5 advisors provide important tips for managing your money in 2025

Personal finances are a top priority for many households as they ring in the new year.

About 38% of Americans view financial stability as their top focus area for 2025, according to a recent survey from Allianz Life.

CNBC reached out to certified financial planners from the Financial Advisor Council to round up their top household resolutions for the year ahead.

Here’s the financial advice they offered.

Kamila Elliott, co-founder and CEO of Collective Wealth Partners

Create and stick to your budget! Maximize your retirement contributions and create one personal financial goal, such as paying off credit cards or investing an extra $100 per month in an investment account.

Barry Glassman, founder and president of Glassman Wealth Services

It starts and ends with knowing where the money goes. I encourage people to track their spending over a period of time, perhaps going back to three months of credit card and Apple Pay payments. It’s incredible what behavior will change once people know the truth.

Marguerita Cheng, CEO of Blue Ocean Global Wealth

I say estate planning. Addressing this is important for everyone, even an 18-year-old heading off to college in the fall of 2025. I had my daughter fill out a healthcare and financial power of attorney before sending her off to college.

When people feel overwhelmed by the estate planning process, I remind people that it is a process. Start with a financial and healthcare power of attorney.

You can then concentrate on the designation of the beneficiary. Then a will and trust, if the trust is appropriate for your situation. This process also helps individuals track down retirement plans of former employers. Estate planning is also a great opportunity to re-examine life insurance.

More from Personal Finance:
What it would cost to live as the ‘Home Alone’ family today
Only 21% of Employees Contribute to a Roth 401(k)
“Higher for Longer” interest rates benefit cash accounts

Lee Baker, founder, owner and president of Claris Financial Advisors

1. It’s not a popular topic, but take the time to review all your insurance coverage:

The car and housing markets in particular have risen significantly for many people. Don’t forget disability and life insurance. As long as you can get up and make a living, you can replace your car or rebuild your house. What happens if you can’t generate income?

2. Spend some time reviewing your tax strategies and retirement planning:

• Required minimum distributions: do you ‘need’ them? Would making qualified charitable distributions improve your overall picture?
• Tax Loss Harvesting: This is an opportunity to improve your overall portfolio performance.
• Employee benefits: Are you making full use of a health savings account (if available) and contributions to the retirement plan?

3. Check your cash flow:

If you spent more than you should during the holidays, now is a good time to make a plan to get rid of that financial hangover and make a plan to avoid it next year. Take a look at your personal interest rate environment. So far we have had some rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. There may be more, but either way, take stock of your situation.

Cathy Curtis, Founder and CEO of Curtis Financial Planning

1. Automate savings:

One of the best features of corporate retirement plans such as 401(k) plans and 403(b) plans is that contribution amounts are automatically deducted from a person’s paycheck each month, and the money is then automatically invested in a pre-selected fund. selection of funds.

Because it is important to save for other purposes outside of retirement, setting up an automatic withdrawal from a checking account to a savings or investment account is a smart move. The first step is to determine how much each money needs to be saved based on cash flow and then set up a monthly or quarterly transfer. Once it’s set up, it’s out of sight and out of mind and the savings will increase.

2. Manage overspending:

To get a handle on overspending, the first step is to identify the weaknesses in spending. This may include household furniture, electronic equipment, clothing, travel or jewelry, and so on. Then write down how much was spent in the problem category. A good way to find the numbers is to look at your credit card statements at the end of the year. Then write down a number that is 20-30% below the amount spent in 2024 and turn that into a new budget and goal for 2025. Track expenses each month in a spreadsheet or app to keep the spending goal top of mind.

3. Stay invested no matter the news:

If the end of 2024 is any indication, 2025 is likely to be a turbulent year in the stock market. With a new presidential administration, global wars, inflation and uncertainty surrounding interest rate projections, this is a major concern. But decades of history show us that the market will rise over longer periods of time and that the smartest move a long-term investor can make is to keep investing and stay invested.