Fall means thoughts of football, holiday dinners, and year end planning. Changing of the season means this is the best time to check on your financial plans with new perspective. This is the time to ask yourself: What goals do you need to achieve this year? And what goals do you need to establish in the coming year?
Check back on your Asset Allocation
Year end is a good time to check out your investment strategies and asset allocations so you can make sure that you are still on the right track financially. This is the time to revisit to see if current year financial strategies worked and let go of the financial risks that cause your income this year to decrease or any financial risks that negatively impacted your financial situation.
Tax Return Planning
Get a head start on year-end tax preparation.
Tax time will be here before you know it. Year-end time before Jan/Feb tax filing is a good time to make last minute adjustments and prepare for the next tax year. This is a good time to do the following:
Review your tax withholdings and make any necessary adjustments.
Start to gather all your tax documents from the year. Most annual tax reports are mailed in January by the 31st.
Maximize retirement contributions.
Pay any estimated tax payments that may be required as a business owner or independent contractor.
Update your Estate Plan
At the end of the year, consider also to update your wills and other estate planning documents. Review it for changes that took place this past year such as births, deaths and marriages. Especially during this pandemic, where a lot of lives have been lost due to Covid-19. Having a will, estate plan, payee upon death is imperative these days.
Consider Investing with Impact
Examining how well your portfolio is and if it still aligns with your personal values is something that you want to do during year end. It is also a good time to invest aggressively with your chosen financial brokerage companies that has good financial standing and has good charity affiliations. To earn as well as to give back.
Preparing Your Home for Winter
Winter is coming, and as temperature drop, home heating bills will rise. So, it is good that as early as now, prepare your home for winter. Seal gaps and cracks in your doors and windows. Clean and inspect your furnace. Think about increasing your insulation. It will save energy and save cash.
Create a holiday budget.
Create a holiday shopping list, set a spending limit for each person and only buy for who’s on it. Leave your emotions at the door. With sales and deals in every retail window and ad, it’s easy to get sucked into purchasing items that you never planned to buy. Using the money you have set aside in your budget, or using cash you have readily available (don’t use credit), create a cash-only holiday budget – and stick to it! Keep track of your spending. Remind yourself of all other debt responsibilities like your car payment, rent or mortgage, etc. that will be still be due after the holiday season.
Travelling during the holidays? Book your trip now.
If you plan on travelling during the holidays, make sure you book now if you haven’t yet. Check airline’s social media accounts and websites for specials. This is the best time to cash in your travel credit card miles so that you can spend it on the planned holiday. But with the pandemic happening, it is still risky with travel plans at the moment. But if it is permitted in your area, go grab the chance and enjoy!
Check your flexible spending account balance
If you have set aside money for healthcare in flexible spending account, make sure to spend it before the year is done. Go ahead and get make all your wellness checkups and use those funds.
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