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Planning for retirement, navigating medical marijuana laws and embracing cloud technology. A little focus is what it takes to seize these opportunities.
Focus Granite Capital Management
RETIREMENT INCOME, INTEREST RATES AND RISK Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP
Medical Marijuana: What’s Legal in Ohio’s Workplace? Horizon Telcom, Inc.
Clouds and (Glass) Pipes
August 2018 l ColumbusCEO
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Focus Granite Capital Management
RETIREMENT INCOME, INTEREST RATES AND RISK Tips on planning for retirement in an uncertain market
F
or 30 years I have helped the mass affluent prepare for financial independence. These are people relying on dollars saved over a lifetime, not proceeds from speculative winnings.As they approach retirement, what are they worried about? Plenty. The
Granite Capital Management 7650 Rivers Edge Drive, Suite 250 Columbus, OH 43235 Phone: 614-431-4332 GraniteCapitalOH.com
federal debt, high stock prices, low interest rates, higher taxes and recessionary pressures—not to mention aging parents. According to the most recent quarterly issue of JPMorgan Guides to the Markets, the Barclay Aggregate Bond Index yield is 40 percent lower than its 30-year average (1). Clipping coupons is no longer practical to produce a large amount of retirement income. The federal debt is projected to increase considerably: from 77.8 percent of GDP to 92.7 percent in 10 years, according the Congressional Budget Office. Higher taxes will be needed to pay down the
debt and fund Medicare and Social Security. These factors combine to create complications in retirement planning. More investors have more exposure to the stock market than matches their risk tolerance, mostly due to the poor performance of bonds in today’s low interest rate environment. A bear market could pull the rug out from under many retirement plans. But that’s not the only consideration to factor into your retirement planning: Insurance companies charge a hefty price to insure income for a lifetime. Hedged equity funds are
attracting attention but have high fees and spotty track records. High asset management fees adversely affect the income your nest egg can produce. Ask your advisor what your total expenses are, including platform charges, advisory fees and fund expenses. This is important information and could help you adjust fees to a more competitive level. A better approach to retirement income planning is a comprehensive analysis of your spending needs, risk tolerance and allocation of investable assets. One study shows that annually rebalancing a portfolio results in better returns in 21 of the past 30, 20-year rolling averages in a Multi Asset portfolio using seven major asset classes going back from the end of last year (2). A competitively priced investment portfolio, properly allocated to stocks and fixed income, combined with portfolio rebalancing is an effective way to produce the retirement income you need with reduced volatility.
Mitch Grant Principal, Granite Capital Management Mitch.grant@lfg.com (1) JPMorgan Guide to Markets 3/31/2019 (2) Craig Israelson, Financial Planning 5/30/2019
Left to right: Judd Beam, director of investments and financial planning; Mitch Grant, principal; and Belma Kelly, practice manager
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This article is intended to be educational and is not tailored to the investment needs of any specific individual. Each person’s situation should be considered individually to determine a suitable financial plan. Mitch Grant and Judd Beam are registered representatives of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp., a broker/dealer (member SIPC) and registered investment advisor. Granite Capital Management is not an affiliate of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp. CRN-2575700-060719
LET GRANITE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT BUILD YOU A SOLID FOUNDATION Our mission at Granite Capital management is to align your goals with the key components of an investment structure to help you achieve financial independence. At Granite Capital Management, we promise competitively priced investments with complete transparency. You will not see expensive asset management programs or high priced variable annuities with investment restrictions. If insurance products are needed, they will only be presented after thoughtful analysis of your needs and carrier pricing.
Your foundation is based on top flight investments allocated efficiently and priced competitively along with sophisticated, clear cash flow analysis. Our services include: • Risk Tolerance Assessment • Constructing Asset Allocation • Exploring Longevity & Estate Planning • Establishing Price • Analyzing Retirement Income
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Focus Horizon Telcom, Inc.
Clouds and (Glass) Pipes Preparing for the technology of tomorrow
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f you are looking for a discussion about weather, you may want to head elsewhere. We’re talking about the kind of clouds and pipes that are a bit harder to see and, for many, harder to understand. This kind of cloud is made up of servers housed within data centers around the world and, if you have ever used social networks or online file storage, you’re already using it. “The cloud” will enable substantial change in how we store, access and process data in nearly every aspect of our lives.
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To illustrate that change, let’s first focus on life B.C.—Before Cloud. In the B.C. world, information was stored on local devices. If you needed that information, you had to be connected to that storage device. Likewise, you needed an expensive computer with enough power to process the information. This world was static, risky and inefficient. It was static because it did not enable any true mobility—data was stored in the same way traditional books are stored in libraries. If you wanted to
read a specific book, you had to be in a specific location. The B.C. world was also very risky, as the loss of the storage device meant the information was also gone. The library analogy continues: If the building burns down, the books are destroyed. The inefficiency stemmed from the need to have many separate devices able to store and process the information. These devices were costly, power-hungry and regularly made obsolete. Moving information to the cloud mitigates those problems. While tech companies love to sell the latest and greatest devices to keep up with applications’ demands, this will change. Instead of having many high-powered, expensive devices to store and process information, there will instead be longerlasting, lower-powered devices that need only display the information. Upgrades in the cloud will bring new capabilities without changing out the
user’s device. The cloud will allow our smartphones to evolve into dumb devices. What do pipes have to do with this? While the world of the cloud is already being enabled in data centers, one obstacle remains: the connection, or pipe. To allow for true remote computing that turns our devices into simple displays, the connection from those devices to the cloud needs to be extremely robust. If you had to upgrade your home internet connection to support the shift from DVDs to Netflix, you can imagine the change realtime remote computing requires. Networks that enable the cloud must support robust, low-latency, ultrahigh-capacity connections. A DSL or cable modem connection may be sufficient today, but the shift to the cloud will drive capacity needs to 1Gbps and beyond, with latency needs down in the singledigit milliseconds. Fiber optics (glass pipes) offer a superior cloud connection, meeting all current and future needs. Fast-moving companies that will play a role in the cloud world of the near future will need to shift their planning and IT investments to support these kinds of services. Investment will need to be focused away from simply keeping pace with current IT architectures—such as moving from Ethernet services to fiber optics. Executive leaders with the foresight and courage to drive that change will be instrumental not only in enabling this new cloud world, but in positioning their companies to reap the rewards of it.
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Medical Marijuana: What’s Legal in Ohio’s Workplace? Janica Pierce Tucker and Devin Spencer
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arijuana is becoming increasingly popular as a treatment option for a variety of health conditions. Laws about medical marijuana in the workplace are also evolving, and can seem unclear to employers and employees. While marijuana remains illegal at the federal level under the federal Controlled Substances Act, at least 29 states have legalized medical marijuana to some extent—including Ohio. As an employer-friendly state, Ohio has implemented multiple state laws surrounding medical marijuana in the workplace. Here are five key considerations for employers in Ohio about medical marijuana: Review current federal and state laws. Marijuana has been categorized as an illegal substance under the Controlled Substances Act for nearly 50 years, but states are now assessing marijuana at the state level. Although Ohio passed its medical marijuana law in 2016, Ohio employers are protected against obligations to permit or accommodate an employee’s use,
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possession or distribution of medical marijuana. This includes Cannabidiol (CBD), as the Ohio Board of Pharmacy has determined that CBD falls under the definition of marijuana. Hemp and hemp-derived products are not illegal under the federal 2018 Farm Bill. Evaluate your drug policy. Ohio is one of eight states that allows employers to implement drug-free workplace policies. In Ohio, employers can establish and enforce drug-free workplace, zero-tolerance and drug testing policies. Regardless of the type of policy you choose, be sure
that your drug policy is upto-date and readily available to all employees. Invest in management trainings. Implementing a drug policy consistently for all employees is essential. Managers should be aware and fully trained on these policies in order to abide by the law in hiring practices, drug testing and terminations. Seek legal professionals to lead trainings for your human resources team, in-house counsel, managers and decision-makers to equip them with the knowledge and resources they need to comply with state and federal law. Assess big picture implications. If you are an Ohiobased employer but have employees in states where medical marijuana is illegal, employees typically must comply with their state laws, regardless of your internal policy. Employees who are subject to Department of Transportation (DOT) drug testing—such as public safety professionals—are not permitted to use marijuana regardless of employer policies or state laws authorizing its use. Stay informed. Administration changes at the local and federal levels can im-
pact existing medical marijuana laws. In 2009 under the Obama administration, the Department of Justice (DOJ) released a memorandum discouraging the use of federal resources to investigate and prosecute marijuana offenders if their actions were in unwavering compliance with existing medical marijuana state law. In 2017 under the Trump administration, an issued memorandum stated that task force subcommittees may review policies related to marijuana to support the DOJ’s efforts to reduce violent crime and achieve Trump administration goals. This difference in priorities among administrations indicates that laws and policies may continue to change in the future. Laws surrounding marijuana use will continue to evolve as public opinion, research, workplace culture and administration priorities change. Taft’s Employment and Labor Relations attorneys can help you navigate the complexities of workplace law. To schedule trainings for your employees or for legal questions specific to your workplace, contact members of our Columbus-based team at jpierce@taftlaw.com or dspencer@taftlaw.com.
Healthy Workplaces.
Taft’s Employment and Labor Relations Attorneys: Helping You Navigate Complexities
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