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The launch of a new decade is a great time to assess your financial status, and just as important, to focus on your financial future with a total makeover. This is especially true today when so many of us are still reeling from the battered economy and record unemployment. But regardless of your current financial circumstances, there is always room for improvement and step one is to create a list of goals.
To help you, take a look at the key priorities that are the backbone of any financial plan.  You have to know where you are starting from in order to know where you are going.

•    Establish your net worth: Add up the value of your assets- your home, investments, retirement accounts, savings, etc. Then add up your liabilities- mortgage, credit cards, personal loans, etc. When you  

As a financial planner, I have always urged my clients to do their taxes twice a year. And though I’ve grown accustomed to hearing the grumbling about the hassles, after they realize how great an impact it can have on reducing their tax burden, they are always glad I suggested it.

Why file twice a year? Obviously the first tax return is for the purpose of filing before the April 15 deadline. The other “filing”  is actually a mock return done before the end of the calendar year so that I can assess where they stand tax wise. This gives me the needed time and flexibility to “change the score” of  

There has been a lot of press lately about the high cost of divorce. Not the legal fees (although those alone can be staggering enough to be deterrents) but the unanticipated expenses. Apparently there can be many surprises along the way.

According to Ron Lieber, who writes the YOUR MONEY column for “The New York Times”, the obvious first decision is whether to use traditional legal channels to resolve the major financial and custodial issues  

Every year at this time, I urge clients to give some thought to moves they could make between now and the end of the year to reduce their tax burden. It always surprises them that they have so many options. Here are some possible tax-reducing opportunities to consider:

Deferring Income: If you are expecting a year-end bonus, for example, and can take it in 2010 instead,  

Upon the death of a loved one, there are always questions among surviving family members. Whether their questions concern legal, financial, business or personal matters, the uncertainty of how to proceed can leave a mourning family in great distress. Worse still, without having specific guidelines to follow, conflicts can lead to feuding and law suits, or at a minimum, unnecessary ill will. Surely this is not what the deceased  

One of the most significant improvements on 403(b) plans is the requirement that employee/participants have several choices on where to invest their individual accounts. The downside is that many people don’t feel qualified to evaluate the merits of their investment options and need professional guidance. Districts would be well served to offer the services of expert, trustworthy advisors. Meanwhile, here are some important considerations for assessing retirement plan options:

Think Conservative The old rule of thumb was that the closer you were to retirement age, the more  

Important First Steps for School Districts

• Review current policies, contracts and management procedures for 403(b)s and other benefit programs

• Develop a list of all current benefit providers that details benefits, offered, fees charged and services provided

• Review compliance practices as they relate to the new 403(b) requirements

Starting a new job is very exciting, but the transition brings with it a lot of confusion regarding benefits, particularly retirement plans such as a 401k. If you have just recently made a job switch, or are in the process of doing that, know your rights and your options.

First, 401k accounts are portable- you will take the money with you through a process called a rollover. Essentially you take the distribution of your vested balance- the total amount you accrued from your own  

The old adage about turning lemons into lemonade may turn out to be true with investment portfolios. While we all struggle with the down market and the possibility of further decline before it bottoms out, now may be a good time to gift a portion of your assets to beneficiaries, thereby reducing your taxable estate. (This is for federal taxes only. State laws on transfer taxes vary and may or may not apply).

      The key advantages are:

          o Lowering your property transfer taxes (for gifts and estates)
       

As you attempt to build your financial life over the coming months and years, consider that if you are not working with a trusted financial advisor, you should make this priority number one. I have been a certified financial planner for the past thirty years and have always reminded clients that good financial advice doesn’t cost, it pays in more measurable ways than you can imagine.

But today, never has this been more true. Given the current world financial collapse, it has been the watershed event that proves that no one