Enter the New Year with a Fresh Financial Perspective
The new year is a time when many people commit to replacing less-desirable habits or practices with behaviors intended to improve their quality of life or that lead to better physical and mental health outcomes. Your financial well-being can also benefit from incorporating habits that can help you live life more intentionally along the path to pursuing your goals. To help strengthen your financial foundation in the new year, start with the four financial planning strategies listed below.
1. Revisit your goals
Without defined goals, it can be hard to live life intentionally. Think of your goals as markers or posts along the path to accomplishing what you want out of life. They not only help you navigate your chosen path but gain a sense of accomplishment as interim goals are met. That’s among the many reasons why we believe that goal setting is a critical component of financial planning.
Plan to reevaluate your goals at least annually and update them as your life and circumstances change. In our opinion, this can help ensure that each financial decision you make, from daily spending to investment decisions, supports the objectives set forth in your financial plan.
2. Don’t let past decisions weigh you down
Whether you’re establishing new goals or recommitting to prior goals that may have fallen short, such as paying down debt or increasing retirement savings, it’s important that you don’t allow poor past decisions to dictate your future. Not only will it prevent you from moving ahead, but it may result in falling further behind. Learning from prior decisions – both good and bad – plays a key role in the financial planning process to help keep you moving forward.
Begin by evaluating the financial decisions you made over the past year relative to spending, saving, investing, and managing debt. How did these decisions support or detract from your overall financial plan? Think about what you could do differently going forward, and adjust your goals accordingly.
For example, if overspending led you to take on more credit card debt than planned, reevaluate your budget to see if there are areas where you could cut spending to help pay down debt faster. If you don’t currently follow a budget, commit to putting one in place. Following a budget is a critical financial planning strategy for identifying and tracking each dollar that comes into your household in the form of income and leaves your household in the form of taxes and expenses.
3. Keep a close eye on taxes
While we often think of the first quarter of the year as “tax season,” if you want to ensure you’re not paying more than your fair share, tax planning needs to be a year-round endeavor. Tax management is a key component of a financial planning strategy designed to not only help you remain on track toward your long-term goals, but pursue them in an effective and efficient manner.
Keep in mind, all financial decisions have tax consequences. As a result, tax management encompasses all facets of financial planning from strategies that seek to maximize the use of tax-advantaged accounts, to gifting, charitable giving, estate planning, income protection strategies, and more.
4. Enlist the help of professional advisors
Whether you’re seeking to incorporate tax-smart strategies, or ensure your investment strategy is on track, consider working with professional advisors who bring the credentials and experience to assist with even the most complex financial planning challenges.
An experienced team of legal, tax, and financial professionals are not only well-equipped to provide guidance but can recommend and implement tailored strategies that align with your needs and goals. Your professional advisors can help keep you up to date on changing market and economic conditions, state and federal laws impacting your taxes and estate planning, and other aspects of financial planning that can be hard to keep up with on your own.
Your wealth advisor can help you take intentional steps toward what we refer to as your individually defined Return on Life®. Our financial planning philosophy reflects all aspects of personal fulfillment — family, friends, health, and well-being — to help you seamlessly pursue greater meaning and purpose throughout your life.
To learn more about financial planning strategies that seek to help strengthen your financial foundation, listen to our latest podcast episode of Frank Wealth Insights. To learn how your team of independent wealth planning professionals at Return on Life® Wealth Partners can help you and your family pursue the Return on Life® you desire, contact us today for a free consultation.
About Return on Life® Wealth Partners
Return on Life Wealth Partners is an independent Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) founded in 1994, with headquarters in Cleveland. The team provides comprehensive wealth planning services to individuals, families, and business owners. By examining clients’ lives before their money, Return on Life® aligns its advice with clients’ values. This personalized approach also extends to the institutional and corporate retirement plan services available through 401(k) Prosperity®.
The opinions expressed and material provided are for general information purposes only.
This information is not intended to be a substitute for individualized insurance, tax, or legal advice. We suggest that you discuss your specific issues with a qualified advisor.
Securities and Retirement Plan Consulting Program advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor, member FINRA/SIPC.
Investment advice offered through Planned Financial Services, LLC, a Registered Investment Advisor and separate entity from LPL Financial.
For additional information related to our services, please visit https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/112879
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