Don’t slack on financial planning

Thefinancial markets are in theirmost boringsummerdays. Even news about unemployment and interest rates doesn’t seem to rock the stock market. Thelongawaited recession appears elusive, and inflation appears to bewaning.

So, is this the right time to take your eye off things financial and enjoy the longer summerdays? Or is it the perfect time to reassess and revise everything fromyour investment allocation to your will? I vote for the latter, since this is a great time to get the ear of your adviser, attorney, accountant and other professionals. Right now, they’re not busy putting out fires or approaching year-end deadlines. Here are a couple of activities to consider.

PrepareforRMDs: If you’re 73 or over, you must take a requiredminimumdistribution fromyour retirement funds by year-end or face stiff penalties. Thefirst step is to figure out howmuch youmust withdraw. That’s based on the year-end value of all your retirement accounts last Dec. 31.

I hope you kept your year-end statements fromvarious brokerage and fund companies. Add up those balances and go to any online calculator (type"RMDcalculator" into a search engine) and input your age and total assets to get the magic number.

Next, take a look at your investments.

Where will thatmoneycomefrom? It can all be taken out of one account or fromvarious accounts, as long as the total is correct.

But if all yourmoneyis in stocks right now, do youwant to be forced to sell at year-end? This is the time to raise some cash and put it in amoneymarket fund. You have until year-end to take the required amount or you can take some out now.

Checkoutyourfinancial adviser: Doyou really knowwhoyou’re dealing with— and howyour adviser is motivated (by commissions, actions, total account value, set fees)? Nowonder he or she advises you not to set aside "chickenmoney" inT-bills, since he or she can’t earn a commission or count that money among the assets for fee-based charges.

Goto brokercheck.finra.org to check background and previous complaints.

But don’t stop there. If your adviser isn’t registered there, it’s a redwarning flag.

Anddisputes with a nonregistered broker outside theFINRAarbitration system could be very costly.

Updateyourestateplan: It’s too nice a day to die, but what if you did? Whatwould happen to your family? Is your will or estate plan current? Did you rememberto retitle yourhomeand brokerage accounts in the nameof your revocable living trust? Without doing that, the plan is useless.

Or what if you didn’t die, butwere incapacitated in an accident? Have you retitled your property in thenameof your revocable living trust, so yournamedsuccessor could take over and pay your bills, deal with investments, and pay your kids’ college tuition out of your properly titled bank and investment accounts?

Getorganized: If you’ve done all the above, would your loved ones knowwhoto contact and where to findall your investment accounts and legal documents. At TerrySavage.com, there is a "personal financial organizer" form you can print out in blank and fill out with all those important directions.

Createonlinesecurity: Theorganizer form mentioned above has pages for listing your important online accounts, with log-in names and passwords. But is your account itself secure fromonline predatorswhomay get your information from a data breach at your medical provider or department store? Youmay think you’re unimportant in the scheme of things, but Social Security numbers are being sold for $1 apiece on the darkweb. That’s often the key to your online presence.

It’s time to protect your access to all thosewebsites— fromonline bill payment to shopping sites to yourhome/auto insurance provider. Consider a password protection service likeDashlane, where all your access is securely encrypted, whether you’re on your phone or laptop or desktop.

Yes, thesemay be the lazy days of summer, but there are plenty of important financial issues to deal with nowthat you have the time. Andthat’sTheSavageTruth.

Terry Savage

The Savage Truth