Three Steps to Improve Your Financial Outlook

If you're like many people, you may tend to lose track of your financial priorities. One day you realize that you aren't quite sure of how much you've saved for retirement, or how your financial outlook is holding up these days. It's a good idea to review this information periodically, to make sure you're on the right track toward a comfortable future. Not to mention, you'll sleep better at night once you get your financial affairs in order!

Review your retirement plan contributions. Are you currently contributing the maximum to your retirement plan? If so, you can skip this step. But if you aren't taking advantage of your maximum tax-advantaged contribution, call your human resources department at work. Increase your contributions by an amount that is comfortable for you, even if you don't reach the maximum. Any increase is better than continuing to save at a rate that is too low.

Review your fund allocations. When you originally chose your retirement fund allocations, you probably based those decisions around your retirement goals and your risk tolerance. Over time, goals and risk tolerance usually change. Therefore, your investment choices need to change as well. Schedule a meeting with your financial advisor, review your goals, and talk about making necessary changes to your retirement fund allocations.

Review your retirement plan. While you're meeting with your financial advisor, talk about your overall retirement plan. You may have experienced changes to your income or lifestyle since your last meeting, or you may be thinking about a new goal for retirement. Ask your advisor to run a projection to see how your current funds will sustain you in retirement. Rather than waiting until retirement time to discover that your plan isn't solvent, make changes now to help ensure that you can support your lifestyle when you stop working.

You may have other financial goals in mind, such as getting out of debt. Discuss these with your financial advisor at your meeting. But keep in mind that if you accomplish the steps outlined here, you will be well on your way to a solid financial future.

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