For you Rebel Tendencies out there who don’t believe in New Year’s Resolutions or To-Do lists, or people telling you when and how to set goals, you can skip this blog and go back to breaking all the rules.
For the rest of us, January often feels like a good time to assess where we want to be in the short and long term. Health and money are two of the biggest categories of New Year’s Resolutions. I can’t help you with workout programs, but I have a few ideas about money goals.
- Set short, medium, and long term goals.
- Put milestones or reminders in your calendar to keep you moving along.
- Make the goals measurable with a deadline.
For example, “save more money for retirement” is vague and likely not attainable on its own. “Increase my 401(k) percentage by 5%,” is realistic and measurable goal.
Let’s look at a hypothetical Jeff. Jeff is married, has two kids aged 3 and 6, and works for a large company testing for optimal breakfast cereal crunchiness. Jeff has been meaning to get a will in place ever since he became a father, but it never gets done. He has a nagging suspicion that his retirement savings is low, and wishes his credit card bill was lower.
Here are some New Year’s Resolutions that might help Jeff achieve his goals:
- January:Go online to his 401k website and increase his contribution by 1% AND set up the Auto Increase feature to up his percentage every April when he typically gets a raise.
- February:Take a close look at all credit cards and end any subscriptions that he isn’t using (streaming services, gym memberships, magazine/newspapers, etc.). Especially look out for duplicate charges. I’m looking at you, YouTube TV.
- March:Ask his friends for referrals to an estate planning attorney. Make an appointment with an attorney for no later than April 1st to start the process.
- May:Finish answering the questions about guardians, executors, and end-of-life wishes.
- June:Sign the new estate documents no later than July 1st.
Jeff’s problems may not all be solved by the New Year’s promises he makes to himself, but progress is always better than another year gone by with no meaningful change.
Great job, Jeff! And to you, loyal readers who make the sacrifices today for financial security in the future.
