10/01/2026
4 Financial Things Worth a Few Minutes of Your Time
If youâre busy, you probably donât need another person telling you to save more or âbe betterâ with your money.
Between work, kids, travel, activities, a mortgage, and everything else on your calendar, finding time to step back and handle the financial basics can be the hardest part.
The good news? You donât need hours. Start with these four things:
1. Spend 20 minutes on the paperwork nobody wants to do.
Check the beneficiaries on your 401(k), IRA, and life insurance.
People update their wills and forget these forms. And the forms win.
If you have young children and donât have a will, make one. One of the most important decisions may be deciding who you want raising your kids if youâre no longer here.
2. Talk about money in front of your kids.
Your kids are paying attention to what you drive, where you vacation, what you buy, and how you spend your time.
You donât need a formal lesson. Let them hear how you think about money:
âWeâre not buying that today. Itâs not in the plan.â
âWe saved for this trip.â
âThatâs expensive. Letâs think about whether itâs worth it.â
Those small conversations, repeated over time, can teach more than a lecture ever will.
3. Find out what you actually spend.
Not what you think you spend. What you actually spend.
Pull your last three months of checking and credit card statements and add it up. You may be surprised by the number.
4. Save automaticallyâand increase it when you get a raise.
There will always be somewhere else for the money to go.
Make saving automatic. Set the transfer for the day after payday so you never really see the money.
Then, when you get a raise, consider putting half of the increase toward savings or investing before your lifestyle has a chance to grow into it.
Youâll still have more money to spend, while making progress without having to think about it.
Just a few minutes, a few decisions, and a little consistency can go a long way.
Joshua Goulding, CFA, CFPÂŽ, is a McLean parent and the founder of 4J Wealth Management. This is general education, not personalized advice.
www.4jwealth.com
