October is the Financial planning month and a great Performance- Reviewing your fund, stock, and cash time to meet with your financial professional to ask performance during 2020 can help determine a future
questions, review policy and portfolio performance, and make decisions that keep you on track with your goals. Regardless of your age, it would be best of you planned for your financial future.
Reviewing your insurance policies and portfolio during the final quarter of the year is essential for many reasons. Fall tends to be when many people think about next year and what they want to accomplish financially in the future. With the disruptions that 2020 brought
to our lives, there is no better time than now to review, update, and make changes, so you are ready for 2021. Have you checked the following with your financial professional?
Life Insurance Policies:
Beneficiaries- Has anyone in your family married, divorced, or changed their name? Was there a new family member born this year? Update beneficiary names and include social security numbers for each to ensure the death benefit pays quickly to your beneficiaries.
Death Benefit Amount- Have you acquired more debt, retired, or had assets increase in value? Review each policy to ensure it will provide enough death benefits to cover all your beneficiaries’ financial needs. If you have a large estate, ensure the death benefit will offset estate taxes.
Additional Policies- Was there a new family member born or families combine this year? Life Insurance can benefit your new family member in future years. Consult your insurance professional to determine allowable coverage and if there are stipulations if you are not the custodian of the minor child you wish to insure.
Retirement Portfolio:
Allocations- Is your portfolio too heavy in one asset class? With today’s volatility, rebalancing and adding another asset class like annuities may help to balance portfolio allocations to align with your goals. Work with your financial professional to determine if annuities are a suitable investment for you.
Risk Tolerance- Are you taking too much risk or not enough? Changing jobs, being furloughed, or contemplating early retirement can affect your risk tolerance.