The Best Time to Start a Financial Plan is Now
by Tricia Bush, CPA, CFP® Owner, AAA Advisory LLC
The Hidden cost of putting off financial decisions
Most people don’t avoid financial decisions because they’re lazy or irresponsible. They avoid them because life is busy.
Work deadlines pile up. Kids need attention. Aging parents need help. Summer schedules get chaotic. And financial decisions often fall into the category of “I’ll deal with that later.”
The problem is that “later” can quietly become years.
One of the biggest things I’ve learned over time, both personally and professionally, is that financial progress usually doesn’t come from making perfect decisions. It comes from making intentional ones before too much time passes.
Early in my career, I did what many young professionals do with their 401(k): I contributed enough to get the company match and considered myself “on track” for retirement. But I later realized that long-term financial security usually requires saving far beyond the minimum match, often closer to 15% of income over time, and investing those savings appropriately for a long-term horizon.
Like many people starting out, I answered the risk questionnaire conservatively because market losses made me nervous, and I accepted the recommendation without thinking much beyond it. What I didn’t understand then was that being too conservative at a young age carries its own risk: missing out on years of market growth and the power of compounding to do the heavy lifting over time.
Looking back, I likely left significant growth on the table simply because I delayed learning how my investments worked and didn’t revisit those decisions sooner.
And honestly? That’s incredibly common.
I see this all the time with busy professionals. They’re doing many things right. They’re working hard, they’re earning good incomes, they’re saving consistently, they’re paying bills on time, and they’re avoiding major debt problems.
Yet many financial decisions are still sitting untouched in the background, such as old retirement accounts, cash accumulating in low-interest savings, insurance coverage that hasn’t been reviewed in years, tax strategies never explored, estate documents started but not completed, and/or investment allocations that no longer fit their goals.
None of these things usually create an immediate crisis. That’s what makes them easy to ignore.
But over time, small delays can create surprisingly large financial consequences.
I had another personal reminder of this during COVID. Like many people, I felt uncertainty when the markets dropped sharply. At the time, I had two separate accounts with approximately $5,000 each. Out of fear, I pulled one account out to cash so I would feel safer having money readily available. Looking back now, I can honestly say: Why did I do that?
After the initial shock of COVID wore off, the invested account recovered and continued growing. Meanwhile, the money sitting safely in cash stayed exactly where it started. The difference became very real, very quickly. In less than a year, the invested account had grown to over $7,000 while the cash sitting in the safe was still just $5,000.
That experience reinforced something important for me: sometimes the biggest financial cost isn’t making a mistake, it’s allowing fear, uncertainty, or procrastination to keep us from making thoughtful long-term decisions.
Of course, this doesn’t mean every dollar should always stay invested or that cash reserves aren’t important. Emergency savings absolutely matter. But financial decisions should be intentional, not purely emotional reactions to temporary uncertainty.
And that’s often where financial planning becomes valuable.
Good planning isn’t about predicting the market perfectly or making complicated spreadsheets. It’s about creating enough clarity that your decisions become more thoughtful and less reactive.
Sometimes the biggest improvement isn’t a dramatic financial overhaul. It’s simply revisiting decisions you made years ago and asking:
Does this still make sense?
Is this aligned with what I want now?
Am I being proactive or just letting old decisions continue by default?
Because default decisions still shape your future.
One thing I encourage clients to remember is that financial planning is not a one-time event. Your life changes constantly: careers evolve, families grow, priorities shift, income changes, stress levels change, and goals become clearer.
Your financial strategy should evolve too.
If you’ve been putting off financial decisions, June can be a great time for a reset. We’re halfway through the year, which makes it a natural point to pause and reassess before another six months slip by. You do not need to solve everything overnight. But small actions taken consistently can create meaningful long-term results.
Mid-Year Financial Check-In Checklist
Here are a few simple areas worth revisiting before the second half of the year:
Review your current cash flow and spending habits.
Increase retirement contributions if income has increased.
Revisit your investment allocation and risk level.
Evaluate whether excess cash could be working harder.
Check beneficiary designations on retirement accounts.
Review old 401(k)s or forgotten investment accounts.
Run a mid-year tax projection.
Confirm emergency savings are appropriate.
Review insurance coverage and estate documents.
Ask yourself whether your financial decisions still align with your current goals.
The goal is not perfection. The goal is progress and intentionality.
Because often, the most expensive financial decisions are the ones we keep postponing.
