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.  

1. Reduce your debt. 
2. Boost your retirement savings amounts.
3. Learn from 2020 & 2021 and prepare for the unexpected. 
4. Don’t overact to the headlines. 
5. 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). 
6. Meet with a financial advisor, especially if you have never done it and you’re starting to get within 5-10 years of retirement. 
7. Check beneficiary designations on all your accounts. 
8. 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.)
9. Audit your insurance. Do you still need all your policies? Are you over or underinsured in some areas? 
10. See if refinancing your home mortgage is a good idea. 
11. Organize your financial life (make sure to have an easy way to gather account information, logins, etc.)
12. Check your credit. If it’s been a while, use the free reports to make sure everything is accurate and in good standing. 
13. 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. 
14. 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! 
15. Look for more donation opportunities (and see if that could help your tax situation as well). 
16. Review your tax bracket, so you don’t get surprised later in the year. 
17. Ask your advisor if a Roth conversion is right for you. 
18. Update paycheck withholdings if you’ve had any major life changes or had inappropriate amounts withheld last year. 
19. Rebalance your portfolio. Again, if you don’t know how, ask your advisor. 
20. 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? 
21. 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. 
22. 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