As we know, Texas is always hot, but October typically represents the time of year when things begin to cool down. We begin to transition into holiday mode, the pumpkin spice everything appears back at coffee shops, and we are just a hop, skip and jump away from Christmas—and from business year-end. However, Halloween is truly a fun time, from the haunted houses to the costumes, it’s the only time of the year when most consumers seek fear-inducing experiences. However, there are some scary financial mistakes we see throughout the year. You won’t find many warnings or cute signs for those, but luckily these mistakes can be avoided—just like the goblins.
So, what are some of these mistakes?
Failure to plan.
Just like with holidays, we get busy. It’s hard to accomplish everything that needs to get done. So, we prioritize. Right? Well, many times we put ourselves on the back burner to tend to our families. But, failure to plan for retirement is a grave mistake. This process doesn’t take long, but with help from professionals, we can course-correct and get you back on track, which means you can get back to living your life and tending to family.
Chasing the market.
As we have seen over the last couple of years, the market fluctuates. There are times of swings and dips, and if our portfolios are not diversified, it means we are taking a great risk. With proper planning, we can make sure to include some of those great stocks you have been eyeing, but we are in it for the long haul, so balance is key.
Failure to communicate.
Another scary thing we see is leaving out important details during our planning meetings. It’s common for clients to have multiple investment accounts, for instance, a 401K from your employer, maybe a 529 college savings account, etc. It’s important to disclose all your accounts for a more holistic approach to investment strategies. For example, if you were to take your car in for a repair, you typically disclose everything that has happened since your last service visit. You want the repair to be complete, so information is key to getting to the root cause. It’s the same with your financial plan. There is no plan that works best for everyone, and to get the plan that works for you, we need to review a complete financial history.
We don’t want these financial mistakes to haunt you. If you are ready for a plan review or are interested in starting an integrated approach to tax and investment planning, contact us today.