Scott McPherson

Maximizing Your Retirement Income

By J. Scott McPherson, CTFA, Investment Executive, Raymond James Financial Services Inc. Senior Vice President, Pinnacle Asset Management

Most people reach a point in their careers where they start to worry about their future needs in retirement. Americans can expect to live longer than ever before, which means retirement incomes must stretch even further.

Click here to learn about the five factors you should consider when deciding how much money to save for life after work.

Tennessee Health Care Costs Increase 10%

Health insurance premiums in Tennessee jumped an average of 10 percent this year, according to the 2008 Healthcare eSurvey. Nationally, the average premium increase for all industries was 11.1 percent.

More than half of Tennessee employers increased employee premiums to reduce costs; 16.4 percent increased deductible levels; and 10.9 percent increased employee co-insurance levels. U.S. employers on average contribute 10.3 percent of payroll toward health benefit costs.

More Businesses Make Leap to Broadband

Nearly two-thirds of Tennessee businesses are accessing the Internet through broadband connections, a 16 percent increase from six months prior, according to a new Connected Tennessee report. Tennessee is outpacing the rest of the nation, which averaged 8 percent broadband growth. Businesses with 20 employees or less showed the biggest jump in broadband adoption in the state, increasing from 61 percent in July 2007 to 77 percent in December 2007.

Connected Tennessee, a public-private partnership created to boost technology use across the state, found a correlation between broadband connections and company revenue. Tennessee businesses with broadband Internet connections have median annual revenues that are more than two times greater than companies that use dial-up service.

How can I avoid the latest phishing scams?

One of the more recent scams is called “spear phishing” because it is targeted. The latest version singles out corporate executives and attempts to make them believe the federal government is serving a grand jury subpoena. When the user clicks on the link to view the supposed subpoena, a virus installs spyware onto the computer.

Vishing attempts, where con artists either send an e-mail that asks the recipient to call a 1-800 number or actually call someone’s household, are still common.  When the recipient responds to the request for “account validation,” an automated system asks for social security, driver’s license, bank account or personal identification numbers.

Protect yourself by being skeptical when an e-mail or phone call arrives unexpectedly from an unanticipated or unusual source.

• If you’re suspicious, do not open attachments or click on links.
• Don’t automatically trust a phone number just because it’s local.
• Use and regularly update anti-spyware and firewall software.
• If you click on a bogus link, ask your IT department to inspect your computer.

If you receive one of these phone calls or e-mails appearing to be from Pinnacle, contact Pinnacle as soon as possible by calling 615-744-3700.

L to R: Taking a break at the Timberwood site are Melissa French, Becki Dyer, Jeff Fisher, Cheryl Amos and Mary Atcheson.

Pinnacle Hammers Community Involvement Home

Scott Ractliffe

Mortgage Bankers Elect Ractliffe President

Members of the Tennessee Mortgage Bankers Association (TMBA) recently elected Scott Ractliffe, Pinnacle senior vice president and mortgage advisor, president for the 2008-09 term. Ractliffe has more than 20 years of residential mortgage lending experience and is based at Pinnacle’s downtown Nashville office.

TMBA was organized in 1960 to promote ethical, efficient and professional business practices in mortgage financing, benefiting individuals and businesses seeking mortgage loans.

L to R on back row: Eric Warren (son of Pinnacle's Ken Warren), Berney Ragan and Miriam Baird enjoyed spending the day with Special Olympians.

Associates Cheer for Special Olympians

More than 60 Pinnacle associates and family members helped coordinate and cheer on the bocce players during the 2008 Special Olympics Tennessee Summer Games held at Vanderbilt University last month.

Pinnacle volunteers oversaw 24 courts in their eighth year of participating in the event.

Bethany Cole

United Way Honors Cole for Service

Bethany Cole, executive assistant in Pinnacle’s College Street Office in Murfreesboro, was honored for her service to the community at the United Way of Rutherford and Cannon counties’ Women United High Tea in May. She was among 20 honorees.

Bethany has 18 years of financial services experience and currently handles Pinnacle’s special events and community relations for Rutherford County. She is a board member of KITES for Special Kids and is a past board member of the American Cancer Society. She also served as secretary of Christmas for the Children Inc. for 13 years.

Pinnacle Receives Community Impact Award

The Senior Housing Crime Prevention Foundation presented Pinnacle with its Community Impact Award for supporting the Senior Crimestoppers Program at Community Care of Rutherford County.

The program provides the Murfreesboro nursing home residents with personal lockboxes and an anonymous, round-the-clock tip line for reporting incidents of abuse, neglect, fraud, theft and vandalism.

M.J. is an assistant for the client advisory group and is located at the firm’s downtown Nashville office. She has more than 25 years of client services experience. 

Upcoming Workshops

with Kim Vance, Attorney at Law

Pinnacle Mt. Juliet – 551 North Mt. Juliet Road

Thursday, June 26, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (workshop and box lunch)

RSVP or questions: Summer Yeiser at 620-1207 or summer.yeiser@pnfp.com