Taking stock

What follows is a great little article recently published in Library Notes, a publication of Morningstar.com, arguably one of the best online resources for information on stocks and mutual funds. If you have ever felt overwhelmed by the responsibilities of your financial life, read how Lorene Kennard has reduced the workload to a manageable project each month of the year:

Personal finance is my favorite part of investing. Sometimes, we think of investing as stocks and mutual funds, but that is only one aspect of a financial plan. Here is a monthly guideline that I use to help keep myself on track.

January
Early in the year is a good time to look at last year's finances and plan for the new year. I like to see what my 401(k) is doing and what my mortgage balance is. Also, every year I put together a spreadsheet listing my expenses.

February
This is the time I start thinking about my taxes. I get them done early, so I can either pay Uncle Sam or get my refund early and not have to think about it any more.

March
Now that I've got a clear record of my expenses and my tax refund is on the way, or the check is in the mail to Uncle Sam, I have a better picture of my financial situation. I want to make sure I have enough in my emergency fund. The amount you need is really determined by your situation, but at least three months worth of expenses is the minimum most everyone should have.

April
April is not my favorite month. My homeowners insurance and my car insurance are due in April. This is another reason I take care of my taxes in February. I usually review the policy and make sure the limits and deductibles still work for me.

May
Every May, I get a copy of my credit report. I've moved a lot and with all of the credit card offers that come in the mail, I want to make sure nobody is taking advantage of my good credit.

June
This is a big conference month, so I don't have much in my personal finance plan for June. I do a quick check to make sure my beneficiaries on my life insurance and investment accounts are accurate.

July
This is a slower month for a lot of us. Because the year and the summer are half over, it's a good time to reflect on what we've accomplished already and think about our plans for the rest of the year.

August
I check my 401(k) account only a couple times a year. This month, if I have to, I rebalance my account to make sure my contributions are going into the funds I set up according to my asset-allocation plan.

September
Even though I've been out of school for a while, September still feels like back-to-school month when we have a new beginning. I like to go through my filing cabinet and shred, shred, shred.

October
Continuing the back to school theme, I like to look through some personal finance books in October. There are a lot of good books on this topic, as you know from my prior columns.

November
November is another month related to insurance. For a lot of us, this is our open-enrollment period at work.

December
If I've kept up with all of the items I've listed here, I take this month off to enjoy the holiday season. I don't completely forget about my plan, though. When I set a budget for shopping, I keep my personal finance situation in mind. This makes life much less painful, especially the January and March items.

This might sound systematic to you, but really everything I've described is simple and easy to do. And I think you should do it to maintain sound economic health. It makes life so much easier and pleasant.