact me and I would be happy to send them to you.

News

In December, Fair Trust celebrated its 3 year anniversary!

I am very thankful to all who have supported me in realizing my dream of starting my own business to help others in achieving their financial and life goals.

On November 5th, we held the “Lifestyle Event” on Cyber Fraud and Identity Theft featuring Dean Hancy of PC Bits. Dean was a phenomenal speaker and provided a wealth of information on the different types of cyber fraud and identity theft and things we can do to better protect ourselves. I am looking forward to having Dean speak again at a future Lifestyle Event.

401(k) Plan Review

Now is a great time to review your annual contributions to your 401(k) or company sponsored retirement plan account. If you are not already contributing the maximum deferral amount annually ($18,000 or $24,000 in 2015 if you are over the age of 50), consider increasing the amount you contributed last year.

Stay tuned for our upcoming lineup of Lifestyle Events in 2015!

Change is a Good Thing

This past November, I had the opportunity to host Thanksgiving for the first time at our home. My parents have hosted every year since I can remember and we all look forward to eating some of our favorite foods made from family recipes.

Being it’s a day that everyone in my family loves, I felt a bit of pressure and wondered if I would be able to recreate all of my Mom’s and Grandma’s recipes to taste just as good. My Mom and I have talked about doing this for a few years now and we thought it would be a good idea for me to try it and see if I could host in the event that my mom was unable to at some point in the future. Over the past few years she has been buying me various cooking items like a large roasting pan and rack so I would be able to jump right in!

Thanksgiving dinner went very well and the food tasted just like my Mom’s cooking. The only issue I had was that I bought such a large turkey that dinner was pushed back an hour later than we had planned.

I’m glad that I tried it and that things went well, but there’s still something special about going over to my parents’ house on Thanksgiving. My kids love going over to Grandma and Grandpa’s house to run around outside at their hobby farm if the weather is warm enough, and the rest of us enjoy a relaxing day of eating, watching football and time spent together as a family.

After starting Fair Trust Financial three years ago, I’ve had to push myself outside my comfort zone in ways far beyond hosting Thanksgiving at my house and have learned that sometimes you need to feel uncomfortable in order to grow and experience life more fully. As we start the New Year, I hope that you will find ways to challenge and push yourself to achieve new goals and also the strength to start and follow through on your ‘Someday’ dreams and ideas too.

I hope you enjoyed the newsletter. I always like to hear about topics that you care about that relate to planning for retirement and living a more purposeful life in retirement to use for future events and newsletter articles. Please email me at cindy@fairtrustfinancial.com with your thoughts and ideas. Thank you.

"Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan."

Tom Landry

Registered Representative, Securities offered through Cambridge Investment Research, Inc., a Broker/Dealer, Member FINRA/SIPC.Investment Advisor Representative, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisor. Cambridge and Fair Trust Financial LLC are not affiliated.