During the last three years, a lot of distractions may have caused your clients to get knocked off their retirement and financial planning paths due to allocating those funds toward other needs. Life events tend to do that, as the birth of a child, purchasing a house, losing a job, getting a divorce, or financing your children’s education takes money.

This year, Americans have tried to recover from a two-year pandemic to discover the cost of today’s necessary items escalating in price at a crazy pace. AIP Marketing Alliance has mentioned a few times about missing $1 or less tacos at Taco Bell or the rising costs of a simple cheeseburger and fries at a fast-food restaurant.

The time is now to refocus your clients’ energies toward their budget, retirement funds, and savings in hopes of rebounding for the economy. Who doesn’t want to have some extra cash to purchase those holiday presents on Black Friday and make it through the holidays with dollars to spare?

October is Financial Planning Month, which is designed for consumers to reassess how they spend their budget and stick to some smarter spending/savings going forward into 2024 and beyond. The idea sounds almost simplistic when you think about it, but in times like these, budgeting has grown into a long-term concern.

According to research from LendingClub, about 61% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. Low-wage earners are most likely to live paycheck to paycheck, with almost 8 in 10 consumers earning less than $50,000 a year unable to cover their future bills until their next paycheck arrives. Yet even 4 in 10 high-income Americans, or those earning more than $100,000, say they’re in the same position, the research found.

This trend is up 2% year-over-year, with most households not having enough savings to cover any type of emergency situation or even cover upcoming bills. As mentioned earlier, some contributing factors distracting from financial planning include non-essential items such as travel, eating out, and streaming services per LendingClub.

What kind of recommendations can you share with your clients and prospects? Here are a few ideas.

• Make a weekly/monthly budget: Review your past expenses and see where you can save money. Reduce going out to eat, various monthly memberships, that morning drive-through coffee, and the number of streaming services.
• Pay bills: Don’t lose money for late fees – make sure you pay in advance and on time.
• Leverage Your Retirement Plans: Some companies match 401k contributions – clients should take advantage of that by maximizing their contributions.
• Unhoard Your House: Sell some unused possessions on online platforms. If it’s collecting dust, then it’s worth collecting some money for its sale.

AIPMA also recommends having clients meet with a Financial Planner as they provide an outside view of your clients’ spending habits and can review potential changes to get their budget and retirement plan back on track. If you have any questions, please contact AIP Marketing Alliance at marketing@aipma.com.