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You can lose your gloves. You can lose
your keys. But you would never lose
track of your investments, would you?
Actually, you might be
surprised at just how many people do
forget about investments, or leave them
behind when they move. Every state
maintains unclaimed-property offices to
deal with millions of dollars worth of
stocks, bonds, bank accounts, un-cashed
checks, pensions, 401(k)s and IRAs.
To avoid losing track of
your financial assets, follow these
suggestions:
-
Keep records of all bank accounts
and investments. It would probably
take just a few minutes for you to
list all your bank accounts and
investments, including the type of
account and where it is currently
held. Make sure you share this list
with a family member.
-
Inform banks and brokers when you
move or change names. Notify your
bank, broker, 401(k) administrator,
insurance company and any other
financial service agency you work
with when you move or if you change
your name due to marriage or
divorce.
-
Cash checks promptly. Whenever you
receive stock dividends or
distributions from a retirement
plan, cash the checks promptly. The
longer you leave these checks lying
around, the greater the likelihood
that you will forget about them. Of
course, in the case of dividends, if
you do not need the income you are
probably better off by automatically
reinvesting them, as this builds the
number of shares you own, but if you
are going to accept the checks, take
care of them right away.
-
Do not give up. Even if you do lose
track of investments or bank
accounts, it does not mean they are
gone forever. Try to retrace your
steps back to where you think you
might have held your accounts. Most
financial services providers will do
what they can to help you. As an
alternative, you might want to visit
the web site of the National
Association of Unclaimed Property
Administrators (www.unclaimed.org).
There are no guarantees, but this
organization can at least help get
you started in the process of
finding your missing assets.
Consolidate your account.s
Apart from the suggestions listed above,
there is one more step you can take that
can potentially help you keep close tabs
on your financial assets. Specifically,
you might want to consider consolidating
as many of your accounts as possible at
one financial services institution. A
full-service company can offer you
access to investments, banking services,
mortgages, credit cards, virtually any
financial vehicle you might need. With
all your account and tax statements
coming from the same place, you should
find it relatively easy to keep track of
all your holdings.
Furthermore, by
consolidating your assets at a single
financial institution and working with a
single financial professional who knows
your needs and goals, you may actually
end up improving your overall financial
strategy . Why? Because if you maintain
several accounts without a central focus
or unifying philosophy, you could end up
with redundant or inappropriate
investments, a costly mistake. At the
same time, you could end up paying more
than what you need for a variety of
services spread out among several
providers.
So, keep track of your
investments, stay organized and consider
consolidating your accounts. You work
too hard to build your financial assets
to let them slip away. |
