End-of-Year financial checklist
Practical steps for a confident financial start to the new year.
The end of the year can feel like a strange mix of a finish line and a starting block. We are wrapping up one chapter while simultaneously thinking about the next. This natural pause is the perfect opportunity to take a breath, look at our financial picture with fresh eyes, and make a few small moves that can have a big impact on our peace of mind and the year ahead.
Here is a simple checklist to guide your financial reflections as you close the books on this year.
1. Maximize Your Contributions
Review your contributions to tax-advantaged accounts like your 401(k), IRA, or HSA. See if you can max them out for the year. More importantly, look up the new contribution limits for next year and adjust your automatic contributions now. This ensures you continue to pay yourself first without a second thought.
2. Rebalance Your Portfolio
Take a look at your investment buckets. The market’s movements may have shifted your investments away from your target allocation. Rebalancing is how you steer things back on course. It is also a chance to be strategic. If you have investments that have lost value, you might sell them to offset taxes on gains from winners you sell, all while bringing your portfolio back into balance and avoiding over-concentration in any one area.
3. Finalize Your Charitable Giving
Look back on what you have given this year and decide if you want to make any final donations to the causes you care about. It is a meaningful way to end the year and can also provide tax benefits.
4. Hold a Family Money Talk & Set Resolutions
This is the ideal time to hold an end-of-year money talk with your partner or family. Celebrate your financial wins, and use the conversation to check in on the progress of your financial resolutions from this year. Together, you can use those insights to draft meaningful goals for the year to come, transforming goal-setting from a lonely task into a team effort.
5. Use It or Lose It: Check Your FSA
If you have a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) for healthcare or dependent care, check your remaining balance. Most plans have a "use it or lose it" rule, so make sure you do not leave money on the table.
6. Conduct Your Annual Financial Housekeeping
Some tasks just need to be done at least once a year. Think of this as a quick, essential tidy-up for your finances.
Check In on Your Debt Plan. Personal finance is a journey of progress. If you are paying off debt, review how far you have come and see if your current plan needs any tweaks for the new year.
Perform a Conscious Spending Audit. Look at your burn rate to see if your spending aligns with what you truly value.
Review your insurance and beneficiaries. Check that your coverage is still right for you. Crucially, verify and update the beneficiaries listed on all your accounts, from retirement funds to life insurance and estate planning.
Plan your points. Check the balances on your credit card rewards and make a plan to use them before they expire.
Check your credit. Pull your free annual credit report from the major bureaus to ensure there are no errors or surprises.
By taking a little time for these tasks in December, you give yourself a gift: a clearer picture of your finances and a more confident start to the new year.
Let's Talk Money!
Looking back on this year, what is one financial win, big or small, that you are proud of?
Which of these checklist items feels most urgent for you, and what is one small step you can take on it this week?