Women's Money Wisdom

Episode 200: Setting Financial Resolutions and Goals for 2024

• Melissa Joy, CFP®️ • Season 4 • Episode 200

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In this episode, Co hosts Melissa Joy and Melissa Fradenburg kick off the new year with a lively discussion on how to set and achieve your financial resolutions for 2024. They emphasize the importance of taking a strategic approach to your financial planning and share practical tips to help you get organized and stay on track throughout the year. The Melissa's share actionable steps you can take to start the year on the right financial footing, including budgeting, automating savings, and optimizing interest rates on your savings accounts. They also remind listeners to consider their tax planning needs and the importance of early communication with tax professionals. Lastly, they share their own New Year's resolutions, from simplifying financial accounts to spending less time on screens, and invite listeners to help them stay accountable. Tune in to this episode to gain valuable insights and practical strategies for making 2024 a financially successful and fulfilling year.

Resources:

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The previous presentation by PEARL PLANNING was intended for general information purposes only. No portion of the presentation serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute for, personalized investment advice from PEARL PLANNING or any other investment professional of your choosing. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and it should not be assumed that future performance of any specific investment or investment strategy, or any non-investment related or planning services, discussion or content, will be profitable, be suitable for your portfolio or individual situation, or prove successful. Neither PEARL PLANNING’s investment adviser registration status, nor any amount of prior experience or success, should be construed that a certain level of results or satisfaction will be achieved if PEARL PLANNING is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. PEARL PLANNING is neither a law firm nor accounting firm, and no portion of its services should be construed as legal or accounting advice. No portion of the video content should be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that he/she will experience a certain level of results if PEARL PLANNING is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. A copy of PEARL PLANNING’s current written disclosure Brochure discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request or at https://pearlplan.com/

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Women's Money Wisdom Podcast. I'm Melissa Joy, a certified financial planner and founder of Pearl Planning.

Speaker 2:

I'm Melissa Freidenberg, financial advisor. We dive deep into topics like work-life balance, financial planning, personal growth and the intricacies of the sandwich generation.

Speaker 1:

Tune in for money conversations that every woman needs to have.

Speaker 2:

Hello and welcome to the Women's Money Wisdom Podcast. This is Melissa Freidenberg and Melissa Joy this week. Melissa, if our listeners are listening, we have made it to the other side of this race to the end of the year, right? Happy New Year, yes, yes. Well, we're recording this before Christmas, so if we sound a little frazzled, that's why.

Speaker 1:

Are you reading the look on my face? I have definitely have some notes for myself for next year, which is kind of what this is all about.

Speaker 2:

Exactly, this is about getting organized for the year, and it's kind of timely that Melissa and I are recording it at a hair on fire for most women, our age time of the year right before Christmas, a few days before Christmas. So let's get started. If you are listening early 2024 and thinking I want to get myself organized financially for the year, melissa, joy, what is the first step?

Speaker 1:

Well, I think so many people are like don't try to pile everything into January. But I would rather just embrace the natural inclination to say this year I want to do this, that and the other differently, and kind of say it's okay to have resolutions, but my pathway for you, if you do have those financial resolutions which frankly I would encourage is use this time, use the first part of the year, use January as a time to lay out the roadmap, set intentions and make a plan, so you don't have to get everything done all at once. Maybe you're someone who's really been curious about working with a financial planner and never took the action. Or perhaps you really want to do better about organizing for your tax season and getting your tax return done, or perhaps you want to increase your savings. Use this time period and the momentum and energy that a new year and a fresh start provides to lay things out.

Speaker 1:

One of the best pieces of advice I have would be to take your calendar.

Speaker 1:

For many of you, you probably use an online digital tool like your Google Calendar or your Outlook Calendar, if you're like me.

Speaker 1:

Or perhaps you have a good old fashioned journal and it's like clean and fresh because you just got a new planner or organizer and go in and set some dates in targets. So perhaps it's around the end of February when you should have all of your tax documents, saying I'm gonna spend this weekend getting organized. Or maybe you were doing a mad dash to enroll in your company benefits last fall and you want to send yourself a reminder that that wasn't the most fun to do it last minute and do your research in the beginning of October If you have an open enrollment, or perhaps you really want to do a deep dive on your investments and get them more organized and you feel like it would be best to do that over the summer. Take all these dates and kind of put ticklers and reminders into your calendar. That's a great planning action which allows you to not become overwhelmed with a list of 30 or 50 things to do, but to really have a game plan that can be effective throughout the year.

Speaker 2:

I love that idea of making a game plan Because I feel like we all enter the new year like our best organized self, with the best intentions of New Year's resolutions, promises to ourselves, and then, within a few months, it's like you've forgotten. So, by writing it down and really mapping it out is a great idea. I love that. I might actually do it, melissa.

Speaker 1:

Well, and I also, in the same vein, would encourage you to, if you feel like it, write a letter to yourself. So perhaps it's a letter that is talks about how it felt to be an investor this year. If you're somebody who's checking accounts all the time, you might have had a roller coaster of emotions. The stock market was up in the beginning of the year and then it kind of wiped out and lost a lot of its gains for stocks and bonds in the middle part of the year and then in the last six to eight weeks it's just been a frantic like hey, we know how to make money, we're gonna do that when it comes to investments, and so it was a roller coaster. Perhaps if you were opening all your statements and checking your values day to day, A roller coaster feeling which, if you just opened your statement on the last day of the year, you'd be like that was a great year. So noting some of your feelings, too, can be important.

Speaker 1:

I am thinking about this both for my money and finances. I have an intention for 2024 of simplifying, so I have some old accounts that I need to close, Like we used to have a nanny account that was in a different tax ID that we would pay when we have a nanny, and we don't have that anymore. So let me close that. So I have a few less accounts, some other accounts that have been retitled into our family's trust. So I'm trying to simplify and get more organized and not make things overly complex and so giving myself the intention and reminder like hey, this is why I wanna get things done or this is how I felt, and then putting that like just into the calendar notes, like just a journal note remember how you felt last year, make sure you're doing the right things all of that I think be very effective in kind of improving your outcomes and also acknowledging when you get things done and checking it off when you are successful.

Speaker 2:

I love the idea of writing it down, setting your attentions If you're thinking about things that you should actually do in the beginning of the year, like January 2nd. What would be like an actionable?

Speaker 1:

item. One thing I would definitely think about is do you have a budget? Not everybody needs a budget. If you really have your cash flow kind of locked in, then I'm not gonna be the budget beast who's chasing you down saying, but tell me where every penny is going. But if you do need a budget, then this is the perfect time because our minds really work very effectively in calendar years. And so mapping out and saying, if you have a budget software for example, I'm working on the client's budget they use a quickened software called Simplify.

Speaker 1:

We have talked in the last quarter about what the intentions are for 2024, about how money will be spent, and then we're gonna categorize everything and say this is how much we expect to spend in each category, so we can have an understanding and know exactly what's happening instead of just reporting on the information. So budgeting I think is great. And the other thing I think is great is increasing your savings rate. So if you've got a raise at the end of the year, or you're expecting a bonus, or you just have an intention to do better in terms of saving more for your future self and retirement savings, then bump those percentages up, because the amounts that you're allowed to put in for this year will be higher, and so the contribution limit, for example, in a 401k, is 23,000 next year. You can do up to that, and sometimes there's ways to do more. So do you make sure that you are keeping pace of improving your financial position with the decisions you make? How about you, melissa? What are some of the things that you think about right off the bat?

Speaker 2:

Well, one of the things I just recommended in a financial plan today actually which is, I think, for everyone, no matter what your contribution amount is is automating savings.

Speaker 2:

So if you're investing whenever you're doing it, when you have the money to do it, that's great.

Speaker 2:

But I know you touched on the market this year, melissa, and I think if you're thinking about it too much, about when is a good time to invest, you probably would have missed the mark this year. So I think it's really important to say if you have which after you do your budget which was a great recommendation excess cash flow or what amount can you afford to put away automatically every month and start that right off the bat in the beginning of the year. So, whether it's to an IRA, a Roth IRA or a taxable savings account, automate that monthly contribution and think about what you contributed this year. I love the idea of increasing that if you're already doing it, as you set those automatic investments, and it's three years ago and you're still doing the same amount, even though you're allowed to put more in for some of those retirement accounts. But again, just automating it so that you don't have to think about it, and I think that also goes along with your simplifying idea. So we're kind of combining all of the ideas with doing that.

Speaker 1:

Definitely, and one of the things I think we'll continue to mention into 2024, we're playing catch-up with the changing environment is you can get paid to have savings, which was not the case in years prior. So do make sure that you get interest and have a higher yield savings account if you've got considerable amount of cash kind of sitting around. That's one thing we said at Nauseam in 2023, but I suspect we'll continue to discuss with people in 2024.

Speaker 2:

Yes, you have to check that. I have that all the time where actually I had a different client today who thought they were getting a high yield savings and they were getting very, very low?

Speaker 1:

rate A couple other beginning of the year things. If you need a new tax professional or you need to take charge of the tax situation more, then you better scramble and get that person in place now, because it is difficult. Cpas and enrolled agents are busy. They are more and more scarce. There's a lot of people retiring. So if you need a new person in 2024, get right on that. And I would also give yourself some prompts, instead of some time in February or early March, to make sure you're getting super organized and have your materials over to your CPA early Because, like I said, they're extremely busy and often needing to delay.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely. And then you know thinking about that tax, if you have a tax bill coming up. That just reminded me. Talking about a CPA sort of planning for expenses, I know we have. You know, when I love to do DIY projects, so when I have some time off, like over the next week, I'm thinking about what projects need to be done around the house and some of them are above my pay grade and I'm going to need to put some money into it. So, really, planning ahead for expenses you have coming up Very much in lockstep with that.

Speaker 1:

when you make new plans, communicate them. So, whether it's that tax preparer that I mentioned, your financial planner like us, or your partner, if you are someone who makes decisions collectively, either you know with a person you're in a relationship with or family members, or have an accountability partner, this is the perfect time to communicate or say, hey, are we on the same page where? Let's do a check in, let's make sure that we get the new year off to the right start by having more, better communication. When it comes to money, which is, you know, in many cases, money is just a tool for life, so it's really a life discussion Great one.

Speaker 2:

Melissa, I don't know about you, but I feel like this. Last month I've barely talked to Jay. We've been like ships passing in the night, and I would like to check in on a lot of things. So that's a good reminder for sure.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, put it on the calendar or schedule a date night or a coffee coffee date and make sure that you're, you know, kind of getting some things done. I know we have a really great checklist which is just a bunch of general kind of questions about are there some immediate needs that need to be changed, and it's not just these top five or six ideas, but there's a bunch of checks that are, you know, things to consider at the start of the year.

Speaker 2:

So we will definitely link that. It's called what Issues Should I Consider at the start of the year? And also, if you go to our website, proplancom, under resources, you can find that, as well as the list of updated numbers for contributions for 2024 as well. So if you're thinking about upping those contributions, you can check out the limits and that'll help you make those decisions.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and that document is terrific, it's great to print out because it includes tax brackets, includes standard deduction, wage based information, just a lot of good details, and sometimes that those you know, all of those things just seem like an alphabet soup. So if you ever have any questions, that's where our job kind of starts is is helping you to understand things.

Speaker 2:

And along those lines, if you are thinking about maybe making a resolution or you know, being better, being more involved with your finances, and you would like to join us for our winter economic update and investment outlook, I will also link that sign up below. That's on January 24th at 11am Eastern, and it'll be Melissa and myself talking a little bit more specifically about. You know, the markets and the economy and the outlook for the year when it comes to those things, so I hope you can join us.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I'm curious to see it, melissa, because in October we did our last one.

Speaker 1:

We do this every three months and you know the news is not that great.

Speaker 1:

Everybody kept waiting for a recession that hasn't materialized so far, and investments were kind of like low neary, going back to kind of where we were close to where we started the year. Bonds were negative, and so I always find that more people listen in when stocks are down or investment returns are down. But this is a great time to listen because, melissa, I know you're so excited to hear this, but we're going to be talking a lot about the election this year. This is just naturally what we have to do as investment advisors on an election year, and we are really going to set the table and remind you about a lot of the important long-term things to remember when it comes to an election cycle, because it's not the most fun time as an investor, but it can actually be a very good time to be invested and will try to remind you that, regardless of the outcome of the election, there's a lot of good work you can be doing as an investor and with your financial plan.

Speaker 2:

We also have geopolitical stuff going on and policy, all the fun stuff that we get to look forward to, and kind of. With that I'm going to put you on the spot, Melissa, as we wrap up for this episode. Outside of finances, do you have any new year resolutions for this year?

Speaker 1:

I do some traveling for work, go to conferences, also with my family, and just have a lot going on. We're in the messy middle years with kids in elementary and high school, and so I'm really going to try to set boundaries so that there's more quality time and just feel I feel a little bit less harried. We'll see if you can hold me accountable for that. Melissa, tell me about your resolution for the new year.

Speaker 2:

So mine is still like. Last year I had a big one of kind of losing some weight and I kind of reached that goal, but this year is spending less time on my phone. I'm really bad about scrolling at night and I feel like I've lost a lot of time this year because I just sit down like for a minute to check Facebook or look at Instagram and like three hours pass.

Speaker 2:

So, my resolution is I'm going to use a real alarm clock and I'm going to, just like I do to my kids, I'm going to put my phone in the kitchen to charge at night and, like, read and use an alarm clock so that I don't wake up and scroll or fall asleep scrolling.

Speaker 1:

I read on my phone, read my Kindle on my phone. So, yeah, I may need to go back to the older fashion Kindle or start just reading actual physical books, because that would be very helpful in on my improving quality of quality time as well. So maybe we can talk about that together.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, sleep everything. So I want our listeners to hold me accountable If you see me commenting on things or posting things at like 11pm. Be like New Year's resolution. Go to sleep, melissa, yeah. Oh this is so fun. I love this. I'm glad we got to get together and we're starting off the new year right with both of us on a podcast. I think this is a good way to kick it off.

Speaker 1:

Yes, we're so excited for the new year with the podcast too. I hope you love the rebrand that we did mid year 2023 to women's money wisdom, and if you have guest ideas or just topics that you think we should cover, please let us know. We know our audience is growing and we want to hear from you if there's something that we're missing in our conversations.

Speaker 2:

Yes, please do. We love your topic ideas. We love your involvement. If you're liking the rebrand and you're liking what you hear, please give us some feedback, either on social media or wherever you listen to podcasts. That is so appreciated. We are so thrilled with our numbers going up and more listeners and welcome and thank you for making 2023 a great year for our podcast and here's to 2024, melissa, cheers, cheers.

Speaker 3:

Thank you for listening to the women's money wisdom podcast. If you found value in our conversations, please take a moment to like, follow and subscribe wherever you're tuning in from. It helps us continue to bring these valuable insights every week. Head over to women's money wisdomcom. There you'll find tools, tips and a supportive community to help you gain financial confidence.

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Melissa Joy, CFP

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