This spring seems unusually bad for the return of black house flies, and my neighbors seem to all agree.  Maybe it’s all the rain we’ve had, maybe they just like my dog, or maybe my kids don’t believe in shutting the doors (well, I know that’s true).  But whatever it is, there are definitely more flies on the loose than normal.  Something about a fly landing on a surface in the kitchen that touches food just drives me crazy!  My brain goes into stealth mode and I can’t think about anything other than hunting down that little bugger and swatting him into oblivion.  But every time I kill one, it seems that 5 more show up for his funeral.  They just keep coming!  The only thing that seems to work is just consistently tracking them down several times a day and picking them off.  Keeping up with it definitely makes it better.  But it’s still the worst year I can remember in a long time.

Financial Flies

So I’ve been thinking about how we all have financial black flies in our lives that buzz around our homes and annoy us.  One or two of them may not seem like a big deal.  But the wrong fly on your food can spread disease and make you sick.  Some financial flies are much more dangerous and deadly than a disease carrying house fly.  Some financial flies are so small we may not even realize they are there.  But often these are the worst kind. 

Here’s some examples of financial flies that really need to be swatted down:

• incorrect beneficiary names on IRA’s, 401K’s, and life insurance policies.
• incorrect titling of accounts.
• paying too much in taxes.
• paying too much in investment fees
• too much credit card debt
• improperly diversified portfolio
• no identity theft protection plan
• too much exposure to one company’s stock
• too much exposure to rising interest rates
• out-dated or non-existant estate planning documents
• spending too much money
• no retirement income plan

Financial flies like these are much like the black house flies buzzing around your kitchen.  If you ignore them for too long they seem to multiply.  Keeping up on swatting them down as you find them makes your life and your personal financial planning a lot easier.

What Can You Do?

If you recognize that some of these financial pests are bothering you, or you’re not sure about a few of them, then it would be a good idea to have a conversation with a Certified Financial Planner professional about your situation.  Call us today at 1-866-983-4222, and we’ll help you forever swat down the financial flies that are harassing you.  And don’t be surprised if we discover you have more flies in your house than you knew about.   🙂