Mid-Year Check Up Time
According to Rick Sauder, writing in the Fidelity Investors Weekly, it’s high time for a check up of your financial position. He suggests the following four steps for an easy exam of your financial plan:
- Assess your investment mix.
- Check the amount of taxes being withheld from your pay.
- Take advantage of all savings opportunities.
- Adjust for any major life changes.
Sauder suggests that “rebalancing your assets can help ensure that you aren’t taking on more risk or less potential for growth than you want.” He suggests reallocating assets in the mix whenever one of the is 20% or more over or under the target you already set.
Here are a few of the areas cited by the IRS in which changes in personal circumstances should prompt a fresh look at your withholding rate and legal matters such as your will and beneficiaries listed on financial accounts:
- Lifestyle changes: Marriage, divorce, birth or adoption of a child, buying a house, losing an exemption, or retirement.
- Job wages: You or your spouse start or stop working, or start or stop a second job.
Income not subject to withholding: Increased or decreased interest income, dividends, capital gains, or self-employment income. - Deductions: Increased or decreased deductions such as medical expenses, charitable giving, or education credits
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