Mid-Year Goals Reflection: Revisiting Your Money Goals for the Year

As the summer heats up, many of us start to cool on the goals we set for the year. By this point of the year, it’s common to start falling back on old habits instead of taking intentional action. 

But if you want to finish the year strong, you can still channel some of that New Year energy and work toward your top financial goals. Here is how to do a mid-year goals reflection to help you get back on track.

1. Mid-Year Goals Reflection: Look Back on the Year so Far

Take a look back at the goals you set for the year. How much progress have you made? What has been going well?

Starting with what’s going right can give you the confidence to keep pursuing your goals, even if you’re not quite where you wanted to be.

Next, look at what has changed over the past six months. It’s possible that the goals you set in January aren’t aligned with your current situation. It’s okay to let go of whatever isn’t working and focus only on the goals you still hope to achieve by year’s end.

2. Leave Room for Setbacks

The year ahead might have looked straightforward six months ago, but the everyday reality of life is much more complicated. There are hundreds of choices you have to make on a daily basis, and those small actions can lead to big implications for your finances. 

You might end up paying for a new roof, a last minute vacation or a car repair – whatever it is, you can’t foresee everything that’s going to come up in the year ahead.

That’s why, after assessing your year so far, now is a prime opportunity to set some summer financial goals.

3. Be Honest about what You Need

If you find that you are spending too much, are struggling to keep a budget or just can’t stay on track with your goals, it’s a smart idea to enlist some additional help.

That can come in many forms, including budgeting apps, hiring a financial planner, or even just working with a friend as an accountability partner. There is no shame in needing some extra guidance or encouragement as you pursue your goals, so don’t be afraid to reach out. 

4. Check in with Your Investments

The summer is the welcome respite between tax season and year-end prep work season. It might be the slowdown you need to really dig into your investments and asset allocations. You might find that you need to rebalance your account or take a look at your investments so far. Rebalancing your investments is key in making sure you’re not heavily toward either stocks or bonds. 

This is also an ideal time to get some of your tax planning taken care of. Run a tax calculator to verify you’re withholding or saving enough if you have estimated taxes, and make sure you have the minimum taxes based off of last year’s returns. This will help you avoid surprises come tax season. 

5. Mid-Year Goals Reflection: Plan for the Rest of the Year

Setting a goal is simply the first step toward having a real plan for your finances. 

Take your goals and expand on them so that you know your next steps. The best way to do this is to break them down into S.M.A.R.T. goals, which means that your goals are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and bound by a certain time or end date.

From there, you can create the systems and habits that you’ll need to keep making daily progress on your goals.