Oran Hall | Looking back at 2025 to plan for 2026

Reviewing your 2025 finances is an effective way to set the foundation for establishing your financial plan for 2026, for it will help you to see your successes and failures while showing the pitfalls to avoid. Done effectively, it can help you do better in 2026 than you did in 2025.

Your main focus should be money management, investment, insurance, estate planning and retirement planning against the background of the economic conditions of the country now and the years ahead. Thus, inflation and how it is managed, including interest rate policy, always has some bearing on your financial plan.

The devastating Hurricane Melissa has changed the script for many people, bringing their plans to nought, and forcing them to consider the best strategies to go forward. In some cases, forcing them to take a different path, even concerning defining the meaning of financial independence.

Despite the serious disruptions of 2025, there is still room to examine the past to chart the path for 2026. This may mean also examining 2024, a year with a less-dramatic set of unfavourable events. A lesson to be learnt from 2025 is that the future is uncertain, but we must plan for it nonetheless.

Your review should focus on income – from pay, bonuses, tips, savings, investments and gifts for those fortunate to receive them. Pay slips, bank statements and investment account statements are major sources of such information. It is important to see the extent to which you realised the income you projected to earn.

For expenses, bank statements, credit card statements and receipts are good sources of information. These can only be useful if you have them, so it is useful to store them in an organised and easily retrievable form.

On the expense side, it is also important to see the extent to which debt was used to fund your spending and if it restricted your ability to attend to important day-to-day expenses. If it did, your plan for 2026 should aim to address it.

A review of your financial plan should help you see the big months, in earning and spending. Most people on a monthly salary will hardly see a variation except in the case of their salary being increased. The self-employed and people who earn on commission are most familiar with the impact of fluctuating income.

You should take note of the big spending months and the months when you overspent. August is big for families that have to provide for children in school at different levels. Major expenses to cover include fees, uniforms, books and medical examinations. It is less burdensome to start reserving funds from early to avoid having to source the funds the month they are required.

The November to December period tends to be a big spending period. Black Friday is a tempting time to buy items like electronics, clothes, accessories, and gifts. Big-spending in December also includes expenses on clothes and gifts, but also entertainment, travel, and groceries. Planning for the big-spending periods should start early. Truth be told, if it seems that the funds to cover these expenses are improbable, serious changes should be made to the budget.

Apart from looking at the periods when spending spikes, it is also prudent to pay attention to the main spending categories. Generally, these tend to be housing, food, utilities, transportation, and debt servicing in many cases. Considering that prices do not remain static, allowances should be made for such increases. If you buy the same quantities each time and prices increase, how much you spend must increase.

There are other matters to consider. Melissa showed that many properties were under-insured. Were yours? Consider if you will opt for some level of self-insurance with the attendant costs to you in the event of a loss, or if you will transfer the risk fully to the insurance company, but bear in mind that the additional premium must find a place in your budget. Consider also whether you yourself are under insured. Is your coverage sufficient to replace your income in the event of your death for your beneficiaries?

Were there gaps in your 2025 estate plan that you did not close? If so, will you correct that situation in 2026 by acquiring or shedding assets, expanding your family, changing your marital status, or addressing shifts in your health or the health of beneficiaries? Such adjustments may make it necessary to revise your estate plan.

Next year, you will be one year closer to retirement. How prepared are you? Are there gaps to close, and do you need to change your strategy, particularly if you have moved into another phase of the life cycle? If, for instance, you are going to move into the retirement phase, you may see the merits of embracing a more conservative investment policy.

Let 2025 teach you to prepare for 2026, as 2024 should have taught you to prepare for 2025. Although your financial plan is long term in nature, it is not static. To be effectual, it must be reviewed and adjusted as necessary.

Oran A. Hall, author of Understanding Investments and principal author of The Handbook of Personal Financial Planning, offers personal financial planning advice and counsel. Email: finviser.jm@gmail.com