Wealth Management Conference at 2013 Convention

NEW HEALTH WEALTH AND RETIREMENT INITIATIVE UNVEILED AT FJMC INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION JULY 2013

WOW what a convention

The icing on the cake was that it was preceded with the secular focused Wealth Management Conference, and was punctuated with health building one minute stretches throughout the 5 days of activities.

These were part of a new initiative that exploded on the scene called “Health Wealth and Retirement” HWR.  In the spirit of Convention, it brought together both individual growth and club building.  When you finish this article we expect that you will want to bring these concepts to your communities.  We are here to help!!

The 60+ HWR Wealth Management Conference attendees learned and laughed.  As you might expect the bible had its part in the presentations and Hearing Men’s Voices (HMV) facilitated group discussions were utilized.  Everyone left Boston with a greater appreciation for their own wealth management and a thirst for more.  A new wave for life planning has begun.

The Wealth Management Conference broke several barriers between the financial community and FJMC by getting financial institutions to both provide top people and to be paid sponsors.  A real win-win-win for the attendees, the sponsors and for FJMC.  We FJMC’ers learned how to leverage our personal relationships with financial institutions so that both we and they gained from working together to educate and empower FJMC members.

Why is “Health Wealth and Retirement” and in particular “Wealth Management” and appropriate topic for FJMC to pursue? And what were the challenges and concerns?

The concept was envisioned during an FJMC mission to Peru in 2012 – fellowship begets fellowship and often nurtures new ideas.  Several ideas drove the effort:

• First – it offered an important new way to draw new men into FJMC.
• Second – It helps Jewish men and their families in their personal growth and in relationship building
• Third – It opens the doors for more secular programs, creating an entry point for young professionals to connect with the Conservative Movement
• Fourth – So many people do not plan well for their futures.  By educating our members properly, our member will be able to save successfully and enjoy a more fruitful retirement.

Conference Highlights that you can bring to your communities include:

• Bring in top economists
• Secure sponsorships and speakers from advisors of members
• Don’t forget Israel and Israel Bonds as investment resources
• Invite professionalsto address issues like identity theft
• Focus on long term care insurance as a significant need.  By bringing in an epert you are not undermining other insurance agents in your community, you are raising the tide of understanding for all.
• Start conversations on an investment club built around the Men’s Club, Sisterhood or minyan group.  Investment clubs can be based on real money investing or on paper investing.  They build fellowship.
• Get individuals to speak onhow they invest.  Get investing out of the bedroom.
• Provide sessions for spouses; invite a financial planner who focuses on women’s perspectives.
• Host an HMV series starting off with “When do you tell your children about your wealth and make sure you share with your spouse where you are financially?”  Other tested topics are “What is financial security to you?” and “What is investing versus speculating to you?”

What is in the future for “Health Wealth and Retirement”?  Overall we are adding a new dimension to our movement – direct concern for health, wealth and financial future of our members and their familes though new programming that will be coming out over the next year.  Get involved through:

• Starting an Investment Club in your commuinity.  We can help.
• Asking your region leaders to put together programs
• Breaking down fals barriers that keep your communities from benefiting from financial professionals.
• Coming to the next International Wealth Management Conference at the 2015 FJMC Convention.

For more information or to get involved please contact Richard Gray or Dr. Gary Smith at .

Click on underlined titles / links below to see expanded vignettes in text and / or in video.  There is nothing like being at these presentations first hand; however, this resource should motivate you toward more investigation for your personal or club goals.

Broad Economic Perspectives – Top economist Maury Harris gave us the big picture of how economists assess the past and predict the future.

Advice – Howard Safer of the Argent Group, Nick Brehmer of Churchill Management, Harvey Albert of RBC Wealth Management and Steven Kurzman, CPA, gave down to earth insights, including the advice to remember who is “number one” as families build plans to distribute wealth to the next generation.

Israel Investing – Tom Sudow of Cleveland’s Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center, told us how to get into ground floor investments in Israel and Harvey Albert of RBC Wealth Management told us how to invest in Israeli companies through US exchanges.  Alice Golub of Israel Bonds reminded us of the real investment value of Israel Bonds that belong in everyone’s portfolio.

Long Term Care Insurance – Joel Sussman of LTC Global answered questions on many real and imagined issues – one of the hottest topics.

Bible – Brett Arends, Wall Street Journal feature writer, kept everyone captivated over lunch as he explained Joseph’s investment philosophy and its relationship to today’s investment environment.  He is working on a book with this theme.

Identity Theft – Meryl Wien of Wells Fargo opened our eyes to unimagined places where our identity is vulnerable (her slides are not to be missed).

Investing for Spouses – Judy Goldis, Certified Wealth Strategist, kicked off the women’s program with realities of familiy financial management.

Taking Charge of your Investments – Dr. Gary Smith and Rusty Dworkin each wowed attendes with their successes in do-it-yourself investing including income creation with stock options.  Mark Rudin rounded out the discussion with a poker player’s perspective on risk.

Investment Clubs – Marty Melnick, David Diamond and Dan Stern outlined how to create an investment club at your synagogue and showed how it built their personal wealth in money and camaraderie.

HMV Facilitaion – Richard Gray and Dr. Gary Smith led HMV sessions on Wealth Management topics that were well attended and had active discussions.  Good old HMV with its peer to peer discussions work well with wealth management and can work at your club as well.

And or Sponsors – The event earned about $10,000 for FJMC from financial institutions.  They got great value from their investment with FJMC and FJMC attendees got great value from their insights.  You are invited to support our (your) sponsors.  Their contact information is linked here.