Throughout this journey we call life, so many things happen. Think about it – you start grade school and in 13 years you’re graduating high school, regarded as an adult and making life long decisions that will impact you and your future family forever. Most of us will spend a lifetime working on the career we choose, buying a house, getting married, having a family, sending kids to college, retirement, weddings, funerals and all of the stuff in between.
It’s a lot. It’s life. Some of us are prepared more than others and some sooner than most and some not at all. All our hard work and decisions we make throughout life somehow end up typically dealing with finances, budget or money in some aspect. Finding a trusted advisor is one of the first steps to being able to develop and create a plan to deal with all the situations that life will throw at you. Here is a list of reasons why it’s important to communicate with your advisor and weigh their advice to help make educated decisions on your money.
#1 Graduating college – lots of debt with college loans – seek the advice of an advisor to help determine what’s the best way to pay it back, protect my parents from being responsible should something happen to you and save money for other things in life.
#2 Starting a family – if something happens to me how will my loved ones continue life without me financially; tax deduction? That’s a good thing, right? Saving for their college expenses. An advisor can help give you options and show you strategies that will have you protecting and saving for your new bundle(s).
#3 Buying a house – what’s a good interest rate? How much house can I afford? Another tax deduction, right? An advisor can review what the expenses associated with buying versus renting can do to your budget.
#4 Saving for retirement – where are the best places to put my money for the future? Contribute to an employer retirement plan or start my own retirement account? An advisor can show you how investing in your retirement can solidify your future years.
#5 Insurance – should I have it, what kind and how much? Starting a protection plan in your life is a good thing and imperative if people are depending on you for any reason. An advisor can work with your budget and create a plan that will protect your family and change as needed with your journey.
#6 Death – a parent or other family member passes that will impact you financially in some way is a good time to connect with an advisor. They can help you get through the estate options available to you and be a good sounding board at an emotional time. Helping you make good decisions that can affect future life.
#7 Retirement – when to take social security? What do I do with my employer retirement plan? How will my budget be impacted in the transition into retirement? This is a critical stage in life where an advisor can be a huge help to determine the best options in these questions and a hundred others you will have.
#8 Budgeting – it’s a good foundational start to all financial planning. An advisor can help determine where your money is going and if costs are higher in some aspects of your budget than others like car insurance or interest rates. Paying off debt can be a great time to connect with an advisor as well ensuring to pay off the higher interest rate debt first and then snowball the payments into other lower interest debt.
#9 Winning the lottery or an inheritance – if we were so fortunate to have this happen to us in our journey it can be full of endless ideas of what to do with the mullah. An advisor can help plan the best attack on debt, savings and discretionary dollars to ensure you don’t run out of money in the first week.
#10 Starting a business – you have a great idea that you can transition into a business or it’s time to fly solo and make the jump to business ownership. An advisor can explain the different options, discuss budgets, employees, salary and other important business decisions necessary to help you be successful in this new endeavor.
Wherever life takes you on this journey, it’s important to find that trusted advisor that you can lean on to help you move through life in the happiest parts and the saddest parts. Relying on a trusted advisor can assure you and your family, the decisions you make, will turn out better than just okay.
