FINANCIAL FOCUS: CHECKING FINANCIAL STATUS ON A YEARLY BASIS IS GOOD HABIT FOR INVESTORS TO DEVELOP

This "Financial Focus" column is prepared by Edward Jones Investments, headquartered in St. Louis. Jones includes branches throughout the nation, including Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

If you're like many people, you get an annual physical checkup. After all, it's your health -- and you want to do whatever you can to maintain it.

But how about your financial health? Are you taking similar measures to preserve its well-being? You should -- and you can start by conducting an annual financial "checkup."

How should you go about performing this checkup? Start by setting aside a special time each year to meet with your financial professional to review your progress. And when you get together, ask questions similar to the following:

1. Do changes in the financial markets require a change in some of my investments? You don't want to adjust your portfolio just because the market is up or down. But you may want to make adjustments if your goals change or if your portfolio has gotten out of balance. For example, if you own a lot of stocks, and their prices have gone up substantially as part of the prolonged bull market, then more of your portfolio's value than you intended may be in stocks.

2. How have my stocks, bonds, mutual funds and other investments performed in comparison to similar investments? Ask your financial professional to compare your individual investment returns against appropriate benchmarks.

3. Are there changes in my personal circumstances that would affect my investments? If you switch jobs, get married, have a baby, receive a pension plan distribution, or retire, you may well need to change your investment goals -- and your investments.

4. Am I making the right moves with my retirement plans? Are you contributing as much as you can to your 401(k)? Are you fully funding your "traditional" IRA or Roth IRA? If you're self-employed, are you putting enough away into your Keogh or SEP? Ask your investment professional to run some computerized projections of your retirement savings. If you're not on track toward meeting your goals, you may need to make some changes.

5. Am I adequately protecting my family and my income? Adequate insurance is a key ingredient of a comprehensive financial plan. Do you have enough life insurance to protect your family in case something happens to you? Do you have disability coverage to make up for any income that might be lost due to an accident or extended illness? Do you have long-term care coverage to protect your life savings from the potentially catastrophic costs of a long stay in a nursing home?

6. Should I be doing some estate planning? It's never too early to start doing estate planning. Parents should draw up a will or a living trust to provide for their minor children. And people in or near retirement should position their estates to spare their heirs from having to pay heavy estate taxes.

As you can see, there are many issues to explore during your annual financial checkup. By staying on top of these matters from year to year, you'll continue making healthy progress toward all your goals.

The Southeast Missourian does not recommend that readers buy or sell stocks featured in this column, which is provided for informational purposes only.