Celebrating Financial Planning Month

October is Financial Planning Month, and to celebrate, we are sharing the four fundamentals of successful financial planning, along with our previous blogs that go into more depth on each topic.

Budgeting through cash flow planning

The first and most quintessential step in financial planning is learning to budget by balancing your income and expenses.  In our blog, Budgeting for Beginners, we cover the basics of creating your own financial blueprint that tracks your income and maps it out to different categories, from saving to spending.

Investing and risk management

The next step after creating a financial budget is setting aside money to invest and manage risk. For beginners, learning how much risk you want to take is essential, which we cover in our blog, The Spectrum of Risk.

Once you have determined how much risk you can tolerate, you can start investing and building a retirement portfolio. Some individuals invest for themselves, while others outsource the work to a financial advisor. Either way, ETFs are an increasingly popular way for individuals and advisors to build a diversified portfolio. To learn more, we suggest reading Why ETFs Can Be Better Than Mutual Funds.

Lastly, while investing is a key pillar of financial independence, insurance is an essential backstop that helps protect you and your family and keeps your financial plan on track. Insurance comes in many types, from disability insuranceto life insurance and to long-term care insurance.

Tax planning

The next cog in financial planning is accounting for taxes and minimizing them when you can. For example, you can make Year End Tax Moves to lower your current or future tax bill, and investing strategies such as Tax-Loss Harvesting can help you better manage your taxable investments.

By making smart choices today and planning for the future, you can make your money go farther.

Estate planning

Lastly, estate planning is the final financial planning fundamental, and it deals with how to manage your assets after you are gone. In our blog post, Estate Planning For Women, we outline the process, key terms, and the benefits of planning now.

Closing thoughts

Financial planning is an important topic every adult should understand. By learning how to create a financial plan, and by making one on your own or with an advisor, you set yourself up for a better chance of achieving financial success.

If you are ready to learn more about financial planning and are interested in working with a financial advisor, we are here to help.

At Lundeen Abrams Advisors, we serve a broad swath of clients in the greater Minnetonka area, and we would love to learn how we can partner with you to achieve your financial goals.

Please reach out to schedule a consultation; we look forward to speaking with you soon.