By Robert A.Stabile, EA, ABA

A man walks into a doctor’s office, complaining of some minor chest pain. Without missing a beat the doctor says,” OK, we’ll do open heart surgery first thing tomorrow morning.” If the man wasn’t having a heart attack before, he is now. “But aren’t going to doing any kind of tests, x-rays, lab work… maybe even an MRI,” he asks nervously. “Shouldn’t we first find out what the issues are before we try to fix it?”

The funny thing is that most people take the time to make sure their personal health is in order, but remarkably few take the time to make sure their financial situation is just as healthy. The truth is that without a Portfolio MRI, a detailed look at the various variables that make up your financial portfolio, you really have no idea of which of these components are under-achieving, over-achieving, or simply sitting stagnant.

A Portfolio MRI starts with some basic questions:

1. What amount of your savings is being lost every year to investment fees, both implicit and explicit?
2. If you own mutual funds, how many of your funds are buying the same companies? Are you diversified or simply redundant?
3. Do you know your expected return for any one year, five years, or 20 years?
4. Do you know how much your portfolio is likely to lose in any given year?
5. If your portfolio adequately diversified in a way you can measure?
6. Would it be possible for you to get the same return with less risk?

Very few people are equipped to answer these questions, which can really only be answered with a highly analytical and detailed synopsis of where you are doing well and where you might need an investment jump-start. Fortunately, there are ways to discover problems that may be lurking below the surface, problems you never knew you had and that can be brought to the surface using extensive expertise in all matters financial and a firm grasp of the technology needed to come up with viable solutions.

According to WebMD, an MRI is a test that takes detailed pictures inside your body, used by doctors to see how well you are doing and what can be done differently to ensure you stay healthy.

A Portfolio MRI works on the same principal; to make sure you stay financially healthy.

For more information contact Robert Stabile, a registered Investment Advisor and Investment Coach and CEO of HIgbie Advisory, LLC. He can be reached at 631-878-6195

The Portfolio MRI is a proprietary analytical tool of Matson Money and is authorized for use by Robert A. Stabile, CEO of Higbie Advisory. LLC a Registered Investment Advisor in the State of New York. Fee based Investment Management and Advisory Services are offered through Higbie Advisory, LLC. The material presented in this article shall in no way be considered a solicitation to sell or offer investment advisory services to any residents of any other State other than the State of New York or where otherwise legally permitted.