Annual physical. Words typically not associated with excitement from your patients’ perspectives, nor an event they anxiously anticipate. The importance of these regular check-ups, however, is obvious in your practice of preventive medicine. The exam itself is informed by a checklist of items, done in a particular order, with the ultimate hope of declaring a clean bill of health. Often, these appointments create the basis for the doctor to make recommendations on how an individual can improve their health. Diet, exercise, kicking bad habits, getting more sleep; simple tweaks to lifestyle that can make vast improvements over the course of time. Deeper ailments may also be uncovered that require intervention in the form of prescriptions or procedures. Whatever the case, we can all do better and you, as a physician, help hold us accountable and provide a path to longevity.
The same holds true when a physician looks at their finances. An annual “physical” of one’s financial plan is critical to portfolio and overall wealth longevity. Medical professionals certainly have unique needs and circumstances in which they operate. The downward pressure on physician income can be attributed to thinning margins in the healthcare industry, increasing taxes, declining reimbursements, and rising costs of insurance and technology. Every dollar counts. To ensure you maximize yours, here is a checklist to evaluate the health of your financial plan before 2017 ends:
- Investments are diversified across all asset classes using low-cost investment vehicles designed to capture the factors that have been shown to drive investment returns.
- Investment accounts have been rebalanced to be consistent with your allocation target.
- Tax-loss harvesting has been performed, if applicable, in any non-qualified accounts.
- Tax-deferred retirement account contributions have been (or will be) maximized for the year.
- Your potential tax bill has been mitigated as much as possible for the year.
- Estate plan has been updated within the past three years, no substantial life event has taken place since then, and your documents are structured to avoid any undue estate tax.
- 529 plans have been fully funded for any children that will be attending college in the future.
- Life and disability insurance policies have been reviewed to ensure the appropriate policy type and coverage amounts are in place.
- Gifting efforts have been (or will be) completed by year-end to impact charitable organizations and/or lessen estate and income tax potential.
- Debt elimination is being accelerated in concert with a savings strategy to further your progress toward a comfortable retirement.
- You have met with your financial advisor to ensure all components of your plan are in place and necessary updates have been made.
Navigating this road on your own is fraught with potholes. Patients shouldn’t perform annual health exams on themselves, nor should physicians give their financial plan a review in isolation. Your focus is providing high-quality healthcare. Our focus is helping you keep your focus. No selling, fee-only, fiduciary, objective financial planning and investment management…we stand ready to partner with you in achieving all that is important. Contact a financial advisor at Foster Group today for a complimentary annual financial physical.
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