Spring Clean Your Finances

Spring cleaning makes your living space feel brighter heading into summer. But why stop there? These steps will get your finances streamlined and in tiptop shape.

1. Scrub your budget. Shifts in spending patterns and priorities during pandemic lockdowns forced many of us to reevaluate our travel and entertainment needs. Your income may also have changed in the last two years, due to getting either a new job or a salary adjustment. With life returning to some sense of normalcy, it’s a great time to review your budget from top to bottom. To maximize saving and reach your financial goals faster, reassess both the income and expense parts of the equation.
2. Straighten out beneficiaries. Did you know that the beneficiaries listed on your retirement plans, life insurance policies, annuitiesA financial instrument that pays the holder a guaranteed stream of payments. The annuity is funded by either a lump sum (one-time) or a series of deposits. Once funded, the sum is invested by the insurance company who sold the annuity (the accumulations phase). After a certain trigger (for example, the holder’s retirement or reaching a certain age) payments begin to be issued to the holder (annuitization phase). Annuity payments may be fixed or variable in both amount and in length (some pay out for a designated span of years, others until the holder’s death). and other accounts supersede what’s specified in your will? It only takes 15 minutes every spring to make sure your beneficiaries are correct on your accounts—that’s time well spent. And while you’re at it, make sure your contingent beneficiaries are updated as well.
3. Spruce up insurance coverage. If it’s been several years since you’ve looked at your insurance coverage, it may be time for a refresh. We’re talking about the basics: Life, disability, home and auto, and umbrella liability. Insurance needs change when milestones come along, whether it’s a new job, getting married, having children, buying a new home or completing a major renovation. All these things are catalysts for reviewing your insurance to make sure you’re sufficiently covered.
4. Purge old subscriptions. Remember that $10 here and $20 there adds up fast, especially when charges renew automatically. Make a list of all your monthly or annual subscriptions and you may be surprised to find a few that you can consolidate or eliminate. Before you know it, you might have a couple hundred dollars in your monthly budget that you can sock away in an investment account or use to treat yourself to something special.
5. Refresh tax withholdings. With tax season in high gear, it’s a perfect time to assess your withholding. While it feels nice to get a refund check from the IRS, this isn’t the most efficient way to use your money—and the government thanks you for your interest-free loan! If you suspect you may be withholding too much or too little, ask your tax preparer what they think. Or check out the IRS’ online tax withholding estimator. We recommend the $500 rule of thumb—if you owe or are refunded more than that, it’s time to tweak your withholding.

Once you’re through this list, your financial plan will be in sunnier shape. If you have any questions pertaining to your individual situation, let your portfolio team know. We want to help!

About Adviser Investments

Adviser is a full-service wealth management firm, offering investment management, financial and tax planning, managed individual bond portfolios, and 401(k) advisory services. We’ve been helping individuals, trustsA legal document that functions as an instruction manual to how you want your money managed and spent in your later years as well as how your assets should be distributed after your death. Assets placed in a trust are generally safe from creditors and can be sold by the trustee in short order, avoiding the lengthy and costly probate process., institutions and foundations since 1994. Adviser Investments and its subsidiaries have over 5,000 clients across the country and over $8 billion in assets under management. Our portfolios encompass actively managed funds, ETFsA type of security which allows investors to indirectly invest in an underlying basket of financial instruments (these may include stocks, bonds, commodities or other types of instruments). Shares in an ETF are publicly traded on an exchange, and the price of an ETF’s shares will fluctuate throughout the trading day (traditional mutual funds trade only once a day). For example, one popular ETF tracks the companies in the S&P 500, so buying a share of the ETF gets an investor exposure to all 500 companies in the index., socially responsible investments and tactical asset allocation strategies, and we’re experts on Fidelity and Vanguard mutual funds. We take pride in being The Adviser You Can Talk To. To see a full list of our awards and recognitions, click here, and for more information, please visit www.adviserinvestments.com or call 800-492-6868.