The beginning of the year is a great time for financial housekeeping – taking into account the resources you have, learning how best to use them, and most importantly, (re)assessing what YOU want your money to do for you.

What is your relationship with money?

Before we get to tactical ideas, let’s start with evaluating what about money is important to you and review if these beliefs are still serving you in a positive way. We all start with emotional baggage. It helped us get to where we are, but it’s a good practice to reassess if there is a better way. Financial decisions are driven by emotions, not logic. To uncover your relationship with money, ask yourself questions like:

• If money were no longer an issue, what would my life look like?
• What lessons did I learn about money growing up? How do they affect me now?
• When I think about money, I feel ___________. Why do I feel this way?

Let me know if you need additional questions. I’m happy to send them your way. If you are interested in learning more about emotions and how they affect financial decisions, The Psychology of Money is a great read.

This investor shares his personal beliefs about money in 7 Beliefs about Money. My favorites are “Know Your ASWI number” and “Buy Your F*cking Time Back”. AWSI stands for Ain’t Stinking Worth It. As with anything in life, there are trade-offs. The same is very true in investing and personal finance. There are many strategies that can maximize your money. The trick is to optimize your money.

Financial Resources for 2024

Here are some good resources when thinking of your finances in the new year:

What Issues Should I Consider at the Start of the Year? (Interactive Checklist)

What’s Changing for Retirement in 2024? Notable changes for 2024 by Morningstar rockstar, Christine Benz.

To Lower Your Taxes in 2024, Make These Moves Now Tax planning is a year round sport. This Wall Street Journal article does a great job of outlining potential pocket of tax saving opportunities.

My favorite books of 2023

In creating this list, I was surprised by the books that I ended up loving the most. They were not ones that I naturally gravitate towards. It means that your book recommendations are so helpful in opening me up to more varieties of books. So, THANK YOU! And bring on more recommendations please!

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

This book was my favorite of 2023. I didn’t want to read it. I hated the cover art. I thought a book about video games couldn’t possibly be as good as everyone was saying. It was. I loved how the story was weaved together and found the characters so well written.

Remarkably Bright Creatures

Another book that I reluctantly started reading. How could a book about an octopus be engaging? Love, loved it. It was touching and funny.

The Winners

The Winners is the final book in the Beartown trilogy – books about a small town in Canada revolving around ice hockey. I don’t play or understand ice hockey. Also, I hate the cold. Reading about the cold in February made me cold. But this last book of the trilogy did not disappoint.

Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier

As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, I was a fan of Arthur C. Brook’s From Strength to Strength. As I and most of my clients are in our second half of life, finding meaning and purpose (financially supporting ourselves and our families) seems to come up more and more. Something that comes up again and again is community. As someone who likes to hid at home in sweats, it’s a reminder to that engagement with life and people are critical as we go into the next chapter off our lives.

The Gap and the Gain

Are you always moving the goal post for yourself? When you meet the goal, you think “meh, that wasn’t a big deal” and you set another goal? Do you ever take the time to celebrate what you have accomplished? This book really help me reshape how I view progress and success in a positive way. I highly recommend this, especially to my fellow Type A’s.

Bonus: The Fourth Wing

A client told me about this book. She said it was a mix of Game of Thrones and Hunger Games with lots of twists and turns and romance. It was one of my fastest and fun reads of last year. I could not put it down. Warning: it is not a rated PG book.