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Time for some spring cleaning?
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You may or may not engage in many of the typical activities of "spring cleaning" - de-cluttering the attic, reorganizing your closets, touching up the paint, etc. - but you can almost certainly benefit from "sprucing up" your financial situation.

As you survey your financial landscape, what areas might you want to tidy up? Here are a few suggestions:

Clear your portfolio of "redundant" investments. Over time, you may have built a sizable investment portfolio. But if you have too many investments that look alike, you may actually be hindering your progress toward your goals. After all, if you own a dozen stocks of companies in the same industry, they’re all likely to be buffeted by the same economic forces. Look for opportunities to replace some of these "redundancies" with different types of securities, taking into account your risk tolerance and time horizon.

Organize your financial records. If you’re like those of us who file our taxes at the last minute, now is the perfect time to organize your financial records, because you’ve probably got them close at hand. And it’s not just a matter of having your brokerage and 401(k) statements in nice, neat piles. Once you’ve got these documents together, you might see opportunities to consolidate some of your accounts. For example, you may have IRAs with different banks and financial services companies, By moving them all to one provider, and possibly rolling over an old 401(k) into an IRA, you could save some fees and reduce your paperwork, but, more importantly, you may find that such a move actually helps you better manage your investments. You’ll know exactly what you’re invested in, and it will be easier to follow a single investment strategy. Also, with all your IRAs in one place, it will be much easier for you to manage the required minimum distributions you must start taking when you turn 70-1/2. (These distributions are not required for Roth IRAs.)

Review your "systematic" investments. Many years ago, you might have started systematically moving money from your checking account into an investment. But perhaps the circumstances of your life have changed and this money could better be used elsewhere. Scrutinize your automatic investments to see if they still make sense for you.

Check your beneficiaries. Beneficiary designations on financial documents - insurance policies, IRAs, 401(k)s, etc. - are extremely important, because they supersede even the instructions in your will. Over time, your family situation may have changed, through death, divorce, remarriage or the birth of new children, so you should periodically review all your beneficiary designations.

Examine your insurance coverage. When you have a young family, you need a certain amount of life insurance coverage to provide for some major expenses - such as your mortgage, college for your kids, perhaps some retirement funds for your spouse. But when your children have grown, your mortgage is paid and your spouse has decades’ worth of retirement savings, your insurance needs may change considerably. At the same time, you may find other uses for insurance. Take some time and review your insurance coverage with your financial advisor.

By following these "spring cleaning" suggestions, you can help put your financial house in order for the seasons to follow. Take action soon.

 

Submitted by Laura Evans, a financial advisor with Edward Jones in Richmond Hill.

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Record April boosts Savannah's container trade at port
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The Port of Savannah moved 356,700 20-foot equivalent container units in April, an increase of 7.1 percent. - photo by Provided

The Georgia Ports Authority's busiest April ever pushed its fiscal year-to-date totals to more than 3.4 million 20-foot equivalent container units (TEUs), an increase of 8.8 percent, or 280,000 TEUs, compared to the first 10 months of fiscal 2017.

"We're on track to move more than 300,000 TEUs in every month of the fiscal year, which will be a first for the authority," said GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch. "We're also anticipating this to be the first fiscal year for the Port of Savannah to handle more than 4 million TEUs."

April volumes reached 356,700 20-foot equivalent container units, up 7.1 percent or 23,700 units. As the fastest growing containerport in the nation, the Port of Savannah has achieved a compound annual growth rate of more than 5 percent a year over the past decade.

"As reported in the recent economic impact study by UGA's Terry College of Business, trade through Georgia's deepwater ports translates into jobs, higher incomes and greater productivity," said GPA Board Chairman Jimmy Allgood. "In every region of Georgia, employers rely on the ports of Savannah and Brunswick to help them become more competitive on the global stage."

To strengthen the Port of Savannah's ability to support the state's future economic growth, the GPA Board approved $66 million in terminal upgrades, including $24 million for the purchase of 10 additional rubber-tired gantry cranes.  

"The authority is committed to building additional capacity ahead of demand to ensure the Port of Savannah remains a trusted link in the supply chain serving Georgia and the Southeast," Lynch said.

The crane purchase will bring the fleet at Garden City Terminal to 156 RTGs. The new cranes will support three new container rows, which the board approved in March. The additional container rows will increase annual capacity at the Port of Savannah by 150,000 TEUs.

The RTGs will work over stacks that are five containers high and six deep, with a truck lane running alongside the stacks. Capable of running on electricity, the cranes will have a lift capacity of 50 metric tons.

The cranes will arrive in two batches of five in the first and second quarters of calendar year 2019.

 Also at Monday's meeting, the GPA Board elected its officers, with Jimmy Allgood as chairman, Will McKnight taking the position of vice chairman and Joel Wooten elected as the next secretary/treasurer.

For more information, visit gaports.com, or contact GPA Senior Director of Corporate Communications Robert Morris at (912) 964-3855 or rmorris@gaports.com.

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