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350 N Orleans St

Suite #9000n
Chicago, IL 60654

First Quarter Financial Planning Updates

February 08, 2021

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Ideas, strategies, perspectives and courses of action to inform your financial mindset in 2021.  Sign up for our next Webinar on Financial Planning or Environmental and Socially Responsible Investing.  

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First Quarter Financial Planning Updates

It’s that time of year. Time to update and review your budget for 2021.  With the start of the year, we can expect changes, updates and opportunities that will impact our financial plans and purpose. A few items that can impact our financial plan in the first quarter include:

  • Federal, state and local tax obligations and payments
  • Business income / distributions
  • Changes to employee benefits / insurance costs
  • Tax refunds
  • End of year bonuses

Updating and reviewing our budget is an important and ongoing process.  Take time in the next 30 days to update your budget and share your new budget with us via secure email, E-money or a Secure Form.

Recommended Action

Update your budget in E-money

Click Here to Build a Budget using a Secure Form

Send a copy of your budget using your personal spreadsheet 

 

Why do we need to update our budget? 

Having an understanding of our financial cash flows and resources is the foundation of the financial planning process. It is fuel on our journey. A limited resource to be managed and reviewed in relation to our financial goals or best guesses for future. 

Don’t like budgeting? Sounds stressful and time consuming? It’s OK to not like budgeting. It’s ok to not track 100% of spending. An imperfect budget beats no budget. Making an effort to avoid unnecessary debt and spending less than you earn is a healthy exercise. If this is your first time updating or building a budget. I recommend focusing on only a few areas to start.  

  • Mortgage / rent
  • Employee benefits (health insurance, life, dental, disability, etc.)
  • Groceries
  • Dining out
  • Utilities
  • Transportation
  • Subscriptions
  • Entertainment
  • Know savings rate (retirement, savings account, IRAs etc.)

 

Don’t be afraid to submit an incomplete budget or skip over areas that are unknown for now. Some areas will be best served with a “Best Guess” number that can be revised in the future.

 

What some help with your budget?  Book a meeting today to get help.  

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