I hope you are enjoying your summer so far! Wanted to wish you a Happy 4th of July 🎆
I am off to Europe today to explore the scenic castles from “King's Landing” (for all GOT fans) and eat cevapi on the streets of Sarajevo with my hubby and two toddlers. Wish me luck! We have never flown across the Atlantic with both boys..
(Picture of cevapi, it's a traditional Bosnian sausage that you can eat with bread, onions and butter)
…But before I leave, I wanted to share a story with you about a young family I work with*:
👭About a year ago I met Amber, who is a mom of a 3 year old girl, Hannah, and works as a nurse, and her husband, Joe, who works as a dentist-they were high school sweethearts and he proposed on graduation day. They came to me because a good friend of theirs mentioned that they should probably have some life insurance in place…
We had a conversation about how they met, their love for visiting their parents’ lake house 🚤 in St. Joseph, Michigan and reuniting with all their cousins so all the kids could play together. They mentioned how well their parents had done saving to retire in their late 50’s and how they wanted to do the same. But they weren’t sure where to start…were they saving enough? They also felt that their neighbors were doing better financially, from their fancy cars, to their newly remodeled houses, and they felt they were doing something wrong. Should they be investing more aggressively? What about Hannah’s college savings account that was sitting at the bank for the last 3 years earning 0.04%? They were concerned that despite making a great “living,” they weren’t getting ahead or seeing the progress they wanted.
After a few meetings, gathering their financial data and analyzing it, we were able to create a plan to address all those questions and turn the plans they had for their family into actionable steps they could implement. And now, they are taking the necessary steps to pursue their goals and also help Hannah go to the school of her choice one day (she wants to follow in her mom’s footsteps and be a nurse).
📈And that’s what financial planning looks like. It’s a process that begins with YOU, evaluating your current finances-taking an inventory of all accounts, assets, liabilities-and figuring out if there are better ways to structure your savings/spending to help make your goals a reality.
So here are the typical questions we answer with financial planning:
- What about paying off my student loans? Should I refinance? Should I pay them off on an income based repayment plan or standard terms?
- Should I be investing while paying off student loans? 💰
- How much should I maintain in an emergency fund?
- Can I afford to retire now? (most likely not, unless you’ve won the lottery in which case we should REALLY talk! :) )
- The types of life insurance can help protect my family, how much life insurance do I need, my income and my assets, or help cover future needs like long-term care?
- What employee benefits should I be maximizing?
- What is a good asset allocation for my investment accounts?
- How do I plan for a successful retirement in the future?
If you have any of these questions, let’s find time to talk.
*Names have been changed.
This is meant for educational purposes only. It should not be considered investment advice, nor does it constitute a recommendation to take a particular course of action. Please consult with a financial professional regarding your personal situation prior to making any financial related decisions. 07/19