In today's fast-paced, always-on, always-moving world, managing your personal finances has changed. At the same time, it is the same as it ever was.

To explain what I mean, let's start with the five principal elements of a sound, comprehensive financial plan

1. Goal Planning
2. Investing
3. Tax Planning
4. Insurance
5. Estate Planning

While these elements are longstanding mainstays of financial planning, what's changed is the need to manage your plan. Neglecting your investment mix, retirement planning, or estate planning could have serious consequences for your financial future, retirement, and for your heirs.

Five Ways to Strengthen Your Financial Plan Now

Insurance

Healthcare insurance is more critical than ever. Also, count in life insurance when looking at your overall financial goals. In the event of a serious illness or death, they will provide the resources you need when you need them.

Estate Planning

Ask yourself - does your will, powers of attorney, or trusts accurately reflect how you want your assets distributed to your heirs? If you become incapacitated, are there clear instructions to guide your care? Creating these documents and keeping them updated is easy to put off, but a little effort yields a lot of peace of mind.

Goal Planning

Think through the financial scenarios you may face over the next ten years or more. For example, is the risk of job loss or income reductions higher than you imagined a year ago? If so, have you taken steps to reduce your annual spending, increase savings or adjust for other goals like college expenses?

Investing

Align your investment mix to match your risk comfort level. In the light of a job loss or income reduction, the stability of your investments is more important than ever.

Tax Planning

Monitor changes to the tax laws. Whether it's a deductible allowance or adjustments to tax brackets, you should look ahead to how it impacts your lifetime tax bill. For example, as part of the recent stimulus package, retirees don't have to withdrawn and pay tax on a portion of their retirement plan accounts in 2020. That can be a real tax saving.