How To Conduct a Financial Checkup
How To Conduct a Financial Checkup
By Jim Probasco Updated March 21, 2022
Reviewed By Andy Smith Fact Checked By Yarilet Perez
Here's a simple system for assessing your fiscal fitness
Many experts suggest that people make a point of conducting a personal financial checkup on an annual basis or after a major life event (such as a marriage, divorce, birth, or death). The question is, what does that mean exactly? To make sure you don’t miss something critical to your financial well-being, here are the main topics you should plan to cover.
A financial checkup is a systematic look at the complete state of your finances.
It can be useful to perform a financial checkup annually and after any major life event, such as a marriage, divorce, birth, or death.
Your checkup should include your retirement accounts and other savings, your debts, your estate plan, and your insurance coverage, among other topics.
Review Your Life Changes
To begin with, review any major changes in your life that have taken place since your last financial checkup. Have you changed jobs, gotten married or divorced, welcomed a new family member, received an inheritance, bought a home, moved, or retired?
Each of these life events can alter your overall financial picture. As you go through the sections below, consider how any recent life changes could affect your plans moving forward.
Set or Reset Financial Goals
Building an adequate retirement fund is one example of a financial goal. Others include creating an emergency fund, saving up for a down payment on a car or home, starting your own business, or anything else that requires money you don't already have.
Evaluate your progress toward your financial goals and adjust as needed. Once you achieve a goal, cross it off the list and replace it with another.
Sketch Out a Budget
Your budget is a blueprint for handling your income and expenses on a recurring basis. A budget should be monitored and adjusted as needed.
The idea is to make sure you have enough income to cover all your usual expenses, with some extra set aside for your longer-term financial goals. You can maintain your budget with pencil and paper, a computer spreadsheet, or one of the many available free or inexpensive budgeting software programs.
Assess Your Debt
Review your progress in paying down all debt, including loans and credit cards. If your debt is rising, especially high-interest credit card debt, it might be time to adjust your spending so that those balances start to decline again.
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
https://www.investopedia.com/personal-finance/how-conduct-financial-checkup/
MilitiaMan & Crew: CBI Policy Update: What You Need to Know About the IQD
10-21-2026
The Crew: Samson, PompeyPeter, Petra, Daytrader, Sunkissed, GIGI and Militia Man
No drama. No intrigue. No songs and dances. Just straight, factual news that I read and interpret to the best of my ability after being an avid Dinar investor and insanely obsessed Dinarian for over 15 years.
Follow MM on X == https://x.com/Slashn
Good Morning Dinar Recaps,
GLOBAL CURRENCY RESET WATCH: ECB SEEKS TO EXPAND THE EURO’S GLOBAL ROLE
The European Central Bank is widening access to euro liquidity, strengthening Europe’s financial reach as central banks reassess the international monetary landscape.
Physical Gold vs. Digital Gold: Which Is the Ultimate Safe Haven?
Published: 05-20-2026
Gold is trading at approximately $4,500 per troy ounce as of May 20, 2026 [World Gold Council]. However, the debate about physical gold vs digital gold matters more than most investors realise — because not all of these products are the same thing. Both show up on a brokerage statement with a dollar value attached. But what you actually own — what you hold, what you control, what survives a real crisis — is a very different story. This isn’t a debate about returns. It’s a debate about what “safe haven” actually means.
KTFA
Tuesday Night Video
FRANK26…10-20-26.....YOU PROMISED
This video is in Frank’s and his team’s opinion only
Frank’s team is Walkingstick, Eddie and Omar in Iraq and guests
Playback Number: 605-313-5163 PIN: 156996#
Iraq Orders Banks to Work OVERTIME! Why Now?
The Dinar Den: 10-20-2026
Stephen: Hey everyone, welcome back to the channel. We have some exciting and breaking news that came out of the central bank of Iraq today. So, I'm going to cover and go over those few articles that I think as dinar investors are um just exciting and I think they are very telling as to what the future might possibly hold.
And I'm gonna tie it all together and share how I think these things could possibly be related to a higher dinar exchange rate.
The Iraqi Dinar Is The Second Worst-Performing Arab Currency; Dollar Pressures Pose A Difficult Test For Monetary Policy.
October 20, 2026 The Independent - The classification of the Iraqi dinar among the Arab currencies that have declined the most against the US dollar has raised widespread questions about the future of monetary stability in Iraq, and the ability of the Central Bank to contain the increasing pressures on the exchange market, at a time when the economy is facing challenges related to oil revenues, government spending and the heavy reliance on imports.
The Iran War Will End. Expensive Diesel Won’t
Notes From the Field By James Hickman (Simon Black / sovereign Man) October 20, 2026
There’s a college degree that pays about $100,000 right out of school, which is pretty good money for a 22-year old. Within a few years, that pay could easily double.
Yet hardly any young person wants the job.
It’s not dangerous, it’s not dirty, and it doesn’t require superhuman work hours. The only reason young people aren’t interested is because Greta Thunberg told them it wasn’t cool.
GP Q: US Dollar Upgrade or Collapse?
10-20-2026
“Is the dollar dying… or is it about to get a major upgrade?”
MONEY MONEY MONEY
Most people are only watching the old fiat dollar.
They’re completely missing the new system the U.S. is building right now under the GENIUS Act. Here’s the simple version:
Rob Cunningham: If the World Could Choose Only One Blockchain
10-20-2026
On a go forward basis, “all things considered”, based on the comprehensive utility and liquidity needs of the entire world, “if” only one blockchain was allowed to exist, which should it be?
My choice: the XRP Ledger.
Under this hypothetical – one blockchain serving the world’s combined needs for payments, currencies, tokenized assets, exchange and settlement – XRPL offers the strongest fit in my judgment.
The Central Bank Of Iraq Resolves The Issue Of Merchants' Remittances And Confirms The Continuation Of Import Financing In Dollars.
October 20, 2026Last updated: October 20, 2026 The Central Bank of Iraq confirmed on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, the continuation of financing imports and providing foreign currency through official banking channels, announcing the completion of fulfilling external transfer requests that were suspended before the adjustment of the dinar exchange rate on October 7, in a step aimed at addressing outstanding issues, protecting the rights of traders and ensuring the smooth flow of foreign trade.
Good Afternoon Dinar Recaps,
GLOBAL ASSET RESET WATCH: DEBT, AI UNCERTAINTY AND ENERGY RISKS RESHAPE SAFE-HAVEN DEMAND
Investors are reassessing where to protect their wealth as geopolitical conflict, rising energy prices, government debt and uncertainty surrounding artificial intelligence reshape global markets.
Reset Intelligence: Iraq's Oil Exports Are Back.
By Reset Intelligence | @EXIT_FIAT
Iraq's oil exports are back above 3.4 million barrels a day, close to where they stood before the war.
The same weekend the IMF and Washington both moved toward Baghdad, and the street dollar went the other way.
TNT:
Tishwash: 45 trillion outside the banks... Parliamentary Finance Committee reveals the extent of the crisis of confidence in banks
The head of the parliamentary finance committee, Uday Awad, revealed the existence of a cash mass ranging between 40 and 45 trillion dinars outside the Iraqi banking system, attributing this to the weak confidence of citizens in banks, while stressing the work to find solutions to return these funds to the banking cycle .
Awad said during a televised interview followed by Al-Sa’a Network that “there is a cash mass estimated at about 40 to 45 trillion dinars outside the banking system,” noting that “the lack of confidence in banks has led citizens to keep their money away from them.”
Stern Drew: The BIS Conducted the Most Important Blockchain Experiment of the Year
10-20-2026
The BIS Conducted The Most Important Blockchain Experiment of The Year On a Public Ledger.
The bank for central banks quietly put official data on a public ledger.
Ripple, the crypto firm behind the XRP Ledger blockchain, just became the quiet infrastructure pick for the Bank for International Settlements.
Iraq Absent From Top US Treasury Holders List
2026-10-19 17:56 Shafaq News- Washington Iraq was absent from the list of major foreign holders of US Treasury securities in August 2026, as total foreign holdings rose to $9.3317 trillion from $9.2484 trillion in July, according to US Treasury Department data released on October 16.
Good Morning Dinar Recaps,
GLOBAL DEBT RESET WATCH: U.S. TREASURY FINANCING PLANS FACE GROWING MARKET PRESSURE
Rising borrowing costs, heavy government debt and uncertainty over future bond sales are testing the U.S. Treasury market and raising questions about the cost of financing America's deficits.
GP Q: IMF Discussions on Possible Financing Package for Iraq
10-20-2026
IRAQ
RV etc
MarkZ et al
• No confirmed recipients of asset-backed funds could be found
• Questions (including from James / James K) about whether anyone has received monetary / asset-backed funds
KTFA
Monday Night Video
FRANK26….10-19-26…..THREE ZERO LIFTING FINALIZED
This video is in Frank’s and his team’s opinion only
Frank’s team is Walkingstick, Eddie and Omar in Iraq and guests
Playback Number: 605-313-5163 PIN: 156996#
The Central Bank Told Nina: Removing Zeros Is Not Within Our Authority And Requires A Legal And Legislative Process
Baghdad/ NINA / The Central Bank of Iraq confirmed that the issue of removing zeros from the currency is not within its jurisdiction, but rather requires legislation. The bank's media director, Haider Ghazi, told the Iraqi National News Agency ( NINA 😞 "The issue of removing zeros is not within the bank's authority; it requires legislation, as it is linked to the settlement of debts, legal obligations, and punitive fines under current Iraqi laws.
TNT:
Tishwash: The Central Bank extends bank working hours and directs them to open during official holidays.
The Central Bank of Iraq directed banks with outstanding remittances to work on Fridays to avoid delays caused by official holidays, while it completed covering all remittances before the exchange rate change, with a total amount of $3 billion.