Over the past few months, we’ve highlighted several of the key foundational elements of building a comprehensive financial plan for your family. At the same time, we must remember that a financial plan is never truly finished.
For families with children, even a single year can bring meaningful changes. You may be considering purchasing a home, welcoming another child, changing jobs, inheriting assets, starting a business, or needing to care for aging parents. As your life evolves, so too should your financial plan.
We believe every family should review their financial situation at least once a year, as well as around any significant life events. Think of your annual review as the minimum expectation, not the only time you revisit your plan. Make sure your financial decisions and structures in place continue to reflect your family’s goals, priorities, and current circumstances while uncovering planning opportunities that may be easy to overlook when life gets in the way, as it so commonly does.
If you are working with a financial advisor, they should proactively reach out to make sure these conversations happen, identify planning opportunities, and ask the questions you may not think to ask on your own. If you do not currently work with an advisor, create the habit yourself. Pick a date you’ll remember, perhaps around your anniversary or the first Saturday of every new year, and make it an annual family tradition. Use it as a consistent reminder, but don’t wait for that date if life changes first.
Whether you’re reviewing your plan on your own or with an advisor, this FAMILY checklist serves as a helpful reminder of key elements of your comprehensive financial plan to consistently review. As you work through your review, consider the following:
- Family Accounts: Know what you own across all accounts.
- Annual Spending Review: Understand what you spend and can afford.
- Minors and Guardians: Review your estate documents, guardians, and beneficiary designations.
- Insurance Protection: Confirm your life, disability, homeowners, and umbrella insurance coverage remains appropriate.
- Learn: Revisit your education funding strategy.
- Yearly Check-In: Review your plan at least once a year and adjust it as life evolves.
In our experience, the families who tend to have the greatest long-term success aren’t necessarily the ones who make every financial decision perfectly. They’re the ones who revisit their plan regularly, make thoughtful adjustments as life changes, and keep what matters most to their family at the center of every decision.