Stage Your Own ‘Operation Christmas Clean-up’
to Prepare Financially for 2024
Paul Fain, CFP®
Last week, we began decorating our home for the holidays. As we retrieved and unpacked boxes of ornaments and garland and lights, we began to explore everything else that was in storage. The project morphed into a year-end house cleaning.
“Operation Christmas Clean-up” easily extends to your personal financial plan.
Review your investments for tax planning opportunities. The markets have provided mixed returns this year, so there might be capital gains to realize or capital losses to harvest for a tax write-off.
Also assess your investment strategy from the perspective of quality control and risk/return alignment. Trim some gains on your leaders. Perhaps add to your under-valued laggards. Sell your losers.
Many charities rely on holiday donations to fund their annual budgets. In a spirit of gratitude and abundance, give early and give often.
Take a few moments while families are gathered to update and share your wishes for legacy and long-term-care planning. These conversations can be difficult, but your family will appreciate your candor and leadership.
Set up a 529 college savings account for a child or grandchild. Check out savingforcollege.com.
Inflation is the gift that keeps giving (us a headache). Before the end of the year, review and reset your spending plan for 2024. Perhaps you need to trim expenses in several areas of your life to accommodate higher costs in other budget areas.
Make a gift to yourself. Subscribe to a budgeting app such as YNAB (You Need a Budget). Enroll in a healthy living app such as Ten Percent Happier (use short meditation and breathing sessions to reduce stress). Read Dr. Peter Attia’s excellent book on longevity, “Outlive.”
Review your employee benefits, but first confirm your employer’s open enrollment period for changing them. Note: if you have met your medical insurance’s out-of-pocket maximum, try to quickly get a necessary scope, scan or exam scheduled by year-end. For most health plans, Jan. 1 rolls into new deductibles, co-pays, etc.
Last but not least, review and discuss where you want your money to take you in 2024. Do you need to reduce debt or increase savings? Are you preparing to retire? Move? Do you have travel plans? Take a half-day before Dec. 31 and have your own Operation Christmas Clean-up for your financial plan. It will give you peace of mind. Wishing you a happy holiday season.
This article originally appeared in the Knoxville News Sentinel online on November 24, 2023.
