8 Financial New Year’s Resolutions to Incorporate Today

Each new year provides an opportunity to make positive changes in your life, and your finances are an important area to address. By the end of January, however, many promises have already been forgotten or pushed to the following year.

Some resolutions can be delayed without consequences, but your financial health isn’t one of them. Start improving your finances today with a critical look at your past financial performance and an honest review of what you could be doing better.

Once you have identified areas for improvement, you can set financial goals for the year. Consider incorporating the following 8 simple tasks that you can complete early in 2026 to promote financial success this year and in the long run.

Fortunately, if you’re already a client of Brookstone Wealth Management, reviews and proactive adjustments are already incorporated into your ongoing portfolio management. If you have experienced a major life change or have questions about your finances, feel free to contact us. Otherwise, you don’t need to schedule a special appointment to handle beginning-of-year tasks. We are publishing this article for you to share with your family and friends, and for those who may not be receiving the level of care we provide at Brookstone Wealth Management.

1. Update your Financial Goals

A successful financial plan has clearly defined goals and steps for reaching them. However, these goals can become outdated as your life progresses.

Take stock of any major life changes last year – such as adding a new child or grandchild to your family, buying or selling a home, starting a new job, or retiring from an old one. Then, update your financial goals to reflect these shifts.

Even if you didn’t experience major change, review your goals and make sure that they still match your vision for the future. After all, times change, the economy changes, and your life changes. Your plan should incorporate these shifts and reflect your current situation.

The first steps toward financial freedom are articulating your goals and setting an attainable timeline for achieving them. If you complete these tasks early in the year, and stick to your plan, you will be astonished by the progress you are able to make in just twelve months.

2. Find Your Ideal Investment Mix

The investments in your portfolio should be tailored to your specific situation, tolerance for risk, and goals. The ideal mix for your situation is called your “target allocation,” and you should review your accounts to ensure that your target matches these criteria.

An experienced financial advisor is a critical partner in this process, because they can help you understand your attitude toward investing and tolerance for risk. With this information, they can help you choose investments that are intended to maximize returns without subjecting you to more risk than you are willing to take.

If you’ve previously established a target allocation, don’t skip this resolution. Your allocation should change with time and your priorities – meaning that the investments that were right for you a few years ago may not be appropriate today. For this reason, you should still take the time to review your goals and allocation with a trusted financial advisor to ensure your investments align with your objectives.

With tailored investments, you can avoid unnecessary anxiety and relax knowing that you are on the path to financial success. So, do yourself a favor and determine your ideal mix as soon as possible.

3. Rebalance Your Investment Accounts

Choosing wise investments is a difficult task, but the work doesn’t stop there. You also need to maintain your appropriate mix of investments by periodically rebalancing your accounts. The beginning of the year is an excellent time to complete this task because last-minute contributions and distributions from the prior year have settled, and you can get an accurate view of your portfolio.

Rebalancing is important because investments do not grow at the same pace. Your allocation will become distorted as investments outperform or underperform the other assets in your portfolio. This imbalance alters the amount of risk within your portfolio and the returns you can expect to receive in the future.

By rebalancing, you revert the risk and reward of your investments to the targets you established. Then, you can minimize surprise underperformance or unnecessary risk of losses.

While rebalancing is important, it is also time consuming. Fortunately, an experienced financial advisor can take the work of rebalancing most investment accounts off your plate.

4. Create and Implement an Effective Tax Plan

Taxes reduce your income and investment gains, and a high tax burden can even delay or prevent you from realizing your financial goals. That’s why you need a plan to minimize your tax burden, and you need to update it each year.

There are many strategies for minimizing your tax burden that range from “tax loss harvesting” to allocating a portion of your savings to tax-advantaged investments. A financial advisor can help you estimate how taxes will affect your financial plan as well as develop strategies for structuring investments and ordering distributions to minimize taxes.

If you’ve already created a tax plan, review it this year and implement any changes that need to be made. Tax law changes rapidly, as we witnessed with the passing of the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act in 2025. A thorough review of your tax plan helps to tailor your expectations and actions to the latest legislation.

With an effective plan to manage taxes, you can minimize the amount you owe this year and in the future. This gives you more money to invest, leading to more financial stability and renewed confidence in your ability to reach your goals.

5. Increase Your Savings

“Save more” may seem like simple and commonplace advice, but it is vital to your future financial health. The trick to actually achieving this goal in 2026 is to look for ways to increase your savings without jeopardizing your lifestyle or other priorities.

You may have gotten a financial windfall or a holiday bonus in 2025. Consider allocating a portion of this to your savings. Adding these funds to savings won’t reduce your monthly income, so it may be a comfortable way to build your nest egg.

You can also establish salary deferrals to your retirement accounts and monthly transfers to your savings or brokerage account. By automating your savings, you are less likely to spend the money and more likely to meet your goals.

If you find that you still need to save more to reach your financial goals, consider ways to reduce your spending. After all, it’s no secret that bad spending habits can lead to lower savings.

For more specific advice on budgeting or creative ways to increase your savings, work with an experienced financial advisor. They can help you uncover new ways to save so that you can enter retirement with optimism, rather than worries.

6. Select the Right Insurance for Your Needs

In many cases, insurance is the only barrier between your family and financial disaster when emergencies occur. So, make a goal to review your coverage and ensure that you have adequate protection this year.

As you review your coverage, confirm that you have enough life insurance to care for your family in the case of your death. If your situation has changed since you purchased a policy, be sure to update your coverage.

Also, it’s important to check your disability policy. Each year, about 5% of workers experience short-term disability. Additionally, one fourth of people experience long-term disability during their working years. Disability insurance is typically inexpensive but can provide much needed income if you experience an injury or illness that prevents you from working.

Finally, review your health insurance to make sure that you have the appropriate amount of coverage for your family’s needs. Choose a health care plan that minimizes your monthly costs while providing adequate coverage in case of an emergency. If your situation permits, consider the benefits of investing through a Health Savings Account [HSA].

You may have a hard time selecting the right insurance for your family. That’s why you should seek the advice of an experienced financial professional. The right advisor can help you ensure your family is protected without overspending each month.

7. Create or Update Your Estate Plan

While the process can be uncomfortable, creating and maintaining an estate plan is essential to your family’s financial health. If you don’t have a will, make it a priority to have one written. If you have a will, review it to ensure that your assets will be split according to your wishes in the event of your death.

In addition to maintaining a will, you should ensure that your retirement and investment accounts have beneficiaries listed. This simple task can make it much easier for your beneficiaries to access your accounts after your passing.

Further, keep a record of all your accounts, their locations, and the assigned advisor. Make sure that your beneficiaries know how to access this list. These records will ensure that your beneficiaries will know who to contact at the time of your death.

Finally, consider the tax implications of inheritance. If you are concerned that your beneficiaries may owe estate taxes, contact a financial professional to review your options.

With a comprehensive estate plan, you can rest assured that your family will receive the assets you intend to leave them and understand how to navigate the inheritance process. This simple knowledge can provide irreplaceable peace of mind.

8. Contact a Financial Advisor to Update Your Financial Plan

An experienced financial advisor can help you set goals and create a plan for achieving them. If you need help planning and forecasting your retirement years and the steps you can take to meet your goals, contact an advisor at Brookstone Wealth Management.

At Brookstone, we will develop your Financial Fingerprint® – a custom wealth management plan that brings together the most important pieces of your financial picture into one easy-to-understand plan. With your Financial Fingerprint® and a trusted financial partner, you will have the tools to stay on the path toward your True North.

Contact the team at Brookstone Wealth Management to get started today.