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BY RICHARD WEIDRICK CPA/PFS DURING THE NEXT couple of months, everyone will be focused on their personal finances in conjunction with filing their income ta xes. As you orga nize for tax preparation, take the time to review several components of your personal finances. Life insurance. Consider the original purpose for purchasing the insurance you currently own. The type and amount of insur- ance purchased years ago may no longer meet your current needs and objectives. Initially, the insurance may have been purchased as an income replacement vehicle. Now, asset protection or wealth transfer may be more of a priority. Retirement accounts. Take the time to review your asset allocation and funding levels. Make sure you contributing up to your plans maximum amounts as those levels change annually. Is your present savings rate adequate to meet your retirement goals? Your investment mix should be driven by your time horizon or the number of years until your retirement. Remember — act your age. Disability insurance. Reviewing policies to determine if benefit levels are keeping pace as your income grows is important. Is your specific occupation covered? Could your employer consider adding a group plan to supplement individual policies? Planning for death is easy; planning for disability is more di«cult. Long-term care. Consider the monthly cost of a nursing home stay or home health care and the potential drain on your assets. Long term care policies should be considered to cover a portion of the base monthly amount of a nursing home stay and slow the rate at which personal savings are depleted. Real estate taxes. Review your real estate tax bill. Often property valuations are inaccurate. March 31 is the deadline for challenging the underlying property valuation so take the time to examine your tax a bill a little closer to see if it represents a realistic value of the property. Take a few minutes annually to evaluate these areas. Perhaps you can gain peace of mind that, when needed, these elements of your personal finance will perform as intended. Rich Weidrick is a CPA and a Principal of Weidrick Livesay & Company in Akron, Ohio. ■ Use Tax Time to Take Stock M D N E W S . C O M /// M D N E W S C L E V E L A N D /A K R O N / C A N T O N ■ M A R /A P R 2 016 2 9