Annual Checkups Can Help Keep Your Financial Future Healthy
Just what the doctor ordered. Regular checkups are just as good for your financial health as they are for your physical health. They're a great way to re-evaluate and rebalance your financial life.
Start by looking at your current savings, investments and income. Seeing where your money is now and knowing where you want it to go will help show you how much you'll need for the future.
What can a financial checkup offer?
The main goal here is to get a clear view of your current financial situation and what gaps might exist. Consider whether your goals have changed and whether or not your savings and investments still meet those goals. Significant life changes like marriage, divorce, having children or starting a business may have an impact.
Once you know where you're going, you can:
- Assess how comfortable you are with risk
- Rebalance or diversify your portfolio
- Weigh options based on your personal needs
- Monitor your progress
When should you have a financial checkup?
Get into the habit of reviewing your financial health annually. Look for the most important changes and see how they affect your finances, then make the necessary adjustments to keep you on track.
You may also want to review your financial situation at the time of a milestone event, which might include:
- Getting a new job, significant promotion or bonus
- Getting married or divorced
- Having new member in the family
- Coming into an inheritance
- Selling a major asset
- Retiring
- Paying off a major loan (home, business, college debt)
- Winning the lottery
The bottom line: It doesn’t matter when you do it as long as you do it. Just decide when a review makes the most sense for you and stick to it.
Who can help?
Many magazines and web sites offer questionnaires and formats that let you do your own financial checkup. If you don’t want to do it alone, contact your accountant, banker or investment professional and see if they offer a checkup as a part of their ongoing service to you. If you work with someone who already is familiar with you and your finances, you're starting several steps ahead.
When you're done with a financial checkup, make sure you put your worksheets where you can easily access them. That way, you can refer to them during the year to see your progress or note changes that may come into play next year. Don’t ever give up on your goal of achieving financial well-being!
