January Checklist for Ensuring You Are on Track for Your Wealth Goals

In the new year, many people make resolutions around health, fulfillment, and wealth. I want to take that a step further and propose a comprehensive look at your financial picture. Here is a January checklist to ensure you are on track for your wealth goals.

---

Reassess Your Financial Goals

Oftentimes, when I speak with investors, they initially have amorphous financial goals. They’ll say things like, “I may want to buy a house someday, but I’m not sure where,” or “I think I want to buy a business, so I don’t have to work for someone else forever.” As a planner, I work with them to get those goals more specific and actionable. The house goal becomes, “I want to have a $150,000 down payment saved by January 2027 so that I’m able to purchase a home.” The business goal becomes, “I want to be able to invest $100,000 in a business that generates additional net cash flow of $2,000 by March of 2030.”

Once your goals go from amorphous to specific and actionable, you can reassess and adjust as time goes on. I was speaking with an investor this week who had a down payment by 2027 goal, but he recently met the person he plans on marrying so is opting to delay the housing in favor of a wedding and budget that suits both of their needs. Having specific goals allows you to see exactly the steps you need to take to get there and allows you to see when that goal needs changing.

Retirement Plan Contributions for This Year (And Last Year)

In December of each year, the IRS releases guidance on what the retirement plan limits are for the following year. For example, I’ve spoken with people who still think the 401(k) maximum participant contribution is $19,000 for those younger than 50. The contribution limit for 2026 is $24,500 with an $8,000 catch-up for people over the age of 50. IRA contribution limits are $7,500 with an $1,100 catch-up in 2026. The total 401(k) and SEP IRA limits are $72,000.

If you have not maximized your retirement plan contributions for 2025, there are still some actions you can take. You can contribute to an IRA for last year up until you file your 2025 taxes, which could be as late as October 2026 with an extension.

For those who are eligible for a 401(k) and feel like they’re often behind the ball on this year’s maximum, your employer will usually cut off contributions once you’ve hit your maximum for the year. For that reason, I know many who will opt to set their contribution percentage to 20-50% of their paycheck in the beginning of the year until they max out, then they don’t need to think about it for the remainder of the year. I find it easier to save in the early months of the year than over summer and December when many people are traveling.

Checking on Emergency Reserve Levels

Many investors do not benchmark their emergency reserve levels often enough. I’ve seen many high earners who deposit their paycheck, never invest, and have ended up holding way too much cash and I’ve seen people who have had purchases and surprise expenses with completely depleted reserves.

Your emergency reserves should be based on your fixed monthly expenses and the consistency of your income. If you are a gig worker who has varying income, you may want to hold six months of expenses on hand. If you have a consistent W2 and/or are in a two-income household, three months should be sufficient. So, if monthly expenses are $5,000, someone with a consistent income should be keeping $15,000 on hand and someone with a less consistent income would keep $30,000 on hand.

One investor told me last week than she had a savings goal of $60,000 for the year and she was proud to accomplish it but now she’s way overweighted in cash. If you already have sufficient emergency savings and you want to set a savings target for the new year, try to reframe it as an investment target toward one of your financial goals.

Looking Into Your Credit Cards and Debt Servicing

After the holidays, there is a chance your credit card balance is a little higher than you would normally like it. Take stock of your various credit card accounts and other debts, taking stock of the interest rates. If you have some higher-interest debt, look to pay that down first. Right now, many of my friends are also facing credit card transitions due to changing partnerships and increased annual fees. I know I personally have a goal to assess if all my cards are serving me like they are supposed to, drop one if necessary, and planning to optimize points.

I’ve also seen a lot of investors take on variable debt in recent years, whether it is a HELOC or a line of credit on a portfolio of securities, and that variable debt has been expensive. For some investors who have been thinking about purchases or making new investments, I’ve ended up recommending they pay down their HELOC or line of credit before making further investment moves because of the excessive interest payments. If you have variable debt, check the current terms and plan to pay that down if needed.

Rebalancing According to Your Goals

If you do not opt to rebalance investment portfolios at least annually, it is likely that your allocations are drifting and becoming riskier. Let’s say you have a moderate tolerance for risk and when you set up your investment portfolio, it was 60% in stocks and 40% in bonds. Because stocks tend to do better than bonds over the long run, your portfolio might be more like 80% stocks and 20% bonds in 15 years. As time went by, while your tolerance for risk might have gone down, your portfolio got more aggressive. Each year (or quarterly in retirement accounts), you want to sell a little bit of what’s done better and buy a little bit of the underperformer to maintain an allocation that makes sense for your goals.

Think About Your Tax Strategy for the Year

Many investors complain about taxes but when I ask what they currently are doing to mitigate taxes, I’m most often met with confusion or that they aren’t doing anything. Here are some ways that investors can plan to save money on taxes each year:

• Maximizing retirement plan contributions
• Prioritizing tax-advantaged accounts when investing
• Saving in a Health Savings Account or Flexible Spending Account
• Tax loss harvesting
• Changing business entities or creating a business entity
• Charitable giving
• Irrevocable trusts

Consider speaking with your tax advisor or financial advisor to create a plan around your taxation for 2026 early.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the beginning of a new year is an ideal time to reassess and realign your financial strategies to ensure progress toward your wealth goals. By setting specific, actionable objectives, maximizing retirement contributions, maintaining adequate emergency reserves, managing debt wisely, rebalancing your investment portfolio, and optimizing your tax strategy, you can create a robust financial plan. This proactive approach sets a solid foundation for achieving financial stability and growth throughout the year.

By Cicely Jones, Contributor