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Time to take charge of your financial futureoday is the day you should take charge of will it be until you run out of money? appointment. Tell your advisor you want to esti-your own financial well-being. This is Is your wife younger than you? How many of mate your retirement cash flow. Ask if there is a Tyour life and it is your responsibility to her final years are likely going to be financiallychance you will run out of funds during your Dollarsaccomplish the things that are most important. challenging? Remember, many women livelifetime.&Lots of things in life are out of your control. extremely long lives.Not getting answers is your problem. That However, what is in your control is the ability to The whole retirement planning process iswould be a mistake. Some things in life are too Sensetake action.very easy. The math is quite simple. What finan-important to leave to chance.Consider todays article as a motivational cial assets do you have? What investment incomeProcrastination is your enemy. Today is the By Peter Watsonpep talk. Please allow me to be your personal can you expect? Will that be enough?day you should take charge of your own financial financial coach for the next few minutes. Repeating myself, the retirement planningwell-being.It is often easier to focus on others who process is very easy. The difficult part is you. You Submitted by Peter Watson, MBA, CFP, should be proactive, so we will first consider two daughter is failing Grade 12 math. You under-actually have to go through the process. DiscussR.F.P., CIM, FCSI. In 1991, Peter founded Peter different examples of situations where prompt stand math is difficult for her, but regardless of this with your spouse. Make it a priority. TakeWatson Investments in Oakville. Peter can be action needs to be taken. the difficulty, she must pass the course. Failure that leadership role.reached at 905-842-2100 or visit the website at The first example is about our friends to the to do so could affect her future. Immediate Then call your financial advisor. Request anwww.peterwatsoninvestments.com.south. One of the most significant events last action must be taken. week was that the United States had the out-You would discuss this with your child and look for its credit rating lowered from stable develop a plan to get passing marks. She could to negative by Standard and Poors. ask her teacher for extra help or get a tutor. She This means there is a real risk that its credit could re-allocate some social time with her rating could be cut in the near future. It is seen friends to extra study.to be potentially less credit worthy now than in Both of these examples are totally different the past. and in both cases you could see that some action It is no secret the U.S. has been overspending was needed to fix the problem.for years. It has been fighting wars it cannot Now for the hard part. Look yourself in the afford and the recent world recession hit it very mirror and ask if all areas of your financial life hard.are in good shape.Americans, as well as many Canadians, know Will your retirement nest egg provide the they need strong leadership to fight their way lifestyle you want for the balance of your life? out of this economic mess. Failure to act now Have you ever actually estimated the cash flow will have devastating results to their future pros-that your investment portfolio can produce? perity. Immediate action must be taken.Are you spending more money every year Now lets switch to our second example. Your than you can actually afford? How many years 37 Friday, April 29, 2011 OAKVILLE BEAVER www.insideHALTON.com