Achieving Your Goals Estate Planning Life Events Preserving Your Wealth Life Events Every life is touched at some point by an event that has significant financial implications. Whether it's getting married or losing your job you can enhance your personal financial security by planning ahead. Marriage Whether you are in the planning stage or already married, one of the most important things you can do to help you marriage succeed it talking about money and setting some financial goals. There are a number of basic steps you can take to create a positive financial picture for yourselves, no matter what your financial situation: Communicate regularly with each other about your attitudes and experiences regarding money. Identify the financial assets each of you brings to the marriage. Talk to your attorney regarding the benefits of transferring property to joint ownership. Set financial goals for yourselves and establish a realistic plan to achieve them. Establish short-term, easy-access savings and make it a priority to create an emergency fund of three to six months' salary. Evaluate your medical insurance needs and establish the coverage you need. Establish a will as soon as you are married. Starting A Family When you decide to have a child, it becomes even more important to have a financial plan in place. This will allow you to build a solid financial base for your family. The time to start is now. Here are some of the most important things to consider: Find out about your employers' family leave policy. Be sure that you have set up a short-term, easy-access savings account and have a good savings account in place. Determine the costs for childcare, food, clothing, etc., in your area and update your savings and financial plan accordingly. Calculate how much your child's education is going to cost and begin a savings plan to fund it. Review your life insurance requirements and update policies as needed. Select a guardian and be sure to update your will with this information. Decide how you are going to teach your child to become a good money manager. Job Loss While there is little you can do if your job is marked for termination, there are some steps you can take to soften the financial impact: Build a cash reserve that will cover three to six months of living expenses. Update your budget to reduce your family's expenses as much as possible. Find out about continuing your existing health insurance through the federal COBRA program. This allows you to continue your group coverage for 18 months. Apply for unemployment insurance as soon as possible. Contact your creditors and mortgage holder to see if you can make arrangements to postpone or reduce your payments until you find work. Find out about your options for handling your pension plan. Disability The only way to be prepared in case disability strikes is to plan for it. Insurance and savings are the keys to financially surviving this unexpected life event. Here are a few steps you can take in case disability strikes you or your family: Build a cash reserve that will cover three to six months of living expenses. Check out Social Security benefits. Generally, to quality you must be severely physically or mentally disabled. Evaluate your insurance to be sure you have disability income insurance coverage and that it will provide 60 to 70 percent of your current living expenses. If not, increase your coverage or look at purchasing it yourself if your employer does not provide it. Maintain your disability income insurance until you retire. Death of a Spouse Pressing financial matters often compound the trauma surrounding the death of a spouse. Planning for the event while you are both living is key to navigating more smoothly through this difficult time. Work together to develop a plan, ensuring that you have adequately provided for those left behind. Also, be sure that both of you know what your assets are, how to access your financial records, and who to contact to assist you. Call your financial planner, insurance agent, and accountant. They can help: Guide you through the complexities of federal and state tax issues Identify all available benefits Reevaluate your monthly budget and financial plan Change the beneficiaries on your life insurance policies and retirement accounts Calculate death-related expenses. Check your eligibility for Social Security. If you are over 60, disabled over 50, or have dependent children, you may quality for monthly benefits. If so, apply right away. Update your will. Change the registration on your bank accounts. Divorce Unfortunately, divorce requires that you make important financial decisions at a time of great emotional stress. Here are some of the things you need to do during this process to prepare you for your new life: Be prepared for a change in your living standard. Frequently, it is lower after a divorce. Create a new financial plan for yourself based on your situation. Re-evaluate your insurance coverage and make changes as needed. Change beneficiary designations on your life insurance and retirement accounts. Update your name, if there is a change, and remove your spouse's name from all financial accounts, according to your property's settlement agreement. Be sure that your attorney helps you evaluate and realistically calculate child support payments, handles existing IRAs and pension plans properly, and update your will to reflect your new circumstances.