Building a Financial Profile - On the Money News

But even with help, you still need to develop your own risk tolerance, financial goals and establish life events on the basis of your life expectancy. There are several risk tolerance tests available online offered by a variety of financial institutions. They ask probing questions that can help you establish a baseline for your financial decision making process. After having your test evaluated, you may discover you’re not who you think you are... well at least when it comes to money. As Shakespeare once said, “to thine own self be true.” And when it comes to money, no truer words were spoken.

For example, a type A “driver emotive” personality may have a portfolio that’s aggressive, but the results of his risk tolerance test reveal a moderate conservative. Often many 401(k) portfolios don’t match up well with their participant’s risk tolerance test results.

It’s also important to establish a financial timeline that reflects the many life events along the way; like getting married, having children, buying a home, saving for college and weddings, contributing to a retirement plan, creating funding for long term care and leaving a legacy. But the most important part of establishing a financial timeline is to determine your life expectancy, especially for retirement planning, including long term care and medical events that occur, as we grow older. The Guinness Book of World Records documented that a woman in France named Jeanne Calment was the longest living human at 122 years, 164 days. Some gerontologist say the first person to live to age 150 has already been born. There’s no doubt that many baby boomers will live into their nineties, some may reach even age 100. So developing a life expectancy report can help you measure whether your retirement resources will last as long as you do. And that coupled with the results of your risk tolerance test can help you begin to create your own financial profile.

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