New Year Financial Planning Checklist: Tips for Military Families

Proactively planning for your financial future can help your military family make smart money decisions as you work toward your goals and long-term financial security. Whether you’re organizing your finances for the first time, or you want to revisit and refresh your existing financial plan, the start of a new year is a great time to tackle it. Our New Year Financial Planning Checklist covers essential aspects of financial planning. It can help you get to work on your 2025 financial resolutions and make every year in your lifelong financial journey count.

View our printable New Year Financial Planning Checklist here

Set Your Family’s 2025 Financial Goals

The first step in financial planning is setting your goals. Some may be relatively short-term in nature, like paying down credit card debt or saving for a down payment on a home. Others may span many years as you work toward long-term objectives like saving for retirement or funding education costs. Regardless of their duration, goals should be clearly defined and actionable.

As you start a new year, contemplate your financial goals carefully – whether you’re setting them for the first time or updating goals you’ve been pursuing for a while. Think of them as your new year financial resolutions. You can work toward, and possibly even complete, some this year. Perhaps you want to build a budget, set up an emergency fund, or open a new account to save for a wedding. Bigger goals may entail taking your first steps this year as you build a foundation for a sustained effort over time, like automating monthly contributions to retirement accounts or diligently making house payments. Learn about the SMART Method so you can set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound goals.

A knowledgeable financial advisor can help you set goals that are aligned with your family’s priorities and financial circumstances. If you already have a financial plan, your advisor can help you assess and update existing goals, so they remain tailored to your life as it evolves.

Create or Update Your Annual Budget

A budget is your day-to-day tool for managing your money. By following one and spending less than you earn, the portion of your income not dedicated to your expenses can be directed to your financial goals. As you begin the year, if you don’t yet have a budget, starting one can make a big difference in your financial circumstances. Learn to create a budget that works for you in five simple steps and use our complimentary military family budgeting template as your guide. If you already have a budget, review it annually to see if updates are needed. A change in your income, perhaps from a pay raise or a new job, or a change in your expenses can necessitate an adjustment, as can significant life events like a growing family and evolving financial priorities.

Make the Most of Your Military or Workplace Benefits

If you’re in the military, your robust set of benefits includes the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) with employer matching contributions, healthcare, low-cost life insurance, the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH), the Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS), Permanent Change of Station (PCS) benefits, and more. Even if you’re no longer on active duty, you may still have military benefits like a pension, disability pay, or money in the TSP. Likewise, within the civilian sector, you may have benefits through your employer. In any scenario, it’s important to factor your military or civilian workplace benefits into your budget and financial plan.

As you tackle your financial resolutions, examine your benefits to ensure you make the most of them in the coming year. For example, the 2025 military pay raise and the 2025 cost of living adjustment (COLA) are providing increases to military pay, disability pay, retiree pensions, and Social Security income. Adjust your budget and set up or increase automated transfers to your savings and investment accounts so your increase doesn’t get lost in routine living expenses.

First Command Financial Advisors, nine out of 10 of whom are veterans or military spouses, are well versed in military pay and benefits. Whether allocating your military income, optimizing your TSP, or evaluating your military life insurance, our Advisors will account for your benefits in your financial plan.

Review Your Insurance Coverage and Options

Insurance is designed to protect your family from financial risk. Many people routinely examine coverage and premiums for healthcare, property (home and renter policies) and casualty (vehicle and theft policies) insurance – usually when it’s time for policies to renew or for premiums to be paid. But what about other types of insurance? Life insurance helps provide for your family in the event of your death, disability insurance protects your income in case you become unable to work because of an illness or injury, and long-term care insurance helps cover the high cost of health care services if you become unable to care for yourself.

An annual, new-year review of your insurance needs is prudent. Even if you have low-cost Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance (SGLI), it’s important to make sure your coverage is adequate as your family’s circumstances and needs change over time. If you’re retiring or separating from the military this year, is Veterans Group Life Insurance (VGLI) the right option for you? And are you prepared for potential financial impacts in the event of lost income from a disability? You might even start thinking about the potential need for long-term care insurance in the future. A financial advisor can help you evaluate your circumstances and make smart insurance decisions for your family.

Update Your Calendar with Important Financial Dates and Deadlines

Many of us organize a significant portion of our lives on a calendar – whether electronic or on paper. It helps us keep our family on track, so we don’t miss important personal and professional commitments. We insert entries for work, family events, kids’ activities, medical appointments, to-do lists, errands, and much more. Your financial tasks, responsibilities and deadlines belong in your calendar too.

As you set up a calendar for a new year, be sure to include your financial activities. Insert items like retirement account contribution deadlines, tax deadlines, effective dates for benefit changes, dates to pay bills that aren’t on autopay, monthly reviews of your budget, credit card and bank statement reconciliations, and financial tasks for important upcoming life events like your military separation or retirement. And of course, appointments with your financial advisor.

Schedule a Meeting with Your Financial Advisor

A knowledgeable financial advisor can provide significant support as you tackle your financial goals this year. First Command’s research shows military families that work with an advisor report saving more and having a greater degree of financial confidence than those who don’t. In fact, military families with an advisor save more than twice as much as civilian families who work with an advisor and over three times more than those who don’t have one¹.

As you tackle your financial resolutions, make this year count. Use our printable checklist to help stay on track, then schedule a meeting with your knowledgeable First Command Financial Advisor. If you’re not already a client, the first step is right in front of you.

¹First Command Financial Behaviors Index®, Q4 2023.

TSP funds have very low administrative and investment expenses and, low expenses can have a positive effect on the rate of return of your investment.