Year-End Money Review

The last weeks of the year are the highest-leverage window in personal finance. Most of the moves that lower your tax bill and reset your plan have a hard December 31 deadline. This is the annual review that closes the books and sets up January.

Net worth snapshot vs. last year

Start by measuring. Add up what you own, subtract what you owe, and compare the number to last year-end. The direction matters more than the figure — a rising net worth means the year worked, even if the market was choppy. This single number tells you more about your progress than your income did.

Maxing tax-advantaged accounts

Check how close you are to the annual limits and top up what you can before the deadline. As of 2025, the employee 401(k) limit is $23,500, the IRA limit is $7,000 ($8,000 if you're 50 or older), and HSA limits are $4,300 for individual and $8,550 for family coverage — confirm the current year's numbers before you act. The 401(k) is calendar-year, so it's use-it-or-lose-it on December 31; IRAs and HSAs generally allow contributions up until the tax-filing deadline.

Tax-loss harvesting & charitable giving

In taxable accounts, you can sell investments that are down to realize losses, which offset capital gains and up to $3,000 of ordinary income, with the rest carried forward. Reinvest in a similar (not identical) holding to stay in the market and avoid the 30-day wash-sale rule. On the giving side, bunching donations into one year or using a donor-advised fund can push you over the standard deduction, and donating appreciated stock avoids the capital-gains tax entirely.

Reviewing insurance and beneficiaries

Once a year, confirm your coverage still fits your life — marriage, a child, or a home all change what you need in life and disability insurance. Most important and most overlooked: check the beneficiary designations on your retirement accounts and policies. Those designations override your will, and a stale one (an ex-spouse, a deceased relative) is a costly mistake that's free to fix.

Setting next year's three financial goals

Don't write ten goals you'll forget by February. Pick three that are concrete and measurable — a savings target, a debt milestone, a contribution rate — and automate the first step of each before January starts. Three goals with momentum beat a long list with none.