NO ONE MAGIC HAMMER Keeping your wealth doesn’t mean using one tool—one financial product—to solve every problem. In It’s Your Wealth—Keep It: The Definitive Guide to Growing, Protecting, Enjoying, and Passing On Your Wealth, John Smallwood shares how financial plans should have seven fundamental goals: 1. Reduce taxes by taking advantage of all deductions. 2. Reduce risk by limiting volatility with diversified asset classes and types of stocks. 3. Reduce fees and costs by identifying and dealing with leaks in your plan. 4. Increase your savings rate to 15 percent or more of your income and have half your annual income in liquid savings for immediate access. 5. Increase your retirement income by maximizing participation in company retirement plans and having whole life insurance. 6. Put more benefits and protection around your wealth by maximizing life, disability, long-term care, and other types of coverage. 7. Pass more money on to the family by employing wills and trusts. Once developed, your plan should be reviewed and updated on an annual basis to ensure a more predictable financial future. It’s a long-term approach to wealth creation and preservation that meets your demands, desires, and needs in a continually changing economic environment.
