As with the start of any year, a lot of us will have been documenting what we want to achieve in the next 12 months – both on a personal and business level.

Whilst this is extremely important to do and helps us set a clear path for future goals, I can never fully understand why often these plans don’t take into consideration the importance of also reviewing risk management strategies that may or may not be in place.

As an example, if our annual goal was to increase our income, have 2 overseas holidays, and spend more time with those who are important in our lives; this would be easier to achieve whilst fit and well, rather than not.

Could you achieve your goals and have your family and business survive financially if income and revenue were stopped or reduced due to your inability to work? Without proper planning for such an event, the response to the above question is almost invariably ‘no’.

Many Kiwis still hold on to the ‘she’ll be right’ or ‘it won’t happen to me’ attitude, thereby preventing them making time to forward think for an often uncertain future.

So what are some risk management strategies to consider and review that can protect yourself and those you love as an individual?

The points listed below are just some areas which I discuss with my clients and get them to consider when implementing a risk management strategy.

• Ensuring that you have an up-to-date will and enduring power of attorney
• Ensuring that life insurance policies are correctly owned, and if owned personally are documented in your will and/or trust minute book
• Discussion and establishment of guardianship for any minor children
• Annual reviews of all insurance policies to ensure these are kept up to date both from an individual needs and policy wording perspective
• Annual meeting documented in your trust minute book, by the trustees of your family trust
• Review of both wealth management and retirement planning

It is important that when you are putting in place your plan, you work with advisors you trust, and who will also help make the steps and processes involved in getting this correct as simple and easy as possible.

Creating a future-proof risk management plan often means having all your advisors (lawyer, accountant, trust specialist, insurance advisor, financial planner, etc) working together, ensuring that all aspects of your financial situation have been taken into consideration.

The mistake that I see too often is that what people think or intend to occur when an event occurs, is never correctly discussed or documented. This potentially results in undesirable outcomes, and a lot more time than what could have been originally spent on trying to correct this.