Are You Planning for Your Family’s Financial Future?
Lundervold Financial provides financial planning for families in the St. Paul area of Minnesota, as well as in Arizona, throughout the U.S. and overseas. We are unique in providing holistic financial planning and our Blueprint for Financial Clarity™.
We all want to retire with confidence and leave something of value behind for our families. This is natural. And the fact is that if we plan ahead and are disciplined, we can create a strategy that helps us do that. You are now taking one of the most important steps to your retirement goals...learning how to plan.
But what will you need to consider when setting up your family’s financial plan?
Naturally, if you have children or plan to have children, the costs of education will be a factor. And you will want to consider what your life in retirement will look like, what kind of legacy you will leave, what kind of health care you want, and more.
In putting together your family’s financial plan, you will learn of various financial tools at your disposal that can help you reach your goals. For instance, life insurance can be an important tool for helping to ensure that your family does not go without should anything happen to you, but how much coverage will you need?
How you plan is shaped by the age at which you begin planning, how much risk you can afford or are willing to take in your investments, and what lifestyle you wish to pursue in retirement.
*Lundervold Financial does not provide estate planning, but we can work alongside our clients’ estate planning attorney. If you are looking for an estate planner, we can refer you to professionals who provide the following services: trusts, probate, charitable giving, estate planning, and tax planning.
Important Life Events That Trigger Family Financial Plans
Few of us begin planning before some important life event causes us to take stock of our current situation and consider the future. Five of the most common events that trigger family financial plans are:
- Starting a new job — One most common event that triggers most to start a retirement plan is the start of a new job. Many companies offer a 401k, which is the most common retirement plan in use in America today. We often sign up for it without thinking, but as new life events arise, we may start to increase our contributions.
- Marriage — Marriage causes us to start looking at ways of creating a strategy to protect those we love. This is one of the most common life event at which people might purchase life insurance.
- Birth of a child — When we hold our child for the first time, we dream in a way we never did before. Suddenly, we start to think in terms of what if? What if I die tomorrow? What if my child wants to attend college?
- Kids starting school — At this stage in life, we start to think in terms of sports, pageants, extra-curricular activities, and higher education costs.
- Death of a family member — When someone dies, we start to learn quickly just how prepared (or not) they were financially. This can sober us to reality and starts us thinking about our own financial future.
No matter the family financial event that triggers us to create a plan, keeping that event in mind as we move forward will help us stay on track to reaching our goals.
How to Make a Financial Plan for Your Family
Financial planning for families always considers the goals, dreams, and resources of your family. You also will need to consider responsibilities and the ability of your family to support these efforts.
One of the most important things you need to consider when you start your family’s financial plan is to identify your priorities … what is important to you now and when you retire? The answers to these two simple questions can have a direct bearing on your plans. How so?
Financial planning is always best begun at an early age, but few of us begin at birth. And you have no control over your age right now, so now is the time to start.
You will also need to consider the risks you are willing to take to reach your goals as well as your experience in managing your money. If you are starting this plan late in life, you may need to follow a different path to reach your goals. If early, you may have far more flexibility.
Some questions to ask yourself include:
- When do I want to retire?
- How do I want to retire?
- Do I want to travel?
- Will I stay in my home or get a smaller one?
- Medicare does not cover everything, so will I want additional health coverage?
The answers to these questions and others like them will allow you to determine your monthly expenses once you retire. And this figure can be used to determine how much you need to invest now. If you are not sure how to do these calculations fear not, we are but a phone call away.
Are you ready to take the next step in planning your financial future?
For more information about any of our products and services, to schedule a meeting or to register for one of our financial and retirement planning seminars, choose one of the options below, or let’s talk the old-fashion way. Call us at 651.209.1906.
