Halloween has come and gone, but there are still some frightening things that can happen any day of the year. For example:

 

  1. Opening your credit card statement and realizing your interest charges are higher than the current month's charges for purchases.
  2. Chatting with guests at your retirement party and realizing that you have no idea if your retirement pension is going to cover all those things you want to do.
  3. Lying in your hospital bed getting the good news that you will only be off work for six months and realizing that you have no disability insurance and no emergency funds.
  4. Realizing that your mother, who needs to move into a long-term care facility, cannot afford the cost of the facility she has chosen, or any facility for that matter.
  5. Celebrating the move of your youngest child from home to an apartment and getting a phone call from your eldest, who is unemployed and wants to move back home.
  6. Realizing when you file your tax return that you cannot offset the income earned on the fixed income investments, which you bought with the proceeds of your stock portfolio, against the capital loss you realized when you sold your stock portfolio.
  7. Realizing that stock market indices are up anywhere from 10% to 30% compared to when you sold your equity investments at a capital loss to buy fixed income investments because you were nervous about the markets.
  8. Finding out your furnace needs replacement just after you depleted your bank account for your mid life crisis sports car.
  9. Realizing that your children, who you added as joint owners to your mutual fund accounts for tax and estate planning purposes, are not going to consent to a withdrawal from the accounts to finance your European holiday with your new sweet young love interest.
  10. Opening your credit card statement in January!

 

You need not fear these ten financial frights - or many others that can set your teeth chattering - when you put in place a comprehensive financial plan that fits your life.

Do it with a financial planner (which is the best method of navigating life’s financial roads) or not; but be sure to give some serious thought to how you live your own life, and how it affects those around you who you love and care for.