{"id":1067,"date":"2014-03-26T14:26:04","date_gmt":"2014-03-26T14:26:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vhfinancialmanagement.com\/?p=1067"},"modified":"2014-03-26T14:26:04","modified_gmt":"2014-03-26T14:26:04","slug":"spring-cleaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vhfinancialmanagement.com\/2014\/03\/26\/spring-cleaning","title":{"rendered":"Spring Cleaning"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"float: left; margin-right: 10px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share\" class=\"twitter-share-button\" data-via=\"tvonhaefen\" data-count=\"vertical\" data-url=\"https:\/\/vhfinancialmanagement.com\/2014\/03\/26\/spring-cleaning\">Tweet<\/a><\/div>\n<p>Spring is officially here\u2026.finally!\u00a0 Even though yesterday looked more like January with blowing snow, the calendar says it is spring. With spring comes spring cleaning.\u00a0 We should also look to do some tidying-up in our financial world, as well.\u00a0 Here are a few tips to spruce up your 2014.<\/p>\n<p>1. Complete your taxes!<\/p>\n<p>If you haven\u2019t already filed your taxes, get them done. \u00a0Remember the taxes you are filing belong to last year.\u00a0 The numbers and information are history. We are looking backwards when we prepare last year\u2019s taxes, and, if you want to be financially successful, we need to look forward.<\/p>\n<p>2. Tidy up your safe or safety deposit box<\/p>\n<p>Are your documents safe?\u00a0 Are your estate planning documents (and other important documents) protected against fire and flood damage? \u00a0If you don\u2019t have these documents in a fire-proof safe or safety deposit box, it\u2019s time to act.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a list (at least a few) of the documents you will want protected:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Estate planning documents and trusts<\/li>\n<li>Life insurance policies<\/li>\n<li>Deeds (home)<\/li>\n<li>Auto titles<\/li>\n<li>Home, auto, and umbrella insurance policies<\/li>\n<li>Access info (passwords, web addresses)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Hint: it\u2019s important to have copies of these documents saved electronically and securely backed up to the cloud, as well.<\/p>\n<p>3. Are your beneficiary designations up to date<\/p>\n<p>Have you reviewed your beneficiary designations lately?\u00a0 This often forgotten aspect of planning is extremely important and should be reviewed. Check designations on all retirement accounts, POD or TOD accounts, as well as, the titling of joint accounts. \u00a0Don\u2019t forget to include a contingent beneficiary in case your primary predeceases you.<\/p>\n<p>4. Do your estate planning appointees know their job?<\/p>\n<p>If you created (or amended) a will, health care power of attorney or any other estate planning document, do the people appointed to positions know their job\u2026or even know they are appointed?\u00a0 If you provide guardianship of your children to a family member through your will, it\u2019s important that the family member 1. know this, and 2. understand your wishes.<\/p>\n<p>The most tragic circumstances can be compounded by poor planning and surprises.\u00a0 Do the work on the front end and the folks impacted by your passing will be grateful\u2026..plus, your wishes will be carried out more efficiently.<\/p>\n<p>While it\u2019s spring and while we\u2019re cleaning, we should take a few minutes to make sure our financial house is in order. Knowing you have accomplished these tasks may help you sleep as much as a days\u2019 worth of work in the yard\u2026.just without all the spring allergies!<\/p>\n<div class=\"linkwithin_hook\" id=\"https:\/\/vhfinancialmanagement.com\/2014\/03\/26\/spring-cleaning\"><\/div><script>\n<!-- \/\/LinkWithinCodeStart\nvar linkwithin_site_id = 434679;\nvar linkwithin_div_class = \"linkwithin_hook\";\n\/\/LinkWithinCodeEnd -->\n<\/script>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/widget.js\"><\/script>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/pixel.png\" alt=\"Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...\" style=\"border: 0\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tweet Spring is officially here\u2026.finally!\u00a0 Even though yesterday looked more like January with blowing snow, the calendar says it is spring. With spring comes spring cleaning.\u00a0 We should also look to do some tidying-up in our financial world, as well.\u00a0 Here are a few tips to spruce up your 2014. 1. Complete your taxes! If you haven\u2019t already filed your taxes, get &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/vhfinancialmanagement.com\/2014\/03\/26\/spring-cleaning\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<script>\n<!-- \/\/LinkWithinCodeStart\nvar linkwithin_site_id = 434679;\nvar linkwithin_div_class = \"linkwithin_hook\";\n\/\/LinkWithinCodeEnd -->\n<\/script>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/widget.js\"><\/script>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/pixel.png\" alt=\"Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...\" style=\"border: 0\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1068,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vhfinancialmanagement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1067"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vhfinancialmanagement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vhfinancialmanagement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vhfinancialmanagement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vhfinancialmanagement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1067"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/vhfinancialmanagement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1067\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1072,"href":"https:\/\/vhfinancialmanagement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1067\/revisions\/1072"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vhfinancialmanagement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vhfinancialmanagement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vhfinancialmanagement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vhfinancialmanagement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}