2025 Personal Finance Calendar

By Dan Miller. January 13, 2025 · 11 minute read

This content may include information about products, features, and/or services that SoFi does not provide and is intended to be educational in nature.

2025 Personal Finance Calendar

As a new year approaches, many people want to start off right, including financially. It’s a good moment to consider how the past year unfolded and think about goals or resolutions for the months ahead. If you want to improve your finances in the new year, it can help to break down your big-picture goals into smaller, more achievable steps.

This 2025 personal finance calendar can help. It walks you through each quarter of 2025 and offers strategies for managing your money better every step of the way.

Key Points

•   A 2025 personal finance calendar breaks down financial goals into manageable tasks, guiding users through each quarter with specific strategies.

•   Key financial dates, such as tax deadlines, are provided to ensure timely actions.

•   Budgeting and saving strategies are emphasized for holidays, vacations, and back-to-school expenses, promoting financial preparedness.

•   Regular financial checkups and insurance policy reviews are recommended to maintain financial health and adequate coverage.

•   Tax planning should begin by the fourth quarter of the prior year to maximize benefits and meet deadlines.

Q1: January – March Financial Planning

It can be smart to start your year off by focusing on and organizing your finances, since that helps to set the tone for how the coming months will go. Here are three things to keep in mind in the first quarter of the year.

New Year’s Financial Resolutions

Many people find value in deciding their top resolutions or goals for the year ahead. Financially speaking, this might include setting up an emergency fund, creating a budget, paying down credit card debt, or looking for ways to simplify your finances.

You might talk with your family and trusted friends and advisors to find which resolutions are right for you. Some people like to take the week between Christmas and New Year’s to start this process, since it’s often a time when there aren’t many other commitments and you may already be spending time with your loved ones.

Tax Preparation and Important Deadlines

While the deadline for filing your taxes is in the second quarter (Tax Day typically falls on April 15th), there are a few tax-related things you’ll want to take care of earlier. If you are self-employed or otherwise pay estimated quarterly taxes, the deadline for sending in your 4th-quarter payment is January 15th. You can also contribute to an IRA (individual retirement account) for the previous year, up until you file your tax return, so you might want to earmark funds for that purpose.

Setting Up Your Budget for the Year

One of the most important personal finance basics is creating and sticking to a budget. If you’ve gotten out of the habit of budgeting (or never got into it in the first place), January is a great time to get back into it. You can start by cataloging your income and expenses and seeing how they compare. If your income is more than your expenses, you can consider how to best use the surplus funds. If not, you might look for ideas to earn more (such as ways to make money from home) and/or reduce your expenses.

Trying different budgeting techniques (such as the 50/30/20 budget rule) can be a good idea, or you might see what kind of budgeting trackers and tools your financial institution or a third party offers.

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Q2: April – June Money Management

Here are a few things that you’ll want to be aware of in the second quarter of the year:

Tax-Filing Deadline and Refund Planning

As mentioned earlier, the national deadline for filing your tax return is April 15th. It’s a good practice to begin organizing and assembling your documents well in advance, but if you haven’t done so, now is the time to dig in. If you can’t file your tax return by the deadline, it’s important to file an extension. Here’s a key fact about extensions that many people don’t know: The Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, policy is that an extension gives you more time to file your return, but it doesn’t give you more time to pay any taxes you owe. Those still need to be paid on the 15th.

If you get a sizable tax refund, there are two things you might want to consider. The first is whether you want to adjust your withholdings. That would give you a lower tax refund each year but more money in each paycheck. The second thing to do is make a plan for your tax refund. One good use would be to think about how much an emergency fund should be and add to it.

Worth noting: If you are expecting a tax refund, it can be wise to have it direct-deposited into your checking account. It’s typically the fastest, most secure way to receive that money. If you use tax software, you can usually type in your banking details for direct deposit. If you work with a tax preparer, let them know your preference.

Summer Savings and Vacation Budgeting

Summer is a popular time for vacations, whether that’s thanks to kids being out of school or simply the warmer weather. Rather than going into debt for a summer vacation, consider starting a vacation budget or travel fund. This means saving a bit of money each month, so that you have a sufficient amount of money to pay for your summer vacation when it comes.

If you’re hoping for a week or two at the beach in August, April can be a good time to start saving, if you haven’t already. You might set up recurring automatic transfers from checking to a dedicated high-interest savings account to make the process seamless. The day after payday can work well timing-wise for these transfers.

Mid-Year Financial Checkup

As the end of June approaches, it’s time for a mid-year financial checkup. If you haven’t been reviewing your budget regularly, the end of the first half of the year is a good time to do so and ensure that you are staying on track. If not, it’s a good moment to make adjustments or switch to other budgeting tools. You can also review your savings account balance to make sure it’s where you want it to be.

Recommended: 7 Tips to Managing Your Money Better

Q3: July – September Financial Strategies

As you start the second half of the year, here are a few more strategies to help you secure your financial future.

Back-to-School Budgeting

If you have kids, August and September are the prime back-to-school months. Here are some ideas for sticking to a budget:

•   Assess what’s needed, draw up your list and spending limit, and work hard not to deviate from that.

•   Comparison-shop. The store closest to your home may not be the cheapest. It could be worth your while to head to a discount shop a bit farther away to save money.

•   Use coupons and discounts to get good deals. Online coupons can help you reduce costs, and often joining a retailer’s loyalty program or downloading their app will funnel discounts your way. Shop on tax-free weekends, too, if those take place in your area.

These moves will hopefully stretch the money in your bank account to cover all of the expenses associated with kids going back to school.

Reviewing Insurance Policies

This is a task that can be done at any time but should be done at least once a year. You’ll want to check your renters or homeowners insurance, life insurance, car insurance, and any other insurance policies that you have. Make sure that your coverage is sufficient, your beneficiaries are up-to-date, and your premiums are the lowest that they can be. There are plenty of online tools that can help you assess what coverage could cost based on your situation.

Starting Holiday Savings Plans

If you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, you’ll want to start a holiday savings plan by the middle of the year (some early birds start even sooner). Rather than trying to come up with all the cash for presents out of your checking account when December arrives, you can gradually save money each month into whichever type of savings account suits you best. Then when your big expenses happen at the end of year, you’ll have money saved up to cover them.

Shopping ahead of time, as you see items on sale, can also be a good tactic. Not only can you snap up some good deals, it can alleviate some stress during the holiday shopping season.

You may also want to keep notes on when the big sale dates are for the holidays (like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or special Amazon shopping days). If you travel over the holidays, planning and booking early can both save you money and help you avoid being shut out of tickets on busy travel days.

Q4: October – December Year-End Finance

Finally, here are three things to add to your schedule as you close out the year:

Open Enrollment for Health Insurance

Most employers have their open enrollment for health insurance during the fourth quarter. This is the one time per year that you can update your medical, dental, and other health insurance without having a qualifying life event. Make sure that you review your current enrollment choices on hand so that you have the best selections for your specific situation.

If you have a high-deductible health plan, you may want to investigate whether starting a health savings account, or HSA, is a good move if you haven’t already gotten on board with opening one. These can provide a tax-advantaged way to set money aside for qualifying health-related expenses.

Year-End Tax Planning

While you file your tax return in April, December 31st marks the last day that you can make a charitable donation that you’ll claim a deduction for as well as the last day for any 401(k) contributions. You may want to take steps on those fronts. IRA contributions are one of the few exceptions which can be made up until Tax Day.

Holiday Budgeting and Spending

The end of the year often comes with tight budgeting as there may be additional holiday expenses. The best thing to do is to save money throughout the year so you have money to spend for extra holiday expenses. But if you haven’t done that, set a budget for your holiday expenses and try to stick to it.

Key Financial Dates and Deadlines for 2025

Here are a few key financial dates and deadlines for the upcoming year:

•   January 1: Tax year starts, which is a good time to note such changes for IRA contribution limits and Medicare and Social Security details, such as deductibles and benefits, if applicable

•   January 15: 4th-quarter estimated taxes due for prior year for those who pay them

•   April 15: Individual tax returns due, including 1st-quarter estimated taxes and the last day to make a 2024 IRA or HSA contribution
June 16: 2nd-quarter estimated taxes due (June 15th is a Sunday)

•   September 15: 3rd-quarter estimated taxes due

•   October 15: Tax returns are due for those who received an extension on filing their 2024 return. This date is also the kickoff for Medicare open enrollment for those who qualify.

•   November 1: Open enrollment, when you can apply for and purchase health insurance, begins.

•   December 31: Last day to make 401(k) contributions and last day to make charitable contributions to count for 2025

Keeping these dates in mind can help you stay on top of your finances all year.

Recommended: 50/30/20 Budget Calculator

The Takeaway

As the new year starts, it can be a smart move to take stock of your financial situation and set financial goals or resolutions for how you can improve in the year to come. These goals can be easier to achieve if you break them down into smaller, more achievable to-do items and put them on your calendar for each quarter. Keeping this kind of personal finance calendar can give you specific tasks to work on each month and put you in control of your money.

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FAQ

When should I start planning for next year’s taxes?

While there are a few things you can do that affect your taxes after the new year starts (like contributing to an IRA), most of the information that goes on your tax return is set as of the end of the year. So if you want to make plans for next year’s taxes, it’s a good idea to start making those plans by the 4th quarter of the prior year at the latest.

What financial tasks should I do monthly?

Everyone’s situation is different, so in the end it depends on your specific situation which financial tasks you should do monthly. Some ideas for monthly tasks include reviewing the previous month’s budget, paying down debt (if applicable), or adding to your emergency fund. Those who are self-employed should keep track of the quarterly dates when their estimated tax payments are due.

How often should I review my budget?

It’s a good idea to do at least a quick review of your budget every month. At the start of the month, review your expenses from the previous month to see where you might have exceeded your budgeted amount and update your plan if necessary. You can then do a more in-depth budget review every six months to a year or when a major life event occurs.

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