Austin Stuhr, OLP Financial Advisor with Cornerstone Investments
1. Cash Flow: Know Where Your Money Is Going
You don’t need a complicated budget. You do need awareness.
Healthy goals might include:
- Tracking spending for one or two months
- Automating savings early in the year
- Building or maintaining a 3–6 month emergency fund¹
Healthy sign: Unexpected expenses don’t immediately turn into credit card debt.
2. Tax Planning: Be Proactive, Not Reactive
Don’t wait until tax time to think about taxes.
Healthy tax goals include:
- Understanding your marginal tax bracket²
- Planning retirement contributions intentionally (Traditional vs. Roth)³
- Considering Roth conversions earlier in the year when income is more predictable³
- Adjusting withholding when income changes
Healthy sign: No tax-time panic or last-minute scrambling.
3. Investing: Consistency
Markets will always move, and no one controls that. The healthiest investors typically focus on what they can control.
Healthy investing goals:
- Regular, automatic contributions
- A diversified portfolio aligned with your risk tolerance⁴
- Periodic rebalancing to manage risk⁵
Healthy sign: You aren’t reacting emotionally to every market headline.
4. Debt: Make Sure It’s Working For You
Not all debt is bad — especially in farming and business ownership — but it should always be intentional.
Healthy debt goals:
- Knowing the interest rate and terms on every loan
- Refinancing or restructuring when appropriate
- Prioritizing high-interest debt⁶
Healthy sign: You feel in control of your debt, not trapped by it.
5. Protection & Planning: Prepare for the “What Ifs”
This is one of the most overlooked areas of financial health — and one of the most important.
Healthy goals include:
- Reviewing beneficiaries on retirement and investment accounts⁷
- Making sure insurance coverage reflects your current situation⁸
- Having basic estate documents in place
- Ensuring someone can step in if something happens to you
Healthy sign: Your family wouldn’t be left guessing in an emergency.
One Last Thought
You don’t need to fix everything in January; you just need to start. Pick one or two areas where improving your financial health would reduce stress or create more flexibility this year. Healthy financial goals, like healthy life goals, are built over time.
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results. Diversification and periodic investing do not guarantee a profit or protect against a loss in a down market. All indices are unmanaged and may not be invested into directly.
References
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Financial Well-Being: The Goal of Financial Education.
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Tax Brackets and Marginal Tax Rates.
- IRS. Traditional and Roth IRAs – Contributions and Conversions.
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Diversification.
- Vanguard. Principles for Investing Success.
- Federal Reserve Bank. Household Debt and Credit Reports.
- FINRA. Why Beneficiary Designations Matter.
- Insurance Information Institute. Understanding Insurance Coverage Needs.
