Personal Finance Calendar

[Ombud]

November

• ★Got final 2013 free credit report
• ★Capital gains / tax loss rectified
• ★ Holiday spending's on track - only 2 to go & I still have $35+ on rewards card. Tomorrow is $10 off $25 @ Macys (have 2 coupons) so the gift cards will be spent

[seriousthistime]

November
Get a free annual copy of your credit report from one of the three major reporting agencies on a rotating basis.  Requested by mail.  


Don't charge more for holiday gifts than you can comfortably pay for in full when the January credit card statements come around. I've already purchased some gifts, still have others to buy, and I should have enough cash saved to pay for all the gifts I haven't yet purchased by the time Christmas rolls around. 


Take time to give thanks for another year of financial success. Review your charitable giving program and consider making tax-deductible gifts to charity or to a donor advised fund account before the end of the year.  I am thankful, but not flush enough to make anything other than small cash donations at this point (food bank, Salvation Army bell ringers, etc.).  I did renew my payroll-deducted charitable donations for 2014, however. 

[Ombud]

December

•Check capital gains/ losses and adjust as needed
•Rebalance asset allocation
•Year end charity contributions


We made it through another year!!  Rebalancing done; contributions made; checked capital gains against inherited losses and should come out within 6k. Posting again in January as it does keep me on track

[Saving4Norway]

I missed this from last year so I'm hoping that you'll re-play this month by month for 2014.

[Ombud]

Planning on it

[kilroy]

I'm not following along step for step, but I just went through & made notes in my 2014 calendar to check/update certain things as the year progresses, and I wrote out a rough financial plan for 2014 based on this year's numbers.

Thanks for posting this, Ombud!

[seriousthistime]

December

•Check capital gains/ losses and adjust as needed N/A
•Rebalance asset allocation  I want to be closer to the end of the year for this. 
•Year end charity contributions  Done


Ombud, thank you for posting this.  I agree it makes me pay more attention to my finances. 

[Ombud]

by now we all know what the capital gains are for each of our mutual funds however there are just 2 more days to factor those gains into your tax planning

[Ombud]

Resolve to make yourself financially fit in 2014:

January:

•Manage your debt. Start by paying off all of your high-cost, non-deductible credit cards, and then establish an emergency fund equal to 3-6 months of expenses, if you haven't already.

•Create (or update) your cash flow statement (income minus expenses) and statement of personal net worth.

•Give your portfolio a checkup—review the performance[/font] of your stocks, bonds and mutual funds as you rebalance back to your target asset allocation mix. If you're retired and drawing down income from your portfolio, combine your portfolio rebalancing with your cash flow planning for the next 12 months.

•Double-check your employer retirement plan contribution percentage. If you're at least 50 years old (or will be by December 31), consider making an additional catch-up contribution. At the very least, try to contribute up to the point where you take advantage of any available employer match.

•If you don't pay enough income tax through regular payroll withholding, file your fourth-quarter estimated income tax payment by January 15. (See the IRS Tax Calendar for other federal tax items due throughout the year).

•Annual tax forms 1099, 1098 and W-2 should be mailed to you by your various providers no later than January 31 (February 15 for some 1099s).

[Ombud]

Dec 30, 2013 18:10:28 GMT -5 Ombud said:

Resolve to make yourself financially fit in 2014:

January:

•Manage your debt. Start by paying off all of your high-cost, non-deductible credit cards, and then establish an emergency fund equal to 3-6 months of expenses, if you haven't already.

•Create (or update) your cash flow statement (income minus expenses) and statement of personal net worth.

•Give your portfolio a checkup—review the performance of your stocks, bonds and mutual funds as you rebalance back to your target asset allocation mix. If you're retired and drawing down income from your portfolio, combine your portfolio rebalancing with your cash flow planning for the next 12 months.

•Double-check your employer retirement plan contribution percentage. If you're at least 50 years old (or will be by December 31), consider making an additional catch-up contribution. At the very least, try to contribute up to the point where you take advantage of any available employer match.

•If you don't pay enough income tax through regular payroll withholding, file your fourth-quarter estimated income tax payment by January 15. (See the IRS Tax Calendar for other federal tax items due throughout the year).

Done:

★ No debt

★ Budget: done

★ Portfolio reviewed

★ Need to make extra $24k for Roth & WIRS


Rolled to next month:

•Annual tax forms 1099, 1098 and W-2 should be mailed to you by your various providers no later than January 31 (February 15 for my 1099s as I have 1 mutual fund mixed in with ETFs & individual stocks).

[seriousthistime]

January:

•Manage your debt. Start by paying off all of your high-cost, non-deductible credit cards, and then establish an emergency fund equal to 3-6 months of expenses, if you haven't already.  Working on this.  I transferred all cc balances to 0% interest until sometime in 2015.  

•Create (or update) your cash flow statement (income minus expenses) and statement of personal net worth. I use Mint for my net worth so I do this each time I update Mint.  I haven't received my first full paycheck of 2014 yet, so figuring the cash flow (i.e. budget) is put off until February.

•Give your portfolio a checkup—review the performance[/font] of your stocks, bonds and mutual funds as you rebalance back to your target asset allocation mix. If you're retired and drawing down income from your portfolio, combine your portfolio rebalancing with your cash flow planning for the next 12 months.[/strike] I rebalanced a few times during the year.  It's not exact, but close.  Really, it's only exact on the day I rebalance, because of the ups and downs in the market.  I do watch it to make sure it's never completely out of whack.

•Double-check your employer retirement plan contribution percentage. If you're at least 50 years old (or will be by December 31), consider making an additional catch-up contribution. At the very least, try to contribute up to the point where you take advantage of any available employer match. Done.  Contributing the max plus catch-up.  

•If you don't pay enough income tax through regular payroll withholding, file your fourth-quarter estimated income tax payment by January 15. (See the IRS Tax Calendar for other federal tax items due throughout the year).  I did my taxes the other day.  I still need a few forms but could estimate pretty well what they'll say.  I'm getting a refund of about $500 (meaning I overwithheld by about $20 per paycheck).  That's acceptable to me.

•Annual tax forms 1099, 1098 and W-2 should be mailed to you by your various providers no later than January 31 (February 15 for some 1099s).  I should have all forms in hand by the end of next week. 

[Ombud]

seriousthistime said:

I'm getting a refund of about $500 (meaning I overwithheld by about $20 per paycheck)

Awesome job! FWIW: I love getting a refund and yours is about as close to perfect as you can get ★

[Ombud]

February
•Check your insurance policies (property and casualty, liability, health, disability, life) to be sure you're not paying too much for the wrong kind of coverage.
•It's possible certain mutual funds could restate their distribution information after your initial Form 1099 is mailed to you at the end of January. Though not common, when such fixes are necessary a corrected 1099 is usually mailed sometime in the month of February, so this shouldn't stop you from getting a head start preparing your income tax forms. Schwab clients can access tax tools and resources on schwab.com.

Just realized that I didn't get February in & it's almost March.

Got my taxes filed with the wage stubs as the employer is MIA & what I got shows that I was ineligible for a Roth contribution. Hopefully that'll work

[Ombud]

Updated today bc I was concerned that my credit report was accessed. So 1st half of year done:
 still no debt
 updated cash flow statement 
reviewed asset allocation and bought another ETF for dividends
 2014 Roth done
 got 1st annual credit report bc I got a $10 coupon to Kohl's in a previous name. Equifax showed 5 credit requests in last 12 months, 3 closed credit accounts, & 3 active credit accounts (Macys gives you 3 cards instead of 1: in-store, 2: LT revolving, 3: AMEX). Thought the closed ones fell off after 10 years. If so, only 2 should show when I get the next report in 4 months. Unable to access Transunion online as they recorded my DD's previous address as one that I was affiliated with

July

Keep learning: sign up for a workshop [online doesn't work for me]. This year it'll  be all about Options. Thinking covered calls vs. iron condors. I've done puts but that's really just insurance against losses. I want to make $$

August
Compare what I planned to spend on vacation with what I spent and start saving that amount for next summer after figuring out what can be spent in fall

September
Review estate plan
Contact IRS / SSA to see if they properly credited 2013

October
Tax Planning
Open enrollment season
Get 2nd credit report

November
Pay for holiday gifts with cash & rebate cards
Review charitable giving program - volunteer for Food Barrel or Wardrobe for Opportunity Drive

December
Rebalance for long-term asset allocation

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

I remember when you originally posted this. I'm still not done with the first bullet of the January list. 

[Ombud]

Knee Deep in Water Chloe, nothing says you have to finish one bullet before working on another!! When I had debt, I found pulling credit reports helped me stay on track and its FREE! Now I try to do one every 4 months. It's easier to save if I know where my money is going and why I can trim

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Sigh. I know. It's my OCD tendencies/Triple A personality. Must go in order!!!

[Ombud]

Another bullet done:
 still no debt
 updated cash flow statement 
reviewed asset allocation, bought dividend payers
 2014 Roth done
 got 1st annual credit report
upped IRS & FTB withholding to match projection
paper trading options & all day options seminar 8/9


August
Compare what I planned to spend on vacation with what I spent and start saving that amount for next summer after figuring out what can be spent in fall

September
Review estate plan
Contact IRS / SSA to see if they properly credited 2013

October
Tax Planning
Open enrollment season
Get 2nd credit report

November
Pay for holiday gifts with cash & rebate cards
Review charitable giving program - volunteer for Food Barrel or Wardrobe for Opportunity Drive

December
Rebalance for long-term asset allocation

[Ombud]

August bullet done:
 still no debt
 updated cash flow statement 
reviewed asset allocation, bought dividend payers
 2014 Roth done
 got 1st annual credit report
upped IRS & FTB withholding to match projection
paper trading options & all day options seminar 8/9
minimal charge on vacation #1, vacation #2 under budget [Sept Alaska cruise]

September
Contact IRS / SSA to see if they properly credited 2013

October
Update tax planning
Get 2nd credit report

November
Keep holiday spending under control
Volunteer for charity event

December
Rebalance investments

[Ombud]

September bullet done:
 still no debt
 updated cash flow statement 
reviewed asset allocation, bought dividend payers
 2014 Roth done
 got 1st annual credit report
upped IRS & FTB withholding to match projection
paper trading options & all day options seminar 8/9
vacation 1 (NOLA) & 2 (Alaska) on budget
updated tax planning

October
SSA requested I hold off until 10/15/14 to see if 2013 properly credited
Get 2nd credit report

November
Keep holiday spending under control
Volunteer for charity event

December
Rebalance investments