Financial Review Checklist

Regularly reviewing your financial, legal, and personal strategies ensures they align with your current circumstances and future goals. Here are some ideas to get your started:

• Review significant life events from prior year. Life is full of changes, both planned and unexpected. Whether it’s a marriage, divorce, birth, death, or new financial circumstances, these events can significantly impact your estate plan. An annual review ensures your estate plan reflects your current family structure and relationships.
• Review beneficiaries. Your designated beneficiaries and executors may no longer be the best choices for their roles due to changes in their relationship with you, an executor’s ability to fulfill their responsibilities, or simply because there’s new people in your life who may be better suited for these roles. An annual review helps you evaluate whether the beneficiaries and executors listed in your estate plan are still the right choices.
• Review insurance policies. Keeping pace with the rising value of your assets is one reason to regularly review your insurance policies. As home values, personal belongings, or other assets appreciate, the limits on your current policies may no longer be sufficient to fully protect you in the event of a loss.
• Review business interests and succession plans. Make sure your business’s succession plan is well-documented and is part of your overall estate plan. Also analyze last year’s financial statements, update your strategic plans, and review the biggest risk threats, including all insurance policies, your cybersecurity plan, and any operational risks.
• Review asset management. Be sure to properly add or transfer new assets into your estate’s trust. One common mistake is not retitling property or a bank account to the trust’s name. Assets that aren’t properly added to a trust cannot be given the intended protections and may still go through probate or be incorrectly distributed.
• Review your team of trusted advisors. Your personal or professional priorities may change over time, as well as the skills or insights you need from your advisors. Reviewing your team allows you to identify gaps and make any necessary adjustments. This approach helps maintain strong, effective partnerships and ensures you’re receiving the best possible guidance.
• Review personal goals. Lastly, your personal goals may shift over time, whether it’s a desire to support a new charity, sell or acquire an asset, or balance distributions among heirs differently. An annual review lets you reassess your philanthropic goals, adjust allocations to beneficiaries, or to incorporate new strategies to achieve your financial and personal goals.