Hello Again - It’s March 1st today folks, and my how time flies. This is my 23rd year in the business and it’s still exciting for me. The down markets are no fun, but time seems to take care of those if we just stick around awhile!
So because time goes by so fast, it makes a lot of sense to plan. Let me introduce you to Michael Traxler’s 5 point financial plan. These are the things I’m looking at when I sit down with a client to help them review and plan for the future. We sometimes think that a financial plan is a 40 page document that sits on the shelf, but not here. Not at all. If it’s not practical, it’s useless. Here’s what we look for:
1 – What is your retirement plan? Such as, how much are you going to need, when are you going to need it, and how are you going to get there?
2 – If you have young children, what is your education plan? Same as above. How much are you going to help them with, when will they need it, and how are you going to get there?
3 – What is your investment strategy? So you have a plan for retirement and education above, but how are you going to invest the money? Will you use stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETfs, Cds or savings? And what accounts will you use? IRAs, Roths, 401k, college 529s, custodian accts, or personal accounts? These questions need to be answered by someone, and typically we are involved in these decisions.
4 – What is your Life Insurance Plan? Are you prepared in case of a tragedy? Will the survivor and children be ok financially? This is important. You don’t want to leave your family struggling, right? Term insurance can be very affordable to cover this risk.
5 – What is your Estate Plan? Meaning who will get what you have and how will they get it? Will ownership be transferred smoothly to your heirs? Are you protecting the kids from themselves by not leaving them too much when they are young. Have you identified your executors and possible trustees and Power of Attorneys? Does your surviving spouse have someone they can turn to for help if you are not there, like a trusted advisor? Have you consolidated your things to make it easier to manage for you or your spouse to manage and to pass on?
There are many other things to consider of course. But these are my 5 big points. This is what I am constantly striving to do with clients. Working our way through these points from time to time, trying to keep it current and as simple as we possibly can. It’s a challenge, but we keep on working on it.
Best Regards Everyone,
Mike