Download the Annual Family Financial Update Template here. It’s a zip file with a PowerPoint to present and a data collection word document.
Every year my wife and I meet for an hour or two to go over what happened in the previous year financially.
I think of it as the CEO (me) presenting to the chairman of the board (her).
It helps us review what worked well the year before and set an intention and direction for the year to come.
If there’s something we really enjoyed doing (energy giving activities), we try to schedule more of that in. For example, there were two resorts we went to that were very energizing. We’re returning to those in 2026.
The discussion also gives us time to reflect if our spending is aligned with our values, if our time and schedule aligns with our values, if we’re giving away enough (or too much) of our money to charities we support, and to reflect on our relationship vision and values.
Some of the key numbers we look at are:
- Gross income
- Total taxes paid (usually our largest expense category)
- Effective tax rate
- Net income (Gross – taxes)
- Amount donated to DAF (usually 10-20% of gross income)
- Total Expenses
- Savings rate. We do total expenses / (Net income – donation to DAF) = savings rate, as this is our take home after taxes and after DAF donation.
As long as our savings rate is high, we’re not too stressed even if our spending level seems ridiculous to how we grew up or what we spent in the first few years of our marriage.
We also update our five year plan and review the highlights of the previous year. It’s amazing what you can accomplish and do in a year!
To share with younger kids, you can remove some of the numbers and focus on the values and percentages. This could be a great way to open up the conversation around money with your kids and to start showing them values you want them to emulate.
As the kids get older, this could be a good time to review the big financial picture so they are prepared when/if an inheritance or they need to start helping run things.
Things to Discuss Annually with A Spouse or Partner
My wife and I meet annually, usually at the end of December or in early January, to discuss how the previous year went, our goals for the next year, and to update our 5 year plan. We used to call this our “state of the money” meeting, similar to the president’s “state of the union” address.
Since I’m the partner more in tune with our day to day finances and investing strategy, I prepare a 1 page read ahead with net worth change over the last year, asset allocation, investment returns, and spending for the previous year.
We schedule 2 hours in our calendar, usually in the morning because that’s when we’re both operating at 100%, and sit down and go through a short slideshow I put together.
Topics we cover include:
- Income, savings rate, taxes paid, effective tax rate
- Review of our Donor Advised Fund (DAF) and our philanthropic giving for the last year, goals for the next year
- Investment performance review
- Net Worth update, always fun to go back 5-10 years and see how far we’ve come 🙂
- Financial independence update based on our net worth, spending, and 4% safe withdrawal rate
- Next year travel, fun, and work goals.
- Past year goals review
- 5 year plan update
Intentional Path Exercise
Another great exercise I’ve used is the “intentional path exercise.” Do it first individually and then compare to see how your paths align.
Being by picking a time in the future, 5, 10, 20, 30 years from now. Usually no earlier than 5 and no later than 20. I usually go with 5-10 years.
Envision your life at that point. How old are you, how old are your kids, how old is your spouse, your parents, what are you doing, who are you with, where are you living, what have you recently accomplished? What are you looking forward to? How do you feel? How is your health?
Get very detailed with this exercise. Write it out from your future self’s perspective. Think of your life in different facets. For example:
- How is your business or your work? Working less? Working more? Making more money? Less money?
- What are your hobbies, travel, adventures?
- What your priorities, values, and mission? Spouse, work, family, friends, health, fitness? Or a different order?
- What kind of lifestyle are you living?
- How are your relationships with friends and family?
- What kind of achievements or legacy do you want to leave behind?
- How are your finances? Simple? Complex? Stressful? Not as stressful?
- How is your health and fitness? Running marathons? Lifting 4x a week at the gym with a trainer?
- How is your spiritually? What are you doing? Church every Sunday? Volunteering at temple activities? Meditating every day for 10 minutes?
Notice what you write down and what you don’t write down. Then, think of the roadblocks that will prevent you from achieving this vision. These are the things you need to tackle in life to get the life you want in the future.
Compare with your spouse and see where you are aligned and where you are different. No one is right or wrong in this exercise, it’s just exploration and understanding of each other’s hopes and dreams.