Resolved: Get your financial house in order

 
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New Year’s resolutions often revolve around losing weight and getting in shape, but this is also a great time of year to take stock of your fiscal fitness. Whether you’re worried about paying off debt, saving for college or planning for retirement, the New Year is a new chance to get your financial house in order.

“The start of a new year is a great time to help make sure that you’re on the way to meeting your financial goals,” says Allstate Capital Region Financial Services Leader Tony Pagano. “An annual review of your finances can set you on the right track not only for the coming year, but for many years to come.”

Pagano says fiscal fitness involves thinking about your saving and spending habits, analyzing health and life insurance coverage, organizing financial records and reviewing your insurance policy coverages.

Here are a few things to consider:
. Re-evaluate health and life insurance. Are there gaps in your coverage? Do you have or have enough disability insurance? Could you take your life insurance policy with you if you were to leave your job? If you discover you have group life coverage, and not individual life insurance coverage, perhaps you should look into purchasing an individual life insurance policy outside of your place of employment.
. Locate financial records. Now is the time to track down and find all of your home and auto insurance policies and financial information and organize that important paperwork for easy access.
. Review your savings plan. Do you have a savings account that you can tap in case of emergencies? Did you get a year-end or holiday bonus or pay increase that you can use to pay off holiday debts or save for the future?
. Plan for retirement. Make a pledge to review all your retirement savings and see if they’ll meet your needs for retirement. If your current savings efforts are falling short of your future goals, consider increasing your retirement savings.
. Review your coverages. Call your agent and ask for an Allstate Good Hands Coverage Checkup to make sure that those expensive holiday gifts, and perhaps that engagement ring, are properly covered.

To make help sure you’re on the right track financially, Pagano says, consider meeting with a professional to review your current insurance and financial coverage and see if you have what you need to protect what you have today and prepare you for tomorrow.