The Bird’s Eye View:
You might not be able to follow through on all 22 of these resolutions, but implement even just a few of these and you’ll be well on your way to a more prosperous financial life in the coming year.
Your Guide:
On this episode of Your Retirement Elevated podcast with Scott Dougan, we’re sharing 22 money resolutions that will get you on a better financial track in the New Year.
- Reduce your debt.
- Boost your retirement savings amounts.
- Learn from 2020 & 2021 and prepare for the unexpected.
- Don’t overact to the headlines.
- Implement a budget (or at least look for ways to track some areas of your spending to see if you can find some waste that can be easily eliminated).
- Meet with a financial advisor, especially if you have never done it and you’re starting to get within 5-10 years of retirement.
- Check beneficiary designations on all your accounts.
- Carve out time for a tough conversation or two (talk to your spouse or family about your healthcare wishes, powers of attorney, legacy planning, etc.)
- Audit your insurance. Do you still need all your policies? Are you over or underinsured in some areas?
- See if refinancing your home mortgage is a good idea.
- Organize your financial life (make sure to have an easy way to gather account information, logins, etc.)
- Check your credit. If it’s been a while, use the free reports to make sure everything is accurate and in good standing.
- Check your fees. Find out what your financial plan is costing you. Use an advisor if you don’t know how to uncover hidden fees.
- Share your knowledge. If you work with a great advisor or have picked up some helpful financial tips, don’t be afraid to share those resources with a family member, friend, or co-worker. Financial literacy: pass it on!
- Look for more donation opportunities (and see if that could help your tax situation as well).
- Review your tax bracket, so you don’t get surprised later in the year.
- Ask your advisor if a Roth conversion is right for you.
- Update paycheck withholdings if you’ve had any major life changes or had inappropriate amounts withheld last year.
- Rebalance your portfolio. Again, if you don’t know how, ask your advisor.
- Plan out your strategy to transition into retirement. Will it be best to go part-time first, a second career, or just quit cold turkey?
- Consolidate accounts. If you have three 401(k)s, 4 IRAs, and 5 brokerage accounts it might be a good idea to simplify things in 2022.
- Listen to more episodes of this podcast so you can continue to get smarter about money every day!
Check out Atomic Habits: https://www.amazon.com/Atomic-Habits-Proven-Build-Break/dp/0735211299
Listen to the full episode or use the timestamps below to find specific segments.
5:43 – Reducing debt
6:10 – Boost savings
6:39 – Prepare for unexpected
7:23 – Don’t overreact
9:02 – Budget
12:23 – Meet with a financial advisor
14:26 – Check beneficiaries
14:37 – Tough conversations
15:18 – Refinance
15:05 – Audit insurance
15:45 – Organize
16:16 – Check credit
16:40 – Check fees
16:58 – Share knowledge
18:38 – Give back
19:00 – Review tax brackets
19:16 – Roth conversion
19:39 – Update paycheck withholdings
20:15 – Rebalance portfolio
20:28 – Transition to retirement
21:38 – Consolidate accounts
23:00 – Listen to our podcast
Thanks for checking out the Your Retirement Elevated Podcast. We’ll talk to you again on the next show.
Your Guide:

Scott Dougan, RFC, Investment Advisor – Contact