5 ways to nurture your financial plan

If you plant a garden, you need to tend to it if you want a bountiful harvest every year. The same is true with your financial plan.

Creating a financial plan involves assessing your current finances, identifying your goals, and then creating a course of action to attain them. But like a garden, your plan needs careful and consistent attention to be successful and help you grow your wealth. Then you need to work with registered financial professionals on a course of action to attain them.

Here are five ways to nurture your financial plan from James Beam, Head of Investment Management, Brokerage, Planning, Retirement & Strategy at TD Wealth®.

1. Create goals and a strategy to achieve them

The more specific your goals – including the amount of money each goal requires and target dates to achieve them – the easier it will be to stay focused and track your progress. For example, you might aim to save $10,000 for a wedding next year or set aside enough to put 10% or 20% down on a $400,000 house in five years.

Put savings on autopilot, which will make it easier to consistently save without having to think about it. Most workers get their paychecks directly deposited into their bank accounts, and some employers even allow you to split your deposit among numerous accounts. At TD Bank you can open multiple deposit accounts – say, a high-yield savings account dedicated to a house down payment, another for next year’s vacation, and a third for living expenses – making it easier to separate funds for your goals from everyday expenses.

Periodically review your financial plan because your goals will likely change over time. The birth of a child, for example, could trigger a new goal: future college tuition.

2. Make retirement savings a priority

Even if your retirement is decades away, it’s never too early to start saving and investing. After all, you could easily spend 30 years or so in retirement, making it your most expensive goal.

Younger workers have a key advantage: time. Consistently investing even modest sums can amount to a significant nest egg by retirement. And younger workers may want to invest more aggressively for potentially bigger returns because they have time to recover from market downturns.

It may be difficult to come up with a dollar figure for how much you’ll need for a retirement that’s decades away, but a popular guideline is to save at least 15% of your gross pay each year in a retirement account.

The easiest and often best way to start to save for retirement is through an employer’s 401(k) or similar plan. Additionally, you can explore investment options outside of your workplace plan – a Roth IRA offers tax-free withdrawals in retirement, while a non-retirement advisory account provides flexibility and fewer restrictions than a retirement account.

A robo-advisor service like TD Automated Investing, with individual retirement account options, provides a convenient, and lower cost goals-based digital entry into investing.

3. Simplify your finances

With every new job, you might acquire a new 401(K) or other employer-based retirement account. And with each move, you might open new checking and savings accounts. Before long, you have so many accounts that it’s difficult to keep track of your money.

Consolidating accounts with a single institution can help. TD Bank, for instance, offers a wide range of retail deposit accounts and separate investment management accounts through TD Wealth® to fit your needs.

4. Get basic estate documents that workers of all ages need

Even younger workers with few assets need these key estate documents:

• A financial power of attorney that allows you to designate a trusted individual to make financial decisions on your behalf if you’re unable to do so.
• A health care power of attorney that lets you name a person to make medical decisions for you if you can’t.
• A living will where you can spell out your wishes for your end-of-life care.

Once ready, add a will to documents you’ll need.

5. Don’t go it alone

Managing your money can be complicated, especially now, when so many workers are responsible for financing their own retirement. Working with a registered financial advisor who can guide you along the way can help you work towards your financial goals.

A TD Wealth® advisor will learn what’s important to you and customize a goals-based financial plan and investment strategy to help you meet your objectives. And as a guide on your wealth journey, your TD Wealth® advisor will be there along the way to modify your plan as your life and goals change.

You need to regularly tend to your financial plan, just as you would a garden.

TD Wealth® is a brand of TD Bank N.A., Member FDIC (TD Bank). Banking, investment management and trust services are available through TD Bank.Securities and investment advisory products are available through TD Private Client Wealth LLC, a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission registered investment adviser and broker-dealer and member FINRA/SIPC (TDPCW). TD Bank and TDPCW are affiliates.The planning and investment strategies discussed herein are not intended to provide professional, investment or any other type of advice or recommendation, or to create a fiduciary relationship. You should not make any retirement or investment decisions in reliance on this material, which is intended to provide only brief comments on the topics addressed and is based on information that is likely to change without notice. TD Wealth® is not responsible for any loss sustained by any person who relies on this article.The planning and investment strategies discussed herein are not a solicitation to invest in any specific investment product or vehicle. Keep in mind that investing involves risk including the risk of loss of the entire investment.Federal and state tax rules and requirements are subject to frequent change. TD Wealth® does not provide legal, tax or accounting advice to its clients. Consult with your personal attorney, independent tax advisor and accountant/CPA for a complete analysis of the legal and tax implications applicable to your particular situation.No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, or referred to in any other publication, without express written permission. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. The TD logo and other trade-marks are the property of The Toronto-Dominion Bank or a wholly-owned subsidiary, in Canada and/or other countries.

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