Every year, you promise this will be when you get your finances together. Well, let 2025 truly be that year. It can be hard to know where to start, but this 2025 financial calendar will keep you on track.
Your 2025 Financial Calendar
Here’s a blueprint of what financial tasks you should prioritize monthly to end the year strong.
January: Create your 2025 calendar
First, you need to give yourself the foundation for success in 2025. Set yourself up for a great year by creating a budget. If you’ve never made a budget before, here’s a quick outline:
- Review your expenses from the last three months to know how much you spent in each category.
- Make an ideal budget based on your income. Ensure you take into account retirement savings, debt repayment, and discretionary spending. If your work offers a retirement contribution plan, try to take full advantage of this perk and maximize your contributions. Doing so will impact your budget, so plan accordingly.
- Find a system that works for you to track your spending so you can monitor your budget all year long.
When creating a budget, it’s important to remain realistic. Consider leaving some room every month for unexpected expenses.
Additionally, if you don’t have an emergency fund, start working towards building one now. Once you have a fully-funded emergency fund, sticking to a budget will be easy because your fund covers large, unexpected bills!
February: Check your insurance policies
Your February task will be to evaluate each of your insurance policies to see if any changes need to be made for the year. You might have health, property, disability, and life insurance policies.
Americans spend an average of $590 a month on health insurance. At these high prices, you must ensure that you’re getting your money’s worth from every provider.
Check the coverage on all your insurance policies to ensure you’re getting everything you need and not paying for too much. If a policy is set to increase substantially this year, it may be worth switching providers.
March: Manage your bonus & check your credit
Many businesses offer bonuses in the springtime. If you’re expecting a bonus in March or close to it, have a plan for it.
Give your bonus a purpose. Don’t spend all of it frivolously. You can set 20% aside for fun discretionary spending. But, consider putting the other 80% towards a financial goal. Use your bonus to pay debts, increase your retirement savings, or bulk up your emergency fund.
If you didn’t get a bonus from your employer, use March to check your credit instead. You can check your credit score and order a free copy of your credit report from annualcreditreport.com.
One recent survey found that 44% of Americans who checked their credit report found at least one mistake. Scan your report for errors and file a dispute if you find any.
April: File your tax return
April is tax season. Ensure you file your income tax by the deadline of April 15 to avoid penalties. If you need more time, request an extension with the IRS.
Self-employed individuals must pay their first-quarter estimated income tax by April 15.
If you’re receiving a tax refund, consider following the same 80/20 rule recommended for your bonus payout. Aim to put 80% of your tax refund towards financial goals and 20% towards fun spending.
May: Holiday planning
May is typically when the weather starts to heat up, and summer feels right around the corner. If you plan to vacation in the upcoming warm months, now is the time to budget for it.
In 2024, a survey found that a shocking 36% of Americans planned to go into debt for their summer travel plans. Try to avoid this at all costs. The interest paid on your debt will make your vacation much more expensive than it should be.
Evaluate your budget and see how much money you can spend on travel. If your budget is tight this year, consider a local staycation or skipping this year and saving up for a bigger trip next year.
June: Budget check-in
June means you’re halfway through the year. It’s time to sit down and reflect on the budget. You need to ask yourself:
- Are you tracking well towards your goals?
- Can you stick to the budget every month, or do you typically overspend?
- Is your method for budget tracking working for you?
- Do you like your budgeting style or need to explore other options?
This is the time to make adjustments and optimize your budgeting process so you can finish the year strong. Remember that budgeting shouldn’t feel like a chore. You need to have a system that works for you so that you can stick to budgeting long-term.
July: Estate planning
Estate planning is a major aspect of financial responsibility. If you have not started the process, don’t procrastinate any longer. It’s crucial to the comfort and well-being of your family and loved ones. Start the process in July and get everything sorted so you can feel comfortable.
If you’ve already completed your estate planning, use this month to review it. Do you need to make any updates? Have you notified everyone and kept documents in easily accessible areas?
August: Education fund
August reminds us that kids are about to return to school. Make sure you have room in your budget for all the back-to-school expenses, like new clothes and school supplies.
This is also a great time to consider your children’s education funds. It might be time if you haven’t set up an education savings account.
September: Net worth analysis
This month, take the time to calculate your net worth. Consider all your assets, including your vehicles, savings accounts, retirement accounts, and more.
Every year, as you get to September, you can reflect on how much your net worth has grown.
October: Budget for holidays
By October, you may already be thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas. Both of these holidays are just weeks away and involve many extra expenses, such as flights, gifts, hosting costs, and more. Take a moment to look at your budget and make some room for all the additional spending.
November: Retirement planning
As the year is about to come to a close, you realize you’ve completed another year of your working life. Take some time to sit down and evaluate your retirement planning. You can use free retirement calculators to understand how much you’ll need to save.
If you’re feeling behind, know that it’s never too late to start saving more and catch up. When you create next year’s budget, you can aim to save more aggressively for retirement.
December: Investment balancing & budget reflection
If you invest, December is a good time to review your portfolio. As you age, your risk tolerance may decrease. Consider rebalancing your portfolio to be less risk-averse.
December is also a time to stop and reflect on the budget for the year. You’ll build a new budget in January, so consider what you must adjust for in 2026. There may be categories where you need to reduce spending, such as take-out. Or, there might be parts of your budget that you need to automate, like your retirement contributions.
By the end of this year, your finances will be in prime shape, and you’ll have a blueprint for a financial calendar to follow every year!
You might also be interested in: 5 Steps For Planning For Debt in Retirement
