Tag: financial planning

Financial Review

I spent the morning today with my Financial Advisor. I hadn’t really taken a good look at my investment account in well over six years. Sure I checked in on it and it’s been making money for me – but I hadn’t looked at the investment allocations in a seriously long time. And given all the changes in the markets since Covid – not to mention retirement is planned for 6 years from now – it was time to take a good hard look at it.

I’ve always been a “live within my means” kind of person. What I didn’t spend from my paycheck got put into savings and then I ignored it. Same with my 401K money from all the jobs from my past. I consolidated 401Ks a few years ago and then quickly ignored that as well. I had a stock inheritance from my Grandmother and when I got it, I set up my account to put all the dividends back into additional stock share and – you guessed it – ignored it too. It’s been a good strategy for me. I carry very little debt other than my mortgage and I’ve always had savings. But as retirement starts to look like more of reality, I want to be sure I don’t outlive my savings.

So the visit with my Financial Advisor was a good one. We tweaked my investment account choices and I’m going to consider some more account consolidation. If you haven’t started planning for retirement yet, let me just say it’s never too soon.

I always signed up for the 401K plan everywhere I worked – but I wish I would have talked to a Financial Advisor when I was in my 20s to have had a better savings/investment plan. According to the figures we went through today, I’m in a good place – but I still live in terror of outliving my savings. Comes with being unmarried maybe?

But if you haven’t started planning – it’s time to start. Even if you don’t have a pile of cash sitting around anywhere, having a personal budget/plan for your finances is a good thing. I use an investment advisor at Chase but there are all kinds of advisors out there. Here’s some links that can help you get started: