DMD Staff

, we provided an overall summary of life insurance and why it is an important part of any financial plan, particularly for dentists who own their own practice and for those who either have a family or plan to start one. Today, we’ll look at the different main categories of life insurance.

Keep in mind that the types of life insurance described here are general; each of the categories below includes several sub-types, with variations from product to product. Also, different life insurance providers call each of these types of life insurance by different names. This lack of standardization and the overall variability in the features of life insurance policies often contributes to what many consider unnecessary complexity. In general, though, you will have a choice among these basic types of policies.

Term insurance is the most basic and is typically the least expensive form of life insurance for people under the age of 50. A term policy is written for a specific period of time, typically 1 to 10 years, and may be renewable at the end of each term. One not-so-attractive feature of term insurance is that the premiums will likely increase at the end of each term and can become prohibitively expensive for older individuals.

Whole life insurance Whole life policies combine permanent protection with a savings component. As long as you continue to pay the premiums, you are able to lock in coverage at a level premium rate. Part of the premium you pay accrues as cash value. As the policy increases in value, some plans allow you to borrow a portion of its cash value without facing any tax liability, although such loans are subject to some restrictions and may trigger a taxable event if the policy lapses. There are many more variables associated with whole life insurance than there are for term life insurance.

Now we’re starting to get into the policies that add the most variation and, thus, often the most confusion. Universal life insurance is similar to whole life, with the added benefit of potentially higher earnings on the savings component. Universal life policies are also more flexible in regard to premiums, face value, and the options for withdrawing cash. Universal life policies typically offer a guaranteed return on cash value. Here is where you’ll often see the language, “All guarantees are based on the claims-paying ability of the insurer.” Put simply, that means that if the company providing the insurance goes belly-up, there is no government source or secondary provider to follow through on that guarantee. This is part of the reason that companies with strong brands and long legacies tend to dominate this competitive landscape.

Variable insurance generally offers fixed premiums and the ability to invest your cash value in a 

choice of stock, bond, or money market-based investment options offered by your insurer. Variable life policies are the point at which a protection and savings vehicle can turn into an investment vehicle. This sounds risky to many people who are uncomfortable tying the protection and future of their family members to the performance of stocks and bonds. Indeed, cash values and death benefits for variable life policies can fluctuate with the performance of your investment choices, and even the principal of your investment is at risk. Fees are also higher for many variable life plans, in part because the investments in these policies are typically actively managed by a professional.

Deciding from among these types of life insurance is no simple task, and it can be complicated by the business succession concerns you may face as a dentist. For those reasons, you’ll want to work with a trusted advisor who can help you sort through not just the types of policies available to you, but the features, potential benefits, and drawbacks of each of those plans.

In Part 3, we’ll look at the components of a life insurance policy you may be most interested in, which will help you determine what kind of policy you should zero in on.

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In Part 2 of our series on life insurance, we look at three different types of insurance, and explain how to choose between them.

Varying Types of Life Insurance, Varying Degrees of Complexity

Being a dentist doesn’t make you a good marketer, and it doesn’t necessarily make you a terrific entrepreneur or a web site designer. A good website won’t guarantee that they’ll come or that they’ll stay, but a bad website can create a significant obstacle to patients who might otherwise happily visit your practice.

An effective website will create an accurate picture of your practice and the services you offer. It will also make your practice an inviting atmosphere. First impressions can be impossible to reverse, and in today’s wired world, patients are highly likely to have visited your site before ever stepping through your door.

At the very least, make sure your site has the following:

 You don’t have to pay thousands or tens of thousands of dollars to an agency to design your website, but you should have a site that looks like you did. If your college student nephew has some mad web skills, feel free to tap into them. Just make sure your site doesn’t look amateurish or poorly thought out. Yes, even great dentists have bad websites, but patients looking for dental care want a professional through and through. Broken links, misspelled words, and bad functionality—all at the tip of a patient’s fingertips—can be more damaging than having no site at all.

 Most patients take it for granted that you’ve been through dental school and have all the proper certifications and training to perform the services your site says you can do. When they search your site, they’re looking to see if there’s someone behind the tooth sign in the lawn that they can trust. Consider an introductory video starring you and your staff, perhaps with a glance at the crisp, clean, professional dentist’s office you are undoubtedly running. The video doesn’t have to be 

, with the names of the film’s director and stars swooshing in on impressive graphics. Keep it simple, and keep it personal. Talk briefly about what you like about being a dentist, and what you hope to provide to your patients.

Your phone number and e-mail address—prominently and everywhere.

 Once you have them, you want your future patients to be able to contact you as efficiently as possible. Make it incredibly easy to contact you, with contact information not just on the “Contact Us” page, but on 

 page, in every header and footer, and in every sidebar.

4. Content that can be minimal but should be updated…frequently.

 You don’t need to post whitepapers, dental cleaning tips, and your recommendations for the best foods to preserve enamel to have an effective site. But make sure any information you do have up on the site is updated regularly. If you have a blog, customer testimonials, or a news feed—all updated in 2003—what does that tell your patients about your credibility, timeliness, and professionalism? Their fears may be unfounded when it comes to your practice, but patients can only judge by what they see. Make sure they see a website that looks like an ongoing concern.

 This is Marketing 101, but you’d be surprised how many websites don’t ask for the business or have a clear course for potential patients to follow. Make sure your multiple mentions of the contact information include an urge to actually use that contact information! “Call today for an introduction,” “Visit us anytime during office hours for a tour,” or “Schedule an appointment today!” aren’t complicated calls to action, but they simply work, through a combination of introducing an action that you want patients to take and then reinforcing that action. It’s subtle, but the power of suggestion really does work.

As a dentist, you’re not just running a practice; you’re running a small business. That means that success is predicated on doing a lot of things right beyond caring for teeth. Having a good website is one of them. 

As a dentist, you're not just running a practice; you're running a small business. That means that success is predicated on doing a lot of things right beyond caring for teeth. Having a good website is one of them. 

5 Things Every Good Dentist Website Should Have

If you’re like many dentists, you’ve been putting off doing your 2015 taxes for a number of reasons. Yes, it’s a slog, and yes, it requires some time, organization, and concentration, even if an individual or firm prepares your tax returns for you. But doing your taxes right is important, and you are ultimately responsible for paying the right amount—tax preparer or not.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) generally has a terrible reputation. It is often exaggerated and unfair. If you think about the sheer volume the agency deals with, and the complexity of tax laws and tax returns, you’ll find an agency that is extraordinarily efficient. Further, the Agency is often accused of working in deep shadow, with mysterious and nefarious methods for checking that you paid your full tax bill. Also untrue. In fact, the IRS is completely transparent. They even 

list the methodology they use to select returns for auditing

. You probably won’t read that list, so here are some red flags the Agency typically watches for.

 Unlike many types of workers, dentists can see significant swings in their income levels from year to year. This can’t be helped, but it is an IRS red flag, because it can be an indicator of someone under-reporting earnings. Just keep in mind that even if you have significant changes in income, the IRS generally audits less than 2% of returns filed each year.

 Accurately report your income, no matter how much it fluctuates.

 Now you’re thinking that you’re a huge audit risk, right? Wrong. You still aren’t, even if you own your own practice. But it can be a red flag, especially if you claim your home office or related costs as business expenses? Why? Because some nefarious operators use the category to significantly deflate their taxable income levels. 

 Keep accurate records of your business expenses and only report those amounts that are legally tax-deductible. All of the common tax software programs include details on what types of expenses are deductible. Any accountant worth their salt will know as well.

 Dentists are often generous givers, both with their time and from their pockets. But while legitimate donations are, indeed, tax-deductible in most cases, artificially increasing the amounts you donated to charity could trigger an audit. Plus…karma!

 Ask for and keep all receipts and donation records so that you can, if asked, explain the deductions you claimed.

 We saved the best for last. This is the most frequent biggest trigger for an IRS audit. Why? Often, it’s by mistake. A misplaced 1099 form, a brain fart on some side income, failing to recognize some investment gains, or an intentional omission of legitimate income from a second job are all pretty common mistakes.

 Keep all your tax records in the same place each year, and promptly place income mailed income statements in that file. If you’re self-filing, make sure you go through all the sections on income, even if you think they might not apply. And don’t forget about investment income, particularly if you’ve taken a retirement account withdrawal, sold some investments, or otherwise realized a significant gain.

Tax time doesn’t have to be painful, and the IRS isn’t looking for an excuse to audit. File honestly and thoroughly, and your Uncle Sam won’t come calling.

Nobody likes to get audited, but audits are a fact of life. Lower your odds of an audit with these tips.

4 IRS Red Flags to Avoid at Tax Time

Financial planning for dentists just starting their careers is impacted by dozens of factors, including lingering dental school debt, starting salary, plans for buying a practice or buying into a practice partnership, and perhaps buying a home and starting a family. That’s a lot for one plate, even before you start to think about other essentials, such as crafting a long-term saving and investing plan.

All those who are just entering the workforce can be forgiven if they aren’t laser-focused on securing life insurance right out of the gate. But (you knew there was a “but” coming, right?), the simple truth is that 

 is a sound long-term strategy, even if it may seem like it’s putting the cart before the horse.

Given all your other priorities, the many priorities competing for your salary, and what many consider the complex world of life insurance products, this important step in your financial planning understandably often gets shifted to the back burner. It shouldn’t.

Protecting Your Family—and Your Business

Many people start thinking about life insurance when they begin the family planning process. Life policies offer protection for your family from personal risk exposures such as paying for funeral expenses, repayment of debts after death, providing for a surviving spouse and children, perhaps putting your kids through college. But for dentists who either run their own practice or hope to do so someday, it can be particularly crucial, because your untimely demise could leave your partners, your employees, in financial hardship that is added to the grief they will feel at your loss.

Key Questions to Ask When Considering Your Need

The biggest, of course, is “Do I need life insurance?” Only you know. If you are single and plan to stay that way for a while, you may not need coverage at all. But if you have financial dependents or will in the near future, you’ll want to think about some protection. You will also ask yourself:

What type of life insurance makes the most sense for my needs and overall financial plan?

We’ll tackle each of these questions in a four-part series. Before we get there, however, there’s a rule of thumb about life insurance needs that endures but probably shouldn’t. People considering life insurance have long been told that they’ll need a policy that covers six to ten times their gross annual income. This estimation is both pointless and potentially damaging, because it is so vague as to be useless and so ignorant of your financial goals as to be possibly counter to what you want to achieve. Like almost all financial questions, the amount of coverage you will need is a highly personal decision that can’t be trimmed to a standardized formula. We’ll tackle this in further detail in the next installment. 

Life insurance may seem like an afterthought, but having insurance, and having the right kind and amount of insurance, is a critical piece of your overall financial strategy.

Just Starting Out: Introduction to Life Insurance 

Even the least Internet-savvy among us know not to trust everything we read online. But when what you’re reading comes from your retirement provider, you generally expect it to be pretty accurate. This is particularly true when the subject matter asks the all-important question, “Will I have enough to retire?”

Retirement calculators are handy tools offered by most retirement providers and many employers to help employees measure their retirement readiness. The tools are ubiquitous, easy to use, and presumably could raise a red flag if your savings strategy is falling woefully short. But a recent study from researchers at Texas Tech University and Utah Valley University—soon to be published—found that 36 of the online calculators provide what the researchers called “extremely misleading” advice in retirement planning.

Among the researchers was notable financial advisor Harold Evensky, and among the many retirement calculators reviewed are several that are very widely used. Stop me if you haven’t heard of Fidelity Investments, Vanguard Group, T. Rowe Price, the Association of American Retired Persons, or MarketWatch. Even a tool run by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), which regulates member brokerage firms and exchange markets, came to some poorly calculated conclusions.

Many of the calculators analyzed by Evensky and his colleagues were either free or available at a very low cost. The professors looked at the guidance provided to a hypothetical couple in their late 50s earning $50,000 each and aiming to retire at ages 65 and 63. This couple was in significant danger of not having enough money for retirement. But more than two-thirds of the retirement calculators predicted smooth sailing ahead. Some even included language along the lines of, “Congratulations, you can retire.”

While it would be folly for anyone to base their entire retirement strategy on a free-to-use calculator, the danger lies in providing a false sense of security to an investor who really should be ramping up their efforts to build a suitable nest egg. Eleven tools passed the test, but the researchers haven’t yet identified them.

The challenge with tools such as retirement calculators, of course, is balancing limited attention spans with the need to be as accurate as possible. To accurately assess retirement readiness, for example, the researchers suggest that more than 20 different calculations should be factored in, including savings, investments, debt load, interest rates, future expenses, family size, longevity considerations, and even expected inheritances and future health care costs. A truly robust tool, then, might sacrifice some accuracy for usability.

There is nothing inherently wrong with that. But the key for investors, even dentists, who are generally considered “highly compensated,” is to use the retirement calculator tools for what they are—another arrow in the financial planning quiver—as opposed to the definitive assessment of your retirement readiness.

The Internet is full of tools and calculators that purport to tell you whether you what you need to do in order to save enough money for retirement. But a new study suggests many offer incomplete, or even false, advice.

Can This Retirement Tool Do More Harm than Good?

If you drive long distances (or even anywhere at all, really), you have noticed that gas prices are the lowest they’ve been in nearly two decades. While in the short-term this is easier on your wallet, you may be wondering what’s behind the lower prices and if it should give you pause as you consider the overall economy and your investment portfolio.

First, a quick look at what’s behind the drop in oil prices.

The price of a barrel of oil is now less than half of what it was in early 2014 and is now at its lowest level since 2004. This low price is expected to last for some time. As with most price-related questions, the price of oil is currently low because the supply is high. While worldwide demand for oil may be down slightly due to conservation, fuel-efficient vehicles, and greater reliance on public transportation, the bigger change has been in supply. Production in the United States has nearly doubled in recent years, and other oil-producing nations, including Canada, Russia, and Iraq, continue to increase the amount of oil available for exportation.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, which has slashed production in the past when supply levels have gotten high, has not slashed production this time around. The reasons behind that are many, varied, and complicated, but the result is lower prices for gas, diesel, and even heating oil.

Lower oil prices are bad for the energy industry and industries that sell to the energy industry, but they tend to give everyone else extra spending cash in the short-term, and it can particularly benefit lower-income individuals who spend a high proportion of their earnings on gas. Savings at the pump also mean that road trips are cheaper, the costs for long-haul trucking go down, and it usually means, although it hasn’t thus far, cheaper airline flights. Overall, inflation is likely to be low.

Sounds great, right? Well, not exactly. As mentioned in this space previously, small amounts of slow inflation are actually signifiers of growth in the economy. A long-term absence of inflation can signify a weak economy and can be cause for concern about the possibility of deflation. In a deflated economy, lower prices hurt overall revenue discourage entrepreneurship, and can lead to unemployment. People who are out of work don’t spend, and the economy takes a beating.

The overall economy, of course, is made up of many different but inter-related factors. It is impossible to say whether long-term lower oil prices will lead to rough economic times. But it’s something to keep an eye on. And it’s a good reminder that a diversified portfolio is essential at this and all times.

The low price of gasoline is great for your day-to-day budget, but how does it relate to your investments? 

Will Low Gas Prices Hurt Your Investment Portfolio?

[<a href="//storify.com/dentistsmoney/the-dmd-top-5-for-the-week-ending-feb-19" target="_blank">View the story "The DMD Top 5 for the Week Ending Feb. 19" on Storify</a>]

These stories were our most popular articles over the past week.

The DMD Top 5 for the Week Ending Feb. 19

As people live longer, healthier lives, millions are working longer and retiring later. But the same isn’t necessarily true for healthcare practitioners. Physicians have been retiring earlier and earlier, and the same is true for dentists. But the reasons are quite different. Physicians retiring early often cite “lack of autonomy” as one of the reasons driving their decision.

For dentists, many of whom acquire their own practices at some point in their careers, autonomy isn’t the issue. Academic research from Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research suggests that dentists are among the professions that retire earlier because the work requires a level of precision that isn’t as easily achieved at an advanced age.

There are plenty of other reasons for a dentist to consider retiring early, but there are also some common pitfalls to watch out for. These obstacles may not be enough to change your mind, and they shouldn’t necessarily be. But knowing about them now can help you make the right decision for you and prepare better should you hang up the white coat early.

Even for those who choose to retire early, there is a feeling of great anticipation and excitement that comes with having sudden and plentiful free time. If you’ve run a solo practice for many years, you may have been reluctant to take off any extended period of time, in part out of concern for your patients. Some may also think that their earliest years in retirement are going to be their most active, so why wait to enjoy travel and the pursuit of other hobbies until their later years? While there may be some sense in that line of thinking, if you retire early, you’re likely to spend the last 

 Set a retirement budget early on, and adjust it frequently through the first couple years of your retirement. First of all, you’ll need to see how estimates of your spending stack up to the reality. Second, you’ll need to be flexible in terms of how much travel, dining out, and other types of discretionary spending you’ll actually be engaging in. Withdrawing too much too soon can leave you bereft before you know it, and possibly even looking for work again in the near future. Returning to work in dentistry may not be an option as you get older.

This pitfall is more for those contemplating early retirement than those living in retirement. As we’ve covered in several previous columns, if a large part of your nest egg is in the accumulated value of your practice, you should use extra caution in estimating the sale price and end profit of selling. Be on the lookout for factors that could change the sale price of your practice, including the supply of dentists in your area, the success of those practices, local demographic changes such as the departure of a previously big employer or industry in the area, overall property values, local property and business taxes, and many more. Many if not all of these factors are outside of your immediate control, so it is paramount that you have savings and investments beyond your practice.

 Take a good long hard look at your nest egg and your financial plan and make sure both are sound, based in reality, and flexible enough that you could weather some hits to your portfolio, the value of your practice, or other assets. The economy is cyclical, and while those cycles are easy to spot in retrospect, they are notoriously hard to predict in real time. A portfolio that’s flying high this year—and has been for the last five—could take a swift and unexpected dip, even if you are invested in ways that reduce your risk profile as you near retirement. A local real estate environment that’s hot as an oven today could be substantially different only a few short years from now.

Take note: ending up with less than you expected to retire on doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t retire early. It may simply mean adjusting your spending level and retirement lifestyle if everything doesn’t pan out exactly according to plan.

We discussed in greater detail for our sister site 

. If you retire early, you may be tempted to dip into those funds before they run out or before you run out. You 

 start collecting Social Security benefits as early as age 62, but that doesn’t mean you should. If you start collecting at age 62, you will forego as much as 25% of the monthly amount you will receive by waiting until full retirement age (age 67 for those born after 1960).

 If you’re in position to do so, wait as long as you can to begin taking Social Security benefits. Your benefits will increase each year between the ages of 67 and 70 if you don’t begin to withdraw. (Note: This may change if the political climate around Social Security changes). Unlike unemployment, you can continue to work, or rejoin the workforce, and still receive your benefit, although you need to look into the various income and tax factors you’ll need to know. Consult an advisor or a tax attorney, who can go over your situation and make some recommendations.

Early retirement can be a great reward or a great disappointment, depending on the circumstances. Either way, though, you need to ensure you're financially prepared. These three tips offer guidance.

Watch for These Pitfalls if You're Thinking of Retiring Early

In a column last year, we looked at some 

, including the idea that if you own a dental practice that appreciates in value, you won’t need other retirement income, and that Medicare will handle all of your healthcare and dental needs when you retire.

But there are many other persistent retirement myths, so let’s take a stab at them, too.

Myth: It’s too late to start a retirement plan now.

This myth is a real doozy—one that has been harming potential investors across all careers and age groups. “If only I had started saving a few years ago,” the thinking goes. “Oh well, it’s too late now.”

If that sounds familiar, don’t get caught up in this myth. It is 

 too late to start saving for retirement, even if you’re close to the age you once envisioned would be your retirement age. Yes, starting earlier is always better, but cranking up your savings now can make a big difference in your retirement accounts. Those over the age of 50 also benefit from the ability to contribute more each year to a 401(k) plan or individual retirement account (IRA). These are called “catch-up contributions,” and the limit in 2016 is $6,000 higher than it is for an individual plan. See the IRS 

 for full details on contribution limits.

Why is there a special provision that allows people over 50 to save more? Because this is not a unique situation. Many people before you have starting saving later and are now living comfortably in retirement. There is still time. Get started today. Also, make an appointment with a financial advisor who can help you develop a strategy for potential growth over a shorter investing window. (Just be aware that seeking a higher return will also mean taking on more risk.)

Myth: Re-investing profits from your dental practice will increase the value of your practice, ensuring a safe retirement.

This is a tough myth to deal with, in part because it makes logical sense that building and maintaining your business will ultimately increase the marketability and ultimate sale price of the practice. But the simple truth is that the sale price when you’re ready to retire will be determined by a host of factors beyond the investment you made in the business, including the state of the overall and local economy, property values in the area, unexpected competition locally, and many other factors that are beyond your control.

To combat this myth, make sure you pay yourself separately as an “employee dentist” as a business owner. Funds that are left over after you’ve paid the bills and financed any service, staff, or equipment upgrades is practice profit that can set aside for retirement.

Myth: If you choose to work longer, you won’t have to withdraw any of your funds from taxable accounts until you need them. 

By age 70 ½ (with some exceptions), you’ll need to start taking distributions from your tax-deferred retirement accounts, even if you’re still a working dentist. This is what’s known as Required Minimum Distributions. While you can still save, invest, and earn on the bulk of your retirement savings, amounts you must withdraw will start to impact the growth of your ongoing retirement investments.

You can find the amount you’ll have to withdraw and the age at which you’ll need to start withdrawing from 

 on the Internal Revenue Service website. If you’re nearing the age of 70, talk to your advisor about the impact on your investments and what your options are if you’re continuing to work.

Myth: Only those nearing retirement or in bad health need long-term care insurance.

As a healthcare professional, you should be less susceptible to this falsehood, but even physicians can get caught up in short-term thinking about long-term care. Estimates from Health and Human Services show that about 70% of Americans over the age of 65 will need long-term care at some point. Rates for long-term care insurance continue to rise alongside the cost of care. If you secure a policy while you’re still working and in good health, you’ll pay lower rates and feel more secure. Many experts recommend looking into long-term care coverage starting in your mid to early 50s. Shop around, as prices for policies can vary widely.

Retirement myths are damaging, mostly because they lead to inaction when the investor would be better served by action. Taking an active role in your retirement planning will keep these and other myths from getting in your way.

Sometimes "conventional wisdom" isn't wise at all. These four myths have wide circulation, but they aren't true and could hurt your retirement savings.

4 Lingering Myths About Saving for Retirement

We write often on building a solid budget and how doing so is usually the foundation of any good financial plan. Dentists generally earn well, of course, and for some, not living paycheck to paycheck means less urgency in building and adhering to a budget. A dentist’s income may have more variability than is true for those in other positions or other industries. On top of that, building a good budget can be hampered by underestimating certain categories of expenses. Below, we’ll discuss two types of expenses that often prove difficult to pin down.

Working with an advisor has its pros and cons. We have written many times on the benefits of working with one, but one of the drawbacks is the cost. Many investors don’t keep close track of how much their advisor or broker charges. Even when going it alone, there are transaction fees with any online broker. The key to properly estimating these costs is to understand the structure and frequency of any payments you’re making, look at previous years’ costs, and check your statements periodically to make sure there are no unauthorized or out-of-whack costs.

Some financial professionals work by receiving commissions or transaction fees when you sign up for financial products like mutual funds or insurance, with the commissions being paid by the company or companies behind the products. Commission-based advisors often get a bad rap with consumers, in part because their fee structure means the products being recommended may not be fully aligned with your investment goals. There is nothing inherently wrong with this structure; just make sure you know what you’re being charged and when.

. These advisors charge an hourly rate or flat fee to create and perhaps implement a financial or investment plan for you. These fees are often accompanied by a small percentage of the invested assets he or she is responsible for. Fee-only advisors may have less incentive to engage in unnecessary or excessive transactions. Still, you should be aware of how much you’re paying.

 Some advisors charge an hourly rate or flat fee for developing a financial or investment plan for you and also earn commissions for signing you up for products to implement that plan. No matter the model, commissions, fees, and transaction costs can add up. Get the cost structures up front, and get them in writing.

Home ownership has tremendous pecuniary and non-pecuniary benefits, of course, but it can also be an expensive proposition. If you’re new to homeownership or are considering buying a home, it is easy to significantly underestimate the costs associated with purchasing and, ultimately, maintaining your home. Costs related to the purchase of the home can include surveys, inspections, closing costs, real estate agent fees, appraisals, and even title fees. Once the home is yours, there will be ongoing maintenance, mortgage taxes and interest, property taxes, mortgage insurance, and homeowners’ insurance, among many others. If you’re new to this process, budget more than you think for home maintenance.

Neither of these expenses should be crippling for the typical dentist, but every little bit adds up. Keep your budget up to date and relevant by accurately reflecting these and other expenses. The budgeting process doesn’t stop when the budget is completed. It’s important to keep accurate records of what the actual costs were as well.

It's easy to let a couple of unexpected expenses break your budget. To keep that from happening, expect these costs to be higher than expected.