Keeping up with your finances isn’t just a once-a-year task. You should review them regularly to reach your financial goals and avoid surprises. Life changes, unexpected expenses and new financial goals can all impact your money. By reviewing your finances throughout the year, you can catch problems early, adjust your plans and make sure you’re always moving in the direction you want to go.

Here’s a list to keep your finances in check all year.

Review Your Financial Goals

Checking your financial goals often helps you stay on track and make smarter money choices. Your goals are the directions to your destination. Without them, you can get off course or never start the journey.

Every few months, assess your financial goals. What has changed? What has stayed the same? Did you meet your savings goals? Did you fully fund Christmas without going into debt or pay off a credit card? What have you accomplished?

After that review, add any new objectives or adjustments to them. Are you saving for your first home, paying off debt or building retirement savings? Adjust your goals based on life changes and your financial situation.

Create or Refresh Your Budget

Your budget is the backbone of financial success. It provides an overview of your money management. Achieving your goals depends on your budget and ability to live below your means, meaning spending less money than you make monthly.

Here are the things you want to look at in your budget review:

• Last month’s spending and adjust for new expenses.
• Divide up funds for savings, investments and debt reduction in ways that help with your goals.
• Use budgeting tools such as Google Sheets
• Talk to a free financial counselor on base for budgeting guidance.
• Identify areas to cut back and increase savings.
• Add any new sources of income such as a side hustle.
• Reduce or cut unused or underused subscriptions such as streaming services.

Assess Your Emergency Fund

Everyone needs an emergency fund. It’s your protection from unexpected expenses and problems. Check in on your emergency savings to make sure you have at least six months of living expenses saved up. Military families need a little more than the traditional 3-6 months of living expenses saved because of the frequent transitions of military life.

Double-check that your emergency funds:

• Are easy to access.
• Separate from your checking account.
• Earn a high interest rate.
• Do not include any fees or require a high balance.

Check Your Debt Situation

Debt impacts almost everything, including your credit score, financial stability, mental health, and ability to save and invest, so it’s important to watch it.

Review your debt by:

• Listing all outstanding balances, interest rates and due dates.
• Prioritizing paying off high-interest debt first.
• Considering refinancing or 0% balance transfers for lower rates.
• Setting a realistic payoff plan and sticking to it.

Maximize Retirement Contributions

Big life changes such as retiring from the military, a pay raise or setting new financial goals mean changing how much you’re saving. Checking your retirement savings once a year (or whenever things change) helps you save more, adjust your investments and keep up with the economy.

Here’s what to review with your retirement contributions:

• Contribute to your Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) or 401(k) and take advantage of employer matches.
• If possible, increase contributions to IRAs (traditional or Roth).
• Reassess your asset allocation and adjust for market conditions.
• Consider making catch-up contributions if you’re 50 or older.

Review and Adjust Investments

Checking your investments once a year helps make sure your money is working how you want it to. The economy changes, some investments do better than others and your plans for the future might shift. A yearly review lets you adjust things so you’re not taking too much risk, your money is spread out and you’re not paying more taxes than you have to.

Here’s what to check in on for your investments:

• Ensure your investments are balanced so you’re not putting too much money in one place.
• Review your investment performance and adjust it based on your comfort level with risk and your financial goals.
• Find ways to save on taxes.

Check Your Credit Report and Score

Your credit score impacts your financial opportunities. At least twice a year, get a free copy of your credit report at annualcreditreport.com. Once you have it, inspect for errors such as the wrong balance or having debt listed that is not yours. If you identify problems, contact the three credit bureaus and dispute each mistake. You don’t want to be held accountable for a debt that isn’t yours.

Reviewing your credit report twice a year can catch inaccuracies or problems early before they become worse and negatively impact your credit and ability to borrow money at a decent interest rate.

Review Insurance Policies

Insurance reviews help you identify gaps, adjust coverage limits and update beneficiaries. Life changes such as marriage, having kids, buying a home or separating from the military can all impact the amount and type of coverage required. Reevaluating your insurance also ensures you’re not overpaying for unnecessary coverage.

Insurance items to review:

• Update health, auto, home and renters insurance as needed.
• Look at life insurance coverage to match your family’s needs.
• If needed, check disability and long-term care insurance options.
• Assess the need for or upgrade umbrella insurance coverage.

Update Estate Planning Documents

Reviewing your estate planning documents at least once a year ensures they reflect your current wishes and protect your loved ones. Life events such as marriage, divorce, deployments or a new baby can impact your will, trust, beneficiary designations and powers of attorney.

Estate planning documents to audit:

• Review, update or create your will, power of attorney and health-care directives with an attorney.
• Confirm or update beneficiary designations on your retirement accounts, like your TSP or IRA.
• Check your life insurance beneficiary designation.

Review Financial Automations

Setting up automation for savings and bill pay can help you consistently save money and pay bills on time, but don’t set them up and forget them. Reviewing a few times a year allows you to cancel what you no longer need and increase your savings. It’s also a chance to update payment methods to prevent missed payments. This simple habit can save money and keep your finances organized.

Points of automation to look at:

• Double-check that the correct accounts or cards are on file.
• Set up any new bills for automatic payments to avoid late fees.
• Automate or increase savings and retirement contributions.
• Delete any bills that were paid off or no longer needed.

Wrapping Up Your Financial Checklist

Staying on top of your finances year-round helps you avoid financial setbacks. It also helps you make smart decisions before little issues become big problems. Regular reviews keep you in control, whether it’s updating your budget, checking your credit or upping your savings. The more often you check in, the easier it is to stay on track and reach your financial goals.

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