Annual Financial Checkup

An hour a year to catch fees, drift, and missed contributions. Pays for itself many times over.

Income & Spending

• Pull last 12 months of spending by category
• Note any subscriptions you forgot you had — cancel
• Update household budget with realistic numbers

Savings

• Confirm emergency fund covers 3-6 months of expenses
• Move HYSA to highest-rate option if yours is below market

Retirement

• Confirm you're capturing full employer 401(k) match
• Increase contribution by 1% if income grew
• Rebalance allocation if drift > 5% from target
• Roll over old 401(k)s if any

Insurance

• Reshop auto insurance every 2 years (loyalty doesn't pay)
• Confirm life insurance coverage matches current obligations
• Review beneficiaries on every account

Credit & Debt

• Pull free credit reports from all 3 bureaus
• Dispute any errors found
• Check credit card rewards rates vs. spending — switch if mismatched

Tax

• Estimate next year's tax bracket; adjust withholding if needed
• Max HSA / FSA if eligible
• Schedule tax-loss harvesting in taxable accounts if down

Estate

• Confirm will, healthcare directive, POA exist and are current
• Tell executor where to find documents