A Quarter by Quarter Plan for Financial Wellbeing: Q1 January - March

If you are an organized person (or if you aspire to be more organized), you may be wondering what you can do each quarter to increase your financial wellbeing and confidence when it comes to money.

First, these things should stay constant in a given year:

• A financial advisor should give you a realistic financial plan to use as a framework.

• You should be able to call or meet with your advisor anytime you have a question about money, updating your plan if needed.

• An experienced advisor can build one or several scenarios using financial modeling software to help you understand the pros and cons of different financial decisions.

Beyond these confidence-building fundamentals, here are a few things you can do each month to help you feel more in control of your financial situation:

1st Quarter: January - March

While the whole world is in the spirit of “New Years resolutions”, take the time to reflect on the previous year, how you’ve grown, and how life has changed – financially and otherwise. It’s also a good time to plan for tax season. Here are steps you can take as part of a New Year’s financial wellbeing check with your financial advisor:

Revisit your financial baseline:

• Calculate an annual budget based on last year’s expenses. Be sure to include an emergency fund. Your advisor may have easy tricks to make this feel less daunting.

• Pull your credit reports from all 3 bureaus

• Make a list of any anticipated life events or larger expenses (renovations, college planning, buying/selling a home, paying for a wedding, purchasing a car, vacations, etc.)

• Create a “go folder” with important documents and contact info that you or trusted contacts can reference in an emergency

Set up a meeting with your advisor:

• Discuss your goals, review your financial plan, and revise if necessary

• Create a financial mission statement for you or your family – just a sentence or two, something you can easily remember. Give yourself a deadline to reach your goals. You may even want to write it down and carry it with you.

• Review your account performance from the previous year

• Explore additional insurance coverage or discuss existing insurance benefits and premiums

• Discuss options for end of year bonuses or excess cash

• Review your estate plan: wills, trusts, power of attorney, and account beneficiaries or create one if needed

• Share your career goals and potential changes in your employer or salary. Also review company stock options and performance with your advisor.

• Make sure you have enough liquidity so that you can achieve your goals

Partner with your advisor to prepare for tax season:
An experienced advisor (especially one who is also a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® Professional) will have the tax-related expertise to:

• Analyze the previous year’s tax returns to identify your income bracket and opportunities

• Outline maximum contributions to retirement accounts (the rules on this change frequently)

• Share results from existing tax loss harvesting accounts or recommend initiating this strategy for the year ahead

• Help you gather the important tax docs for filing. They may even have a checklist you can use.

• Participate in a planning call with your accountant to share these insights or recommend a CPA who can help you
  
  Click here to learn what you might want to consider for Q2 in April - June

Or if you’d like to speak with a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® Professional about how you can improve your financial health and wellbeing this year, book a 15-minute call with our advisor Brian Sullivan.

Any opinions are those of Primary Financial Advisors and not necessarily those of Raymond James. The information has been obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but we do not guarantee that the foregoing material is accurate or complete. 

Raymond James and its advisors do not offer tax advice. You should discuss any tax matters with the appropriate professional.

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Center for Financial Planning, Inc. owns and licenses the certification marks CFP® and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® in the United States to Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., which authorizes individuals who successfully complete the organization's initial and ongoing certification requirements to use the certification marks.