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Guarding Your Wealth for Senior Citizens
Six Easy Steps for Tuning Up Your Finances in the
New Year
Even if you think finances in ‘good shape’, everyone
could use a little ‘tune up’
By Jeffrey D. Voudrie, CFP
 Jan. 21, 2008 - With the beginning of a new year,
it seems everywhere you turn you hear something about self-improvement.
There are plans for weight loss, exercise regimens, quitting smoking,
going green and more. What about your finances? Even if you think your
finances are in ‘good shape’, everyone could use a little ‘tune up’ to
make sure everything is running smoothly. And it’s not as hard to do as
you think.
There are some very simple steps you can take that
can make a world of difference.
Step 1: Check your beneficiaries…all of them.
A beneficiary is simply who will receive a given asset when you die.
Assets with beneficiaries include life insurance policies, retirement
accounts and annuities. Even bank and brokerage accounts have a feature
called P.O.D. or T.O.D., which stands for payable (or transfer) on
death.
Many people forget who they listed as
beneficiaries, and when they check, are often shocked to find
ex-spouses, deceased relatives or estranged family members listed. Do
yourself and your loved ones a favor and make sure your beneficiaries
reflect your current wishes.
Step 2: Check your Living Trust and/or Will.
If you don’t have any plan in place for distributing your assets at
your death, by all means put one in place now. If you have a plan, make
sure it’s up to date.
One of the biggest mistakes those with Living
Trusts make is forgetting to keep all their assets in their trust. For
instance, have you purchased a vehicle recently, or maybe a vacation
home or time share? Made any new investments? If so, be sure they are
registered under the name of your trust.
Whether you have a Living Trust or a will, be sure
there aren’t changes you need to make. Perhaps you have new
grandchildren or there has been a divorce in the family. Your designated
executor might no longer be the one you desire. Powers of Attorney might
not be up to date.
Step 3: Check your insurance needs.
Our needs change through life and our insurance needs change along
with it. If you’ve recently been blessed with children and/or your once
income-earning spouse is now home with the kids, you might need
increased income replacement.
On the other hand, if you’re newly retired, you
might not need as much life insurance as before. You might need more
homeowner’s insurance if you’ve built an addition or have valuable
belongings. Liability coverage might need to increase. Your auto
insurance might have little uninsured motorist coverage.
Step 4: Check your insurance deductibles.
By raising your deductibles on your home, car and health insurance,
you might be able to save some serious dollars. And don’t be afraid to
shop around for better rates. With the internet, getting insurance
quotes is easier than ever.
Step 5: Tune up your company retirement plans.
Are you putting all you can into your 401(k), 403(b), etc.? Are
there any company-matching funds you aren’t benefiting from? You should
also review and update your portfolio allocation. Is it all in company
stock? (Not a good idea!) Are your funds allocated too conservatively or
too aggressively?
And don’t forget to check out those beneficiaries
while you’re at it.
Step 6: Tune up investment portfolio.
The economic climate this year will probably be considerably
different than last year. That means that you may need to adjust how
your portfolio is allocated.
Depending on your needs and your tolerance level
you may need to move more money to international or more money out of
the markets and into fixed. Asset allocation isn’t something that you
want to set and forget.
You may also want to consider who you need to share
your financial and estate plans with. For instance, if you are recently
widowed and your spouse handled the finances, maybe you want to enlist
the help of one of your adult children.
If you’ve named someone as your successor trustee
or your medical power of attorney, you might want to discuss your
desires.
These are by no means the only ways to tune up your
finances, but doing even just one of them can make a positive impact.
And while our new weight-loss diets might be hard to maintain over time,
these financial tune-up steps usually only need to be done once a year.
If you have a specific question or would like more
information, give me a call toll-free at 1-877-827-1463 or you can also reach me by email at
jeff@guardingyourwealth.com.
I will answer your financial question FREE.
About Guarding Your Wealth:
“Guarding Your Wealth” is a
nationally syndicated weekly personal finance column written by Jeffrey
D. Voudrie, CFP. Mr. Voudrie is the President of Legacy Planning Group,
a private wealth management firm that employs sophisticated proprietary
strategies designed to protect and grow its clients' investments. Visit his website,
www.guardingyourwealth.com to read past articles under the Guarding
Your Wealth Article Archive that may not have appeared in
SeniorJournal.com.
Guarding Your Wealth for Seniors, on
SeniorJournal.com, is
a collection of columns by Voudrie that deal with issues of particular
interest to senior citizens.
Click here
for all columns.
In addition to being a nationally
syndicated columnist and Certified Financial Planning Practitioner, Mr.
Voudrie provides personal, private money management services to select
private clients
nationwide.
Looking for an energetic expert who
is passionate about financial and wealth management? Mr. Voudrie is an
excellent speaker who will excite and inspire your audience. Mr. Voudrie
is available for a limited number of speaking engagements, television
appearances and radio talk shows. For bookings, email
jeff@guardingyourwealth.com.
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