Five money checkpoints to hit every year
Not a quarterly review. Not daily journaling. Five small appointments with yourself that cover everything that actually matters.
4 min readPublished May 8, 2026
January: the year on one page
Write down your starting net worth, your three biggest fixed costs, and one number you want to move by year-end. One page, in your handwriting. Put it somewhere you'll see it in October when the second half starts to drift.
April: the subscriptions audit
Open the last three months of statements and circle every recurring charge. Cancel anything you haven't used in sixty days. Renegotiate insurance, mobile, and internet — these companies expect it once a year and price accordingly. A single afternoon, four-figure return.
July: the insurance and beneficiary check
Confirm health, car, and home cover are still in force. Update beneficiaries on retirement and bank accounts if anything changed — marriage, divorce, new child. This is the highest-leverage paperwork hour you'll do all year, and almost nobody does it.
November: next year's plan, this year's mistakes
Read the page you wrote in January. Note one habit that worked and one that didn't. Set the next year's targets while the current year is still fresh — December plans made under holiday pressure age badly.
More in Personal finance
Personal finance
Personal Wealth: A Field Manual for the Gulf Investor
A complete operator's manual for personal wealth in the Gulf — what to measure, what to ignore, and how the dozen smaller decisions stack into a coherent life-long plan.
22 min readMay 17, 2026
Personal finance
Building a money mindset from scratch
Forget the seven-step plan. You need three habits, one number you check weekly, and a way to forgive yourself when a month goes sideways.
5 min readMay 12, 2026