Financial Planning

Alvin Hall, a financial consultant and author, headlines a financial planning and investing seminar for African Americans tonight in downtown Los Angeles. Hall, known for his books on the fundamentals of stock and mutual fund investing, joins five other speakers to discuss the basics of financial planning and investing. The event, scheduled for 6 to 9 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Los Angeles, is presented in part by Black Enterprise magazine and Ethcentric ethnicity-focused Internet services.

Year-end financial planning is probably the last thing you want to think about while you're whipping up eggnog. But spend a few minutes now and you can save a bundle on your taxes. "No one wants to make the time at this time of year," says Philip J. Holthouse, partner at the Los Angeles tax law and accounting firm of Holthouse Carlin & Van Trigt. "But a little last-minute planning can reap rewards worth thousands of dollars. " Charitable contributions: Gifts to charity soar near the holidays.

A six-week pilot program to teach Gahr High School students "the nuts and bolts" of financial planning begins today. The High School Financial Planning Program will be taught once a week for six weeks to 32 students in the geometry class of math teacher Rick Renaker. The class is part of a nationwide effort to teach young adults the basic techniques of personal finance and sound money management, said Aaron Bergner, a certified financial planner in the Long Beach office of PaineWebber Group Inc.

Dodgers owner Frank McCourt met for three days this week with executives from the commissioner's office as Bud Selig considers options that could complicate McCourt's ability to remain in control of the team. McCourt met with several of Selig's lieutenants ? but not with the commissioner himself ? from Monday through Wednesday at Major League Baseball headquarters in New York, according to three high-ranking officials familiar with the discussions but not authorized to talk about them.

It's January. Holiday bills will show up any day. Chances are you don't think you've got any money to worry about managing now. But if you've ever thought about computerizing your personal finances, now is the best time to start because you'll be able to enter data gradually as it accumulates through the year. The later in the year you start, the larger the backlog of checks, receipts and portfolio transactions you'll have to grapple with all at once.

Living the single life can be expensive. Food, shelter, clothing, taxes, insurance, even pleasurable pastimes--vacations and entertainment--cost more when you're alone. But you don't have to wait for Mr. or Ms. Right--or earn a six-figure salary--to build a firm financial base, says Victoria Felton-Collins, a certified financial planner. As a partner of Felton-Collins, Woodhouse & Associates in Costa Mesa, she regularly advises people from all income levels.

August C. "Gus" Hansch, an insurance executive who became a pioneer in the financial planning industry and wrote a manual called "Controlling Tomorrow," has died. He was 76. Hansch died July 29 in Del Mar after a long respiratory illness. He and his brothers Walter and Noel and friend Bill McMurry created Hansch Financial Group and the Financial Advisory Clinic, which sell materials through the subsidiary Financial Profiles Inc.

Price Waterhouse said Wednesday that it will register an affiliate as an investment adviser with the Securities and Exchange Commission, becoming the first Big Eight accounting firm to do so and signaling the growing presence of accounting firms in the lucrative field of financial planning. The filing, expected to be made today, will allow Price Waterhouse to provide and advertise financial planning as a separate service apart from its traditional tax planning and accounting services.

Financial planning can be a daunting task for the novice and experienced investor alike. Providing an opportunity to cut through some of the confusion and complex choices confronting individuals, UC Irvine Extension and The Times Orange County are sponsoring the first Financial Planning and Investments Conference on April 25 in Anaheim.

Two Southern California-based financial planning and brokerage firms said Tuesday that they will merge in a deal that will create one of the nation's largest independent firms in that field. Financial Network Investment Corp., a Torrance-based concern with about 1,000 financial planners, said it agreed to acquire certain assets of American Pacific Securities Corp., a Pasadena-based firm with about 500 planners.

Fire and the resultant threat of flooding and mudslides forced Bronwen Aker from her family's longtime home in the Big Tujunga Wash -- and devastated her finances. Single after two divorces, she was living in the forest home she inherited from her grandmother when the Station fire rushed through last summer. The house survived, but the fire denuded the ground and severely increased the risk of flooding, compelling her to move out. Now, the 45-year-old Web developer is paying rent on a house in Canoga Park while also shelling out for taxes and other expenses on the home in Big Tujunga.

Here's a way to make your head explode in one hour or less: Start reading forecasts for the economy and markets in 2010 and try to decide who's likely to be right. Will interest rates rise? Will the recession return? Will the banking system crash again? And what kind of surprises, good or bad, might come out of left field? Every year is a crapshoot for forecasters, but this one is as tough a call as ever because there are so many outsized uncertainties involving government, companies and consumers in the aftermath of the financial-system meltdown.

Kelsey Steinke thought of herself as a fairly bright college student -- except when it came to managing personal finances. "I knew very little," she said. "Not much at all." Compared to some of her peers, however, she was a downright prodigy. "I mean, there are some girls who don't know how to do laundry," she said. "If they can't do their laundry, how can they handle their finances?" That less-than-kind reality, coupled with a troubled economy that has frightened both novices and experts, has spurred renewed interest in teaching financial literacy to high school and college-age and younger students.

Like many people who work on the less-than-glamorous fringes of the entertainment business, Hollywood location manager Dale Dreher does really well some of the time. The trouble is he doesn't always have a job. And that has made providing a reliable income for his wife, Ronnie, and two boys something of a struggle -- particularly over the last year. "I'm not sleeping well, that's for sure," said Dreher, 44, a freelancer like many people in his line of work. "Even when I'm making money, I'm still stressed because I have no plan for the future."

Bashing pint-size radio-controlled monster trucks around bumpy dirt tracks has always been a blast for Dan Dunst, who opened a hobby shop specializing in the pricey toys near downtown Los Angeles last year. But his store, VG Racing, was soon broadsided by the sour economy. Sales at the shop and its online sites have slipped over the last six months, and now Dunst and his wife, Sarah, have to figure out whether the company can continue. "I'm being run over," said Dunst, 50, who also designs and manufacturers custom roll cages for the zippy vehicles that sell for $250 to $800 or more.

Quick -- you have one minute to answer this question: If you had to make a decision today to reallocate money in your 401(k) plan or other investment account, would you sell stocks to buy bonds or sell bonds to buy stocks? This isn't just an academic exercise, of course. With the dramatic resurgence of financial markets since March, millions of investors are staring at their portfolios with a mix of joy and apprehension. People who stayed put in stocks and bonds have recouped a huge chunk of what was lost in the September-to-March crash.

The Presbyterian Church of the Covenant in Costa Mesa at 2850 Fairview Road is holding a free seminar about financial planning Sunday at 11:30 a.m. A church member, attorney and financial advisor will explain estate planning, wills and family trusts as well as ways to donate to churches and nonprofit organizations, seminar organizer Wayne Rexrode said. "We want people to plan as intelligently as they can, and part of the plan is to benefit the church," he said.

Global interaction has spawned an increasing need for international financial planning. As U.S. companies hire foreigners to work here, U.S. citizens accept jobs overseas and multinational marriages occur, the complexity of filing one's taxes, preparing for retirement and drafting a simple will increases exponentially. A foreigner who becomes a U.S. resident must pay U.S. income taxes on all of his or her worldwide income.

Next year's budget is just about wrapped up at C28 Inc., a small business in Corona that designs and sells edgy Christian-themed clothes and jewelry for teens. C28's budget process isn't just an exercise in guessing sales and costs for 2010. It involves a hard look at what would happen if sales rose, fell or held steady. "Nobody likes surprises in business," said Kevin Miller, chief financial officer at the retailer and wholesaler, which employs 85 people and does about $12 million in annual sales.

For many couples, the financial crisis has come down to a test. How good are they at tackling tough money issues? The question for Lorne Epstein is this: business or pleasure? His wife, Alicia Korten, planned to take about a month off to recharge after more than a year of 80-hour workweeks at the consulting firm ReNual while writing a book called "Change Philanthropy." Joining her on the trip would cost him about $2,000.