8 New Year's resolutions for your money that you can actually keep |
Personal Finance
8 New Year's resolutions for your money that you can actually keep
Stop making the same money missteps. Financial experts share eight resolutions you'll actually keep in 2026 — from paying off debt to smart investing
ByDeborah Kearns
Published 16 hours ago|Updated 1 hour ago
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It's almost 2026. Another year, another round of financial promises to yourself you'll probably break by March. Max out the 401(k). Build that emergency fund. Stop letting Ubers and subscriptions eat your paycheck. You know the drill.
Unlike that gym membership collecting dust, ignoring your money goals doesn't just make you feel guilty. It can derail other milestones and put you in a familiar spiral.
Setting realistic money goals you’ll actually maintain throughout the year is better than setting loftier ones that are harder to achieve, financial advisors say. Here are top financial resolutions to consider this year, along with tips to make them stick for good.
1. Take stock of your financial health
Before you map out money moves for the year ahead, you first need to understand where you are right now. That means taking a candid look at what went well and what didn’t the previous year — and whether you achieved last year’s goals.
“There are many things that can derail a good financial plan,” said Laura Mattia, senior vice president and financial advisor with Wealth Enhancement.
Also, review your beneficiaries across all accounts so that if you die, your assets go to whom you intended, said Judi Leahy, vice president and senior wealth advisor with Citi Wealth Management.
"Check your beneficiaries that they are who you want them to be, because you might have started that job when you were 25 and your parents were your beneficiaries, and now you're married with two kids,” Leahy said, noting that she has seen it happen (and it’s not pretty).
2. Create — and stick to — a budget
It might sound simplistic, but budgeting is one of the most powerful yet underutilized ways to ensure you stick to your money goals.
Consider this sobering statistic: 69% of American workers say they live paycheck to paycheck, marking a four-year high, according to Debt.com’s Annual Budgeting Survey. The number of people who said budgeting........