Reasons to Contact Your Financial Planner

Situations that require a call to your financial planner are many.  The best advice I can offer is that you plan ahead.  If planning ahead isn’t an option, inform your financial planner immediately when you receive unexpected news.  Anytime you are contemplating decisions with financial implications a call to your financial planner is warranted.  

Career

  • Congratulations!  You’ve been promoted
  • You received a raise
  • You will be getting a significant bonus
  • You want to change jobs
  • You quit
  • You started a new job
  • You took on a second job
  • You’ve been demoted
  • You’ve been right-sized
  • You retired
  • You want to retire
  • You want to know if you can retire

Insurance

  • During open enrollment
  • You are self-employed and buy insurance on your own
  • You haven’t reviewed any of your insurance coverage in years
  • You wonder if you need an umbrella policy
  • Your teenager is about to start driving
  • You don’t have disability insurance coverage offered through your employer
  • You do have disability insurance coverage offered through your employer
  • You wonder if you and your spouse have enough life insurance
  • You want to know if you should carry life insurance on your children
  • Does it make sense to carry pet insurance
  • Do supplemental health insurance/critical illness policies make sense for you and your family
  • You want to know if you need both short term and long term disability insurance
  • You are considering terminating your long term care insurance
  • You wonder if you need long term care insurance

Family

  • Births
  • Deaths
  • Weddings
  • Divorce
  • Adoption
  • Extended family has moved in with you
  • Extended family has moved out of your home
  • Your children are away or about to go away to college

Transactions

  • Buying or selling a home or property
  • Buying or selling a vehicle
  • Buying or selling a business
  • Receipt of final payment on a note receivable or land contract
  • You want to know if you should refinance your home
  • You want to know if you should pay your mortgage off now
  • You want to know if you should buy or rent
  • You are considering going in on a financial transaction with a friend or family member
  • You are wondering what debt to pay off and in what order

Windfalls

  • Inheritance
  • Lottery winnings
  • You received stock options or restricted stock units (RSUs)
  • Scholarships

Estate Plan (Will, Trust, Power of Attorney, Patient Advocate)

  • You don’t have an estate plan
  • You recently updated your estate plan
  • Your estate plan is out of date
  • You don’t know if your estate plan is out of date
  • You assume that because you have a trust your estate plan is complete and accounts are titled properly
  • You want verification that your accounts are properly titled

Income Taxes

  • After you complete your taxes each year
  • After you’ve had your income tax returns amended
  • You are carrying losses forward
  • If you are subject to AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax)
  • If you are depreciating property
  • You are in the phase out range for either Roth or Traditional IRAs
  • You aren’t eligible to make deductible IRA contributions
  • You aren’t eligible to make Roth IRA contributions
  • Your accountant suggested you make a SEP or SIMPLE IRA contribution

Investing

  • You want to start investing
  • You heard about a penny stock and want to buy penny stocks
  • You want a personalized strategy for investing
  • You want to invest in a particular sector or product
  • You’ve heard that you shouldn’t put all of your eggs in one basket and want to know if you have all of your eggs in one basket

The Basics

  • You want to know what amount would be a good amount to set aside for emergencies
  • You want to know if you have the proper types of insurance
  • You want to set money aside for an event or major purchase
  • You have questions about how much you should allocate to various items in your budget

This list is not all-inclusive and is intended to serve as a guide for when you should reach out to your financial planner.  If you’ve been working with the same planner for years, use this helpful resource so that your topics of interest are included in your comprehensive plan.  

Melissa Myers, CFP®

Melissa is a Gen X business owner and CFP® professional. She teaches what she has learned on her way to success. She wants to share her knowledge with you.