FINANCIAL FOCUS Spring into Summer, the Seasons of Growth An Ideal Time to Answer Three Key Financial Planning Questions IN MY LAST SEASONAL QUICK TIPS ARTICLE, I focused on the importance of getting a financial check-up at the beginning of the year. Winter is a great time to take inventory of your assets, assess your gaps and weaknesses, and set an action plan that you and your advisor can work toward throughout the year. Now that we’re in the spring and summer seasons, our focus is on growth. In our financial lives, growth is very important for reaching our goals. Growth strategies typically involve a degree of risk, and it’s important to be aware of both opportunities and challenges. When I think of the spring and summer seasons, I think of all the things that are blooming and growing. The same needs to happen in our financial lives. To facilitate that growth, take those materials to your financial advisor to determine the answers to these three key questions: #1 Where are all your assets and what is the growth they are achieving? You want to be sure to assess all of your assets and not just your investment accounts in order to understand where your total assets are, and then determine the growth being achieved. This includes things like your home, rental property, personal property, collectibles and so forth. The goal is to understand your overall net growth number. #2 What risks are you taking to reach those growth numbers? In other words, are your assets growing at a reasonable rate relative to the risks you’re taking? There are many types of risks— market, interest rate, political, regulatory, currency and mortality and morbidity risks, as well as a host of other business risks. #3 Is the growth adequate to achieve your long-term financial goals? If you don’t know what your long term goals are, then start by setting those! It is essential to know the answers to these three questions, and clearly comprehend your rate of risk verse growth to reach your financial goals. Working with a financial advisor can greatly help with this analysis, and save you time while helping to make your investments more effective. Shawn O. Higley is the managing partner of The Partners Group Private Client Services. He can be contacted at shawn@tpgrp.com or (503) 726-5686. For more information, visit www.OMA-tpg.com. Shawn O. Higley Partner, Chartered Retirement Planning CounselorSM Physicians Advisory Services, The Partners Group 32 Medicine in Oregon www.theOMA.org
OMA Medicine in OR Spring 2016
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