David Lerner Associates: Financial Tools are Just the Beginning
One big worry for many Americans in the prime of life is their financial future — how to pay for their kid’s college, when to retire, and whether they’ll have enough to retire on are major concerns. April is Financial Literacy Month, a good time to reevaluate financial plans, and make sure that the calculations those plans are based on are valid.
There are many easy-to-use financial calculators online that can get you started. However, although we’ve become used to finding answers to just about everything online, by their very nature, these tools are simple, and give a ball-park figure based on averages. They can’t take every aspect of a family’s finances into account. Recently, Texas Tech University conducted a study of 36 of the most common tools and found that without a thorough review of a family’s finances, the results from an online calculator could be misleading.
A better way to review your financial future would be to use an online financial calculator as a starting point. Take these numbers to a financial or investment advisor with experience in retirement planning. Here are some of the subjects that should be covered in this review:
Income Analysis: Go over all aspects of your current and future income sources with your advisor. They can help you plan for things like inflation, using realistic figures based on your lifestyle and expected retirement needs.
Tax Situation: Review your recent tax returns and possible future tax implications of your investments and retirement plans. This is an opportunity to see where you might improve your strategies and avoid future tax issues.
Investment Strategies: Once you have the income and taxes sorted out, you can plan for how to invest to reach the goals you’ve set for your future. An experienced advisor with retirement planning expertise can take the numbers from the online retirement calculator, and based on your personal scenario, adjust and tweak the plan according to the real needs of your family.
IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES
Material contained in this article is provided for information purposes only and is not intended to be used in connection with the evaluation of any investments offered by David Lerner Associates, Inc. This material does not constitute an offer or recommendation to buy or sell securities and should not be considered in connection with the purchase or sale of securities.
To the extent that this material concerns tax matters, it is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, by a taxpayer for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed by law.
Each taxpayer should seek independent advice from a tax professional based on his or her individual circumstances.
These materials are provided for general information and educational purposes based upon publicly available information from sources believed to be reliable– we cannot assure the accuracy or completeness of these materials. The information in these materials may change at any time and without notice.