Recapping 2025 and identifying wealth planning to-dos for the new year.
It is said that the Babylonians were the first civilization to mark the start of a new year with a Spring festival offering gratitude to the gods for a bountiful harvest. They made promises to repay debt and return borrowed items, and even their king would publicly commit to being a better ruler. The Romans took it up a notch, praying to Janus, the god of transitions and beginnings, offering gifts of figs, honey and coins, asking for good health and prosperity, and cleaning homes, stocking pantries, repaying debts and swearing oaths to the emperor. Fast-forward, and 17th and 18th century Puritans would sing hymns, reflect and vow to avoid debauchery.
Statista Consumer Insights shared that Americans in 2026 are hoping in almost equal numbers to exercise more and to save more money. They also report that, by the second week of February, as many as 80% of New Year’s resolutions are typically broken. By the end of the year, only 8% are kept.
So why do we bother making resolutions anyway if we only go on to break them? What is it about the turn of the calendar that makes us hopeful for a new beginning?
While I am not a big New Year’s Eve party girl, I do love the start of a new year. I drive my husband and kids crazy cleaning out closets, making lists of home projects I hope to get done, purging files and shredding papers we don’t need anymore, and making plans. I love feeling lighter, more organized, and embracing my identity as woman on a mission with a full list of to-dos that will help my family, my clients, my colleagues and me. While I know there will be curveballs that come up and derail my plans, I am undaunted. Carpe diem.
It’s not just me. I can’t think of a colleague at RWA who doesn’t love helping you check things off your list. So bring it. Let’s defy the odds and statistics and make 2026 a year when we plow through that list and get things done, together. What should we check off?
26 Questions for 2026
- Net worth statement—what do you own and how is it titled?
- Do you need to streamline or consolidate accounts and update titling, for estate or logistical reasons?
- Asset allocation—what is your mix of investments (i.e. stocks, bonds, private investments, real estate, stock options, pensions, etc.) and is it aligned with your goals?
- Asset location—where do you hold those assets? Have you considered what is “in estate” vs. “ex estate” and “pretax” and “post-tax” in your asset location plan?
- What is the balance of liquid and illiquid assets?
- Is your cash earning competitive interest?
- What is your income and its sources?
- What upcoming expenses, regular and one-time, are you anticipating?
- What are your savings and spending goals in the short- and long-term?
- Do you have any debt? What is the rate? Is the interest tax deductible?
- Should you have a borrowing line against your home or financial assets given your plans or for emergencies?
- Do you have liability insurance? Have you covered valuables you may have accumulated since establishing the policy?
- Do you have an umbrella policy? Is it enough?
- What about life insurance? What is the strategy around it? Income replacement? Death benefit? Estate tax payment?
- Long-term care insurance: Do you have it and what does it cover? Should you get it? Can you? How?
- What about health insurance and health care spending? What is your current need and coverage and what future needs should we be planning for?
- What financial obligations do you have for loved ones? Education for children? Care for parents or a spouse?
- What would you like to give to your loved ones? Consider what you might want to do now using annual exclusion gifts or the lifetime gift exemption, or in the future at death?
- What does your charitable giving look like today and what do you hope it could be?
- Have you made or updated your will? Financial and health care powers of attorney?
- Has anyone reviewed your federal and state tax return for savings opportunities or strategies?
- Do you have an updated list of key providers? Financial advisor, lawyer, accountant, doctors, insurance agent, etc.?
- Do you have a password keeper for your accounts and social media?
- Have you updated your computer security? Have you used multifactor authentication as much as possible?
- Have you stored key documents and files safely?
- Have you shared all the above information with someone you love and trust?
That’s 26 questions we want to consider with you in 2026, and we’re ready to help you find answers to any more you throw our way. We are so proud to have resources at your disposal for financial planning, income-tax planning, the acquisition of health insurance and Medicare supplemental plans, health care planning, estate planning, estate settlement and, of course, asset allocation and investing.
While the markets did not end up delivering a Santa rally, and trimmed back some of their 2026 gains, the S&P 500 Index still ended up gaining 16.4%, the NASDAQ Composite 20.4%, and the Dow climbed 13.0%. These results are even more impressive when you consider they are compounding on the double-digit gains of 2023 and 2024, at least in the case of the S&P 500 index.
Gold ended up higher by 64% while bitcoin lost 7% by year-end, as inflation worries and debt concerns outmuscled deregulation and mainstream acceptance of so-called “digital gold” when push came to shove.
Tech ended up trumping tariffs, and, well, President Trump himself despite his volatility-inducing decision-making, driving markets to records. This is all the more remarkable when we consider how it was just a year ago in January 2025 when we were all shaken by the debut of Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek that appeared on the scene with a similar product but cheaper hardware in a kind of “shot heard ‘round the world” moment in the tech arms race between China and the U.S.
I hope and pray 2026 has all good things in store for you and yours, including health, happiness, prosperity and checking off lots of to-dos from your lists. Thank you for your trust and confidence in the RWA team and cheers to a new year and new beginnings.
Written by a human.