Written by: George Shirley Any opinions are those of George Shirley and not necessarily those of RJFS or Raymond James.
The process of getting your financial house in order really starts with getting organized. Count how many credit cards you have, how many bank accounts, how many insurance companies do you have policies with, investment accounts, 401k with former employers. With how many different institutions are your currently doing business…5,10, 15+? Chances are, it is more than you really need.
A significant part of our job (especially with new clients) is to dramatically simplify people’s financial lives. Reducing the number of bank accounts, investment accounts etc. makes it easier to track your cash flow, liquidity and investment allocation—all of which are important to getting organized. Breaking it down further, I would place the organization into 5 key areas:
Bank accounts
Investment accounts
Insurance
Credit
Estate plan
While some firms may offer 2-3 or even all of these areas, I suggest finding someone that you trust in each area and then avoiding adding unnecessary accounts and relationships. Consolidating your accounts into a manageable number of relationships can do wonders for simplifying your financial life.