Guides / Investment Strategies
Financial Planning Checklist
Right after your tax return goes out is one of the best times all year to take stock of your finances. The numbers are fresh, accurate, and already in front of you. Use these questions as a quick check-up.
In this guide
Goals, savings, and your emergency fund
Start with the basics, and be honest about whether your plan still matches your life.
- Have you set specific short- and long-term financial goals, and reviewed them recently? Goals that aren't revisited tend to quietly drift out of date.
- Are you saving and investing enough to actually fund those goals? Goals that are time- and dollar-specific make it much easier to tell whether you're on track.
- Are you making full use of tax-deferred savings vehicles like IRAs, 401(k)s, and Keoghs? Are you contributing the maximum you're allowed, and are your investment choices consistent with your time horizon and risk tolerance? If you're taking withdrawals, have you thought through the income tax and estate tax tradeoffs for yourself and your beneficiaries?
- Do you have an emergency fund? Most planners suggest keeping three to six months of take-home pay somewhere you can access quickly, so a rough patch doesn't force you to sell investments or other assets at a bad time.
Related guide
If goal-setting is the part you keep putting off, our guide on Your Financial Plan: Getting Started on a Secure Future walks through the process step by step.
Employee benefits and education savings
- If you're an employee, are you getting full value from your benefits? That includes understanding and using any flexible spending accounts you're eligible for, and having an actual strategy for stock options or deferred compensation rather than letting deadlines catch you by surprise.
- If you're saving for a child's education, are you using the most efficient tools available? Tax-deferred savings plans, tax-favored loans, and education tax credits all play a role. It's also worth thinking through the balance between saving in a child's name, whether outright or in trust, versus saving in your own accounts, since the two have very different financial aid and tax implications.
Your portfolio and your insurance
- Have you checked your portfolio's asset allocation lately? Market run-ups and downturns both distort an allocation over time, often leaving you more concentrated in one asset class than you'd choose deliberately. It's also worth reconsidering whether tax-free or taxable fixed income makes more sense given your current tax bracket and risk tolerance.
- Is your insurance coverage adequate? That means life insurance sufficient to protect your family if something happened to you unexpectedly, and disability coverage in case you or your spouse couldn't work for an extended stretch. Auto and homeowner's coverage are usually required, but renters often overlook that insuring the contents of a rented home matters just as much.
Related guide
For a refresher on how stocks, bonds, and asset classes fit together, see our guide on Investment Basics: What You Should Know.
Legal documents and family changes
- Are your legal documents current? That includes your will, your broader estate plan, any trusts for you, your spouse, or other heirs, a living will or health care directive, and a durable power of attorney in case you're unable to manage your own affairs. Just as important: have you told family members or a trusted friend where to find these documents?
- Has your family changed significantly this year? Births, deaths, graduations, engagements, marriages, and divorces can all ripple through your financial plan in ways that aren't obvious at first. A new baby might mean starting a college fund; an inheritance might call for a new investment plan; a divorce means it's time to review beneficiary designations on every insurance policy and retirement account you hold.
Credit and cash flow
- Is your credit working for you? Check whether your mortgage rate is still competitive, whether a lower-rate credit card is available, or whether a home equity loan might make more sense than what you're currently carrying.
- Are you maximizing cash flow through your income tax strategy? Think about how you fund charitable contributions, cash versus appreciated securities can make a real difference, and whether prepaying itemized deductions in a given year would accelerate a tax benefit worth having sooner.
If you own a business
- Do you have a succession plan? If you plan to pass your business to family members or trusted employees, have you accounted for the income and estate tax consequences of that transition, and are you using insurance where it makes sense to protect the plan?
Frequently asked questions
How often should I run through this checklist?
Once a year is a reasonable minimum, and right after filing your tax return is a convenient time since your financial picture is already assembled. Major life changes, a marriage, a new child, a job change, a business sale, are also good triggers to run through it again regardless of the calendar.
What's the single most commonly overlooked item?
Beneficiary designations. People update their will but forget that life insurance policies and retirement accounts pass according to their own beneficiary forms, not your will, so an outdated designation can override your actual wishes.
Do I need a financial advisor to work through this list?
Not necessarily for every item, but several of these questions, asset allocation, tax-deferred withdrawal strategy, business succession, benefit from professional input, especially where tax and legal considerations overlap.
How large should my emergency fund actually be?
Three to six months of take-home pay is the commonly cited range, though the right number depends on how stable your income is, whether you have a second earner in the household, and how quickly you could realistically replace lost income.
What counts as a "significant" family change for planning purposes?
Anything that changes who depends on you financially or who you intend to leave assets to: a birth, a death, a marriage, a divorce, a child's graduation into financial independence, or a new inheritance are all worth a deliberate review, not just an assumption that your existing plan still covers it.
Ready for a real check-up, not just a checklist?
We'll go through your actual numbers together and flag what needs attention first.
Schedule a consultationThis guide is for general informational purposes only and is not tax, legal, financial, or investment advice. It does not cover every situation or exception that may apply to you. Consult a licensed professional before making decisions based on this information.