Mid-Year Money Review: 5 Things You Need to Check

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My wife, Sara, is a nurse practitioner. Over the years, she’s been learning about money from me, and I’ve been learning, at least a little, about healthcare from her.

If there’s one thing that money and the human body have in common, it’s this: They both function at their best if you check on them once in a while.

Another similarity? While pretty much everyone knows checkups are important for both physical and fiscal fitness, very few people actually take the time and effort to do any checking up. They’re more likely to just let things slide until the day when problems get too big to ignore.

In short, if you refuse to check in, sooner or later you could find yourself checking out.

Isn’t that odd; ignoring doing something simple when that could lead to something radically more complicated, not to mention painful?

Keeping track of what’s going on, being health-wise or money-wise, is important, and it’s not hard. Sara gives me the all-clear in less than an hour a couple of times a year. That’s about as long as it takes to check in on our family finances as well.

That’s what this week’s “Money!” podcast is about. We’re going to give you a quick checklist so you can spend a few minutes, review your finances and maybe come up with a few ideas to reduce your hassle and make you richer, too. (As for a health checkup, sorry: You’ll have to call Sara’s office to arrange for that.)

As usual, my co-host will be financial journalist Miranda Marquit. Listening in and sometimes contributing is producer and novice investor Aaron Freeman.

Sit back, relax and listen to this week’s “Money!” podcast:

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Show notes

Want more information? Check out these resources:

• 12 Ways to Check Your Financial Vital Signs Today
• 8 Steps for a Mid-Year Money Checkup
• Year-End Review: Evaluate Your Investments in 15 Minutes
• Barron’s: It’s Time for a Midyear Review of Your Finances. Here Are 6 Areas to Focus On
• Forbes: Experts’ Tips For A Midyear Money Checkup
• US News: How to Give Yourself a Midyear Financial Checkup
• Motley Fool: Your 5-Point Midyear Financial Checkup
• Money Talks News’ savings account search tool
• Subscribe to the Money Talks News newsletter
  Take our course The Only Retirement Guide You'll Ever Need
• Take our course Money Made Simple
• Miranda Marquit’s website