I'm often ambivalent about New Year's resolutions because so many people create them but give up before January ends or after hitting a snag.

Instead, this podcast will outline a solid seven-step roadmap for creating more wealth in 2026 that won't fizzle out

easily. There isn't a perfect financial plan or budget you can create for 2026 or any year.

Improving your personal finances usually comes from setting targets, making adjustments, and realizing slow progress over many years.

The benefit of setting goals or resolutions is that they help you clarify what you want and consider

different ways to achieve them. Even if you only reach 80% of a money goal, that's still better than 0%.

Welcome back to episode 986 of Money Girl, everyone.

I really appreciate you downloading the show.

I'm Laura Adams, an award-winning author, on-camera spokesperson, money speaker,

and founder of The Money Stack.

That's my substack newsletter. If you want more help

achieving your money goals and building wealth this year, my next workshop is titled

Set Your Money Strategy for 2026, how to prioritize and achieve financial goals. When you

subscribe to the Money Stack, you'll automatically get an invitation to

this live event. I hope to see you there. You can learn more, ask questions, and sign up for the

money stack for free at laura d adams.com. You can also leave me a voice message with your

question or comment by calling 302-364-0308. And you can find all this information in the show notes.

All right, so let's go through seven steps to help you follow a realistic roadmap for more wealth this year.

Number one is to do a year-end review. I think before you set New Year's resolutions or financial goals,

you know, no matter what time of year it is, consider your wins and fails from the past year.

For example, if you had a budget or a debt reduction plan, what challenges did you face?

Did you have any unexpected income gains or losses? And what mistakes

...