Blogs

Happy 77th Birthday to the US Air Force!   HB USAF

For those of you who live in Alaska, remember to file your PFD (Permanent Fund Dividend) applications by March 31! Click this link to file online:  File PFD

Hello!

It’s already been two months since Round Tree Financial officially switched from Raymond James to LPL!  I again want to say I appreciate all of you making the change with me.  We are enjoying the more dynamic, progressive approach LPL provides its advisors.  We hope you too will soon start to feel the benefits of the refreshed approach to how we can best serve you.

Recent improvements:

1. Texting: Many of you have been enjoying the new text feature to communicate with me.  For instructions, see the 2/8/24 blog below

2. Catastrophic Succession Plan: Many of you have been too polite to ask this.  Just as we encourage you to set things up in the event of your demise, I have done the same. I have formally set up an agreement with an LPL financial advisor in Anchorage named Laurel who would immediately have access to your accounts in the event of my death or severe disability.  Someone from her office would contact you immediately to make sure you maintain access to your investments and have a specific person to talk to regarding your financial plan and your investments.

I like to minimize surprises and changes as much as possible when it comes to finances.  As such, I may periodically send emails updating you with new, pertinent information.  I will also post the same information on our website, www.roundtree.us, in case it’s easier to find there.  Please reference the website “Blog” tab if you can use reminders on how to set up & manage all the features of your Account View (online and in the app) and to use our texting feature.

 A few new account-related items to note:

1.  If you transfer money monthly between your investment account and your checking account, the transfer may occur a day later than it used to.  Please contact me and let me know if you would like to adjust the start date of the transfer.

2.  If you have registered for online statements, the email notification that your statement is available seems to arrive a day early.  You can view your interactive summary for the month by following the link on that email message.  However, if you want to view a pdf of your statement, you may need to wait a day.

3. Your new account names may seem strange to you.  To see details for each account in Account View, hover over the account number to see, for example, if it's and IRA, or whose IRA it is.  You can change the name of the account as it shows up in Account View using the settings "gear" in the upper right.  NR means non-retirement (ie not an IRA or a Roth).  TOD means transfer on death, which means it's a non-retirement account *and* that you have beneficiaries designated for it. SAM stands for Strategic Asset Management and is the name for the advisory account we use.

2023 Taxes

1> Here is information regarding Raymond James's tax document mailing dates and potential for delayed 1099s: https://www.raymondjames.com/client-resources/tax-reporting

2. Please upload your tax returns to your LPL Account View (Documents-->My Files) when your return is complete.  Email me or text me to let me know your tax return is uploaded. 

Please feel free to email me at karen@roundtree.us or call or text me at (907) 561-4430 with any comments or questions!

Take care,

Karen

It’s been a little over a month since we made the transition to LPL/Round Tree.

This may be a good time to…

Log into your Raymond James Investor Access (www.investoraccess.rjf.com) and confirm all assets transferred over.  You may still see a dollar total.  It could be one of three things:

1. A non-RJ account you added credentials for so you could see the total of your RJ & non-RJ accounts on one screen.  You can delete that information or leave it there as you see fit.
2. Residual interest and dividends that may have posted after the initial transfer of funds to LPL.  You do not need to do anything at this point.  Raymond James will likely do a “sweep” to transfer that money to your corresponding LPL account
3. Monthly transfers we scheduled to occur after 1/1/24 that did not get moved.

Familiarize yourself with your new LPL statement

1. If you registered for Paperless Delivery of your LPL Statements via LPL Account View, you received an email on about 2/3/24 from Statements@edelivery.lplfinancial.com with a link to Account View
2. Alternatively, you can log into your LPL Account View anytime (from my website, www.roundtree.us, or Account View directly at www.myaccountviewonline.com)
3. For those of you with multiple accounts, I am working on linking the accounts so you get one statement notification and can see all your LPL statements in one document.
4. For a guide to understanding your LPL statement, follow this link: A Guide to Your Statements (publ 3/7/24)
   

Dear valued clients, I am sincerely grateful for your unwavering support and understanding during the recent transitions we've undergone together. I truly appreciate your trust and loyalty.

As always, please reach out to any time me via phone at the same number (907-561-4430) or through email at my new address (karen@roundtree.us) with any questions or concerns you may have.

I understand that the process of signing electronic documents, sorting through emails and envelopes, and fielding phone calls may have been overwhelming at times, and I thank you for your patience throughout. It was a pleasure to connect with each of you individually, whether it was to address any issues that arose or simply to catch up after the holiday season.

Your satisfaction and well-being remain my top priorities, and I look forward to continuing to serve you with dedication and care.

Warm regards,

Karen

For online access to your LPL/investment accounts, you can register for Account View.

Online: You can access Account View by clicking the link at the top of my website, or going to www.myaccountviewonline.com.

App: You can download the Account View app on your iPhone or Android.  Seach for "LPL AccountView" in the app store.  The icon is a blue background with a white diamond-type shape.

You can register by providing your email address and last 4 digits of your SSN, or you can ask me to email you a 72-hour activation link.

Once you are in Account View, in addition to seeing your account balances, account activity, and statements, you can...

--Go Paperless:  To choose electronic delivery for statements, tax forms, and/or additional documents (trade confirmations, prospectus & other shareholder info, and notices), click on "Go Paperless" in upper right. (Can also do on app via "More" in the lower left then "Paperless Settings)

--Share files: To Securely upload documents you would like me to have access to, go to "Documents" across the top, then "My Files." Email me when you upload a document so I know to go look for it. I may sometimes share documents with you in the same location, and I will let you know when I upload documents in your "My Files." (Can also do on app via the "Documents" choice at the bottom then "My Files.")  ALTERNATIVELY, you can ask me to send you an encrypted email message.  Save that message from me.  Whenever you want to email me secure information, you can reply to the encrypted email message, and what you send me will also be encrypted.

--Nickname accounts: Click on Settings gear icon in upper right, choose "Account" and click on the Edit pencil icon to change the name of your account as it shows in Account View (Can also do on app via "More" in the lower left then "Edit Account Nicknames")

--Confirm/change beneficiaries: Click on Settings gear icon in upper right, choose "My Information," then "My Beneficiaries." You can click on the carat to the left of the account name/number to view your currently-named beneficiaries, or you can click on the pencil icon to change them if you like!  And you can add TOD (transfer on death) beneficiaries to your non-retirement account(s). Updates may require overnight to sync.  Please check back the next day to make sure any changes you made were recorded. (I don't believe this option is available in the app)

--Authorized User Acess: You can invite your tax preparer, a family member, or other person to have access to view your accounts and statements. Click on Settings gear icon in upper right, choose "My Information," then "Authorized User Acess." Follow the prompts to send an activation link to the person of your choice. You can later edit this option in the same way.

--Linked Accounts: You can enter information to view updated balances of any non-LPL accounts you may have.  On the Overview landing page, scroll down to "Linked Accounts." To add accounts, click on the "Link Account" blue rectangle.  I do not believe this system yet syncs with Global Credit Union (formerly Alaska USA FCU). This feature does not appear to be available in the app.

One of many new developments with Round Tree Financial is that we can now communicate brief, non-technical messages by text.  It will be similar to those text reminders you might get from your dentist, except we can converse in both directions, and you can call the number also.  For anything in-depth issues, though, please still call or email me.

 If you have a contact in your phone for me personally, feel free to leave that in your phone, but please

1. Change my name to something like “Karen Padgett-Personal” so that you can differentiate it from the contact you can text
2. Remove the number (907) 561-4430 from your personal contact for me
3. I may sometimes call you from my cell phone ((907) 350-8533), which is not my official number, and I hope you still answer

 Please create an additional contact named something like "Karen Padgett-Business" in your phone for me for financial-related texts and calls

1. Enter (907) 561-4430 as my work phone number *and* as my mobile phone number
2. Make sure my cell phone number is not in that contact.  Otherwise texts will accidentally go there
3. You can make voice calls to me at that number, same as before
4. You can also “text” me at that number. 
5. If you text me, please identify yourself because the program I use for that texting feature (MyRepChat) may not recognize your number.
6. If you text me, you are by default “opting in.” If I text you first, you will receive a text asking you to reply “accept” if you want to opt into texting with me.