A few years after leaving your parental home you have a family of your own. Besides worries about “starting to remind me of my parents”, what are the issues you should be considering?

• With dependents in life it is essential to have solid protection for the worst case scenarios – appropriate level of disability insurance and life insurance
• Review workplace benefits and make sure to complement what is on offer (workplace plans are very basic in most cases)
• Be sure to participate in workplace retirement plans such as 401k, 403b  and maximize your contribution (IRS places limits on how much one can contribute each year). This is especially true if your employer matches your contribution – not participating is the same as throwing money out the window.
• If there is no retirement plan, make sure to contribute to your individual IRA
• Invest for your children’s education – your state’s 529 plan is the first stop
• Don’t forget to invest and save for the future – once your retirement is maximized, some of the discretionary income should be invested in taxable accounts.
• No one enjoys thinking about death, but with dependents in life it is essential to have a plan – a will, a healthcare proxy, where do children go in case of death. Honey Badger Advisors is not a law firm and thus cannot draft these documents for you, but we can review them and coordinate with your legal counsel or refer you to one.