As it’s National Financial Planning Month, it’s a great time to talk about financial planning.
First, financial planning is for all ages. We advocate and wish more programs were available for High School students that teach financial planning basics. We also wish more college students took basic financial planning or concepts as part of their curriculum, regardless of their major. So, if you have children or you are in High School or College yourself, it's never too early to begin learning and planning.
While we recommend starting as early as possible, it’s also never too late to begin financial planning. When you look at where you are today, you cannot change the past, but you can plan for the future regardless of what age you are.
We believe a financial plan is critical to planning for the future. Focusing purely on investments and investment returns can leave large gaps in your plan if it’s are not based on solid planning. Performance is only one factor to consider. Unless you know how much you will need to retire or for other goals, you have no way of knowing if your investments will be adequate.
Financial planning is a broad subject. Here are some of the specific areas that might apply to you:
- Planning for expenses
- Making sure adequate emergency reserves are set up
- Understanding benefit plans and retirement plans from your employer
- Planning for college
- Paying off student loans or other debts
- Debt consolidation and best ways to save and reduce debt
- Retirement planning
- Risk reduction/Making sure assets are titled correctly and that you have the proper insurance in place to protect risks you are exposed to
- Investment planning & Allocation
- Insurance planning/Risk reduction
- Estate planning
- Divorce/Widow/Widower
- Inherited money or winnings from lottery (without proper planning most people lose new money within a few years)
Regardless of your stage of life or current focus - a solid financial plan is a key to success. We recommend working with a Certified Financial Planner ® practitioner as they have the detailed training and certification required to help you plan for the future.
At Oxford Planning Group, we are here to help you plan for your future so that you can focus on your family, enjoying your day to day life and worry less knowing your financial life is simplified and on track.
