What Planning Can Help You Achieve in the New Year

Regardless of your goals, planning at the beginning of the New Year can prepare you to work toward achieving them. One of the most significant benefits of planning is that it gives you the confidence to stay on track toward your goals or make changes to pursue them throughout the year.

To get started, examine your current financial situation by assessing your budget, debt management, savings, retirement savings, and insurance. Next, work toward more complex areas, such as your will and estate plan. As you start planning, your marital status, assets, income, health, financial literacy, employee benefits, number of children, and future retirement income must all be factored into your plan. While having a plan can’t guarantee protection from unexpected life events, it can help you create the groundwork to achieve these eight things in the New Year:

1. Establishing an emergency fund- An emergency fund is money saved in an account to use during financial stress to help improve economic security.

2. Creating a budget- A budget estimates income and expenses for a period, such as a month.

3. Reducing debt- Whether you owe a few thousand or hundreds of thousands of dollars, paying off debt can lead to less financial stress and more financial security.

4. Saving money- Saving money can help prepare you for future goals and expenses and help protect you from financial emergencies.

5. Improving your tax situation- A plan can help illustrate how tax-advantaged investment strategies may reduce your tax bill.

6. Saving for retirement- A financial plan can help illustrate retirement savings projections based on an assumed rate of return to help you determine if you are on track or need to revise your plan.

7. Saving for your child or grandchild’s education- Including education savings in your financial plan can help you estimate how much you need to save to reach your education funding goal.

8. Saving for other financial goals- Whatever your goals are, a plan can help you work towards having the finances to achieve it.

A financial professional can help guide you through the planning process by providing recommendations in several areas of your financial life. While every financial professional has their unique strengths and specialties, they can also help you:

• Determine if you’re on track with your goals.
• Provide a second opinion.
• Evaluate your investment strategies and implement new strategies.
• Assess your risk tolerance and time horizon to align with your goals.
• Rebalance your portfolio.
• Manage roadblocks impacting your finances- job loss, divorce, etc.

Now that you know the eight things planning can help you achieve, take the next step and schedule a New Year’s planning meeting with a financial professional today.

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