by Kevin Rigg, Director of Financial Life Planning, CPA, CFP®

Have you ever taken a perfect family photo, except that one energetic kid (you know the one) is somehow always blurry? It’s hard to show someone else a true picture of what matters most to you, if everything (or everyone) is not in focus.

For that very reason, the SoundView Planning Team is already hard at work preparing for 2020 Annual Review meetings. In early January we will be sending all clients (yes, including you!) a request for 2019 cash flow information, as well as year-end values of non-portfolio assets and loans. Basically, we’re asking for an in-focus snapshot of your full financial picture.

The primary objective of the Annual Review meeting is to accurately assess your financial situation and track your progress toward meeting long-term goals. In order to do this well, we’ll need timely and accurate financial data.

For example, in order to provide a complete net worth and cash flow statement, we’ll need year-end bank account balances — otherwise some of our assessments could just be a shot in the dark. While we already track flows within investment accounts, we don’t see that activity in your personal bank accounts.

Armed with the necessary financial information, it’s much easier to produce more accurate reports for the meeting. We’ll also sit down and review important life changes, or any important decisions you made in the last 12 months. Ultimately, we want to increase the chances of you achieving your life (and financial) goals — so if changes to your plan need to be made, this meeting is where we’ll talk about it.

The Annual Review meeting brings the focus back to long-term planning while keeping our eyes on the path you’re walking today. That way, we don’t miss important changes that may have a big impact down the road.

We’re here to help you keep EVERYTHING in focus, and we’re glad to do it. We’ll see you in 2020, clearly.