As a Shelter Agent in Bossier City I'm proud to serve this community. Shelter offers great rates and coverage options for your auto, home&life; insurance. We're your Shield. We're your Shelter. ...read more

Starting a small business can be a rewarding opportunity, even though initial start up costs can seem overwhelming. As a small business owner, there is no time clock, no eight hour day, and often no reward for many months or even years. It takes time and money to build a successful business, so monitoring and minimizing expenses, while maximizing our income can be an important step to success.   A great way to start is to write down essential business expenses, and list them in order of importance. Eliminate what is not essential to your success, and try not to waste the little money you have on things like over priced furnishings or equipment.    Look for bargains or items on sale, that look good without the high price tag. Have clear, written goals of what you expect to achieve.   Create a plan for success.   List your goals daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, as well as 5 and 10 years into the future.   Monitor your goals and if you are not seeing the results you expected, revisit your goals and perhaps change your plan, or set more reasonable goals. Plan for your future success: As your business grows and steady income starts to stream into your bank account, take the time to set aside a percentage of your income, and list it as a primary expense towards your retirement and future income.   This is essential towards your future income, and is not to be taken lightly.    To calculate your retirement income: Just think about how much money you will need to save in order to reach retirement age, and then divide that income by the number of years you expect to live after retirement.    If you don't see a number that you feel you can reasonably survive on for the rest of your life, then perhaps you need to come up with a plan to earn or save more money for your retirement. That's where a financial advisor comes in.  How do we save for our retirement anyways? Believe it or not, when it comes to saving for retirement, many of us have been allowing our hard earned money to sit idle in a bank account or CD, earning little interest, while the bank uses our money to their advantage.  Some of us have invested in other investment vehicles such as IRA's, 401 K's, Annuities and Life insurance products, and the stock market. Have you ever wondered what the bank does with our money, after we deposit it in our account? Some actually believe it just sits in the safe!   Others believe the bank loans it out to other account holders. While some of both is true at times, the majority of our money is usually pooled into large sub accounts and portfolios, and invested at a much higher rate of return than the bank pays us for the use of our money.   One would think with all of the fees and loan interest many banks charge, they would be able to pay a higher rate of return to their customers.   What many banks don't tell their customers is that YOU are capable of making your own money work for you much more efficiently.   Wouldn't it be nice if you could earn a rate of return that is higher than your bank pays you?   What if you  could reach your retirement income goal faster and more efficiently? Well, you can.   There are many investment opportunities that offer a fixed or variable rate of return that pay higher than a bank interest rate or CD. Depending on your personal objectives and risk tolerance, your money can work for you instead of against you. As a financial professional, I can assist you with your financial questions and concerns if you reside in the state of Louisiana.     Please feel free to contact me via this website, and I will contact you as soon as possible. Be Safe, KIm Disclaimer: This is not a solicitation for insurance outside the state of Louisiana .  Any comments posted on this website are not to be considered legal or professional opinions or advice of any manner, and are given for informational purposes only. You are responsible for your own due diligence regarding any questions or answers posted on this website.    ...read more

Lets face it.   We are all going to have to face retirement at some point in our lives.  We keep putting off important decisions that will have a profound effect on our future, such as how we are going to provide for it. Many of us believe that Social Security will provide for our needs for the rest of our lives, while others are afraid there may be no Social Security available, as we know it, when our time comes to collect it.    Our government is already Trillions of dollars in debt to China, with no end in sight.  How can we rely on Social Security when we need it most?  We cant.  There is simply too much at stake.   So what do we do? We need to organize our lives and put together a plan that will at least help to solidify our financial needs for the future.    Putting all of our money in a savings account or CD, is not the most efficient way to plan for our retirement either.  We need to find ways to make our money work for us, rather than simply allowing our banks to make a fortune off our money while paying us a pittance in return.  Don't be intimidated by products such as Fixed Annuities, Variable Annuities, Variable Life Insurance, and IRA's.    These products can earn rates of return that can help maximize your retirement funding, while providing deferred taxes or tax free benefits.   The best time to start planning for your retirement is now, while you are young.  Particularly with life insurance products, where costs are usually less expensive while you are young and healthy.  As you age, costs can become extremely expensive, or you may not qualify at all. People who are approaching retirement age, and have extensive 401K's or other investments may be able to reinvest these moneys in vehicles that can further maximize their retirement dollars.   Check with your advisor, to see if there are better ways to make your money work for you.    If you are a resident of Louisiana, I will be happy to help you with your financial questions and needs.   If you are out of state, there are many qualified Financial Advisors who can help show you ways to maximize the return on your hard earned money, show you how to defer or eliminate some taxes, protect your income, and protect your family's income in the event of your death. Be Safe, Kim ...read more

I posted the title to my first blog  "How would you protect your family of you were to die tomorrow?", as a "question" on the Circle, in order to invoke an informed response.   It seems the question struck a nerve with at least one person.   At first, I was a bit set back at the attitude of the response I received, which was of the member referring to God and Guardian Angels, while stating my question was an irritating sales tactic, and that I should refrain from asking such questions.   (I actually wasn't selling anything.  I was offering FREE information, which answered the question of how to protect your family).I wanted to "respond" back to the member, but a message popped up stating"you can't answer your own question".So I asked another question, asking how to respond to a member's response.   I suddenly felt the sense of a hamster wheel spinning round and round, thinking that if the member posts yet another response to my new question, I would still be unable to answer it!!!  As I thought about it, I realized the point of asking that question in the first place.  Sometimes,facing the truth is painful.   It is good to know what people are thinking, particularly when it comes to how they feel about protecting their families in the event of their death.   Sadly, I have received many calls over the years, from individuals who had lost a family member, and didn't have any insurance or other financial protection in place.    The bills were surmounting and the homes they were born and raised in had to be sold just to pay estate taxes.   I have also heard from people who actually had protection in place, but for whatever reason, decided to cancel their policies or cash in their accounts, and then suddenly, a loved one died only a few months later. Their lives were devistated ten fold, as they had no financial protection to depend on.That sort of thing just pulls at my heart strings, as I know there are so many people in America who just don't know enough about  financial and estate planning.   Many people don't know that a life insurance policy may help pay their estate taxes.That Life insurance may offer  a tax free benefit to their beneficiaries.That the longer you wait to purchase life insurance the more it costs, particularly when your health begins to fail. That life insurance can help provide income replacement.Irritating or not, sometimes, facing the truth is painful.    ...read more

How often do you ask yourself the question:  "How will I protect my family of I were to die tomorrow?"Most people only think in terms of "today".  We get tied up in our work, our bills, and our daily activities and our problems.  We are so busy worrying about today, that we often tell ourselves we'll worry about tomorrow when it comes.    We think there will always be enough time, but there really never is enough time, is there? Most of us find out the hard way, that tomorrow comes up on us pretty fast.  Just think about your own life, and where you were ten, fifteen or twenty years ago.  Does it seem like yesterday?   Where did all of that time go?  Did you have enough time to accomplish all of the things you wanted to do? Few people do.Believe me, tomorrow is already here, and we all have to take a good look at ourselves and DECIDE  to do something about it NOW, while we still have a chance.  If you were to die tomorrow, how much money do you think your wife and kids would need to survive without YOU?Think about our cost of living twenty years ago.  Do things cost the same today?How much did a house cost twenty or thirty years ago?    How much does a house cost now?  In twenty more years?Do you think your families cost of living will increase twenty or thirty years after you die?How much income will your family need to survive, for the rest of their lives, if you were to die tomorrow?How much is your mortgage, rent, car payment, college tuition, bills, food, clothing, entertainment?How much does it cost to raise ONE child to the age of 18?How much is college?Do you know how much money your family will need to survive for the next 20 or 30 years?   How will they get it?Can your spouse provide for your family without your help?What can YOU do right now, to protect your family?Imagine how your family will feel, in their moment of greif, knowing you have set a plan in motion, that would help relieve some of their pain, by providing for their future financial needs?What can YOU do right now to help protect your family?Email me atkirsopplife@gmail.comfor answers to these and many more questions.Be SafeKim Disclaimer: This is not a solicitation for insurance outside the state of Louisiana.  Any comments posted on this website are not to be considered legal or professional opinions or advice of any manner, and are given for informational purposes only. You are responsible for your own due diligence regarding any questions or answers posted on this website.   ...read more