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During these turbulent financial times I have to remind myself to focus on the forest and the trees while evaluating our finances. The volatility of the past few weeks has been emotionally exhausting. Today, I’d like to take a break and step back to look at the forest, or the big picture, and how it pertains to your investments.

Staying focused and informed can help to avoid being swallowed up by the panic you may feel. To work through your natural fears keep the proper perspective by knowing where you are, where you are going, what you own and why you own it.

Know yourself first. What is your risk tolerance level? I have a friend who just can’t tolerate the volatility of the markets and that’s perfectly okay. She’s much better suited for conservative investments and bonds with fixed income.

Baby boomers aren’t babies anymore

Knowing what stage of the game you’re in is also important. The first of the boomers are already easing down the road into retirement. If you’ve procrastinated or are just starting to plan there’s still hope. Sixty percent of this group has not done the proper planning.

Who do you think has better odds for success, someone with wishful thinking or someone with specific written goals? Experience shows that we increase our chances for success by identifying, quantifying and writing down retirement goals. Then map out the plan you’ll use to make them come true.

If you’d like help in doing this, there’s an easy place to start. Just answer a few short questions on the Internet by going to www.raymondjames.com/darcie and clicking on financial resources. Go to the retirement planning calculator.

When at the site, simply enter a desired age for retirement, length of retirement, income level, inflation expectations and your expected investment rate of return. Having just entered my own information and playing “what if” with the desired age and income levels I’ve determined that I’ll be working for a few more years!

It’s no secret that credit everywhere has tightened. If you’ve been borrowing against your house it may be time to stop. Instead strive to make extra payments on your home equity loans and mortgage. Since many of us hope to reduce expenses in retirement and live a simpler life, try scaling down and get used to living on less right now. If that’s impossible, then at least don’t increase your expenses when you get a raise — instead, sock the money away for retirement.

Naming the right beneficiaries

The choices you make today profoundly impact the future. Presuming that you’ll have funds left to pass on to your heirs I urge you to review your beneficiary designations. Mistakes can be costly and tragic if you overlook the significance of your beneficiary designations on retirement accounts.

Yes, it can be uncomfortable to have these conversations but the value it adds to the protection and preservation of any assets you may have to pass on is priceless. Eighty percent of beneficiary forms on Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA’s), Defined Benefit Plans and Insurance Plans are blank, outdated or just plain incorrect. And don’t forget to name contingent beneficiaries. You also may have assets in accounts that could be rolled over into one account to simplify your financial planning and record keeping.

Custodial default

Find out who becomes the beneficiary under a current custodian’s default provision. Some default provisions require assets to go to the account owner’s estate, subjecting the assets to probate. Forms sometimes get lost due to corporate reorganizations, mergers and system changes.

If you can’t seem to get control of all the pieces that will add up to a successful retirement, turn to professionals for advice. We all need help with the basics sometimes. Deterring is easier with someone encouraging us to exercise more and eat less. Similarly, many investors do better when they enlist the assistance of professionals who encourage them to save more and spend less.

Darcie Guerin is a financial adviser and branch manager at Raymond James & Associates Inc. at 606 Bald Eagle Drive, suite 401, Marco Island. Contact her at Darcie.Guerin@raymondjames.com, 389-1041 or toll-free (866) 343-0882.