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Yes |
No |
Retirement |
1 | | | Do you thoroughly understand the pros and cons of types of retirement accounts: taxable, tax-deferred, tax-free and annuities? |
2 | | | Have you analyzed which type of retirement account will give you the highest, long-term, after-tax performance? |
3 | | | Do you know that the sequence you fund the types of retirement accounts can have a major affect on your retirement? |
4 | | | Do you know that the sequence you withdraw funds from retirement accounts can have a major affect on your retirement? |
5 | | | Have you thought about how to balance investment risks against other risks such as inflation, poor health, etc? |
6 | | | In planning for retirement, have you analyzed actuarial data on your chances of living to a very old age? |
7 | | | Have you analyzed how many years your savings and investments will last in your retirement? |
8 | | | Do you have a more thorough estimate of your Social Security benefits than the estimate you may have received in the mail? |
9 | | | Are you aware that certain types of pensions will reduce your Social Security retirement benefits? |
10 | | | Have you analyzed Social Security benefit implications of early, normal, or late retirement--and how this affects your retirement plan? |
11 | | | Do you know when it is advantageous to convert a Traditional IRA into a Roth IRA? |
12 | | | Do you know the advantages of rolling over a 401(k) plan (or other qualified employer plan) into a Traditional IRA? |
13 | | | If both spouses have retirement accounts, do you know how to determine which spouse's accounts to draw down first? |
14 | | | Are you aware that if you are over 50, you can contribute extra amounts to most retirement accounts? |
15 | | | Do you understand that so-called expected case investment projections are extremely unlikely to occur as projected? |
16 | | | Do you know how to model the uncertainty of investment returns to analyze the sufficiency of your investment resources? |
17 | | | Do you understand the importance of making retirement projections in both inflated and constant dollars? |
18 | | | Do you understand the restrictions and limitations of most annuities? |
19 | | | Do you understand the disadvantages of having an annuity inside of a tax-deferred retirement account? |
20 | | | Do you understand the investment disadvantages of whole/universal/variable life insurance? |
21 | | | Have you included the affects of income taxes on your retirement planning? |
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Higher Education |
22 | | | Parents: Do you understand the powerful advantages of 529 accounts for saving for higher education expenses? |
23 | | | Parents: Do you know how to distribute assets between yourself and your children to optimize financial aid eligibility? |
24 | | | Parents: Are you aware of the three significant income tax breaks related to higher education expenses? |
25 | | | Grandparents: Are you aware of the powerful advantages of 529 accounts for providing money for your grandchildren's education? |
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Elementary and Secondary Schooling |
26 | | | Parents: Do you understand the advantages of Coverdell IRAs for saving for tuition for private elementary and secondary schools? |
27 | | | Grandparents: same as question 26. |
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Fundamental Investment Concepts and Products |
28 | | | Are you aware of what efficient portfolios are--and how to use this concept to maximize expected return for a level of expected risk? |
29 | | | Do you understand the definition of asset classes, how to find historical return/risk characteristics about them, and their usefulness? |
30 | | | Do you understand the advantages of owning exchange traded funds (ETFs)? |
31 | | | Do you understand how to use REITs to invest in commercial real estate without the obligations of direct property ownership? |
32 | | | Are you aware of investment expenses you are incurring that do not increase returns or reduce risks? |
33 | | | Do you understand the concept of regression to the mean and how it can be used to guide periodic portfolio re-balancing? |
34 | | | Are actively managed mutual funds a good investment compared to other ways of achieving diversification? |
35 | | | Do you own mutual funds with sales commissions or high expense ratios? |
36 | | | Do you know that mutual funds must distribute net capital gains, but cannot distribute net capital losses? |
37 | | | Do you understand how investment risk is measured? |
38 | | | Do you understand that you shouldn't expect higher returns for risk that you can diversify away? |
39 | | | Do you understand the relationship between the movement of interest rates and the prices of fixed income securities? |
40 | | | Do you understand that a portfolio should have a lower level of risk than the average risk of the securities in the portfolio? |
41 | | | Do you understand that options can be used to manage risk? |
42 | | | Do you understand that options can be used to generate incremental income? |
43 | | | Do you know how to determine if municipal bonds belong in your portfolio? |
44 | | | Do you understand the role of international investing in an investment plan? |
45 | | | Do you understand the role of home ownership in your investment and retirement plan? |
46 | | | Do you appreciate the value of having a modular structure to your portfolio? |
47 | | | Are you aware that there are often high transaction costs associated with buying and selling individual bonds? |
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Other Taxation Issues |
48 | | | Do you take advantage of any net taxable losses to shield ordinary income from taxation? |
49 | | | Do you understand the tax code as it pertains to investment income and expenses? |
50 | | | Are you aware that there are four different tax rates for long-term capital gains depending on the holding period and your tax bracket? |
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Charitable Giving |
51 | | | Do you understand the advantages of donor advised charitable funds to maximize the tax advantages of charitable giving? |
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Incapacitation, Death, Probate and Estate Taxes |
52 | | | Do you know how to protect your investment assets and avoid legal fees if you become incapacitated? |
53 | | | Do you know what probate is and how long it typically lasts? |
54 | | | Do you know what standing probate is and how to avoid it? |
55 | | | If your estate is subject to probate, do you know what % of your estate may be consumed by probate expenses? |
56 | | | Do you know that in Ohio, if your estate exceeds $35,000, your estate will likely be subject to probate? |
57 | | | Do you know that estate assets distributed through a will normally go through probate? |
58 | | | Do you know how to spare your heirs from the needless expense and heartache associated with probate? |
59 | | | Do you know how to structure your assets to minimize federal and state estate taxes? |
60 | | | Do you understand what a stepped-up cost basis is and how this benefits your heirs? |
61 | | | Do you understand the disadvantages of naming your estate or a trust as the beneficiary of an IRA? |
62 | | | Do you understand the advantages of revocable trusts (also called living trusts)? |
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Performance Measurement |
63 | | | If you do not know the rate of return of your investments, can you assess how well you are doing versus a market benchmark? |
64 | | | Can you calculate the rate of return of your investments--allowing for contributions, withdrawals, and the time value of money? |
65 | | | Can you break down your investment returns between dividends, interest, realized gains, and unrealized gains? |
66 | | | Can you track your total investment returns by asset class? |
67 | | | Can you track your total investment returns by individual security? |
68 | | | Can you calculate your total investment returns for various time periods? |
69 | | | Have you identified relevant benchmarks to compare your investment performance against? |
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Investment Plans |
70 | | | Would a personalized, comprehensive, long-term, investment plan (to meet your objectives) be useful to you? |
71 | | | Should the plan integrate data about your circumstances and objectives with a wide range of investment concepts? |
72 | | | Should the plan include the effects of taxes? |
73 | | | Should the plan include an analysis of the uncertainly of investment returns? |
74 | | | Should the plan recommend how to achieve the highest expected return for a given level of expected risk? |
75 | | | Should the plan be written and well documented? |