Spring is finally here and it’s one of my favorite times of year. I recently overheard a little boy tell his mother that spring is when everything comes back to life. I liked his explanation and agree with it wholeheartedly. In my household and many others, spring also means cleaning. Pretty soon you’ll start to see garage sales popping up. They’ll be filled with other various items people discard as they go through their spring cleaning ritual.
To paraphrase the immortal words of George Carlin, we accumulate a lot of stuff. Spring cleaning is about clearing out the old stuff for undoubtedly more new stuff. Going through the cleaning process can be tedious, but the end result is worth it. You feel organized and back in control once you get de-cluttered. Sometimes you even discover something you forgot you had.
The same thing applies to spring-cleaning your financial portfolio. The problem is that most people are a lot less disciplined about cleaning their portfolio than cleaning out their garage. Maybe it’s because growing up we witnessed or partook in the spring cleaning ritual with our parents. We were probably a lot less likely to be included in any cleaning our parents did to the family’s financial house.
If you’re not accustomed to spring cleaning your portfolio, I encourage you to make it part of your routine this year. You’d be amazed at what you might find hiding in the dark corners of your portfolio, especially if you haven’t reviewed it in a little while. Think about how many things have changed in the past year alone. Your strategy a year ago on owning oil stocks might be different than it is today.
The point is that the world and, therefore, the financial markets are dynamic and are constantly adapting and evolving. Staying current on all of these changes is a full-time job. It’s why having a trusted independent financial advisor can really help. An independent financial advisor who works as a fiduciary is legally obligated to act in your best interest.
You can schedule a portfolio review any time with your advisor, but if you haven’t had one in a while, this is the perfect time. So once you’re done cleaning out the garage, call your financial advisor and schedule a spring-cleaning portfolio review. They may not be able to find your old class ring, but they might just discover some hidden gems in the corners of your portfolio.
