A good financial plan should be as comprehensive as possible. While there are essential goals you need to consider like retirement or your kids’ college fund, there are also plenty of other expenses that you should cover and plan for.
Here are some of the most overlooked concepts people forget about when managing their money, according to certified financial planner Martin A. Scott. See which ones you forgot about and how to add them to your current financial plan.
Opportunity Costs
An opportunity cost is a benefit that you drop when you decided to go with another financial choice. For example, It’s basically the potential losses you incur when you choose to put your money in a specific investment fund over others you considered.
Being aware of what you’re missing out on is important when it comes to financial planning because you’d ideally want every bit of your financial resources to work to benefit you. This is where consulting with a financial planner can benefit you.
Hiring one to help you go over your assets and budget can help you identify some aspects of your spending or investing that can be made more efficient. For example, they can point out hundreds of dollars a month you may be misusing.
Umbrella Insurance
If you already have a financial plan, then you’ve probably been told of the importance of being protected by insurance. But while you’ve already taken the advice and got yourself a life and health policy, you may be missing coverage in case of emergency situations.
This is where umbrella insurance comes in handy.
For example, you got into a car wreck that resulted in damages costing around $800,000. Unfortunately, your auto insurance only covers up to $300,000.
If you have umbrella insurance, it would kick in and cover the rest of what your auto insurance won’t pay for. This kind of insurance basically protects you against personal liability and is a relatively inexpensive way to prevent catastrophic financial loss on your part.
Credit Reports
Your credit reports offer you insightful information about your finances. So, despite it being a rather tedious task, make a habit of going through your credit reports from all three major bureaus.
Confirm whether the information recorded is accurate and make the proper complaints when you do spot anything wrong with the reports, especially potential fraudulent activities like identity theft.