The most important decision you’ll make this fall may be whether to vote for John McCain or Barack Obama.
But as you mull that over, you might also take the opportunity to make some important choices for your financial future.
So consider this suggestion: Make the list below your presidential election-year financial duty, something you commit to taking care of between the conventions and the elections every four years. It won’t avert every disaster, but it will help you stay on top of important issues for yourself and your family.
•Check your beneficiaries. This one is easy. The beneficiary form makes clear where you want your retirement account, 401(k) and life insurance to go, regardless of what your will says.
•Update your will. It sounds so obvious, but it is so easy to put off this miserable task even as your life changes in dramatic ways. Have you had children since your last will was written? Is your executor still up to the task? Has your financial or marital situation changed?
There are plenty of online and software options for drawing up a simple will, though consulting a lawyer is a good idea if your situation is even a little bit complicated.
•Review other key documents. In an ideal world, you have formally designated someone to make financial and health-care decisions for you if you aren’t in a position to make them for yourself. If so, you simply need to be sure that those documents reflect your state’s current laws and that the people are still alive, healthy and the ones you want making the decisions.
If you haven’t done this, a lawyer can draw up these documents. Though it may seem premature, even young adults should make their wishes clear. Sadly, both Karen Ann Quinlan and Terri Schiavo, who were at the center of legal life-and-death battles, were impaired while in their 20s.
•Reconsider your life insurance. Life insurance is intended to replace income that others rely on. But if you are older, your children are grown and your savings and retirement accounts are enough to cover your spouse’s needs, it’s possible that you don’t need it anymore.
•Ask about your other insurance policies. Once you’re thinking about life insurance, it doesn’t hurt to be sure your other policies are up-to-date as well. Has your homeowner’s policy kept pace with higher construction costs? Have you acquired art or jewelry that needs separate coverage?
•Think about the big picture. Occasionally, you should take stock of your long-term goals, says Bonnie Hughes of the Enrichment Group, a financial-planning firm in Miami. Are you still planning on taking that 2010 vacation to Africa? Did you sell your house rather than remodel it? Have your ideas about when or where you want to retire changed?
If you periodically step back and assess your goals, you can adjust your savings and investments to get you where you want to go.
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