Financial Spring Cleaning

This month I wanted to write about cleaning. You know how good it can feel to go through a junk drawer and clean out the mess, the same good feelings can come from looking at your financial affairs with the same intent. I think that many people would like to have a better grasp on their financial situation but the task seems somewhat overwhelming, so I would like to suggest a few things that can be done that will pave the way to more clarity.

 First , get your —– in a pile. I mean your paperwork of course! We as financial planners and the companies that we represent seem to like to keep the paper industry in business and we send out realms of paper. So it is quite likely that you have a collection of statements that may go back to the ice age. In most circumstances only the most recent document is relative.

 In the case of Life Insurance Policies, the "Anniversary Statement" is the document that you should have.  It will list the amount of coverage, whom the owner of the coverage is, the type of coverage, the beneficiaries of the policy and information on any value in cash in the policy , as well as investment information if it pertains to the policy. Review all of the information. It may be that you have had changes in your life since this policy was taken out, an example would be adding children as contingent beneficaries to a policy.

I THROW OUT ALL OLD STATEMENTS WHEN THE NEW ONE ARRIVES.

If you have not received a statement or you have old information, call either the agent or the Insurance Company to make changes.

Investment statements can be a real source of confusion, especially if you have investments with multiple institutions. While most companies have gone to semi- annual statements some still issue quarterly statements. 

Two questions to ask yourself regarding investments.

• 1) Do you have a strategy
• 2) Do you have annual meetings regarding your strategy

If you can answer yes then there should be no need to hold on to old documents, you are moving forward with a plan.

If you answer no, then you have a lot at stake.  You need to speak with someone who will help you to evaluate you goals and set you on a path to achieving those goals. This should help clean up and clear up some of the confusion surrounding a haphazard investment strategy.

This process of sorting, reviewing and making and necessary changes should be applied to other contracts such as Disability coverage, home and auto insurance creditor insurance. It is essential to make sure that the coverage is appropriate for your needs. Any changes to your situation such as a job change can initiate the need to make changes to certain financial plans.

April is the perfect time to "Spring Clean" your finances, as we all know April 30th is tax filing deadline and as my account likes to say. " You can't tax plan backwards".

Feel free to contact me with any questions. Vold.financial.group@londonlife.com

Please use Yummymummy  in the subject line.

Sincerely,

Shelly Vold CFP REBC