Provided by Tanner Knowland, Thrivent Financial
You know how to tell your doctor where it hurts. You can tell your dentist about your toothache. So why can it be so hard to talk finances with your financial professional?
A meeting with financial professionals can admittedly be a source of stress for some. Managing money can seem intimidating, is sometimes confusing and is always very personal. While they’re easy to avoid, missing financial meetings can bring similar issues as skipping a dentist or doctor visit.
These meetings provide an important financial check-up for you to ensure your strategy is still on track and can help make sure your family and finances are protected. Like going to the doctor or dentist, it is important that you come prepared to ask the right questions. Thrivent Financial suggests you ask these questions when you’re meeting with your financial professional.
1. Is my coverage adequate? Ensuring proper protection against death, disability or injury is one of the most important things you can do for your family. Talk to your financial professional about cost concerns, protection options and how you can make sure that your family will be covered financially in the event of an untimely death, or disability. If you’ve had major life changes like the birth or adoption of a child, bought a house or got married- chances are your protection will need updating.
2. What are some creative ways we can refine my strategy to help maximize benefits? This is the area that a financial professional can really help you. They can help you organize your financial strategy in a way that factors in things like taxes and market volatility, and they will know what changes are on the horizon that could affect you. They can also help you use staple products, like life insurance, in unique ways, like helping supplement a retirement income stream. These are applications many average folks don’t know about but can offer different advantages to your financial strategy.
3. How are my financial strategies aligning with my values? Having a financial strategy which allows you to align your finances with your values is another important topic to bring up. If you have charitable causes you want to support, or volunteer trips you want to take, make sure your financial professional knows about them and he/she can help you develop ways to bring your generosity to life.
4. Tell me about the strength and stability of your company or organization. Insurance is only as strong as the ability of your financial institution to pay out claims when you need to claim a contract. Make sure to investigate the strength and stability of any company you’re working with to ensure it is financially sound enough to make good on its obligations.
5. What should I do differently in the next year? This seems like an easy question, but you’d be amazed how few people ask it. Your financial professional is often in a unique position to help you stay ahead of the curve when it comes to your future strategy needs. Taking advantage of market volatility and ensuring your future protection needs are just two of the many variables to consider. Yearly meetings with a financial professional can help you hone your financial strategies for the upcoming year and help keep them as healthy as possible.
Your time is valuable; and your financial future is even more valuable to you and your family. Make sure you’re maximizing both and ensure you get the most out of meeting with your financial professional.
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Thrivent Financial and Kansas Heartland Group representative Philip “Tanner” Knowland. His office is located at 1609 SW 37th St in Topeka and can also be reached at 785-554-9842 or tanner.knowland@thrivent.com
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