By Douglas Goldstein, CFP®

There really is no end to paperwork. In addition to balancing your checkbook and reviewing your bank statements and credit card bills, there are other things to do in order to keep your financial house in order.

Review your pension plans and tax-deferred savings plans on an annual basis. Make sure that they are based on your current salary and you are making the maximum contributions allowable. If you had another child, or married off a child, consider re-evaluating your life-insurance coverage as necessary. Review the beneficiary to make sure it is still relevant. Don’t neglect to review your disability insurance policy, supplementary health care, and long-term health-care policy. Though you hope never to have to use them, having them in place could save you huge sums in the event they are needed. As for your powers of attorney, they expire after ten years, so make sure they are legally current. If you created a will before you made aliya, make sure that the will is acceptable by Israeli courts. If, for instance, you named an American guardian for your underage children, an Israeli court may not allow that and instead assign an Israeli guardian.

I met recently with a widow whose spouse left her the house and retirement plans, but bequeathed the rest of his assets to their children. When the couple created their wills decades ago, the wife happily agreed to this division of the estate. The problem is, in the interim, the housing market declined and the stock market nose-dived, and the current value of the house and pension plan aren’t sufficient for her to live on. The couple’s other assets were promised elsewhere, and now the widow will have to take a significant cut in her lifestyle. This situation could have been avoided if the couple’s wills were reviewed on a regular basis, after they were created. A regular review will ensure that decisions made in the past jive with your current wishes.

If you would like to download free trackers to help you organize your insurance policies and other financial paperwork, go to www.profile-financial.com and look under the “financial planning” tab.

Douglas Goldstein, CFP®, is the director of Profile Investment Services. He is a licensed financial professional both in the U.S. and Israel. He offers securities through Portfolio Resources Group, Inc., Member FINRA, SIPC, MSRB, NFA and SIFMA. Accounts carried by National Financial Services LLC. Member NYSE/SIPC, a Fidelity Investments company. His book is available in bookstores, on the web, or can be ordered at: www.profile-financial.com (02) 624-2788 or (03) 524-0942.