Make Financial Resolutions The One You Keep This Year

Before we’re able to plan ahead for how 2016 will be different, let’s first evaluate what took place in 2015.  What changed? Did your family welcome a new child? Did you experience the joy of marriage? New job? New home? Retirement? Divorce? Taking inventory of the previous year and understanding how those changes impact you, your business and your loved ones, are the guiding force behind properly planning for the year ahead. New year’s resolutions come and go too easily. The new faces you’re seeing at the gym in January will probably be gone by Valentine’s Day. While many resolutions are terminated entirely too early, if nothing else, let this be the year you get your financial home in good order.

Savings: What happens if you or spouse looses their job tomorrow? Do you currently have immediate access to the cash necessary to get your family through the next 6 months with no new income coming in?

Life Insurance: When was the last time you reviewed your existing life insurance coverage? Any time needs and goals change, it is important that your life insurance mirror that change. A new child, spouse, home, or significant change in income are all factors that should spark a review to ensure your loved one’s financial future is properly protected.  

Retirement Savings: A 401k & IRA are great tools, but not without limitations. If your current level of income precludes your participation in a Roth IRA, life insurance can help you create tax-free retirement income without the restrictions of traditional retirement planning vehicles. 

Everyday Risks

Whether it’s recognized at the time, or not, each day we take countless measures to reduce risk. From testing the temperature of the shower water prior to entering, to checking our rearview mirror before backing out of a parking space, to locking our front door, we do what we can to minimize the impact of potentially hazardous situations.  Yet, while we almost instinctively prevent plunging into a boiling hot shower and reversing into oncoming traffic before 9am, a significant number of American families remain uninsured, or under-insured. Life insurance is arguably the single most effective solution to ensure loved ones are provided for when we find ourselves on the wrong end of risk. Mortgages do not disappear, and the cost of raising a child does not decrease when one spouse passes. As the saying goes, the only guarantees in the world are taxes and death. The difference however, is that taxes are due on April 15th each year. Death on the other hand may come when it is least expected. In 2010, according to The Life Insurance and Market Research Association (LIMRA), 40% households with children under 18, say they would immediately have trouble meeting everyday living expenses if a primary wage-earner died today. Having the opportunity to strategically plan for life’s greatest guaranteed risk is an item that needs to be addressed sooner than later.