My 3 Top Financial Resolutions for 2026

More than fractional of each Americans program to marque a fiscal solution this caller year. According to the Motley Fool Money's Financial New Year's Resolution Report, the apical extremity is to wage disconnected debt.

You tin number maine among those making fiscal resolutions successful 2026. Here are my apical 3 to animate you to make your ain and clasp myself accountable successful the coming year.

Last year, my apical 3 fiscal resolutions were:

1. Boost the size of my emergency fund to screen astir six months of basal surviving expenses by the extremity of 2026.

2. Grow my projected yearly dividend income by 20% by the extremity of 2025.

3. Increase my passive income from non-dividend investments by 25% by the extremity of 2025.

This past twelvemonth didn't spell rather however I planned. My woman and I had an exigency close out of the gate, which took a wound retired of our exigency fund. It besides took america a batch longer to merchantability our erstwhile home. Additionally, we capitalized connected an accidental to refinance the owe connected our caller home, which besides allowed my woman to halt moving to absorption connected volunteering. Despite each these unexpected changes, we yet achieved our targeted exigency money extremity up of schedule. We besides reached our non-dividend passive income goal, though we fell somewhat abbreviated of the dividend target. Overall, we surely achieved the superior nonsubjective of becoming overmuch much financially unafraid successful 2025.

My program for 2026 is to physique connected past year's advancement toward the eventual purpose of achieving fiscal independency wrong the adjacent fewer years. With that successful mind, present are my apical 3 fiscal resolutions for 2026.

The banal market, arsenic measured by the S&P 500, surged different 18% successful 2025. Meanwhile, it has skyrocketed much than 80% implicit the past 3 years (nearly 22% annualized). As a result, the S&P 500 trades astatine much than 20 times earnings, importantly supra its humanities mean in the mid-teens implicit the past quarter-century.

This elevated valuation has led maine to go a much blimpish capitalist implicit the past year. I person been strategically gathering the currency presumption crossed my concern accounts and presently person a astir 8% allocation to cash. My extremity is to summation my currency presumption to 10% of the worth of my banal holdings by the extremity of 2026 by selling lower-conviction holdings, retaining further dividend income, and investing a smaller percent of the currency I transportation into my accounts. This volition trim risk, portion giving maine much cash to capitalize connected a aboriginal sell-off.