5 financial pitfalls to avoid

Fall officially started Sept. 22, which means Halloween candy is now out in force at your local store. It also means that the kids are fully back in the school routine and you can redirect your attention to your money issues, before the onslaught of the holiday season sucks you in.

To help, here are five financial pitfalls to avoid before the end of the year.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, is now available for the 2019-20 academic year. This important document determines how much money students and their families get for college-including grants, scholarships and loans. In addition to a new website that works better when viewed on a phone, there is also a new mobile MyStudentAid app. Although the deadline for federal aid is not until June 30, your state and school may have earlier ones.

For some, it’s as soon as possible after Oct.

1, which means they have a limited pool of funds that could run out. If you want to maximize your potential aid, submit a FAFSA ASAP.

If your kids are not old enough to apply, talk to them about college financing. According to Fidelity Investments’ 2018 College Savings Indicator Study, a whopping 40 percent of parents with sophomores or older haven’t discussed with their kids that they’re expected to contribute to college savings and

43 percent have not discussed how much education debt they may incur.

Don’t delay completing your FAFSA:

Check to see how much money you have withheld from your income for tax purposes and then go to the IRS website to see if the amount is sufficient to cover your needs. You may want to check in with a tax preparer or CPA to determine if you need to change course before the end of the year.

A corollary for any taxpayers who filed for an extension — while you already estimated how much money you owed Uncle Sam, your Oct. 15 drop-dead date to file is just around the corner.

Avoid the April 15 surprise:

Whether you work for a company, rely on the Affordable Care Act for health insurance or are retired and use Medicare, this is the time of year when you have new options. Many simply do whatever they have done last year, but this could be a mistake. Before the pressure of a deadline looms, review your plan, what you spent during the year and consider what could be likely in 2019.

Don’t blow off open enrollment:

About half of workers who are 55 and older have not attempted to calculate how much they'll need to live a comfortable retirement. It’s pretty hard to reach a goal if you don’t know where you stand today. There are so many tools that can help with the process, but if you are at a loss, seek professional guidance.

Stop guessing about retirement: Don’t assume your financial professional puts you first:

This week marks World Financial Planning Day – a good opportunity to find out whether or not your financial planner/adviser/consultant/sales puts your interests first at all times. In other words, does he or she adhere to the fiduciary standard?

There has been a great deal of confusion around this topic, but certain designations require that its professionals to act in the best interest of the client at all times. Those include CPAs, CFAs and as of Oct. 1, 2019, CFPs will be bound by new standards, which will expand the scope of the fiduciary standard.