MY WIFE AND I DO a mid-year and year-end financial review. This includes an updated family balance sheet, cashflow analysis, portfolio review and a review of retirement projections.
I’m semi-retired and do some consulting when work is available. This income isn’t guaranteed, so I keep a spreadsheet that estimates our income and tax burden for the year. I usually update this quarterly to see if we need to submit any estimated state or federal tax payments.
During our twice-yearly financial review, we discuss spending priorities for the next six months. Our 2021 mid-year review was less routine—because my wife retired at the end of June. We’ll most likely roll her company 401(k) into her IRA at Vanguard Group, at which point we’ll have to choose how to invest that money. The biggest issue, at least in my mind, is that for the first time we’ll have to start withdrawing funds from our retirement accounts. We need to decide which investments we’ll withdraw the money from and how much to withdraw.
