The year may be half over, but that doesn’t mean your financial goals should be on autopilot. Mid-year is a powerful checkpoint—a chance to pause, assess, and pivot, if necessary. Are you closer to where you want to be, or has life (and the market) thrown a few curveballs? Taking time now to review your finances can help you catch minor issues before they become costly problems—and may even uncover new opportunities to strengthen your position heading into year-end.
It’s been a dynamic market, with growth and value stocks each taking turns in the spotlight. As of the end of June 2025, international equities have also outperformed U.S. domestic stocks. With such turbulent conditions, your portfolio allocation may have drifted from your target mix.
If you manage your own investment accounts—such as a 401(k) or traditional retirement account—mid-year is an opportune time to rebalance. Rebalancing realigns the weightings of the assets in your portfolio to match your original or desired allocation. Think of it as routine maintenance to help manage risk, lock in gains, and keep your investment strategy on track.
While reviewing your self-directed accounts, you may also uncover losses in your taxable portfolios that could be used to offset gains from earlier transactions, ultimately reducing your overall tax liability. Tax-loss selling isn’t just a year-end strategy. Market dips can provide opportunities to harvest losses on underperforming assets while reinvesting in similar (but not identical) positions to maintain market exposure. This approach can reset your cost basis without altering your long-term strategy.
Since you’re already rebalancing your 401(k), it’s also a good time to consider increasing your contributions. If you’ve received a raise or bonus following a mid-year performance review, consider directing more toward your retirement savings. Ensure your savings rate aligns with your annual goals. Many administrator platforms offer an automatic increase feature that can raise your contributions each year—often right around review time.
If your compensation has increased or you’re taking required minimum distributions (RMDs), it may be wise to run a tax projection to ensure you’re withholding enough to avoid any unpleasant surprises next April. A projection might also reveal opportunities for strategic moves like additional pre-tax contributions to reduce taxable income or Roth conversions if there’s room to do so without bumping into a higher marginal tax bracket.
You should also review the beneficiary designations on your 401(k)s, insurance policies, IRAs, or other accounts that can pass outside of your estate. Life events such as birth, death, marriage, or divorce can easily distract from financial housekeeping, but they’re also important money moments that may warrant updating these designations or even revisiting your broader financial plan.
If you’re planning to make qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) from retirement accounts, be sure to complete your QCD before taking any other withdrawals that would count toward your RMD to ensure your QCD satisfies your RMD and remains tax-free.
Mid-year adjustments don’t need to be huge, sweeping changes. They are most often small, thoughtful moves in a few key areas that can make a big difference in your financial outlook.
If you have questions about money moves that you should make mid-year, the experts at Henssler Financial will be glad to help:
- Experts Request Form
- Email: experts@henssler.com
- Phone: 770-429-9166
Listen to the June 28, 2025 “Henssler Money Talks” episode.