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One Month into New Year’s Resolutions

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2011-year-resolution-400x400.130207January is always a good time to reflect on the past year’s results and set expectations for the upcoming 12 months. Admittedly, most of us rarely complete New Year’s resolutions; however, now that you’ve had a month with your resolutions, here’s an annual habit we hope you’ll consider keeping for the year:

Ask yourself, “Am I financially organized the best that I can be?”

Sadly, most individuals spend more time either organizing their vacation or diets and workouts than they do making sure their financial house is in order.

So, when serving as your “financial CEO”, you should be working with your Advisor at The Trust Company to answer these important questions:

  • Do I have all my important DOCUMENTS and are they updated?  Are there other types of DOCUMENTS that I should consider?
  • Where do I keep all these DOCUMENTS?  Who knows (or should know) where they are kept?
  • Have I reviewed my FINANCIAL PLANNING over the past 12 months?  Have there been changes which require an adjustment to that PLAN?
  • Is my ESTATE PLAN still in alignment with my desires and associated documents?  Who are my beneficiaries and do those dozens of forms from my retirement plan, IRA, insurance policies, etc., match my ESTATE PLAN?
  • What are my FINANCIAL GOALS, including retirement plans, and have they changed?
  • Have my INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES changed and how much RISK do I need to assume to achieve my goals?  Is my INVESTMENT POLICY STATEMENT still appropriate?
  • Have I updated important CONTACT information of individuals I trust to carry out my plan?
  • Where do I keep my electronic login information (user names and passwords)?  Is it safe?  Who knows where to find it?

Of course, we could go on and on with additional questions that might be appropriate for each individual situation such as have my CHARITABLE GIVING desires changed or has the importance of a NON-FINANCIAL ASSET (home or artwork for example) changed?

At The Trust Company, we believe in this type of habitual behavior, ensuring your financial house is in order, so this is why we encourage our (financial CEO) clients to meet with us, face to face, on an annual basis to review this information.  We stand ready to assist you with this process.

One last question:  Have YOU scheduled your annual meeting yet?

Happy New Year !