It’s a new year, fresh start…and that includes finances! When the clock strikes 12 and the calendar flips over to a new year, it’s often a fresh start for many. While there are many resolutions and goals made, the start of a new year is always an interesting time both personally and professionally.

As we come to the end of the calendar year, we get busy baking, wrapping gifts, hanging lights, and celebrating with family and friends. However, this also provides a natural time to review your financial plans and give yourself a financial checkup if you will. While it may not be the kind of thing that tops your “to do” list, it is important.

I’ve been in this business for over 20 years and while there have been some good times, there have also been some rough patches. If you lived through the turmoil of 2008 – 2009 you know what I’m talking about. One thing that has been true is that there are no guarantees. In life or in the financial services industry.

It’s interesting to look back through the years and note the trends. There were things 20 years ago when I started that were in vogue that isn’t today. Conversely, there are things that we use every day that didn’t even exist 20 years ago. The iPhone, for example, is only 10 years old. Pretty amazing to think about since it’s so integrated into our lives.

Fall happens to be one of my favorite times of the year. The heat of the summer is finally starting to subside and of course, it’s the beginning of football season. I spend many weekends taking in college and professional football and as I watch the ups and downs of America’s game it got me thinking. From a strategic and thought process, football and finance have many parallels.

As we move through life most of us live in the now worrying about getting to work on time, what to have for dinner, what sport do the kids have after school, and the list goes on. But what happens when the unexpected happens? Most of us have been there. The loss of a job, an unexpected divorce, or the death of a loved one, these life events can really throw things into upheaval.

When it comes to financial planning there is no one-size-fits-all option. As individuals, we all have different goals and objectives based on things like kids, marriage, work, age, and a host of other variables. When sitting down with your tax and/or financial advisor, it’s important to understand your asset allocation and what types of tax-deferred accounts you may have.

What does your income look like in retirement? Will you need to work part-time? Do you want to start a new business? Do you want to travel the world? These are all questions to ask yourself when retirement planning. To retirement plan is to plan for what you want your life to look like after paid work ends and that takes on many different forms in today’s world.

The list of insurance types is endless. From general insurance to property insurance and pet insurance, it seems as though there is insurance for just about anything you want nowadays. Recently on the North Main Financial Show we looked at a few of the more common types of insurance including auto/vehicle, property and liability insurance.

Here at North Main Financial we think it’s very important to be invested at a very high level in our communities and that includes not only other local business owners but our other institutions and educational spaces and it’s that relationship that we are going to highlight in this blog.