Review Your Financial Fitness

    Is it time for your Annual Check Up?

    Reviewing Your Financial Fitness

    It's an annual tradition for many of us, or at least it probably should be. All of us should resolve to take a look at our overall financial fitness.

    Financial goals define how you manage, save and grow your money. On an annual basis taking the time to evaluate your financial fitness will contribute to your overall financial success. What are your new financial goals? Are you meeting your current financial needs? And are your priorities in line for your future financial successes?

    Illini Bank continually seeks out the best way to meet the needs of our customers. We want to be your bank as well as your financial services company. For that reason, we would like to introduce you to a method for evaluating your own financial fitness.

    Check Up Topics

    Banking

    1. Have you established a personal expense budget and do you track actual expenses vs. budgeted expenses on a monthly basis?
    2. Does your expense budget include a fixed amount each month for personal savings? Retirement, college or any other specific need?
    3. Are you taking advantage of today's technology, which will allow you to invest (debit from your checking account or pay check on an automated basis) as little as $50 per month in a mutual fund or savings account?
    4. Are your personal debt obligations (loans) properly structured to minimize interest rate costs, maximize tax savings, and to maximize excess personal cash flow, so you can increase your savings each month?
    5. Have you made out a will, reviewed your insurance needs, and evaluated your estate planning needs?
    6. Have you evaluated the benefits of consolidating all your investment accounts with one professional advisor?
    7. When was the last time you stopped to evaluate your personal financial goals and to set an action plan to achieve these goals?

    Investments

    1. Do you have your investment goals defined? Are you saving for the long-term or short-term and do you have your money invested in the plans to achieve those goals?
    2. Are you currently taking advantage of the 401(k) plan offered by your employer?
    3. Are you currently investing in stocks, bonds, or mutual funds? What percentage in each?
    4. Have you considered professional investment management? If you are currently working with a professional investment counselor, do you review that relationship on an annual or bi-annual basis?
    5. Do you know at what age you will be able to retire?
    6. Have you determined what income you will need when you retire?

    Insurance

    1. In the event a fire or a natural disaster destroyed your home, would you be able to report exactly what you lost to your insurance agent?
    2. Will your automobile policy pay to replace your car with a brand new car of equivalent make, model and equipment, if your car is damaged in a collision and cannot be safely repaired?
    3. Will your automobile policy pay the difference between your car's value and the loan or lease balance in the event of a covered total loss?
    4. Have you considered a Personal Catastrophe Liability (Umbrella) policy of at least $1,000,000 to protect you over and above the liability limits offered in your other liability policies (Automobile Liability, Homeowners Liability, etc.)?
    5. Have you scheduled valuable items such as jewelry, furs, stamps, coins, silverware and guns in your Homeowners Policy? Are you aware most policies limit the amount of reimbursement for theft of these items unless scheduled?
    6. Are you saving money by combining your Homeowners and Automobile policies into a Package?

    Additional Tips

    If your time frame for pursuing your goals is:

    • Short 0-3 years; You should look at Money Markets or Short-Term Government Bonds
    • Medium 4-7 years; You should look at Intermediate-and-long term bonds or growth and income stocks
    • Long 8 or more years: You should look at growth stocks and aggressive growth stocks

    A common rule of thumb is that you should be putting away 10% of your annual income in some type of investment vehicle. 30% of your income after taxes can go to renting a home; if you own that number can be as high as 40% due to the tax break you receive.

    If you have an investment plan through your employer, max it out. The IRS allows you to direct 15% of your income in such a plan, and you should make every effort to do so. If your employer offers a match, then you are already receiving an automatic return on your investment.

    Sit down with a certified investment planner to view the big picture and to determine if you are getting the most out of your money.

    Determine your credit rating. If you are planning on applying for any type of credit, it is a good idea to be aware of your existing credit rating. By law, you may get one FREE credit report from each of the three bureaus once per year by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com. Otherwise, they will provide one at any time for a small fee.

    Equifax: www.equifax.com
    Experian: www.experian.com
    Trans Union: www.transunion.com

    In the event you were to lose your job, it is a good idea to have at least three months' worth of expenses saved. If you are in an industry where it is particularly hard to find a job you may want to make that 6 months' worth of expenses.

    A financial partner should be uniquely positioned to fulfill the needs of a broad range of customers. That is where Illini Bank fits in. Our focus and emphasis continues to be on building the best relationships possible, and in finding the financial opportunities that will be the most successful for you.

    For questions or to learn about saving and investment opportunities, please visit one of our convenient locations or contact an Account Representative.