New Year's Resolutions for Fund Investors

Forget about those last five pounds and the work that needs to be done on the house -- it's time for some New Year's resolutions that you really need to make.

The new year is the perfect time to get your finances in order. Perhaps you've once again broken the bank on holiday gift-giving; perhaps you stayed within your budget. Clearly, you'll need to tackle any immediate cash-flow issues first. But once that's taken care of, turn to your portfolio and make sure it reflects your future, not your past. To that end, we offer a few resolutions that you can actually stick to. And if you put the work in now, you won't have to do anything beyond an annual checkup.

I will make my portfolio signal my current goals, not past mistakes. It's easy to be laggard regarding your portfolio's asset allocation, but few elements of money management will do more to ensure you meet your immediate and long-term goals. Make a list of all your accounts and note how they're allocated. Next make a list of your goals. Everyone should have at least three to six months' worth of expenses in a money market account -- more if your job is closely tied to the economy or if you anticipate a rocky time for other reasons. (Tenured college professors have less to worry about than computer consultants do, for instance.) ...