TEMPLE, Texas — We are in the second half of the year, the kids are back in school, football is kicking off and that means it's time for your investment tune up for the second half of the year! Starting from square one, do you have a retirement plan, and are you getting the most out of it that you can?
On this Money Talks, Certified Financial Planner Neil Vannoy had some advice on how to check up on your finances.
"If you have a retirement plan like a 401(k) or a 403(b), now's a great time to review how much you're contributing," Vannoy told 6 News. "Start making contributions if you haven't started, and try to increase the amount you save if you're already making contributions. Make sure to contribute enough to get the full match offered by your employer and try to hit the max of $23,000 per year if possible. Employees that are age 50 or older can put in an additional $7,500 on top of this amount."
Vannoy says even though there are only 4 months left in this year, that doesn't mean that 2024 investments are almost over.
"The contribution deadline isn't until April 15 of next year, so you still have several months to add money and try to get close to or reach the maximum dollar amounts allowed," Vannoy said.
If you've been invested in stocks for the past decade, you've probably done very well, it might be time to rebalance.
"Stocks have been doing well over the past few years, so your portfolio might be heavier in stocks than your target allocation," Vannoy said. "Likewise, the recent volatility might've thrown your portfolio out of whack. Now's a great time to rebalance your portfolio, reduce your stock exposure back to your target risk level, or add money to stocks if they're below your target percentage."
What about your paycheck? Did you owe a lot of money last spring or get a big refund?
"This time of year is a great time to consider changing your withholding if you received a large tax refund this year or owed a lot of money at tax time," Vannoy added. "If you received a large refund, you can lower your withholding so you can keep more of your money throughout the year. If you owed money this year, then you can increase your withholding to avoid having to come up with money for ‘Uncle Sam’ at tax time next year."
A reminder that the 4th quarter starts Oct. 1, and dividend and capital gains are usually paid out quarterly and that will happen again in December, so take advantage!
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