When planning your financial future it is imperative to construct a financial plan to guide you in addressing your goals while allowing you to experience life's milestones with family and friends. Whether your aspiration is to purchase your first home, fund your child's college education, have the financial freedom to travel, have a secure retirement, leave a legacy for future generations or plan for each stage of your financial life; obstacles and changes always seem to arise. For this reason, it's equally important to continue to regularly monitor and make updates to your legal documents and portfolio.
The New Year is a perfect time to make an appointment with our office to inform us of any life changes, review your current financial goals and complete your annual financial plan to make sure that you're on target to pursue your goals.
With the current market changes, it's timely to review your portfolio for proper diversification, and ascertain that the investment risk appropriately meets your risk tolerance and investment objectives. This is accomplished on an aggregated portfolio level; making sure that your assets are distributed accordingly by asset allocation, market capitalization, industry, sector and region of domicile.
Additional, key planning components that I would like to review with you at this time are:
• Analyze your budget and assets by completing a cash flow and net worth statement. Use this data as a source for your financial plan.
• Coordinate your employee benefits with your personal insurance policies. Verify that you have adequate insurance and that the policy is transportable upon retirement or terminating employment. The primary insurances that we should review include; life insurance, health insurance, disability insurance, long term care, property & casualty Insurance, and umbrella plan and excess liability.
• Review Social Security benefits at the Social Security website www.ssa.gov
• Establish a tax plan for the upcoming tax year.
o Maximize the contribution in your retirement plan (401-K, 403-B, IRA), benefiting both tax deferral/reduction and asset accumulation.
o Consider modifying your W-2 Filing Status for tax withholding; use 1RS form U-4.
• Compare rates and terms of your mortgage, loans, lines of credit card. Consider refinancing or locking in adjustable rate loans with a fixed rate as interest rates are relatively low.
• Review and make sure that your appointed agent(s), executor(s), guardian(s) and beneficiary (ies) for your will, trust, health care directive are consistent with your wishes.
o Contact your estate attorney:
?If you had any life changes; i.e. married, divorced, had a baby or adopted a child.
?If it's been a number of years since you established your estate plan to inquire if any Federal or State changes have ensued.
• If you're a business owner review your current or consider implementing a continuity and succession plan.
Once we identify the relevant planning components important to you and your family we'll establish, implement and follow through on an action plan.
We at Vertex Wealth Management, LLC are proud to be a resource to you and for more detailed information about Financial Planning and other financial subjects, kindly contact our office at (516) 294- 8200 to schedule your annual financial consultation.
Sincerely,
Michael J. Aluotto, CRPC®
Vertex Wealth Management, LLC
President
Private Wealth Manager
Diversification and asset allocation do not guarantee a profit nor protect against loss in a declining market. They are methods used to help manage risk. For general informational purposes only. This information is not intended to be a substitute for specific individualized tax advice. Please note that individual situations can vary. Please see your professional tax advisor regarding your specific situation.