Forget resolutions – just do it! Get your financial life in order by following these easy steps as you move into the New Year.
1. Get Organized. This is the moment when you get to start over with no excuses or recriminations. If you’re still using paper, set up a filing system – a few manilla folders in which you will regularly stash unpaid bills, paid bills, and the tax items you’ll need to file your 2024 tax return in April.

But if you’re really intending to get control over your finances for 2025, the best way to start is to download Quicken Simplifi – a one-step online program that will securely track your checking, savings, and investment accounts instantaneously. Download the program at Quicken.com – either for your computer desktop or as a mobile app.

The set-up process is automatic, connecting you to your accounts at more than 14,000 financial institutions. Then, for $5.99 a month you’ll get your spending categorized (even within your credit card purchases), reminders of bills due, and an immediate look at your monthly budget, as well as tracking your investments inside your retirement plan and after-tax accounts.

If you’re stumped, there is instant online help. The only hard part is exercising the self-discipline to get started!

2. Analyze Your Investments. We are coming off two incredible performance years in the broad stock market. When your year-end statement comes in from your IRA or 40l(k) plan you’ll likely feel a glow at your gains.

But take a second look. Has your portfolio become “unbalanced” – with more exposure to the stock market than you originally intended? It’s tough to sell when things are going up, and there’s always a temptation to want “just a little more.”

But eventually a bear market will come along. If history is a guide, it will trim at least 20% from the value of your stock portfolio – and could even approach a 50% decline. Young investors have time to ride out bear markets for the eventual rebound. But if you’re approaching retirement and were planning to spend that now-huge nestegg, you might consider taking some profits off the table, and moving them to more conservative options in your plan.

Special note: If you are age 73, or will have your 73rd birthday in 2025, you will need your year- end IRA statements and other retirement account valuations to determine your RMD, which is based on the total value of all retirement plans at YEAR-END.

So, add up the total in your retirement accounts – and go now to any custodian website or Google “RMD calculator” to find out exactly how much you must withdraw in 2025. When and from where you withdraw is up to you, but the amount won’t change.

3. Check Beneficiaries. While you’re looking at your retirement accounts, make sure to check your beneficiaries. Remember, when you die these accounts pass directly to your named beneficiaries – regardless of your will or revocable living trust.

It’s easy to change beneficiaries without any legal help, by just signing into your retirement account online and searching for “change beneficiary.” And you might also want to add a “contingent” beneficiary, just in case. You cannot add a minor as a beneficiary, without creating a court hassle at your death.

While you’re at it, check the beneficiaries of your life insurance policies and your company pension fund, things you might have set up years ago. Ex-spouses come into a lot of money from forgetful account owners!

4. Plan Now for Taxes in April. Once the new year starts, there is very little you can do to impact your tax bill. If you qualify, you’ll have until April 15, 2025 to make an IRA contribution ($7,000 for those under 50, and $8,000 for those 50 and older).

But you can save money on tax preparation, if you’re organized with all the documents you’ll need to provide your accountant. See Step 1 above. And contact your tax preparer in January once you have all your info together. If you’re owed a refund, you’ll want to file early.

5. Don’t Postpone Estate Planning. The start of a new year is the perfect time to review your estate plan – if you have one. And if you don’t – no more procrastination. Please watch the short video on the home page of TerrySavage.com, where I explain the difference between a simple will and a revocable living trust.

Then ask your bank, your accountant, your FIDUCIARY financial planner for a recommendation of an estate planning specialist to do the documentation. Estate planning is not a do-it-yourself project, as you won’t be around to fix things by the time your mistakes are discovered!
The New Year is your chance to start over with better money habits. You’ll be glad you did. And that’s The Savage Truth!