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5 Family Financial Planning Essentials
Published 04.22.2009 | Permanent Link | Comments (2)
By Amanda of mandajuice and The Naked Ledger.
Does your family have "a plan?" How to make sure you are covered on the five financial family planning essentials.
1. A Budget
Everyone hates budgeting - I know I do - but no good financial plan is complete without a clear spending plan. By sticking to a budget, you make it a lot easier to achieve the rest of your goals.
2. A Retirement Plan
Is that company 401(k) plan enough? (hint: probably not!) Retirement is probably the most important part of any financial plan because if you don’t self-fund it? No one else is going to step in and do it for you. The best gift you can give your children is your own financial independence.
3. A Contingency Plan
Do you have life insurance? Health insurance? Disability? Do you have a will? A trust? Medical directives? Durable powers of attorney? A full-fledged estate plan? You might not need all of it, but it’s all worth thinking about. Consult a financial planner or an estate attorney if necessary.
4. An Education Plan
More important than an actual SAVINGS plan is a plan for exactly how much of your family’s resources you’re willing to put toward education. Don’t rob Peter to pay Paul! If there isn’t a higher-education education plan in place, you risk robbing the other facets of your financial health. Know ahead of time EXACTLY how much you plan to fund and stick to that plan.
5. A Fun Plan
It’s great to save for retirement and college and overall financial health, but it’s never going to be worth it if you don’t also pay yourself back with truly rewarding experiences. Make sure you fund a plan to make memories and fulfill life-long dreams. You want to backpack through China? Buy your grandpa’s old farmhouse? Restore a ’66 Mustang? Live in Argentina for a year? Put it in your plan! It may take you a while to get there, but having a FUN goal makes the rest of the work worthwhile.
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Could there really be a guide to everything? And, in 5 simple steps? Nope. But, there are definitely fun and simple ways to live life with your family.
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Comments (2):
Frema said:
Great advice! Here's a question, though: How many acccounts does one family NEED? Should I combine my emergency fund with my leisure fund so my monies are working together? What about saving for my next house? For my husband to go back to school? What's the best way to set aside dollars for all these different goals? That would be a great post.
Posted on April 23, 2009 23:39
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Posted on September 17, 2009 05:04