8 New Year's resolutions for your money that you can actually keep

It's almost 2026. Another year, another round of financial promises to yourself you'll probably break by March. Max out the 401(k). Build that emergency fund. Stop letting Ubers and subscriptions eat your paycheck. You know the drill.

Unlike that gym membership collecting dust, ignoring your money goals doesn't just make you feel guilty. It can derail other milestones and put you in a familiar spiral.

Setting realistic money goals you’ll actually maintain throughout the year is better than setting loftier ones that are harder to achieve, financial advisors say. Here are top financial resolutions to consider this year, along with tips to make them stick for good.

1. Take stock of your financial health

Before you map out money moves for the year ahead, you first need to understand where you are right now. That means taking a candid look at what went well and what didn’t the previous year — and whether you achieved last year’s goals.

“There are many things that can derail a good financial plan,” said Laura Mattia, senior vice president and financial advisor with Wealth Enhancement.

Also, review your beneficiaries across all accounts so that if you die, your assets go to whom you intended, said Judi Leahy, vice president and senior wealth advisor with Citi Wealth Management.

"Check your beneficiaries that they are who you want them to be, because you might have started that job when you were 25 and your parents were your beneficiaries, and now you're married with two kids,” Leahy said, noting that she has seen it happen (and it’s not pretty).

2. Create — and stick to — a budget

It might sound simplistic, but budgeting is one of the most powerful yet underutilized ways to ensure you stick to your money goals.

Consider this sobering statistic: 69% of American workers say they live paycheck to paycheck, marking a four-year high, according to Debt.com’s Annual Budgeting Survey. The number of people who said budgeting helped them stay out of debt fell to 86%, down from 90% a year ago.

“I know people don't like the word, but budgeting is a freedom tool; it's not a constraint,” Mattia said. “People need to think about a budget in a much more friendly way, because it sets boundaries that protect your future self.”

3. Pay down high-interest debt ruthlessly

Financial advisors all agree on one thing: Credit card debt is the single biggest wealth killer. The average annual percentage rate (APR) on credit cards was 21.39% as of August 2025, according to the latest Federal Reserve data.

"If you have credit card debt, you have to get rid of it," said Jay Zigmont, a certified financial planner and founder of Child-Free Trust, an estate planning firm that works exclusively with child-free clients. "You will not beat paying off credit card debt in interest, or investing in the market."

Leahy agreed, noting that getting out of debt should be first among your financial priorities. 

"I don't want to see money sitting at the bank not being used unnecessarily at three and a half percent while you have a heap of credit card debt."

To tackle credit card debt, pay more than the minimum as much as you can. Consider balance transfers to 0% interest cards if you're disciplined enough to pay them off before the promotional period ends. And automate payments so you're not relying on willpower alone.

4. Control your spending

Without reining in your spending habits — overdoing DoorDash deliveries, eating out too much, racking up too many subscriptions or buying stuff you don’t really need — you’ll continue repeating the same cycle that puts you behind on other money goals, Leahy said.

Before making any purchase, Leahy recommends a simple psychological trick: Add items to your online cart — but don’t check out. You get the dopamine rush of shopping minus the financial regret.

Try reframing your spending based on what you value most, Zigmont recommends.

“When I look at my credit cards and see what I spend, there's usually one or two categories [where I overspend],” he said. Once you know the areas you tend to go overboard on, you can identify how to cut back on spending and prioritize the things you value. 

5. Build an emergency fund, pronto

With layoffs on the rise, the three-to-six month emergency fund rule has never been more urgent. Yet only 46% of Americans have enough emergency savings to cover three months of expenses, according to Bankrate’s Annual Emergency Savings Report. What’s more, almost one in four (24%) Americans have no rainy day fund at all, Bankrate found.

If you're single or the sole earner in your household, aim for six months of non-discretionary expenses — housing, utilities, groceries, gas. If you have dual incomes, three months provides adequate cushion since you're unlikely to both lose jobs simultaneously, said Christine Mueller Coley, a wealth advisor with Steel Peak Wealth Management.

"You always need that," Coley said. "That's where you want to start."

Set up an automatic transfer to your emergency fund the day after payday. You won’t miss money that never hits your checking account.

Take it a step further and park this money in a high-yield savings account (HYSA) earning around 3% to 4% or more. Otherwise, the cash will sit in your checking account earning nothing. Shop around to find competitive HYSA rates with no account fees and low minimum deposit amounts.

6. Max out your 401(k) — especially if you’re close to retirement

This one sounds obvious, yet high earners routinely leave money on the table, Coley said. 

The stakes are higher in 2026. Under the One Big Beautiful Bill passed in July, workers ages 60-63 can now contribute up to $34,750 to their 401(k) plans — a "super catch-up" provision that's $11,250 more than the standard catch-up for those 50 and older.

But there's a catch for high earners starting in 2026: If you made more than $150,000 the year prior, your catch-up contributions must go into a Roth account, not pre-tax.

There’s a simple solution to make sure your 401(k) doesn’t become stagnant.

"Set an auto increase every year at 1%," Coley suggested. "You're probably not going to really notice that in your paycheck."

Even without the super catch-up, get that employer match. It's free money. Over time, stretch your contributions to hit the maximum limit, which increases to $24,500 for most workers in 2026.

7. Review and rebalance your portfolio

Investors can sometimes be too rash, mistaking action for wisdom, said Gil Baumgarten, founder of Segment Wealth Management in Houston.

"People tend to be too transactional," he said. "You think that there's more benefits to being active rather than passive, and that leads them into making all kinds of mistakes."

In any given year over the past 75 years, stocks have an 81% probability of producing positive returns. However, investors consistently underperform indexes by trying to time the market, reacting to headlines, and trading excessively, Baumgarten said.

Check your portfolio quarterly, not daily. Rebalance when allocations drift significantly from targets, but not because the headlines scare you. One exception to this rule: Tax-loss harvesting at year-end can save you big bucks, especially as you pass down wealth to your children, Baumgarten noted.

And if you’re just getting started in investing, Baumgarten recommends not being seduced by speculation, such as chasing Bitcoin because you see crypto millionaires on social media. In general, most advisors recommend focusing on diversified, low-cost index funds.

For those seeking specific investment opportunities, Phil Battin, CEO of Ambassador Wealth Management in the Chicago area, pointed to three long-term themes in the year ahead. These include infrastructure ("build it"), energy to power AI data centers ("power it"), and cybersecurity ("protect it"). But even here, diversification through funds beats individual stock picking for most investors, he said.

8. Practice patience

"Foundational to finances is patience," Battin said. "When a person lives beyond their means, when they spend money they don't have to impress people they ultimately don't like, for things they don't need, it's the inability to exercise patience."

Zigmont frames it differently.

"We’re all a little too hard on ourselves, and we're worried about getting it right,” Zigmont said. “The truth is, with budget and money, there's no perfect right plan."

But the point isn't perfection; it’s progress. And if you stumble (and you likely will), don’t get discouraged.

"Give yourself a little bit of grace," Zigmont said. "It's kind of like when you mess up your diet. You don't blow it up for the month; you get back the next day and work on it."