6 Money Moves You Should Make Before the End of the Year

We all know Santa's making a list and checking it twice. But what kind of list, you ask?

An end-of-year money to-do list, of course.

Christmas and Hanukkah are fast approaching, and there's less than a month until the ball drops, which means it's prime time to conduct a financial checkup before the new year arrives. A lot of these tasks involve pre-planning to avoid playing catch-up or worrying about something you should have already done, according to Alanna Morey, a private wealth advisor with Ameriprise Financial. Your goal to shoot for, she says: "No surprises in 2025."

Putting in the effort now to get your financial house in order will be worth it later. With that in mind, here's an end-of-year financial to-do list for 2024.

Revisit your budget

Jaime Eckels, a partner at Plante Moran Financial Advisors, says December is a great opportunity to look back at the previous year and determine whether you stayed on target.

You should scrutinize your credit card statements and ask yourself: How did your plans work out? Were you able to follow your budget? Did you spend way more than you intended on, say, espresso martinis and the Eras Tour at the expense of your short-term savings for a new iPhone?

"We always talk about budgeting and how important it is [but] it only works if you can actually check back and reflect and see how you did compared to what your goals were," Eckels says.

You can then take what you learned and apply it to your spending plan for 2025. For instance, if you weren't able to stick to the recommended 50-30-20 breakdown in 2024, maybe you need to adjust those thresholds. If surging home and auto insurance premiums are dragging you down, maybe you need to shop around for better rates.

Save for retirement

Morey says to check in on your retirement savings plan next. If you have an individual retirement account, or IRA, there's still time to max it out for 2024: The deadline for IRA contributions is April 15, 2025. You can put away as much as $7,000 ($8,000 for folks age 50 or older) in your traditional and Roth IRAs, though Morey points out that there are IRS income limits to consider.

You can stash as much as $23,000 in your 401(k) for 2024 (people 50 and up can throw in an extra $7,500). These contributions generally have to be organized through work, but there's still time to contact your company's payroll department and ask to sneak in a bit more from your remaining paycheck(s). 401(k) contributions have to be made by Dec. 31.

Meet end-of-year deadlines

New Year's Eve isn't just for downing copious amounts of champagne and finally figuring out how in the world they're going to make "2025" into glasses. It's also the deadline for older Americans to make required minimum distributions, or RMDs, from their retirement accounts. (The rules on this recently changed because of the SECURE 2.0 Act, so pay close attention.)

Dec. 31 is typically the last day to spend funds in your Flexible Spending Account, or FSA, too. (Some FSA plans have different deadlines.) This money is use-it-or-lose-it. Luckily, there are a ton of ways to use it: FSA-eligible items include sunscreen, vitamins, tampons, contacts, acupuncture, travel pillows and more.

Review your portfolio

Morey suggests speaking with your financial advisor about whether your investment portfolio still aligns with your goals. One easy place to start is by asking yourself whether you're still comfortable with your asset allocation, which refers to how investments are divided among stocks, bonds and cash based on your risk tolerance, time horizon and goals.

In general, investors can afford to take on more risk when they're younger. The older you get, the less money you'll probably want to have in stocks.

Eckels says this time of year is also a good time to examine your brokerage accounts and see if there are any opportunities to harvest losses.

Update your estate plan

Death is not super-fun to think about when decking the halls and blasting *NSYNC's Home for Christmas, but there's no time like the present to establish what Eckels calls your crisis plan. Although you can create a basic will on your own through a service like LegalZoom, it's probably smarter to reach out to an estate attorney. They can help you put together an airtight package of end-of-life documents, including medical and financial powers of attorney.

Folks who are already ahead of the curve and have an existing estate plan aren't off the hook. They should sit down and revisit everything, Eckels says.

"Are the provisions appropriate? Are the individuals you named 10 years ago still the individuals you want to make your financial and health care decisions?" she says. "Because life changes, families change, and sometimes we just set it and forget it."

Give yourself a high-five

Morey urges you not to forget the crucial step of self-congratulation. No, really: She says that amid the hustle and bustle of the holidays and working through this list of financial tasks, you should take a moment and hype yourself up for all the money goals you reached in 2024.

That could be getting a raise at work, buying a house, taking a trip you've been saving for or paying for a flight with credit card points — whatever matters to you and will motivate you going forward.

"Pat yourself on the back for the good work," she says. "Congratulate yourself for the hard work you've been putting in, and then make a plan for what you want to do in the coming year."

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