By Tom Schiller, CPA, CFP®, Partner and Financial Advisor
There’s a particular kind of productive discomfort that comes from actually sitting down with your finances. You open the accounts, dig out the documents, and somewhere in the middle of it, you realize things aren’t as tidy as you hoped.
Maybe a beneficiary form hasn’t been touched since your last job change. Maybe your investment mix has drifted further than you thought. Maybe your will is from 2014 and your youngest wasn’t born yet.
If that’s where you are right now, good. That’s the point. The checklist did its job.
The harder question is what to do next.
Not Everything Needs to Happen This Week
A spring financial review isn’t meant to trigger a sprint. It’s meant to give you a clear picture. Some of what you found needs prompt attention; some can wait a few months with the right help; and some is simply useful context heading into the rest of the year.
Before you start calling people and moving money, sort what you found into three buckets:
- Act now: Things only you can do, no professional required
- Coordinate: Things that shouldn’t happen in isolation
- Plan ahead: Things worth getting on the calendar before year-end
Act Now: Things Only You Can Do
A handful of checklist findings don’t require a professional conversation. They just require follow-through.
Update Your Beneficiary Designations
If you found a name that’s wrong or outdated, log in to your 401(k), IRA, or insurance portal and make the change today. No advisor required. This is one of the highest-impact things you can do on your own.
Get Your Documents in One Place
Collect what you have, note what’s missing, and organize it. This sounds basic, but it makes every subsequent conversation with an attorney, CPA, or advisor significantly more productive.
Call Your Insurance Professional
If your review turned up an expired term policy or a coverage gap, this is worth addressing sooner rather than later. Gaps feel manageable until they aren’t.
Coordinate: Things That Shouldn’t Happen in Isolation
This is where most people get stuck. They know something needs attention but aren’t sure who to call, or whether the people they’re calling are talking to each other.
Estate Documents
If your review surfaced concerns about your will, trust, or how assets are titled, an estate attorney is the right starting point. But the conversation doesn’t end there. The decisions you make with your attorney affect your beneficiary designations, your tax picture, and your investment accounts. When those pieces aren’t coordinated, things fall through the cracks.
Tax Surprises
If your return revealed capital gains activity, unexpected income, or withholding that’s been off, the planning response involves both your CPA and your financial advisor working from the same information. A good advisor doesn’t just review your investments in isolation, they make sure the right hand knows what the left hand is doing.
At Wealth Dimensions, we stand ready communicate directly with your attorney, your CPA, and your other professionals so your plan moves forward as a whole, not in disconnected pieces.
Plan Ahead: Things Worth Putting on Your Calendar Now
Some of what your review surfaces isn’t urgent but is genuinely important. These topics benefit from time, context, and a full picture of your financial life:
- Retirement income projections
- Equity compensation decisions
- College funding reviews
- Investment rebalancing strategy
Mid-year is actually one of the best windows for these conversations. Tax season pressure is behind you, and there’s still enough runway to make meaningful moves before December.
What Your Spring Financial Review Was Really Telling You
A spring review rarely reveals a crisis. More often, it reveals a gap between where your plan is and where your life actually is. Kids have grown, income has changed, and goals have shifted, but the documents haven’t caught up.
The families who handle those gaps well aren’t the ones who have it all figured out. They’re the ones who stay curious about their plan and bring the right people in when it’s time to do something about it.
If your checklist surfaced a few things you’re not sure how to act on, that’s a reasonable moment to have a conversation with an advisor. Not to hand everything over, but to get a clear sense of what matters most and what the right next steps look like.
We at Wealth Dimensions Group are happy to be that sounding board. Learn more about how we work by scheduling a meeting. Call (513) 554-6000 or visit wealthdimensions.com to get in touch.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I do first after my spring financial review?
Start by organizing your findings into three buckets: immediate tasks you can do yourself, items needing professional coordination, and long-term planning. Priority should be given to simple but high-impact tasks like updating outdated beneficiary designations on your retirement accounts and organizing your documents to make future advisory meetings more productive. For complex areas like estate updates or tax strategies, it is critical that your financial team communicates directly with your legal and tax professionals to ensure your plan is fully synchronized.
How do I make sure my CPA, attorney, and financial advisor are on the same page?
Seamless coordination happens when your financial advisor takes the lead in spearheading communication between your legal and tax professionals. This ensures everyone is working from a unified set of information, so that a decision made with your attorney—such as a trust update—is properly reflected in your tax positioning and investment strategy. This interdisciplinary approach is a hallmark of the planning process at Wealth Dimensions.
Is mid-year a good time to talk about retirement income and stock options?
Yes, the mid-year window is an ideal time for deep-dive reviews because the immediate pressures of tax season have passed, yet there is still enough “runway” to implement strategic moves before the end of the year. Addressing retirement projections or equity compensation as part of a comprehensive spring review helps ensure your long-term wealth strategy stays aligned with your current life context.
About Tom Schiller Jr., CPA, CFP®
As Partner and Financial Advisor with our firm, Tom is dedicated to developing strong client relationships by delivering comprehensive financial planning and investment advisory services tailored to clients’ circumstances and goals. His areas of expertise include: financial planning, strategies for wealth transfer, income and estate tax minimization, and planning for liquidity events.
Prior to joining Wealth Dimensions, Tom spent much of his career at Plante Moran, a national certified public accounting and business advisory firm. Most recently there, he was a wealth manager providing high-net-worth clients with holistic wealth planning that included strategies for investing, tax minimization, insurance, and estate planning. He also helped business owners plan for a liquidity event. Earlier in his career he provided audit and tax preparation services for both individual and corporate clients.
Tom has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA), majoring in accounting from Ohio Northern University. He also earned a MBA from Northern Kentucky University. He is a CPA and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM professional.
Tom is an active member of the community. He serves as a member of the audit committee for Lighthouse Youth & Family Services and is a board member and chair of the investment committee for their Beacon of Youth Foundation.
He resides in the Cincinnati area with his wife and two young sons. Tom enjoys spending time with them and playing golf.
As Partner and Financial Advisor with our firm, Tom is dedicated to developing strong client relationships by delivering comprehensive financial planning and investment advisory services tailored to clients’ circumstances and goals. His areas of expertise include: financial planning, strategies for wealth transfer, income and estate tax minimization, and planning for liquidity events.