February is all about love, and usually the romantic kind. Yet, there are numerous ways to express love and many people to share it with.
This year, consider approaching love from a different angle. A practical, action-oriented way to love yourself and the ones you care most about is to ensure your financial wellness, and that of your family, with savings, investments, and protection and estate planning.
Love Yourself
Creating or updating your personal financial plan is truly a way to exercise self-love. As you may know, having specific parameters around your goals—such as timelines, dollar amounts and a clear vision for the funds is a strong way to ensure your plan comes to fruition. I’ve had clients who have strategically planned and carefully saved take month-long vacations to travel and explore, often costing more than $40,000. I’ve seen clients travel to some of the most breathtaking places including Antarctica, South Georgia Island, and Buenos Aries. What a sweet gift to be able to give yourself when you have a solid financial plan and stick to it.
In addition to putting aside money for goals or rebalancing your portfolio, saving for retirement is certainly a loving gesture to yourself. With each contribution to your retirement account, you are making an investment in your future and likely ensuring that you will have the resources to lead the life you choose down the road.
The latest Investor Pulse Poll by Morgan Stanley Wealth Management reveals that 91 percent of Americans surveyed during summer 2017 (1,000 U.S. households with at least $100,000 in investible assets, a third of which had investible assets of $1 million or more) are confident that they are on track to achieve their long-term financial goals. Those surveyed ranked their top long-term goals as saving for retirement, transitioning wealth to the next generation and paying off a mortgage.
Love Your Family
Protection planning is about doing your best to prepare for the unexpected. If you become injured or ill and can’t work, or if you should pass away, how will your family make up for that loss of income? Yes, insurance. One way to minimize the financial impact is to have the appropriate types and amount of insurance that protect or replace income needs for various life events, such as long-term care insurance, disability insurance and life insurance. You should seek the help of an insurance professional to develop a plan that fits your family’s needs.
Having an updated estate plan that reflects your wishes is important, especially for those you may leave behind. I encourage you to organize an envelope or a folder with all the information your loved ones should know to resolve financial and real estate matters, and whatever else, should anything unexpected occur. This can make many of the practical aspects following a tragedy easier to navigate and enable your loved ones to focus more time and energy on their emotional well-being.
Estate planning can be complex, so you’ll want to consult with not only an estate planning attorney to draw up the will, living will, medical and financial powers of attorney, but also financial advisors and tax advisors who can help you understand the dollars-and-cents impact of the arrangements you make. Ideally, these professionals will work with you as a team to ensure that the outcome for your family is aligned with your wishes for dispersal of real estate, personal property and investment accounts—and the plan minimizes the tax and financial impact.
Love Others
Volunteering your time to those in need and giving monetarily to charitable causes are great ways to express love for others. You can choose where your resources go and what you will support based on what’s important or meaningful to you.
Love is a language of many tongues. Although having a solid financial plan may not seem like a “fun” way to celebrate love, it is a gift to yourself, your family and others that will keep expressing your love and care for many years to come.
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon
Lisa Taranto Schiffer
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