Saturday, November 6, 2021

Egypt Explains Financial Elder Abuse

Since May 2005, Kristin Hetzer has served as a principal with Royal Palms Capital LLC in California. On December 16, 2020, Kristin Hetzer published Valle Egypt, a book informing readers about financial elder abuse. Valle Egypt uses multiple methods to convey its message, each serving its own purpose.

Valle Egypt does more than just summarize relevant laws regarding the oversight and management of an elderly person's finances. By using a case study, the book details elder abuse in a more digestible form that will almost certainly evoke an emotional response. Through telling the story of the financial decline of a family-owned farm over the course of 60 years, Valle Egypt explores how the family’s children, alongside one family member's lawyer, took financial advantage of the elderly member of their family. Then, to reinforce what readers learned via this anecdotal evidence, the book includes information about relevant topics like estate planning and trust formation.

Interested readers can purchase Valle Egypt in several formats. In addition to paperback and hardcover editions, readers can also buy a Kindle version.

Friday, October 29, 2021

The AAPTA



A principal with Royal Palms Capital LLC for over 15 years, Kristin Hetzer assists clients in managing investment portfolios. To remain up to date in her field, Kristin Hetzer is a member of the American Association of Professional Technical Analysts (AAPTA). AAPTA provides resources for professional technicians to network with fellow members and grow in their careers, surrounded by the most experienced members of their industry.

Incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 2004, AAPTA offers in-person and online services for advisors, money managers, traders, and analysts. Members gain access to a restricted online forum, where they can share their expertise. Combined, members learn how to better collect and study data regarding market conditions. Their conferences, including the IFTA (International Federation of Technical Analysts) International Conference, serve as a more formal way for members to share ideas about global investing.

AAPTA uses a strict membership process to maintain a high bar of quality. After contacting the email address on the organization’s home page, a prospective member submits proof that they have worked in a profession using technical analysis for at least seven consecutive years. Then, two established AAPTA members must vouch for the applicant. After a 30-day review period, the total AAPTA membership body considers the candidate’s qualifications, and the membership committee uses this feedback to make its membership determination.

Thursday, October 21, 2021

Skiing, health and fitness


Kristin Hetzer is the principal and senior portfolio manager at Royal Hills Capital, LLC, an investment firm in Rolling Hills Estates, California. She is a Chartered Market Technician (CMT), Certified Financial Planner (CFP), and Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA). Outside work, Kristin Hetzer enjoys skiing.

Many people ski for fun, but what they don’t know is that skiing provides a good cardiovascular workout that can help in losing weight. How many calories you lose while skiing depends on your weight and proficiency. According to Harvard Medical School research, a skier who is 185 pounds can burn 266 calories if they ski downhill for thirty minutes. If you’re an advanced skier, you’ll lose more calories when skiing on steeper slopes because your body works harder to keep you balanced. The cold temperature at skiing resorts also makes your body work harder to keep you warm, something that can also help you burn more calories.

Other health benefits of skiing are it gives you better flexibility, strengthens your lower body muscles, and boosts your mood.

Monday, October 11, 2021

Valle Egypt Aims to Create Awareness


Kristin Hetzer is the owner and principal of Royal Hills Capital, LLC, in Rolling Hills Estates, California. A graduate of Hope College in Michigan, Kristin Hetzer is also the author of the book Valle Egypt.

Released in December 2020, Valle Egypt delves deep into the rising problem of financial elder abuse. The 390-page book published by Covenant Books is divided into two parts. Part one of the book tells the true story of how one family member aided by a lawyer from a prestigious law firm perpetrated financial elder abuse. This act led to the loss of a sixty-year-old family farm after the death of both parents. Part two gives practical financial planning lessons that can help readers protect themselves or those they care about from persons who prey on assets owned by the elderly.

The author of Valle Egypt hopes their book will create greater awareness about financial elder abuse. They also hope that by reading the book students and professionals in the legal and financial industries can see how unethical professional behavior can inflict emotional pain on the elderly during the last years of their life, and on their families before and after they pass on.

Friday, September 24, 2021

Hiking in Palos Verdes Nature Preserve



A business owner located in Rolling Hills Estates, California, Kristin Hetzer serves as principal of Royal Palms Capital. Outside of the professional environment, Kristin Hetzer enjoys hiking.

Less than 10 minutes away from Rolling Hills Estates, the Palos Verdes Nature Preserve has more than 30 miles of trails that wind throughout its 1,400 acres of rolling hills, rock formations, and precipitous canyons. Visitors can hike to vantage points that offer panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean with Santa Catalina Island in the distance. The far northern point of the Palos Verdes Nature Preserve, Vista del Norte is roughly 1,300 feet above sea level.

In addition to enjoying Palos Verdes Nature Preserve’s fragrant desert shrubs and flowering plants, hikers can see a variety of wildlife, including the ecologically threatened California gnatcatcher and coastal cactus wren. In 2020, nature conservancy officials released captive-raised Palos Verdes blue butterflies into their historic breeding grounds within the preserve.

Thursday, September 16, 2021

Valle Egypt - Personal Story, Case Study


Kristin Hetzer
has served as principal of Rolling Hills East, California’s Royal Palms Capital since 2005. In addition to her experience as a senior investment management executive, Kristin Hetzer is the author of the book Valle Egypt.

Released in 2020 by Covenant Books, Valle Egypt uses personal family details as a springboard for providing awareness and education on the subject of financial elder abuse. This highly emotional story includes the loss of a farm that had been in the family for 60 years.

Valle Egypt also serves as a legal case study with important components such as the waning mental capacity of an elderly parent, the questionable influence of that parent’s children, and the dereliction of fiduciary responsibilities on the behalf of legal trustees.

To help readers avoid many of the problems that it outlines in its narrative and case study, Valle Egypt provides them with an informative, preparatory tool kit. This tool kit helps readers navigate tricky issues of fiduciary duty and mental capacity through preventive measures such as estate planning and legal trusts.

Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Financial Elder Abuse & Breach



Kristin Hetzer is the senior portfolio manager for Royal Palms Capital LLC. During her career, she was designated a Chartered Market Technician by the CMT Association. Additionally, Kristin Hetzer has a strong interest in financial elder abuse, a topic about which she has written a book, "Valle Egypt".

Financial elder abuse consists of acts such as theft of property or assets that happen because the elder person cannot defend against it or has memory losses. Undue coercion or strong negative influence is also a form of financial elder abuse if it results in the loss of property or capital for the elder and benefits the influential party. Acts of financial elder abuse can be committed by anyone, from friends and neighbors, all the way to service providers or lawyers.

When an elderly person’s mental faculties start to decline, persons close to them are often given legal power to act on their behalf. Persons that get legal power on behalf of an elder person form a fiduciary relationship with them. Breaches of the fiduciary duty happen when the guardian or the person that has legal power on behalf of the elder does not act for the benefit of the elder. Breaches of fiduciary duty can be detected and proven if an elderly person changes their spending habits and starts withdrawing frequently from their accounts, makes excessive or irregular payments or gifts, or makes changes in their estate. These are just a few of many situations that might indicate a breach of fiduciary duty may have taken place.

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Valle Egypt - Spreading Awareness


A California resident, Kristin Hetzer graduated from Hope College and holds a bachelor of arts degree with a major in biology. She is the senior portfolio manager of Royal Palms Capital, LLC. Kristin Hetzer also recently authored a book, "Valle Egypt", a non-fiction book focusing on the topic of financial elder abuse.

Valle Egypt was published by Covenant Books of Murrells Inlet in South Carolina. The book functions as a case study and is based on the personal family story of the author. The book’s goal is to increase awareness about financial elder abuse and ways for people to mitigate the problem should it ever happen to them or their close family members. It enables people to learn about fiduciary duty, legal trusts, and estate planning so that they can be more prepared when facing such a problem, and ideally prevent it from ever happening.

By reading the book, people can also better understand the consequences of financial elder abuse, and the story questions and directs attention to the mental capacity of an elder parent and the undue influence of children. The story and legal case also showcase just how an experienced lawyer can come to aid in a situation involving financial elder abuse.

Friday, July 23, 2021

Three Important Golf Etiquette Rules



Kristin Hetzer is a Palos Verdes, California-based finance executive who serves as principal at Royal Palms Capital, LLC. She holds designation as a Chartered Market Technician, Certified Financial Planner, and Certified Investment Management Analyst. Outside of her professional pursuits, Kristin Hetzer enjoys playing golf.

While golf can be a fun recreational activity for individuals of all ages, beginner players should familiarize themselves with the rules of the game in order to exhibit proper etiquette. Here are three things to keep in mind:

1. Players are required to mark their balls with an identifying symbol on the first tee box. This is to avoid confusion with other players when searching for their balls on the course.

2. Avoid slow play. A typical round should be around 4 hours. To ensure this, try and plan shots when approaching the ball, and take no more than 45 seconds between selecting a club and making a shot.

3. Repair ball marks and divots. Balls can often leave indents in the course, and these should be fixed with a penknife, tee, or special two-pronged ball mark repair tool. It's also important to replace divots in the ground and rake the sand after shots out of the bunker.

Tuesday, March 2, 2021

Hiking the White Point Nature Preserve


An experienced investment management executive, Kristin Hetzer serves as principal of Royal Palms Capital in the eastern San Pedro suburb of Rolling Hills East, California. When she isn’t working, Kristin Hetzer is an avid hiker.


Located at the southernmost tip of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, the White Point Nature Preserve features a number of interconnecting trails that offer hiking loops that range from 1 to 2.5 miles. The focal point of this 102-acre park is Battery Bunker. Built in 1942 as a strategic World War II coastal defense site, this large artillery bunker has been out of commission since 1978.

The Preserve is also home to the best nature trail in the greater San Pedro region, according to the independent online hiking authority AllTrails. Accessible year-round, White Point Trail is a relatively easy loop trail that covers 1.3 miles of the White Point Nature Preserve. Among its other flora and fauna, the trail boasts a large number of wildflowers that attract hikers.