If you want to know if something will work the way it should under the most challenging circumstances, what do you do? You test it. That’s why automakers send their cars crashing into walls. They want to know how all the components will hold up. That’s also why your doctor might have you run on a treadmill at your yearly appointment. They want to see how your body holds up under stress.
Well, the same goes for your financial plan. If you want to be certain your plan will hold up in the event something bad happens, you need to test it. This is something extremely wealthy people (think those worth $500 million or more) do on a regular basis. Even if you don’t come close to making it into that club, you can still benefit from stress testing your financial plan.
What does it mean to stress test your financial plan? It essentially means poking a series of holes in your plan to see if it causes the entire plan to burst. You do this by asking a series “what if” questions about different areas of your financial plan, and following the path of what would happen in each scenario. If a path leads your plan to places you do not want or expect, that means it fails the test.
Some aspects of your financial plan you might want to stress test include:
- Estate planning
- Asset Protection
- Income Tax Plan
The overall idea is to make sure your financial goals are achieved no matter what should occur. If you find out your plan doesn’t achieve those goals in any specific scenario, then you might need to change your plan.
The resource you can download below includes tips for assessing the financial services and products you are currently using—along with some potential courses of action you can take based on the results of your financial stress test.
Need help stress testing your financial plan? Talk to Trove Private Wealth™ today and we’ll help you determine if your plan holds up under pressure.
Disclosures:
The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author and should not be construed as specific investment advice. All information is believed to be from reliable sources, however, no representation is made to its completeness or accuracy. All economic and performance information is historical and not indicative of future results. The S&P 500 Index is a broad based unmanaged index of 500 stocks, which is widely recognized as representative of the equity market in general. Indices are unmanaged and do not incur fees. One cannot directly invest in an index.
Neither Trove Private Wealth™, Valmark Securities nor its affiliates and/or its employees/agents/registered representatives offer legal or tax advice. Please seek independent advice, specific to your situation, from a qualified legal/tax professional.
Securities offered through Valmark Securities, Inc. Member FINRA, SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Valmark Advisers, Inc. a SEC registered investment advisor, 130 Springside Dr., Suite 300, Akron, OH 44333-2431, 800-765-5201. Trove Private Wealth™ is a separate entity from Valmark Securities, Inc. and Valmark Advisers, Inc.
