Resolve to Take Control of Your Finances

From our home to yours, we hope the holidays brought joy, family and good memories together as you reflected on 2025. This is a great time to reflect on simple actions you can take to start off the new year.

January is one of the most powerful months of the year for personal financial planning. With a clean slate, fresh tax rules, and a full year ahead, small decisions made early can have an outsized impact on long-term success.

Here are five key financial planning steps to consider as you start 2026.

1. Review Cash Flow and Reset Spending Goals

January is the perfect time to review money flows and out last year—and decide what you want to do differently. Overwhelmed with budgeting and reviewing expenses? Take a moment to print off your checking and credit card statements, many of which often show a helpful breakdown of expense categories. 

Also, many employers 401(k) programs (Empower, Fidelity) have the ability to upload and analyze outside expenses and budgets. Many apps such as Monarch and HoneyDue allow easy aggregation and budgeting.

Action items:

• Review 2025 spending patterns (not to judge—just to understand).
• Identify areas where spending crept up unintentionally. Most frequent culprits –
  • Subscriptions set for auto-renew
  • Memberships you are no longer using
  • Annual fees for credit cards which could be aggregated to save money
• Set intentional spending goals for 2026, especially for travel, experiences, or family priorities.

Good planning isn’t about spending less—it’s about spending on what matters most.
Get the family involved – what fun experience are we saving for? A family vacation? New car? College? It’s much easier to trim a budget on the nonessential items when everyone can get excited about the big goals they want to focus on.

2. Update Retirement Contributions Early

Be sure to adjust your contributions in January to allow compounding to work for you all year long. Remember – even a little bit goes a long way!

Things to check:

• 401(k) – be sure to give at least the amount to obtain an employer match – otherwise you are walking away from FREE MONEY that you are entitled to
• For 2026, the standard 401(k) contribution limit rises to $24,500 for employees under 50, with a $1,000 increase. 
• Over 50? You can add a $8,000 catch-up contribution (totaling $32,500)
• Between age 60 and 63? You get an enhanced catch-up, allowing even higher total contributions, but new income-based restrictions for high earners. 
• Review your 2025 income to see if you are eligible to make a Roth IRA contribution. You have until your tax filing deadline (April 15th for most filers) to make a 2024 contribution.

Even one extra month of compounding every year adds up over decades.

3. Coordinate Tax Planning Before the Year Gets Busy

Tax planning works best when it’s proactive, not rushed at year-end.

• Review expected income for 2026, and adjust withholdings if income or distributions are changing
• If withdrawing money in retirement, being careful to take strategically from retirement and taxable accounts in order to minimize tax repurcussions
• Setting tax-efficient charitable giving strategies to your favorite non profits
• Planning family gifting, to be sure it is equitable and not over budget

Tax planning is a year-round process, and January sets the foundation.

4. Revisit Investment Strategy and Risk Levels

Markets change. Life changes. Your investment strategy should evolve as your career, family, and life changes.

Questions to ask:

• Has your risk tolerance changed after recent market cycles?
• Are you approaching a new life phase (retirement, business sale, new baby, caring for an aging relative, inheritance)?
• Is your portfolio still aligned with your goals and time horizon?
• Has your tax situation changed due to a raise (or layoff), marriage, divorce, new job, retirement? 

5. Refresh Estate, Insurance, and Beneficiary Information

The most common oversight we see is clients who forget to update their beneficiary designations. Be sure to check all of your assets to make sure that the titling of an account meets your estate plan, or, if there is a beneficiary designation (IRA, insurance, 401k, annuity, etc) these are correct and up to date.

• Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and insurance policies
• Estate documents (wills, trusts, powers of attorney)
• Insurance coverage (life, disability, umbrella liability)

Major life events aren’t required to justify an update—clarity alone is reason enough.

A Final Thought

Financial planning isn’t about predicting the future perfectly—it’s about preparing thoughtfully. January gives you the gift of time: time to plan, adjust, and move forward with confidence.

Need help talking through your goals and budget? Schedule a call or in person meeting with our team to start out your year with insight and guidance.