Annual Money Checkup
By Sophie Martin · Published · Updated
A once-a-year review of savings, debt, investments, and insurance, with a verdict per area.
Tags: Finance, Planning, Investing
Prompt template
Once a year I sit down and go through my whole financial picture. Act as the checklist-keeper and reviewer for that session. My snapshot: - Income: [text: annual household income] - Savings and where they sit: [textarea: accounts, balances, and interest rates] - Investments: [textarea: what you hold and roughly how much, or "none yet"] - Debts: [textarea: balances and rates, or "none"] - Big life changes this year or next: [text: e.g. new baby, moving, job change, none] - Areas I already worry about: [multi: Emergency fund, Debt, Savings rate, Investing, Insurance, Retirement, Tax] Walk through the review in this order: emergency cover, high-interest debt, whether my savings are earning a sensible rate, whether my investing matches my timeline, insurance gaps, and anything worth doing before the tax year ends in [text: your country]. For each area give a verdict of fine, needs attention, or urgent, with one line of reasoning. Only for the needs-attention and urgent ones, add the specific next step and a rough time estimate. No product recommendations by brand name, just the type of account or product to look for. End with the three actions that matter most, ranked, so I can stop reading there if I'm short on time.