Five Financial Moves to Start the New Year Strong

January always brings a sense of possibility. Not because turning the calendar magically solves the challenges we faced in December, but because it gives us a natural pause. It’s a chance to zoom out, reevaluate priorities, and make sure the way we are spending our time, money, and energy aligns with the life we want to live.

I love this time of year for exactly that reason. And whether you’re just getting started, rebuilding momentum, or fine-tuning an already strong financial foundation, the start of the year is a perfect moment to set a few intentional financial resolutions.

To make those resolutions both meaningful and actionable, here are 5 financial moves to make in 2026.

1. Revisit Your Goals

Most financial conversations focus on your future (ie, retirement accounts, long-term investing, tax efficiency). Those things matter tremendously, but if your entire plan lives 20 or 30 years down the road, it becomes disconnected from real life.

This year, challenge yourself to set goals in 2 lanes: Long-term, such as retirement savings and debt elimination, and present-day, such as travel, hobbies, giving, and experiences with your children.

I often think about clients who finally took the trip they had talked about for a decade, or about pharmacists who rediscovered a hobby or side project they had shelved during residency and early-career chaos. Those present-day joys matter. They create meaning and fuel the long-term discipline required for bigger goals. A rich life isn’t something you postpone. It is something you build gradually, today and tomorrow.

2. Take Your Tax Strategy From Reactive to Proactive

If there is one area of the financial plan that gets ignored until it becomes a problem, it is taxes. For years, I treated tax season as a look-back exercise: File the return, hope for no surprises, and move on. But the biggest opportunities in tax planning come before April through proactive decisions that increase efficiency, reduce surprises, and align with your broader goals.

A few places to start:

1. Know your numbers: marginal rate, effective rate, and adjusted gross income (AGI)
2. Understand how AGI affects student loan repayment, especially on income-driven plans for those pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)
3. Evaluate whether you should use pretax (traditional) or Roth accounts
4. Review withholding and estimated tax needs, particularly if you have per diem shifts, bonuses, or side income

Tax planning is not about gaming the system; it is about ensuring you pay what you owe, but not a dollar more. And it is one of the biggest levers pharmacists can use to keep more of their hard-earned income.

3. Organize the Financial Documents That Matter Most

This one is not flashy, but it may be the most loving financial task you do this year for yourself and the people who depend on you. Most pharmacists I talk with have some version of financial organization, but it lives in their heads. Accounts are spread across institutions, insurance policies are shoved in a file cabinet somewhere, beneficiaries have not been checked in years, and there is no clear summary for anyone else to navigate if needed.

This year, consider building your own version of a legacy folder, a simple, centralized place (digital, physical, or both) that includes key documents (birth certificates, wills, powers of attorney), insurance policies, investment and banking account information, debt details, tax returns, important business or employment documents, and instructions someone else would need if they had to step in. Although it takes a few hours to set up, it gives years of peace of mind.

4. Automate the Financial Plan

If there is one strategy that changed the trajectory of my financial life more than anything else, it is automation. Automation turns good intentions into action. Instead of relying on memory, motivation, or leftover dollars at the end of the month, your financial goals are funded first, on autopilot.

Pick a day each month when your paycheck hits and list your goals (emergency fund, travel, Roth IRA, children's college fund, loans, etc). Prioritize them, assign monthly amounts, and automate transfers to each account or savings bucket. When you do this, your money begins to flow according to your priorities, not impulses, stress, or whatever financial fire is burning that week. Your goals get traction, your financial bandwidth expands, and the mental load decreases dramatically.

5. Set Your Learning Plan for the Year

One thing I have learned after a decade of working with pharmacists is this: There is no “arrived” with the financial plan. You don’t master it once and coast forever. Your financial life changes. Tax laws change. Priorities change. Your vision for your life changes.

So make this the year you set a simple plan for ongoing learning. That might be reading 1 book each quarter; listening to a podcast episode during your commute; taking a course or workshop related to taxes, investing, or retirement; or completing a monthly check-in with a trusted advisor

Learning is important. Learning plus action is transformational.

The Year Ahead

A financial reset doesn’t require a dramatic overhaul. It requires clarity, consistency, and a willingness to align your plan with the life you want to live. Here’s to a year of purposeful progress, one intentional step at a time.

Disclaimer: The information in this article is provided to you for your informational purposes only and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, investment or any other advice. Read our full disclaimer at yourfinancialpharmacist.com/disclaimer/

About the Author

Tim Ulbrich, PharmD, is a cofounder and CEO of YFP Wealth. Founded in 2015, YFP Wealth (formerly Your Financial Pharmacist) is on a mission to help pharmacists achieve financial freedom through fee-only, virtual, comprehensive financial planning services. Learn more at yfpwealth.com.