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No, we don’t need to complete all 15 tasks by the end of this day. Still, we might knock them out by the end of the year. Meanwhile, I suspect that long before we’ve checked off the last of the list, we’ll experience less worry, better sleep–and hear fewer nagging reminders from our family.
1. Run an estimate of our 2026 taxes, while there might still be time to mull over, say, the size of a charitable donation or Roth conversion, without pressure from an impending deadline.
2. Schedule an appointment with an estate attorney to update our will and other documents–or finally take steps to create them.
3. Check the beneficiary designations of all financial accounts and insurance policies.
4. Adjust the stock-to-bond ratio of our portfolio to where we know it should be–before a market surprise has us kicking ourselves that we didn’t.
5. Review our insurance needs, then add or drop coverage to fit our current risk.
6. Make an appointment with our doctor to have that spot or symptom checked out, before it grows out of control.
7. Tackle that stack of papers we’ve been avoiding–before it grows out of control.
8. Give or throw away one thing, then try to make it a habit.
9. Strike out on a walk or do one exercise–then strive to make it a habit.
10. Compile a list of subscription services and other recurring expenses–then finger one culprit for elimination.
11. Fail to check our portfolio balance–for the second day running.
12. Turn off the financial news for one week. Okay, one day. One hour?
11. Place that long-neglected phone call to an old friend.
14. Say no to an annoying drain on our time, then give that time to something we’re passionate about.
15. Ponder how precious our loved ones are to us–then tell them so.
Ed,
Great list. The non-financial items are just as important, or more, than the financial items. I was just talking to Vicky about the need to reach out to a few old friends who don’t get out much anymore.
Thanks, Rick! I continue to admire my 97-year-old mother, a nice lady who thinks of those who “don’t get out much”. For 20 years or more, she has regularly sent cards and placed calls to friends who were home-bound or in a facility. The list is shorter now, but she continues to remain a faithful friend to those still living.
2a. If you already have your will/trust documents in place, make sure you have a final instructions document ready for loved ones (or update it if it’s been a minute).
In a group conversation at a funeral a couple of months ago, one of my cousins stated he didn’t have a will, and joked that his children “would have to fight over my estate”. I know this man well. He has significant financial assets, and he’s intelligent. He also has holes in his reasoning about some matters, and can remain strongly convinced of his own opinions. No one responded to his comment, but I’ll approach him later to try to help him picture his family dealing with an intestate estate.
More to your point, the funeral was for a cousin’s wife, who died suddenly of a massive stroke at age 74, with no previous significant history. She was the caretaker for her husband, who was declining rapidly with dementia, a fact that was somewhat hidden from all but immediate family. When her only son, a physician, returned from the cruise he was on, he faced the task of pulling together the details of their financial life without account login information. She had never imagined that she would die first, and hadn’t prepared.
You’re right. There is so much about our lives and our wishes that needs to be passed along through supplementary documents.