The Annual Financial Review Checklist
One day a year to keep the simple machine in tune
Matthew distinguishes automation from abdication. Automation is great when it removes decisions you've already made well; abdication is when you stop thinking about money entirely and assume the machine is fine. The cure is a single, scheduled, annual review of the things automation can't catch.
The review is deliberately lightweight: same day every year, working through a fixed checklist of what might have drifted. Income, savings rate, insurance needs, portfolio balance, account consolidation. Each item takes minutes; together they keep the simple machine tuned without re-introducing daily decision load.
The philosophical point is that money management isn't event-driven for most people. There's no signal telling you 'your income protection is now under-coverage' or 'your bond/equity ratio drifted to 65/35'. You have to come and check, on a cadence — and the calendar is the most reliable tool we under-use.
- Automation removes decision load; it doesn't remove the need for review.
- Without scheduled review, automation becomes abdication.
- Small increments made regularly compound harder than big infrequent moves.
- The calendar is your most under-used commitment device.
- Review the inputs, not just the outputs — savings rate matters more than account balance.
- Pick a fixed annual review dayChoose a date — birthday, January 1st, tax year start — and put it in the calendar as a recurring annual event. Same day every year removes the 'when should I do this' friction.Pro tipBlock 2–3 hours so it doesn't feel rushed.
- Review the savings rateCheck how much you saved this year as a percentage of income. If you had a pay rise, did the savings rate move with it? Push the rate gently upward each year until it feels slightly uncomfortable.Pro tipSmall annual increments are more durable than aggressive jumps.
- Re-check insurance coverageHas your mortgage gone up? Family situation changed? Income changed materially? Update life insurance and income protection accordingly. Most people set this once and never revisit.WarningCoverage that was adequate at 30 may be wildly inadequate at 40.
- Rebalance the portfolioIf your target was 80/20 equities/bonds, has it drifted? After strong equity years it may now be 90/10. Rebalance back to target.
- Consolidate any new sprawlDid you start a new job and create a new pension? Move it into your central SIPP. Did you open accounts you no longer use? Close them.
- Check you're still living wellAsk whether you're saving too much. Are you postponing life unnecessarily? The review is also a check on whether the spend bucket is too small.
- Schedule the next year's reminder and a 3-month savings nudgeBefore closing the review, set the next annual reminder and a quarterly nudge to step the savings rate up by a small increment. Past-you protects future-you.
Matthew describes the typical pattern: someone sets up a £25/month direct debit and is still saving £25/month three years later because no nudge was scheduled.
Matthew describes part of his advisory value as reminding clients annually to do the obvious — bed-and-ISA from a GIA into an ISA, top up pensions before tax year end.
An 80/20 portfolio after a strong 5-year equity bull run can quietly become 90/10, materially raising risk without the investor noticing.
Matthew built this from years of watching DIY investors set up sensible automation and then stop thinking entirely. The setup ran perfectly for years, but quietly drifted out of alignment with their actual lives — pay rises went to lifestyle, insurance stayed at first-job levels, allocations slid past target.
He also points to the calendar as 'one of the most useful devices we don't use enough'. A reminder set today, fired in six months, is your past-self protecting your future-self when motivation has faded.