A new year just started – be sure to review the following to make sure you are financially set up for the next twelve months!

Review Your Beneficiaries

Make any needed updates to the beneficiary portion of your bank and retirement accounts, life insurance policies, IRA accounts, and so on. Choosing a beneficiary for your life insurance policy is important because your beneficiary will be the person(s) your accounts and policies will be payable to upon your death. Have you gotten married or had a child within the last year? This is also something to keep in mind when selecting a beneficiary and deciding if you need to make any changes this year.

It’s also a good idea to name a secondary beneficiary in case your primary beneficiary passes away. Review beneficiaries for all of your accounts annually. January is the perfect month to do so.

Check Your Tax Withholdings

It’s a good idea to review your W-4 form each year. If you remember from last year, it was the first year tax filers did their tax returns under the country’s new legislation. Was your tax return last year smaller than what you were used to in the past? Did you owe money on your taxes? If so, be sure to consult with your tax professional, put some money aside in savings, and review your withholding amount to see if anything should be adjusted.

Go Over Your Insurance Policies

You should also review your insurance policies on an annual basis: health insurance, life insurance, homeowners insurance, and auto insurance. You will want to review each policy to ensure you aren’t paying too much and that you have the right coverage. In looking at your homeowner’s insurance – do you have any newer bigger ticket items over the last twelve months that were not included in the previous year’s policy? If so, be sure to include them as you are reviewing for the new year ahead.

Look at Your Emergency Savings

Hopefully you have an emergency savings account with at least 3-6 months’ worth of savings in it that you don’t touch. If not, make it your new year’s resolution to start one ASAP! An unexpected accident or emergency can really set you back financially, so even if you are only contributing a small amount per paycheck – it’s important to have that back up bank account should you ever need it.

Contribute to a College Savings Fund

If you have children, are you contributing to a college savings fund to prepare for their future? A college education is not inexpensive these days, but there are some tax-advantaged products you can look into that will help you save over time.

Be sure to speak to your financial advisor, or if you are local to Monmouth and Ocean Counties in NJ – make an appointment with one of ours located within our Investment & Retirement Center. Our financial advisors would be happy to discuss 529 plan options with you at any time.*

Financially Plan for the New Year

It’s a brand new year with lots of blank pages – be sure to get a family savings plan in place, think about if you can afford to travel this year in January, or if your family will be celebrating any upcoming milestones this year. If so, think about opening a special savings account and automatically transferring funds from your paychecks into that account to save up for the year ahead.

Get started with a special savings account at First Financial, we are happy to help our members achieve their financial goals and dreams – and get off on the right foot in the new year!**

Article Source: Securian.com

 *Securities and advisory services are offered through LPL Financial (LPL), a registered investment advisor and broker/dealer (member FINRA/SIPC). Insurance products are offered through LPL or its licensed affiliates. First Financial Federal Credit Union (FFFCU) and The Investment & Retirement Center are not registered as a broker/dealer or investment advisor. Registered representatives of LPL offer products and services using The Investment & Retirement Center, and may also be employees of FFFCU. These products and services are being offered through LPL or its affiliates, which are separate entities from and not affiliates of FFFCU or The Investment & Retirement Center.

Securities and insurance offered through LPL or its affiliates are:

**A $5 deposit in a base savings account is required for credit union membership prior to opening any other account. All personal memberships are part of the Rewards First program and a $5 per month non-participation fee is charged to the base savings account for memberships not meeting the minimum requirements of the program. Click here to view full Rewards First program details.