Ongoing Review: A Key to Successful Financial Planning

Written by: Brady Martin, Wealth Management Advisor

As things in our lives change and evolve, so do our financial goals. Significant family events, home purchases, promotions, health events, changing rules and regulations, and shifting market conditions all play a part in how we approach our financial future. Despite this, many people create a financial plan and rarely revisit it, causing them to miss out on valuable opportunities to ensure their financial plans remain aligned with what truly matters most. The truth is that financial planning is a process, and your financial plan should be a living document that grows and adapts with you and your goals. Taking the time to update your financial plan at least on an annual basis is one of the most effective ways to ensure you stay on track and confident in your financial decisions.

Why Ongoing Review Matters

Your financial plan acts as a roadmap toward your goals, but just like any good map, it requires updates as the landscape evolves. Life events such as a job transition, changes in health, receiving an inheritance, family milestones, or entering retirement can shift your priorities. For instance, we recently had a review meeting with clients who welcomed a new child into their family. This addition to their family introduced a new goal of funding their child’s future education. Understanding this change allowed us to create new accounts for funding their child’s education and create a savings and investment strategy to better accommodate their new circumstances. Regularly reviewing your financial plan helps ensure that your savings strategies, investments, tax approaches, and risk management remain aligned with your current situation.

Regular review also provides an opportunity to revisit your goals themselves. For example, we recently met with a client who had a second home that they had intended to maintain long-term. During our review meeting, they shared that this goal was no longer a priority and that they instead wished to focus on traveling more frequently with their family. This update allowed us to reallocate savings, adjust timelines, and design an investment strategy that better supported this new vision. No matter how your goals evolve, regular check-ins ensure that your plans reflect your current vision, not your visions of the past.

Taking Advantage of New Opportunities

The financial landscape is constantly changing, tax laws are updated, new investment products are introduced, and interest rates are adjusted. These developments may significantly impact your financial plan. Meeting with your advisor on a regular basis gives you the opportunity to take advantage of these changes and be proactive with your adjustments rather than reactive.

For example, the OBBBA was signed into legislation earlier this year and brought numerous changes to the United States tax code. As my colleague, Sarah Anderson, CFP®, detailed in her article, ”One Big Beautiful Bill”: How Does It Impact Your Financial Plan?, this act introduced new temporary deductions, made several previous tax changes permanent, and increase certain deductions. One notable temporary deduction she highlighted is the senior deduction, which allows individuals over 65 to claim an additional $6,000 deduction, subject to phase-out limits. For many clients who qualify, this prompted us to adjust their overall tax strategy. The increased deduction created room for larger Roth conversions while keeping them within a targeted tax bracket. It also helped lower their modified adjusted gross income (MAGI), enabling some clients to increase their income while remaining under key IRMAA thresholds and avoid higher future Medicare surcharges.

Peace of Mind Through Preparation

Continued financial review provides benefits that go beyond the numbers and charts; it provides peace of mind. Understanding where you are in relation to your goals, whether you’re on course or working to regain your footing, reduces uncertainty and empowers you to concentrate on the things that matter most to you. A trusted advisor can help you navigate these changes with confidence and clarity.