“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
For those of you that are football fans, I’m sure you had an exciting day on Sunday; to be honest, we were very disappointed with the outcome of the Jaguars / Patriots results!
Realizing I’m a day behind in publishing this, I’ll chock it up to a manic Monday. Remember that song from the 80’s?
“It's just another manic Monday
I wish it was Sunday
'Cause that's my fun day
My I don't have to run day
It's just another manic Monday”
Yep, that was me yesterday. Anyway, one of my goals for 2018 is to give you multiple voices with regards to financial education and this week I’m excited to share a great blog by one of my co-XY Planning Network members, Brian Thompson. Brian is the owner of Brian Thompson Financial, and I think you’ll enjoy reading his suggestions and ideas, of course if you are working with me, we incorporate many of these tasks into the year, but a different voice on a topic can sometimes bring attention to an area that may need additional discussion.
Thank you for your words of wisdom Brian!
January — Year in Review
As the saying goes, you can’t know where you’re going until you know where you’ve been. Use this month to figure out what your financial life looked like over the past year. I always start with my income and expenses (cash flow) and net worth. I love having a full year of detailed, color-coded spreadsheets to review. They provide concrete data to help us determine where we want or need to adjust.
Don’t have carefully tracked data or spreadsheets? Pull out your credit card and bank statements and look at your total spending. You may not get a lot of detailed data, but you can compare your total expenses against your net income from your pay stubs or business profit & loss. Once you do that, sign up for a service like YNAB or Mint to start tracking your expenses in detail.
Many advisors, myself included, argue that net worth is one of the single most important indicators of financial health. If this isn’t something that you keep track of on a monthly basis, take the month to check in on it. It consists of a simple analysis of your assets and your liabilities. I’ve created a spreadsheet you can use to help you out with your calculation.
February — Get SMART
After reviewing 2017, you’ll have a better idea of any areas where there are gaps between where you wanted to go and where you ended up. You can use those gaps to set goals for 2018. I’m a huge fan of SMART goals. These goals are Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic and Time-based. It’s not enough to say, I want to save more money this year. It’s better to say I want to max out my Roth IRA by the end of 2018. That gives you a specific amount, with a definitive time frame from which you can track your progress. Research has shown it also helps to write down your goals and to approach them two or three tasks at a time. Once you achieve one, check it off and start another.
March — Tax Review
I know, I know, many people think of April as tax month. But leaving your tax return until the last minute only increases your chances of making a mistake or missing a deduction. So do yourself or your tax preparer a favor and get your tax documents together in March. The earlier you have the return done the more time you have to make any adjustments that you find necessary.
April — HSA/IRA Review
Once you’ve done a preliminary estimate of your taxes, you may find that you owe money. It’s not too late, though, to reduce your tax liability. You can fund a tax-deferred savings vehicle like an HSA, an IRA or, if you’re self-employed, a SEP-IRA right up until the tax filing date of April 17, 2018 and still subtract your contributions from last year’s income. Just don’t wait until after the 17th, because then your contributions can only count against 2018 income.
May — Give Yourself a Break
Tax season is stressful for a lot of people. (I still have plenty of hangover from my days heading up my firm’s tax preparation program.) So, use this month to treat yourself. Good financial planning helps you keep one foot in the present and one foot in the future. Both are important.
You can start by taking stock of one thing that you really enjoy in life this month. Maybe it’s a massage or a night out on the town. Keep in mind, this doesn’t need to be extravagant. Think about the need this item or experience fills for you. Then, consider whether there’s a cheaper way to meet that need. For example, say you love having dinner out with friends. Is it because of the food? Or more likely because of the company? Maybe you can find a park, grab some take out and a cheap bottle of wine and enjoy yourself without spending a ton of money.
June — Goal Check In
Now you’re halfway through the year. How are you doing? You’ve set some SMART goals for yourself. Are you meeting them? Are you at least on track? Use this month to check in on your progress. Again, write down these thoughts so you can go back to them when you come to the end of the year.
July — Insurance Review
After a couple of months of laid back tasks, it’s time again to tackle a bigger one: insurance. The 2018 Nobel Prize Winner in Economics Robert Thaler notes that “self-control issues are most likely to arise when choices and their consequences are separated in time.” In other words, though you pay for your insurance every month, you may not use it for years or ever. That makes it hard to focus on how important insurance is most of the time. But you can’t wait until you need it to buy it. Then it’s too late. So recognize this about yourself and make sure you have proper coverage now. While you’re at it make sure that your important insurance documents and contacts in an easily accessible place in case of emergency. An insurance organizer is a great start.
August — Net Worth Analysis
Didn’t we already do this in January? Yes we did. But it’s important to check in regularly on your financial good health. Compare your net worth this month to where it was in January to see if the number has gone up or down. Think about the factors that may be moving the number. Also give yourself a break — it’s August. Take a breather from your financial planning tasks or catch up on previous ones.
September — Estate Planning Preparation
Estate planning is another really hard task — and like insurance, it’s made even harder by the fact that it takes so long for your efforts to pay off (and, almost by definition, they pay off for other people, not you). Still, the stakes couldn’t be higher for your family, your loved ones and your peace of mind. So recognize that it’s easy to procrastinate and give yourself some flexibility around making good decisions. You can set up guardrails to keep you on track. Use this month as a reminder to start on your estate planning, if you haven’t. If you have, verify your estate planning documents are secure and accessible.
October — Goal Check In
Don’t wait until December to do your last goal check in. By then, if you’re off track you won’t have enough time to fix the problem. Following up in October gives you the opportunity to do one last assessment and see what changes need to be made, if any, in order to get where you want to be by the end of the year.
November — Open Enrollment Time
Around this time of year, you’ll get an email from human resources letting you know that you have the opportunity to update your workplace benefits. Luckily you’ve started your insurance review in April, and you have a good sense of whether your coverage is adequate. You can now verify what you’ve found and use any analysis to update or adjust your coverage as needed.
December — End of the Year Planning
What, another year over? As I get older, the years fly by faster, and I’m sure 2018 will be the same. So don’t miss this one last opportunity to meet your 2018 goals. You’ll also want to make any last-minute charitable and plan contributions. So before you slip into your holiday lull, make sure to get your last-minute planning done.
We hope you have enjoyed Brian’s thoughts and organization for financial success in 2018!
Visit Past blog articles at: https://www.irvineadvise.com/blog/
You can also now follow me on Twitter https://twitter.com/amyirvineadvise (@amyirvineadvise)