The start of a new year is the best time to get your financial life organized. Not because January magically changes anything, but because it gives you a natural reset point to look ahead and get in front of what is coming.
There is one idea that drives almost everything we do in Q1: preparing for liquidity needs without disrupting your overall financial plan. Below is a simple checklist to help you feel clear, steady, and in control as you head into the year.
1. Look Ahead 12–24 Months and List Every Major Expense
Most people already have significant expenses coming, but they just haven’t written them down. It’s that list in your head that creates all kinds of anxiety because it’s not visualized or clearly planned for. That’s why in Q1, we encourage clients to ask questions like:
Take a few minutes and ask:
- Are we planning any home projects?
- Are we buying a car?
- Any big trips this year?
- Is a child starting school or college?
- Are we thinking about real estate?
- Any family events, weddings, remodels, or medical needs?
- Do I have business expenses or investments coming up?
We are looking for anything significant that is outside of your regular cash flow needs. The goal here is to leverage additional pockets of money, usually in your investments, to prepare that cash for use. Specifically, we want to know what we currently have invested and whether we need to take anything out of the market to protect the money we will need from potential downturns.
2. Move Short-Term Money Into Safe Places
If you’re going to spend the money soon, you don’t want it tied to market ups and downs.
Good places to park short-term money:
- High-yield savings accounts
- Money market funds
- Short-term treasury-style cash options
- Any simple, stable account where the value won’t bounce around
You’ll usually hear us advocate for staying invested when we are talking about long-term dollars, but when we know you’ll need a specific amount in the near future, we want those dollars to be reliable. Market volatility is ok for money you’ll need in 10+ years, but it’s much harder for money you’ll need this year.
3. Take the Right Amount of Risk With the Rest
Once your short-term expenses are covered, everything else becomes easier. Your risk should match your timeline. If you need money soon, keep it safe. If the timeline is longer, you have more options.
This is how families avoid scenarios like: “Sorry, we had to cut the wedding budget in half. Our stocks are in a dip right now.”
4. If You Run a Business, Check Your Tax Picture Early
If you own a business, we specifically want to look at liquidity for tax purposes. There are a variety of reasons that cash can impact liquidity. We want to be very clear about last year’s income and this year’s projections to understand how much cash you need on hand for quarterly estimates and tax return season. A few examples:
- Taxes weren’t withheld the right way
- Quarterly payments didn’t match a fast-growing year
- Last year’s income makes this year’s tax estimates feel too high
Q1 is the right time to:
- Look at what you expect to earn this year
- See whether last year’s taxes will throw off this year’s cash flow
- Decide whether to set aside extra money each month
- Consider holding some cash in a high-interest account until April
Just getting this right can completely change how confident you feel heading into spring.
5. Make Sure Your Automatic Systems Are Working
You might be tired of hearing us talk about this, but automating your investing is one of the best decisions you can make for your financial plan. A good year comes from good systems, not good intentions. We use Q1 to check:
- Are you automatically saving or investing each month?
- Are transfers happening without you needing to remember them?
- Is your emergency fund filled up?
- Is your monthly cash-flow map still accurate?
When the basics run on autopilot, your financial year feels calmer and more predictable. That’s foundational to financial wellness.
6. Revisit Your Big Life Plans
Your wealth coach’s job is to help you anticipate the financial impacts of big life decisions. Life is full of change, and we want to operate with a clear road map for the financial choices you need to make. That’s why we will also revisit bigger life event questions like:
- Are we nearing retirement?
- Thinking about selling a business?
- Changing jobs?
- Planning to move?
- Growing the family?
- Taking care of aging parents?
Many clients and new families find themselves in new dialogue here in Q1 because something in their lives is shifting, and they want clarity before making a big decision. That’s exactly what your wealth coach is for.
7. Write Down a Simple Liquidity Plan
We’re not looking for a complicated spreadsheet here so much as a clear understanding. Based on our conversations, we document:
- What you’ll need this year
- When you’ll need it
- Where that money will come from
- What stays invested long-term
This one step removes most of the stress families feel around money.
A Good Year Starts With a Clear First Quarter
We would much rather win the preparation game than play the reaction game when it comes to your money. That’s why, in Q1, we are recalibrating your financial strategy to reflect the current state of your family life and career.
Let’s get a clear view of what’s coming up, prepare the money you’ll need to accomplish it (in a tax-mindful way), and adjust as needed with your ongoing plan.
If you want help mapping out your year or making decisions around upcoming expenses, we’re here to walk the path with you.