1. Increase your 401k contribution to 20% (ideally), or at least 10%, or max it out at $19,500 (2020 limit) if you can. Stocks have gotten a lot cheaper, so load up!
Because you’ll save taxes, your take-home pay won’t decrease by nearly that much, and you can also reverse this later if you feel like it’s too much.
2. Review your current investments: I recommend keeping things simple and using only two investment choices for short or long-term savings.
3. Beneficiaries checkup
While you’re reviewing your investments, make sure the beneficiaries on your retirement, and any other investment accounts, are updated. (Usually under ‘my profile/Account Maintenance’ or some such title.)
4. Consolidate your financial accounts into one place: roll over any former employer retirement plans like 401ks/403bs into an IRA. I recommend Vanguard for their low-cost investment options, but Fidelity is also fine.
If you happen to have non-employer investment accounts like any Roth/Traditional IRAs, or just plain ‘ol taxable investment accounts, roll those over too.
6. If your bank sucks (most do!), or you want to use my highly recommended no-budgeting budgeting system to spend more consciously, set up Capital One 360, or Ally Bank, for free after you read this.
