Ep 273: The Mid-Year Money Checkup: 9 Things to Check Before the Year Slips Away

The Mid-Year Money Checkup: 9 Things to Check Before the Year Slips Away

You change your oil every 5,000 miles or so. Nobody waits for the engine to seize up on the highway to think about it. Your finances deserve the same treatment — and we’re right at the halfway point of the year, which is exactly the moment to pop the hood before a bunch of December deadlines sneak up on you.

This episode is nine things, no long story, no single deep dive. Some apply if you’re a business owner, some don’t — but almost everyone listening will hear at least three or four that apply directly to them.

“A fifteen-minute check-in in July is a lot cheaper, financially and emotionally, than the same conversation happening in a panic in December.”

The 9-Item Checklist

• 1. The Roth Conversion Window — a lower-income or down-market year can make this the best conversion opportunity you’ll get.
• 2. Charitable Giving Strategy — bunch giving or fund a donor-advised fund now, not in the last week of December.
• 3. Retirement Contribution Pace Check — are you actually on track to max out by December 31st?
• 4. Buy-Sell Agreement & Valuation Freshness Check — business owners: does that document still reflect reality?
• 5. The Mid-Year P&L Sit-Down — with your CFO, CPA, advisor, or just yourself and a cup of coffee.
• 6. The Zombie Subscription Audit — find the charges you forgot you were paying for.
• 7. Portfolio Drift Check — your allocation has probably wandered from target, even if you never touched it.
• 8. The Net Worth Snapshot — recalculate it and compare to January. Fifteen minutes, real data instead of a vibe.
• 9. Did Anything Big Happen This Year? — marriage, divorce, a new kid, a home purchase, a sale. Any of these should trigger a full plan review, not just a line-item update.

Episode Timestamps

• 00:00 — Cold open: the oil change analogy
• 02:15 — 1. The Roth Conversion Window
• 04:15 — 2. Charitable Giving Strategy
• 06:15 — 3. Retirement Contribution Pace Check
• 08:15 — 4. Buy-Sell Agreement & Valuation Freshness Check
• 10:15 — 5. The Mid-Year P&L Sit-Down
• 14:00 — 6. The Zombie Subscription Audit
• 16:00 — 7. Portfolio Drift Check
• 18:00 — 8. The Net Worth Snapshot
• 20:00 — 9. Did Anything Big Happen This Year?
• 22:30 — Close: pick two, put a date on the calendar

Got a question raised by this list? Book a free 20-minute Vision Call: weeklywealthpodcast.com/vision

Know someone who needs this list more than you do? Send them the episode — it’s more useful than another group text about the weather.

Resources Mentioned

• Sellability Score — for business owners revisiting their buy-sell agreement or valuation
• Book a Vision Call