Financial Planning Calendar
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You probably note on your calendar important dates in your personal life. Why not do the same for your finances? After all, a reminder to make regular payments to your child’s college fund is surely as useful as one marking your mother’s and father’s birthdays. To get started, you can tape the following calendar to your refrigerator. Then write in your own key financial dates. Do it now, while the tax season has forced you to focus on your finances. As you’ll see, some tasks, such as filing tax forms, must be done on or by a specific date. Others can be done practically anytime; our dates for those tasks are merely suggestions. JANUARY — Early January Snuggle up with a spiral note pad and write down your financial goals for the year and how you plan to meet them. Next, find out how you did in the past year by preparing a financial position statement, listing your assets and liabilities (see the box on page 11 for help). Compare your net worth with the total of a year go. If it didn’t rise, you need to start investing more and borrowing less. Turn to a fresh page and start your running log of any business use of your personal car or home computer for tax purposes. Set aside other pages to record purchases, sales and income from stocks, bonds and mutual funds during the year. Be sure to call your homeowners insurance agent if you received any expensive Christmas gifts, such as jewelry or antiques. You’ll want to add a rider to your insurance policy to cover the new valuables. ; Begin investing a set amount each month. You can arrange to have your bank transfer cash from your checking account to a mutual fund. Or your employer might be willing to take the sum out of your paycheck and put it in a savings plan or in U.S. Savings Bonds. — Mid-January If you owe estimated income taxes for the last quarter of the preceding year, send the Internal Revenue Service your payment by Jan. 15 or the next business day if the 15th falls on a weekend or holiday. — Late January When your mutual fund year-end report arrives, read it carefully and decide whether you want to stand pat, invest more in the fund or sell your shares and invest the proceeds in something else. Start planning your summer vacation. If you want to rent a getaway property, find out what’s available and arrange to lease it. FEBRUARY — Mid-February Pull together all your tax materials — your W-2 and 1099 forms, your receipts for any deductible expenses and the forms you’ll need to complete your tax return. If you are missing any forms, call the IRS or get them at a bank or post office. Then meet with your tax preparer and bring him or her up to date on your finances. — Anytime Buy one of the new paperback tax guides to keep up with changes in the tax laws. In 1988, for example, Congress tightened the rules on claiming the child-care tax credit and made U.S. Savings Bonds a better tax shelter. Review your life, health, disability and auto insurance to be sure your coverage is current. For example, you might consider canceling automobile collision coverage on a clunker you still drive. Don’t forget to include employer-provided group insurance coverage when you conduct your overall review. MARCH — Anytime Once you’ve learned your tax bill for the previous year, start planning your tax strategy for the current year. If you were underwithheld or overwithheld last year, adjust your W-4 at work accordingly. Re-examine your will to be sure it meshes with the current tax and estate laws and your family’s situation. If you have no will, hire a lawyer to draft one. APRIL — Tax-filing day This is your last chance to: make Individual Retirement Account or Keogh contributions for the previous year; pay your taxes; request an extension to file; and, if you pay estimated taxes, mail in the amount for the first quarter. — Anytime Pull out your most recent bank statements for any certificates of deposit. If the CDs will mature soon, figure out how you’ll reinvest the cash. If you are married or living with someone, spend part of a day discussing your finances — joint and separate — such as the household’s cash flow, savings, debt and expenses. It may be easiest to do this right after filing your tax return, when your financial situation is fresh in your mind. MAY — Anytime While you are waiting for your tax refund, or licking your wounds from owing money to the IRS, search for more ways to cut your taxes. If you are in the 28% or 33% tax bracket, for example, investigate investing in a tax-exempt municipal bond mutual fund. Also, if you will get a tax refund, determine how best to use it. People who can contribute to a company-sponsored savings plan are usually allowed in June to change their investment choices and the amount they contribute. Get a head start by analyzing your savings plan holdings now. JUNE — Mid-June If you owe quarterly estimated taxes, your second payment for the year is due by June 15 or the next business day if the 15th falls on a weekend or holiday. Call a credit reporting agency, listed in the Yellow Pages, for a copy of your credit report so you can be sure it’s accurate. The report will cost less than $20. JULY — Anytime A midyear financial checkup is in order. For example, if you’ve been charging many purchases, cut back. Also, evaluate the performance of your investments and consider selling the laggards. While you’re relaxing in the heat of summer, do a little retirement planning. You might want to consult a financial planner on how much you should be saving to retire comfortably. Read through your mutual fund’s mid-year report and, as in January, decide whether to invest more money in the fund, stand pat, or sell your shares and invest the proceeds elsewhere. More : money.cnn.com |