Most money problems don't arrive suddenly. They build quietly. A SIP that stopped two years ago. A nominee who was never added. An emergency fund that got used and never refilled. A goal that's now three years away with its money still sitting in equity. None of these are hard to fix. They just need someone to look. So here's a simple yearly money checklist. Pick a date, maybe your birthday or the start of the financial year, set aside an hour, and go through it.
1. Calculate your net worth
Add up everything you own and subtract everything you owe. Write the number down. Compare it with last year. Is it growing? If not, why?
Our page on how to calculate net worth shows a simple way to do it. Don't worry if the number looks small at first. What matters is that it grows year after year.
2. Check your emergency fund
Do you still have several months of expenses set aside? If you used some of it this year, refill it. If your expenses have gone up, your buffer probably needs to go up too.
Our page on building an emergency fund explains how much is enough.
3. Confirm every SIP is running
Look at your bank statement and account statements. Is every SIP still debiting? Did any fail? Did any reach its end date? You'd be surprised how often a SIP has quietly stopped.
Our page on how to check SIP status walks you through it.
4. Raise your SIPs
Did your income go up this year? Then your SIPs should too. Even a small yearly increase makes a big difference over a decade. If you haven't set up an automatic step-up, this is a good time.
Our page on step-up SIP explains how.
5. Review each goal
List your goals with their dates. For each one, ask: is the money on track? Has the goal changed? Is it getting close? Goals within two or three years should be moving out of equity into steadier funds.
Our guide on how to set financial goals helps with this.
6. Check your asset mix
After a year of market moves, your split between equity, debt and gold has probably drifted. If equity has grown far beyond what you planned, bring it back. If it has shrunk, you may want to add.
Our pages on portfolio rebalancing and asset allocation by age explain how.
7. Review fund performance, calmly
Compare each fund with its benchmark over three and five years, not just the last year. One bad year isn't a reason to switch. Several years of clearly lagging both the benchmark and similar funds might be.
Our page on how to review your portfolio gives a calm framework.
8. Check nominees on everything
Every bank account, mutual fund folio, demat account and deposit should have a nominee. If you've married, had a child or lost a family member, update them.
Our page on nomination explains how. It takes minutes and saves your family months.
9. Update contact details and KYC
Has your phone number, email or address changed? Update it everywhere, especially with your fund houses and banks. If your KYC is incomplete or on hold, fix it now rather than when you need to redeem.
Our page on KYC status explains how to check.
10. Look at your debts
List every loan and card balance. Clear any costly debt first. Check whether any loan could be prepaid sensibly. Make sure EMIs still leave room for savings.
Our post on clearing credit card debt gives a step-by-step plan.
11. Make sure your family is protected
If people depend on your income, check that adequate protection is arranged through a qualified professional in that field, and that it still matches your family's needs. We're a mutual fund distributor only, but this is too important to leave off any checklist.
12. Update your family money list
Keep a simple list of every account, investment, loan and nominee, and where the documents are. Update it every year, and make sure your spouse or a trusted family member knows where it is.
Our page on what happens to a SIP after death explains why this matters so much.
Bonus: get your tax documents together
Download your capital gains statement and interest certificates so your tax filing is easy. Our page on the capital gains statement explains where to find it. A tax adviser can help with the rest.
Questions to ask yourself
Numbers aren't the whole story. Spend a few minutes on these questions too:
- What changed in our life this year, and does our plan reflect it?
- Are there new goals we haven't started saving for?
- Is there an expense we keep complaining about but never fix?
- Did we make any money decision this year we regret? What would we do differently?
- Do both of us understand where everything is?
Honest answers often matter more than any spreadsheet.
Life events that need an extra review
Some moments call for a review outside the yearly one. Marriage. A new baby. A job change or job loss. Buying a home. A death in the family. Moving cities. Each of these changes your goals, your budget and who your nominees should be. Don't wait for your yearly date. Review as soon as things settle.
Our post on preparing for a job loss covers one of these situations in detail.
Keep it in one place
Use one notebook or one simple spreadsheet for every yearly review. Write the date, your net worth, your emergency fund balance, each SIP amount and each goal's progress. Over the years, this record becomes surprisingly valuable. You'll see your progress clearly, and the habit itself keeps you on track.
If your parents or older relatives would struggle with this, consider doing a simpler version for them too. Our post on investing for parents not comfortable with apps has ideas.
How to make it a habit
Put a recurring reminder in your phone for the same date every year. Keep last year's notes so you can compare. Do it with your spouse, so both of you understand the family's finances. The first year might take two hours. After that, it usually takes less than one.
What not to do during the review
Keep it calm. The review is a check-up, not a reaction, and most years the right answer is to change very little, refill what was used, raise what can be raised and carry on exactly as before. Don't make big changes based on how the market did this year. Don't switch funds just because one had a weak twelve months. Don't stop SIPs because the portfolio is down. The review is for checking that your plan is still on track, not for reacting to recent news.
The whole checklist
- Net worth
- Emergency fund
- SIPs running
- SIPs raised
- Goals on track
- Asset mix
- Fund performance
- Nominees
- Contact details and KYC
- Debts
- Family protection
- Family money list
If you'd like help going through this checklist for your own family, I'm happy to sit with you once a year and do it together. Myfolios is an AMFI-registered mutual fund distributor (ARN-145870) working from Indore since 2014. Get in touch.
