Agili In the News

Despite recent market uncertainty and volatility, Cindy Joyce tells Business 2 Community that business owners and employees who have the ability to invest in their 401k plans now will see major upside in the long term.

By establishing or enhancing 401k plan offerings, companies can ensure that their owners and employees become 401k millionaires by the time they retire. Talk about a nice benefit!

Encourage Participation!

Creating a retirement plan and encouraging participation is good business. This investment in your employees will improve retention and recruiting efforts because you’re demonstrating a commitment to your team. Additionally, it communicates that your company cares about your employees and their long-term financial goals.

Send a positive message about the value of saving for the future and in doing so, you’ll likely recruit and keep talented people to help your company soar.

401k Plan Design

Businesses can further encourage participation and retirement savings in how you design your 401k plans. Consider setting automatic enrollment for employees. You can start the automatic enrollment at a relatively low percentage, such as two percent, so all employees are saving something. If someone wants to save more, they can adjust their enrollment percentage higher. At the very least, you’ve established a baseline.

You also can set automatic escalations so that every time an employee receives a salary increase, their 401k is adjusted as well.

Finally, consider including a qualified default investment alternative (QDIA) in your plan. This can be set as a default in the 401k for employees who have not made investment choices or do not feel qualified to make investment choices. A QDIA ensures that they can still yield the benefits of the plan and won’t miss out on the savings.

In an article for Financial Planning magazine, Michael Joyce tells financial advisors who are making the move from wirehouses to starting a Registered Investment Advisory firm (RIA), like Agili, that as a fiduciary they must keep their clients’ interest in mind 24/7. “It’s definitely a different mindset from working in the wirehouses.”

Time Management

He also cautions those making the move that they may be surprised by how much time they will spend in the administrative, compliance and marketing areas of their new business.

The cost of meeting an ever-expanding array of clients needs is another consideration many newbies don’t consider, Joyce says. “When I talk to people who have made this move, they often say they didn’t realize the amount of time they’d have to spend on admin, compliance and even marketing,” says Joyce, whose practice oversees roughly 300 clients and $850 million in AUM. “You have to have a strong bench of people that are basically cost centers — they’re not profit centers, but it allows you to do the things you need to be successful.”

Michael Joyce spoke with Rachel DePompa of NBC12 recently. He reminded her that investors should contact a financial advisor to understand their risk tolerance if they are approaching retirement. They may live many years after leaving the workforce! “You can’t start to think about your nest egg as a short term goal. You’ll still need it for many years to come.” Even if an investor is about to retire, they may live 30 years or more in retirement. Michael says that you have to get more conservative with your money as you inch close to leaving the workforce– but you also need to make savings last.

Michael Joyce asserts that stocks won’t be down forever so we need to protect our nest eggs and credit scores.

In this article for Business 2 Community, Cindy Joyce shares best practices for protecting businesses from cybercriminals, especially during these uncertain times when attention may be focused elsewhere. Applicable to companies large and small, this advice on cybersecurity is especially relevant during the coronavirus pandemic.

It is more important than ever to be cautious when receiving and/or responding to emails and phone calls. Cybercriminals excel in the ability to take advantage of vulnerabilities. During these precarious times, businesses and their leaders must be vigilant, especially in terms of protecting personal data for employees, clients, and customers.

One of the most challenging aspects of combating cyber scams in uncertain times is that our attention is often diverted elsewhere, creating openings for cybercriminals to strike. A key takeaway for businesses is the importance of training everyone in your company about the perils of cyber scams and questioning any dubious request.

When asked by the Richmond Times Dispatch about financial planning advice during a crisis, Michael Joyce suggests building an emergency fund of 3-6 months living expenses and finding ways to contribute more to retirement plans. Michael reminds us that we may live 30 years during retirement – so we should match retirement plan allocations to our long-term investments time horizon.

We are proud to announce that Michael Joyce has once again been named to Barron’s Top 1200 U.S. Financial Advisors. This is quite an achievement and distinction. Congratulations Mike! And many thanks to all of our clients whom Michael and the entire Agili team greatly appreciate.

Michael spoke with the Richmond Times-Dispatch (Richmond.com) about recent market uncertainty. While Michael understands this is a scary time, he believes, “This too shall pass.” He said anyone who has a diversified portfolio “has the downside mitigated” — and the correction will run its course.

Michael informs NBC12 viewers that,  “[e]ven one or two missed or late payments will negatively impact your credit score — and it will take a long time to rebuild.” One thing that helps improve credit scores? Automatic bill-paying!

Michael warns NBC12 viewers, “Don’t take out a 401(k) loan unless it’s a real emergency. You’ll be stealing from your future.” That’s great retirement planning advice. 

NBC News asked Michael for his take on the possible economic impact of Bolton testifying, “I don’t think it’s going to have…a longer-term impact, but I do think there [will] be more volatility this year than we saw last year.” He added that even if there were a correction after Bolton’s potential testimony, strong economic fundamentals would help mitigate the duration of potential volatility and facilitate the market’s recovery.

Michael sat down with Rachel DePompa of NBC12 to suggest ways to improve credit scores. One suggestion is to use automatic bill-pay – so that bill payments are never late!

In a recent guest article for Lehigh Valley Business Journal, Michael suggests that investors and advisors thoroughly research possible investments first! Before pulling the trigger, Michael recommends performing a SWOT analysis on possible investments, determining sustainable competitive advantages and threats, and discovering how risk is measured.

Michael sat down with Rachel DePompa of NBC12 and said that his best advice for young adults starting their first real job is for them to get started saving right away into an IRA or 401(k). If they don’t see the income, they won’t miss it.

Michael spoke with Rachel DePompa of NBC12, about the advice he provided his sons when entering the workforce. He said to take advantage of any company match, “Don’t leave money on the table.” He recommends immediately putting 10% of their salary into a 401(k), “If you never see that money in your actual paycheck, then you won’t miss it.” In this way, it’s possible to get to a million by retirement age.

Nigel Williams was profiled in the Richmond Times Dispatch’s “Making a Difference” column. By using his time away from Agili to teach art at a juvenile detention center and to coach high school football, Nigel is a great ambassador for our firm. His talent on the football field has been known to those at Benedictine, Virginia Tech and even the NFL, and now his character and community contributions are being recognized by others. We’re impressed and inspired!

The new year is just around the corner. Michael Joyce, sat down with Rachel DePompa of NBC12 to discuss setting realistic savings goals in 2020 – such as contributing 1% more to your 401(k) or 529 plan. Michael suggests paying yourself first by automating payments to achieve your financial goals.

Cindy Joyce discusses with Business 2 Community how offering employees flexiblility benefits businesses. In this busy, hectic world (and tight labor market), allowing employees to have flexible work arrangements can lead to lower turnover and absenteeism, not to mention higher productivity and employee engagement.

Michael Joyce discusses the necessity for adequate disability insurance coverage with Rachel DePompa of NBC12. Since a 40 year-old male is three times more likely to become disabled before the age of 65 than to die before age 65, having enough disability coverage is imperative for financial well-being. He also reminds viewers that life insurance is not a life-long need.

Michael Joyce spoke with Virginia Business about navigating the next recession. He warns against trying to time the market and suggests focusing on long-term goals and objectives. He recommends being less aggressive investment-wise and suggests pruning positions that are pretty fully valued now and looking for high quality investments.