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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
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?
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?
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 anytime for a small fee.
- 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.
With questions or to learn about saving and
investment opportunities, please visit one of our convenient locations
or contact an
Account Representative.
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