Get Smarter With Your Money in 5 Minutes a Week

Every Sunday, I break down the one money story you need to know and tell you exactly what to do about it.

Jul 26 • 2 min read

Oops, I dropped the ball


Read Time: 3 min

Hey Reader,

I dropped the ball.

One underrated thing I do to ensure I'm on track with my financial goals are: Quarterly Money Check-ins.

Think of it as going to your doctor for a check-up. The more often you go, the earlier you can catch an issue before it gets 5x worse.

I forgot to do mine in June, so I just did it yesterday.

So in case you haven't done your check-in yet (or if you've never done one before), here's a checklist to help you start today.

1. Claim your free money before it disappears

If your company offers a 401(k) match and you're not getting the full match, you're leaving money on the table.

Make sure you're enrolled and contributing at least enough to get the full match.

Most people don't realize that they're not contributing enough until December, but by then it's too late.

Most 401(k)s only pull contributions from your paycheck, meaning they won't let you do a massive lump sum contribution at the end of the year to get the rest of your match.

2. Avoid paying the lazy tax

With everything getting more expensive, companies have been jacking up their prices.

You might not notice if it's just a couple of dollars extra a month, but imagine this happening for all your bills and subscriptions.

You could easily end up hundreds more than you thought you were. 3 major things worth checking:

  • Car insurance
  • Home insurance
  • Internet / phone bill

Prioritize checking your car and home insurance rates today because they went up by A LOT this year.

Here are 2 free tools to make it really easy to check if you're overpaying.

It only takes a few minutes to potentially save a couple hundred dollars a year.

Consumer Reports found people save around $461 a year by switching car insurance providers. Unfortunately, 70% of people never even check their rates.

3. Optimize your cash

If you keep cash at banks like Chase, Bank of America, or Wells Fargo, you're losing money because these banks only offer .01% rate for your money.

On the other hand, High-Yield Savings Account offer up to a 4% rate for your money.

Let's say you keep $10,000 in your bank.

  • At a .01% rate, you'd earn $1 in a year.
  • At a 4% rate, you'd earn $400 in a year.

Don't leave $399 on the table.

Here's a list of my favorite High-Yield Savings Account, offering anywhere from 3% to 4% APY.

It only takes a couple of minutes to earn hundreds more every year.

4. Automate one thing

I'm not talking about automating or overhauling your entire financial life, but just pick one thing and put it on autopilot.

For example: set up a recurring transfer from your checking account to your investing account so you can invest more without thinking about it.

Reply to this email and let me know if you completed your mid-year checklist for 2026.

Let's build,
Vincent


Every Sunday, I break down the one money story you need to know and tell you exactly what to do about it.


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