What's Included in a Financial Strategy?

There are six areas to look at when prioritizing, developing, and implementing your Financial Strategy. We illustrate those areas in the form of a hierarchy to show how one area builds upon another. Many people start at the base of the Financial Pyramid and work their way up. You may choose to start with the area that’s most important to you right now. But, since action in one area affects all the others, a complete financial strategy must address all six areas. Do so with the guidance of a financial representative and start achieving your goals.

1) Financial Position

Do you know how much money you earn from all sources and how much you spend each month? Do you have enough money to cover your necessary expenses? Are you spending money that you should be saving? A review of your financial position can give you a better understanding of where you are right now. Working with a financial representative may help you determine if you’re making the best choices when it comes to debt and may help you discover if you are achieving a balance between your current lifestyle and future expectations. Taking a look at all areas of your financial life and seeing how they fit together is the crucial first step in creating a strategy for the rest of your life.

2) Risk Management

If you lost your job, or became disabled, how would you pay your bills? If something were to happen to you, would your spouse be able to remain in your home? Would your children be able to afford college? Under extraordinary circumstances, the best of intentions can be swept away. A financial representative can analyze your situation and help you find ways to protect your income and assets at every stage of your life. Your representative can help ensure that you and your loved ones can keep doing what you originally planned, no matter what surprises life has in store.

3) Wealth Accumulation

Are you getting a return on your investments consistent with the risk you’ve assumed? Do you understand the different options that best suit your individual circumstances? A financial representative can help you review the various options available to you and suggest ways to get results. The goal is to help you maximize the return on your investments, taking into consideration your situation and your personal tolerance for risk. Through periodic reviews, your representative can help to make sure that your financial strategy reflects the changes inevitable at every stage of your life.

4) Tax Savings Strategies

Do you know the latest tax laws and how they affect you? Are you keeping as much of your earnings as you can in your own pocket? It’s difficult to keep up with laws that change constantly and figure out how complex rules apply to your personal situation. Your financial representative can work with your tax advisor.

5) Retirement Planning

Do you think that you’re too young to start planning for your retirement or, that since you’ve already retired, it’s too late to do anything about it? The earlier you start, the sounder your financial future may be and the more flexibility and freedom to choose the when, how and where of retirement you may have. But even if you’ve already retired, you want to make sure that the money you have accumulated continues to work for you. Regardless of your age or life circumstances, working with a financial representative can help you to adapt to your changing needs in order to better achieve financial independence and financial security.

6) Estate Planning

Are you sure that your money will be used the way you want and go to the people you want it to after you’re gone? If you become incapable of managing your affairs while you’re alive, will your finances continue to be managed effectively? Proper estate planning with a financial representative can help you to anticipate your future needs and pass on more of your wealth to your family and charities than to Uncle Sam. It can take into consideration the special concerns of young families with minor children, families who have members with special needs, business owners who need to address succession planning, or grandparents who’d like to help the grandkids go to college.
With a financial strategy in place, you can be in a better position to pass on a legacy or a business - not a tax burden - to your heirs.

A Financial Representative Can Help!

You may know where you want to end up; but, with so many choices, how do you know if you’ve taken the right road? A financial representative can serve as your guide, helping you to analyze your individual situation and recommending ways to help you achieve your goals. He or she can also work with your tax and legal professionals to make sure that your financial strategy addresses all of your needs.