A Baltimore Financial Planner Can Help You Get Where You Want To Go Financially

Here are some tips to help you get the most out of working with a financial planner:

Before you set an appointment with a Baltimore financial planner, calculate your net worth. Basically, you take all your assets (the value of your house, any stocks/bonds/mutual funds you may own, your cars, your savings and any other high value items you may have (an art collection, for example), total them up and then subtract from that total the sum of your liabilities (your mortgage, car loans, credit card debt, etc.)

The resulting number is your net worth. Is it a positive number? Good! Regardless of the number, your goal is to increase that number as much as you can over time. If it's a negative number, the goal is the same, but because you owe more money than your assets are worth, you'll first have to dig yourself out of the debt hole. A Baltimore financial planner can help you there, as well, offering strategies and advice to help you pay off your debts.

Now, set goals. If you have debt to rid yourself of, you and your financial planner can come up with a plan to pay it off. If you want to, for example, take your family of four on a trip to Europe in two years, estimate how much that will cost you, divide the number by 104 (52 weeks in year multiplied by two years) and promise yourself you'll put that amount aside each week.

However, if you have no savings -- or very meager savings -- your Baltimore financial planner undoubtedly will encourage you to save up what is known as an emergency fund. You can start small -- putting aside $500 for emergency car repairs, for example. But you should aim to put aside at least three to six months' salary in this fund. Should you lose your job for some reason, you'll be very happy you did this.

Finally -- and perhaps most importantly -- a Baltimore financial planner can help you as you craft a plan to save for retirement. If you're planning to live off Social Security payments, think again. Even if the program is still around for several years (and all indicators are pointing to the fact that it will be, at least for a couple or more decades), it's still not enough for most people to live on comfortably. You're going to have save some funds yourself. No matter how old or young your are, talk to your Baltimore financial planner about putting aside money in an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) or 401(k) plan at your place of employment.

by: Oliver Feakins

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