The Annual Money Review: A Framework You Can Run in One Afternoon
An hour at year-end gives you more financial insight than 12 months of casual app-checking. Here's exactly what to look at.
Most people don't review their finances annually. The ones who do compound an unfair advantage: they spot patterns, kill leaks, and adjust direction once a year while everyone else drifts.
1. The "where did it go" pass
Pull last year's bank and credit-card statements. Tally totals by category — food, transport, fun, gifts, subscriptions, travel. Don't aim for precision; aim for pattern. Three categories will surprise you. Circle them.
2. The win list
Write down every financial win from the year. Negotiated a bill? Built an emergency fund? Paid off a card? Most people forget their wins by April and feel like nothing improved. The list reminds you it did.
3. The leak list
List every recurring charge you regret or didn't use enough. Cancel them today. Then identify one behavior that quietly cost you (e.g. impulse online shopping in evenings) and design one constraint for next year.
4. The one number that matters
Calculate your year-over-year net worth change. Not perfect numbers — rough estimates. If it went up, even slightly, you're winning. If it went down, you have a target for next year.
5. Set one financial goal, not five
Pick one specific number for the next year — savings rate, debt payoff, emergency fund target. Five goals usually become zero. One goal usually becomes done.
An annual review costs nothing. Skipping it costs about a decade of accidental drift.
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