We asked some top advisors what their advice is for being financially fit. Here\u2019s what they shared with us. How many of these can you tick off?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s about the flow.\u00a0<\/strong>Watch your cash flow and live within your means\u2014that\u2019s the starting point. Once that\u2019s under control, plan for the future, including what if something happens to you. What is the impact of that on those left behind and especially if there is debt left behind? That\u2019s where life insurance comes in.<\/p>\n \u2014Aurora Tancock, CFP, FLMI, AIAA, president of Aurora Tancock Financial Services<\/p>\n Set goals.\u00a0<\/strong>Just as exercise becomes a key tool to achieve health goals, life insurance is the same in your financial fitness program.\u00a0Among the many goals you can achieve through life insurance are: saving for future projects, plan for retirement and protecting the financial well-being of your family.<\/p>\n \u2014Ana Sof\u00eda Rodr\u00edguez D, M.B.A., associate director of\u00a0Grupo Inverseguros<\/p>\n See no evil.\u00a0<\/strong>Make sure you can leave your family no worse off than they currently are. A lot of people are insurance poor. There\u2019s nothing evil about insurance. It allows your family to maintain same standard of living that they\u2019re accustomed to if something were to happen.<\/p>\n The second is to buy products before the need is there. If you can\u2019t afford all of what you need, start off with what you can<\/em> afford. For example, start with term life insurance, instead of permanent, and then when you can, change it to a permanent solution.<\/p>\n \u2014Corry Collins, CFP, ChFC, CHS, of Maritime Wealth Management<\/p>\n Get help.\u00a0<\/strong>I would suggest people start working with an advisor as soon as possible. It\u2019s much easier to fix the financial \u201cmess\u201d of 30-year-old than a 55-year-old. And then, don\u2019t let life get in the way of keeping up with your plan. I think annual reviews are great for keeping people on track.<\/p>\n \u2014Jennifer Mann, LUTCF, CLU, ChFC, CFP, vice president of the Chicago office of Lenox Advisors<\/p>\n Give it a dry run.\u00a0<\/strong>I\u2019d ask, \u201cDo you have a spending or savings plan?\u201d You need something to help you understand if you are spending more than you\u2019re earning and whether you\u2019re saving enough. It\u2019s great if you can get on a spending plan and stick to it and reevaluate it periodically.<\/p>\n Then reduce and eliminate your debt\u2014but you\u2019ve have to want to do it! Remember, 98% of the people work for 2% of the people. The lenders are the ones you\u2019re working for.<\/p>\n Then have a dry run, what happens if \u2026 You have to go through your plan to see if you have enough life insurance, disability insurance, long-term care \u2026 what are the survivor needs going to be? etc. and then create a plan to live on that budget, so you can fund the things for later. By saving to today, you can have your earnings pay for your salary later.<\/p>\n \u2014Ed Skelly, ChFC, CLU, RICP, RFC, founder and president of Sterling Financial Partners<\/p>\n <\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We asked some top advisors what their advice is for being financially fit. Here\u2019s what they shared with us. How many of these can you tick off? It\u2019s about the flow.\u00a0Watch your cash flow and live within your means\u2014that\u2019s the starting point. Once that\u2019s under control, plan for the future, including what if something happens […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1435,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"2880","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[213,64,109,14,65],"class_list":["post-1434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-financial-fitness","tag-budget","tag-disability-insurance","tag-financial-fitness","tag-life-insurance","tag-long-term-care-insurance"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n