Are You Properly Insured? A Year-End Checklist for Your Life Stage

The end of the year is the perfect time to review your finances—especially your insurance coverage. If changes have happened during the year, like marriage, a new job, or buying a house, the types and amounts of insurance you carry should be reviewed and potentially updated. “Insurance needs shift as life changes,” says Justin Edwards, Associate Wealth Manager at Echo Wealth Management. Justin earned additional certifications in insurance and helps the Echo team by looking at client portfolios through an insurance lens. Whether an annual insurance review is warranted “depends on the age of the client,” he explains.

Young Professionals

For young professionals, insurance often begins with what’s offered through an employer. “We take the approach of reviewing their employer benefits first. What do they have available for life insurance and disability insurance? Do they have life or disability insurance outside of their employer? As things change and life happens, it never hurts to have a policy that follows you outside of your employment,” Justin explains. Balancing these factors with the client’s goals ensures the right types and levels of coverage are in place.

Mid-Career

As careers advance and financial obligations grow—like raising children or funding college—insurance protection becomes even more critical. “If something were to happen, like disability or a spouse’s death, it’s important to ensure the family can take care of debts and still live a comfortable life,” Justin emphasizes.

This perspective is deeply personal for him. In 2008, his father and two brothers passed away in an airplane accident. His family’s financial stability during that tragedy came from careful planning and life insurance recommended by a trusted professional. “It was at that moment I realized, I want to be that trusted professional,” Justin recalls. He often reflects on how different his family’s future might have been without the right protection in place.

Retired or Nearing Retirement

For those retired or approaching retirement, a year-end insurance review typically isn’t necessary. At this stage, most financial plans are set. However, Justin advises considering long-term care insurance or planning for medical insurance before Medicare. “You want to be able to live comfortably, get the care you need, and enjoy life as much as possible—for yourself, and also for your family.” He cautions that minimal coverage may fall short of expectations. “Once a long-term care event happens, the average timeframe is three to five years until death. You want adequate coverage that allows you to live comfortably and avoid putting undue burden on your family.”

Ultra-High Net Worth

Greater wealth brings greater complexity, along with the need for additional investment, insurance, and tax strategies. “We may be able to utilize different insurance vehicles to provide either a tax-free income after death, or protect or shelter some assets outside of an estate,” Justin notes. Echo Wealth considers each client’s unique goals and the broader tax landscape when tailoring solutions. “The ultimate goal is protecting your assets and protecting yourself for the long-term.”

No matter your life stage, reviewing your insurance coverage ensures peace of mind and financial security for you and your loved ones. As the year closes, take time to confirm that your protection matches your current circumstances and future goals.

At Echo Wealth Management (EWM), Jared Johnson isn’t just crunching numbers—he’s creating strategies that turn financial goals into reality. As a Shareholder and Wealth Manager, Jared plays a key role in portfolio management, trading, and financial planning, ensuring every client has a clear, customized path to success.

By Jared Johnson, Shareholder & Wealth Manager

At Echo Wealth Management, your security is our priority. As cybersecurity threats evolve in sophistication and reach, we want to ensure our clients are not only aware of potential risks but also equipped with trusted resources and clear steps for protection. In collaboration with Schwab, we offer this guide to help you stay informed, vigilant, and prepared.

You might be thinking…
Other people get disabled, not me.
My business can run without me.
I’d rather put my money into growing my business.

The truth is illness and injury impact all of us, even businesses. Whether you are a key employee or business owner, understanding the possible outcomes of a temporary or permanent disability will help you to identify smart solutions for your financial plan.

On paper, retiring at the same time as your spouse sounds like a no-brainer! If you both retire together, then you would be free to travel the world, take up some new hobbies, and spend more quality time together as a couple. Chances are that you’ve not been able to enjoy these luxuries much over the past 20, 30, or more years. This is because, by the time we are nearing retirement, we have only recently said our goodbyes to our youngest child, and spouses have seen little of each other as day-to-day obligations eat up alone time.

It is for these reasons that simultaneous retirement has its appeal. However, it is vital, especially for women, to know where the pitfalls lie.

Sometimes, the unknown can be a bit scary. Previously, I’ve shared several financial tips that will allow you to plan for your financial independence and to own your future. Today, I want to ask you to give me a few somber minutes of your time.

I am asking you to turn off your emotions and turn on your intellect only. This way, you will be protected from your emotions entering in and shutting you off from discussing a tough but important topic: Long-Term Care. Come out from under the blanket for a few moments to learn about this important element of financial planning. Let’s look at what it is, and I promise you, it’s not as scary as you might think.

If you are planning for your future then, hopefully, you have put some thought into saving for retirement. When planning for retirement, there are many important factors to consider, such as how much investment risk is appropriate for your financial goals – and your comfort level. If what I have mentioned so far resonates with you, then the next question is, should you invest in stocks or bonds for your retirement savings?

There is a lot to unpack here because every investment has risks. When the stock market goes up, the usual pattern is that the bond market goes down (usually due to the Federal Reserve Bank increasing interest rates), but market cycles can be very strange indeed. In 2018, both the stock and bond markets lost money. In 2019, both the stock and bond markets had great returns. In 2020, the stock market had a sharp decline in the Spring and recovered, while the bond market had a steady, positive return as we dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic. This is precisely why everyone needs a solid education in investment planning, whether working alone or with an advisor, to determine risk tolerance and, on that basis, the right asset allocation to maximize after-tax risk-adjusted returns.

We all know the classic saying, “time is money,” right? We also know that time and money are the two things we often wish we had more of. The key to time management and overall life quality will always be finding that balance between what you have to do, what you want to do, and figuring out how to afford it all.

I know that I usually share about financial planning topics here. However, today, I wanted to share about something that’s equally important and still related: The idea of outsourcing specific tasks and responsibilities in your life to free up time to do the more valuable – and profitable – things.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) ranked the United States 29^th out of 34 countries in work-life balance. Outsourcing some of your daily tasks may be a more efficient use of resources than taking the valuable time to do it all yourself. Sure, we could all learn to change our oil or fix a leaky faucet, but by paying a professional to handle these tasks, we free ourselves up to focus on other things, like our work, which, in the long run, will make us more money rather than losing it.

For example, if you make $100 an hour at your job, and it takes you 3 hours to do a deep clean of your house, it essentially costs you $300 to clean your house. If you can have a service clean it for $150 in 3 hours, you’re saving money and outsourcing the labor. This is called “Opportunity Cost” – the next highest valued alternative use of a resource.