Build Better Financial Habits This Year: A Guide to Pursuing Your Goals in 2025

Brett Klein |

As we enter 2025, it's the perfect time to focus on how the right habits can help you meet your financial goals. Whether you’re focused on saving, paying off debt, or investing, the right habits are the key to success. Here’s how you can use habits to transform your financial wellbeing this year.

 

Make it Automatic

The easiest habits to follow are the ones you can make automatic. You can talk to your advisor about setting up payments to your investment account automatically to ensure you are reaching your investment goals. Utilizing 401K plans offered through an employer is another way to make saving automatic, and the matching contributions can help you save more without any additional cost to you. 

 

The Importance of Tracking Habits

Tracking your habits helps you stay accountable and motivated. Seeing the progress towards your goals as you track your spending habits can help reinforce positive behaviors. Tracking your budget also allows you to identify bad habits, such as overspending at certain times. Habits are often linked to certain locations or environments. Knowing the situations where you overspend can help avoid that situation in the future.

 

Cutting Bad Spending Habits for Greater Impact

While adding new positive habits is beneficial, cutting bad spending habits can have an even bigger impact. Here are some ideas for habits to cut back on unnecessary or impulsive spending.

  • Set limits for special treats. It is ok to treat yourself, but setting limits can make sure you stay within your budget and avoid impulsive spending.
  • Limit your subscriptions to the one or two you watch most frequently or switch to a discounted subscription model with ads. 
  • Make a rule that to purchase a new item, you must first get rid of a similar item. This will help to reduce impulsive spending AND clutter. You can even sell the old item to save additional money!

 

The Importance of Making a Plan

While habits are crucial, having a solid financial plan is the foundation upon which your success is built. Our advisors are ready to help you create a roadmap for your financial journey - outlining your financial goals, timelines, and the steps needed to achieve them. Please don’t hesitate to reach out.