Smart Investments To Make at the End of the Year

By Brandy Hall, MSN, RN

As the year comes to a close, you might be thinking about how you can get a jump on the new year. Starting the upcoming year strong always feels great. Whether it’s a routine, habit, or budget, something new always makes us feel fresh. 

How about new investments? Here are three investment moves you can make before the close of the year that will have you feeling good in the new year. 

Assess your employee health benefits

You might be thinking it’s time for the yearly change in health insurance, but look at your other benefits. If you have a flexible spending account (FSA) or health savings account (HSA), this is a good time to review them. 

You’ve been investing in these all year long and before the year ends, you need to make sure you aren’t losing out. Your FSA will likely expire at the end of the year and funds will be lost. Now is a great time to invest in your health. 

• Schedule needed appointments. 
• Order medical equipment or purchases that you’ve been putting off. 

Don’t let those funds go to waste. 

Your HSA doesn’t expire, but you can take advantage of it by reviewing it and making sure you’ve been using it to your benefit. 

• Have you been saving enough? 
• Can you maximize your savings?
• Are you able to increase this as a retirement benefit for later?

Review your retirement 

The end of each year is a great time to review your retirement. It’s important to know whether your retirement accounts have restrictions or limits. These limits can change over the years and you need to be aware of them. The limits can be based on the amount of money in them, your age, whether you’re self-employed, and other factors. 

Know where you and your retirement stands each year. 

Get in on fractional shares

Fractional shares are smaller parts of shares that allow you to invest in companies without paying large amounts to invest. As the end of the year, or even quarters, draw close, you can get fractional shares of stocks and increase your investments. 

These shares help you grow and diversify your portfolio, all while opening up investment opportunities. As time passes, you can increase your investments with these companies and work toward full shares or sell off the fractional shares and invest in other companies. 

Conclusion

Evaluating your end of the year investments can be essential. Reassessing your retirement, health benefits, and looking at new investments each year can create new changes that open up more growth and income for the new year. Dedicate time to making these investments each year. They will really pay off. 

Navy Mutual

Protect your family and your future. Navy Mutual’s financial support gives you stability when your family needs it most. Providing high-quality, low-cost life insurance and annuities, as well as the service and education you need to understand the benefits for you and your loved ones. 

Brandy Hall, Nurse Writer, turned a passion for patient teaching into content writing. She teams up with podcasters and healthcare providers to improve health understanding. Now she explores the world through creativity and adventure as a mom and military spouse.