by Garry Barker
In today's busy world, it makes sense to organize your life and your finances as much as possible. One way you can potentially gain more control over your finances is to consolidate your assets. Consolidating your assets can assist you in evaluating how your assets are allocated and in tracking the results so that you can be sure all of your money is working to help you achieve your financial objectives. An added bonus may be that less time spent on paperwork from multiple accounts means more time to pursue other interests.
Improving Your Record keeping
Monthly record keeping becomes easier when you pull scattered assets together because you don't have to watch for several statements a month. Tax preparation may be easier too, because you don't have to coordinate multiple statements at year end. Records of purchases, sales, dividends received and the current value of your holdings will all be together when you need them. Consolidation has another plus: your trades settle automatically since securities and cash required to cover transactions are held in your account.
Monitoring Your Investments
Consolidating your finances can also help you ensure that your investments are positioned to help you achieve your financial objectives. To ensure that your financial goals are being addressed, the investments you select must be constantly monitored and adjusted when necessary. This process will help you keep pace with your changing circumstances and the economic environment based on your individualized investment strategy. With your assets in one place, you and your financial adviser can more easily determine if your investments are properly diversified to meet your investment goals and risk tolerance.
An additional benefit of consolidation is that many full-service account executives offer complimentary asset allocation or lump-sum distribution analyses which, when viewed in the context of your total portfolio, can aid in your decision-making process and help to ensure that your funds are appropriately invested. As you plan for the future, consolidation also can help with estate planning. If your assets are in one place, should the need arise, it will be easier for your heirs to put your estate in order if they don't have to search for scattered investments.
The Central Asset Account-A Key Organizational Tool
To carry organizing your finances one step further, many financial institutions also offer central asset accounts. A central asset account is an all-in-one money management tool which typically combines all of your investment and savings activity, your checking and cash access card transactions, and an optional secured line of credit, into one central account.
Central asset accounts generally offer:
-Automatic investment of idle cash in a money market account.
-Composite monthly statements as well as a year-end summary statement which can save you the time and effort in compiling information from dividend and interest statements, securities receipts and checkbook records at tax time.
-Check writing privileges against the assets in the account.
-A debit card.
With so much to organize in life, consolidating your assets can help make focusing on your financial situation easier. Talk to your financial consultant about other ways you may benefit from consolidating your assets in one place.
If you would like more information, please write care of: Unification News, 4 W. 43 St., NY NY 10036.
Information and data in this report were obtained from sources considered reliable. Their accuracy or completeness is not guaranteed and the giving of the same is not to be deemed a solicitation on Dean Witter's part with respect to the purchase or sale of securities or commodities.