1 | Week In Review

Consumer Confidence, Atlanta Fed GDP Report, Microsoft News, & Friday’s Jobs Number

Annex Wealth Management’s Todd Voit discusses the better-than-expected Consumer Confidence and ISM Manufacturing reports, as well as the Atlanta Fed’s GDP report, news from Microsoft, and the jobs number from Friday.

2 | Poll

Money Questions To Ask Your Adult Children: Are Your Financial Documents In A Safe Place?

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3 | MoneyDo

Key Things You Should Know About Your Employer Sponsored Retirement Plans 

It’s always important to check on your 401(k) plan from time to time. Your 401(k) is a great investment tool when planning for your future in and through retirement, so it’s instrumental to be up to date on the specifics of your plan so it continues to work best for you! 

Check your beneficiary. Depending on your retirement plan provider, you either have the ability to designate your beneficiary online, or you may have to maintain a hardcopy on file with your employer. Either way, take a moment to verify that your beneficiary designation is up to date because nobody lives forever. 

Review your investment allocation. When was the last time you carefully reviewed your 401(k) allocation? If you haven’t checked it in a while, there’s a decent chance that market fluctuations have caused your allocation to be out of whack. Any time you make adjustments to your 401(k) investments, make sure to verify whether you’re changing the current balance in your account or if you’re redirecting the investment of future contributions.  It’s not uncommon for people to confuse those two because most recordkeeping systems allow you to employ separate investment strategies for current balances versus future contributions. 

Consider increasing your contributions. Momentum can be a tremendous asset when it comes to saving money, but it’s important to avoid complacency. If you haven’t reconsidered the amount you’re saving toward retirement, now is as good a time as any.  If the amount you’re saving doesn’t hurt at least a little bit, chances are you should increase your savings. 

Reevaluate your strategy. Even though most 401(k) plans do offer a Roth feature, it’s often significantly underutilized as compared to the traditional pretax approach to retirement savings. While Roth isn’t necessarily appropriate for everyone, it can’t hurt to do some thoughtful analysis to make sure that you are making the most of the planning tools available to you. 

4 | Ask Annex

Ask Us A Question!

5 | Quote of the Week

6 | Annex Radio

7 | Events & Webinars

Annex Wealth Management provides free workshops, open to the public, on key wealth management topics.