{"id":21950,"date":"2025-01-22T00:09:09","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T07:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=21950"},"modified":"2025-01-22T13:11:08","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T20:11:08","slug":"hit-the-ground-running","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/22\/hit-the-ground-running\/","title":{"rendered":"HIT THE GROUND RUNNING"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY SUZANNE HAZLETT, MBA, CIMA\u00ae, CFP\u00ae<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
Suzanne Hazlett, MBA, CIMA\u00ae, CFP\u00ae, founder of HAZLETT WEALTH MANAGEMENT, is a Certified Investment Management Analyst\u00ae and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM professional.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

January is nearly over, but the year has still just begun. Now is a good time to start if you haven\u2019t yet begun to whip your finances in shape. You don\u2019t have to think of these as financial tasks as resolutions but more like a recharge for your yearly financial to-do list.<\/p>\n

Organize for tax time:<\/b>\u00a0Prepare for smooth filing: By mid-February, you should have tax forms in hand. Make sure to organize them in a dedicated spot, along with any receipts if you itemize. Talk to your advisor about coordinating with your tax professional to ensure everything is in order.<\/p>\n

Get set for 65: This is the age you become eligible for Medicare; a 10% premium penalty applies for each year you go without Part B coverage beyond this birthday in most cases. You have seven months to enroll, starting three months before your birth month. Ask your advisor about healthcare planning resources that can guide you.<\/p>\n

Become a benefits whiz:<\/b>\u00a0Research your company\u2019s open enrollment schedule and decide whether to make changes.<\/p>\n

Fine-tune your health spending:<\/b>\u00a0If you participate in a flexible spending account (FSA) or health savings account (HSA), review contribution levels to take full advantage \u2013 without exceeding limits, which are adjusted regularly for inflation. If you have an FSA, plan to use available funds before your plan\u2019s use-it-or-lose-it deadline.<\/p>\n

Finesse your bonus:<\/b> Before your annual bonus hits your checking account, plan how you want to use it. Consider paying down high-interest debt, shoring up your emergency fund, or increasing your 401(k) contribution.<\/p>\n

Pay yourself first: <\/b>Start now if you haven\u2019t automated retirement contributions. It\u2019s also a good time to reconfirm your employer match and increase your contributions to allow more time to generate tax-deferred gains.<\/p>\n

Revisit an IRA:<\/b> Pre-tax contributions to IRAs can reduce taxable income. Roth IRAs might be the answer if you\u2019re above the income threshold to make a tax-deductible traditional IRA contribution. You have until the tax filing deadline (not including extensions) to contribute for the prior tax year.<\/p>\n

Suzanne Hazlett, MBA, CIMA\u00ae, CFP\u00ae, is a Certified Investment Management Analyst\u00ae and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM professional. Investment advisory services are offered through Raymond James Financial Services Advisors, Inc. Securities are offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., member FINRA\/SIPC. HAZLETT WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC is independent of Raymond James and is not a registered broker\/dealer. 675 Sun Valley Road, Suite J1 + J2, Ketchum, Idaho, 83340 208.726.0605 HazlettWealthManagement.com<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY SUZANNE HAZLETT, MBA, CIMA\u00ae, CFP\u00ae January is nearly over, but the year has still just begun. Now is a good time to start if you haven\u2019t yet begun to whip your finances in shape. You don\u2019t have to think of these as financial tasks as resolutions but more like a recharge for your yearly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15233,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,2,16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-21950","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business-news","8":"category-commentary","9":"category-finance"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21950"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21951,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21950\/revisions\/21951"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}