💸 Your Q1 Money Calendar 💸

✨ This Month’s Themes ✨

Our money themes help ground us each month and remind us where to focus on our intentions throughout the year.

🔍 Clarity

Get clear on what you want to accomplish this year and how you want the year to feel for you.

🧘🏾‍♀️Refresh and Reset

Rest! Everything doesn’t have to be accomplished all at once. Give yourself a moment to rest, reset, and refresh.

✅ Vision and Goaling

Allow yourself to daydream, then start drafting out what would be needed to make those dreams a reality. Remember, an elephant is eaten one bite at a time.

🔍 In this Issue

• Two new resources available now

• We're Out of Office in Feb

• Your Q1 Money Calendar

• My Final Two Cents

• Introducing Something New

Need to catch up? Read our latest issues here.

This Week’s Money News

👛 Wallet Watch

• 🟤 We just published two new resources! View our Mindful Money Prompts Directory and Personal Finance Dictionary.

• 🟤 Pew Research just published its annual demographic reports, noting some interesting trends among Black Americans. As these trends continue, it’ll be interesting to see how they impact economic mobility in the Black community.

• 🟤 With the new administration, everyone is trying to predict what the market will do. If you’re concerned about your retirement investments, here are five things to consider when protecting your retirement fund. Be sure to chat with a CFP to discuss your unique situation and your best course of action.

Announcements

✈️ I’m heading to Japan!

During the month of February, I’ll be exploring Japan. Since I’ll be moving about, I’ll be writing a little less. We’ll get back to our regular content in March.

Fiscal Focus

💸 Your Q1 Money Calendar

Last year we published our Q4 2024 Money Calendar. It was such a hit that we decided to bring the calendar back for 2025. Since we just launched the Emergency Savings and 401(k) planning tool, we thought it timely to share the Q1 calendar with you now. See below for some key themes and dates to remember as you map your money for Q1. Note that Q1 is relatively quiet compared to Q4.

❄️ January 💫

🟤 Themes: January is all about new beginnings and fresh starts. You may be feeling excitement about the year, or you may be feeling overwhelmed given some significant changes and shifts both externally and personally. Take some time to rest and reflect on what you are most looking forward to.

📅 January 1:

• Changes to Social Security kick in now. These changes include increases to cost-of-living adjustments (which means more money) and an annual earnings limit increase of $23,400. These increases may be significant for some of our loved ones who are receiving Social Security because they mean they may be eligible to receive more money in each check and can earn more income if they’re still working while remaining eligible for their Social Security benefits. Be sure to check in with your loved ones about these changes.

• Changes to Medicare also kicked in on Jan 1. These changes differ greatly depending on income, age, and other factors. Review your unique situation and these changes with your CPA.

• Changes to retirement savings limits kicked in on January 1. As of January 1, you can contribute $23,500 in pre-tax dollars to your 401(k) and other pre-tax retirement accounts. Check the IRS.gov website for information on all retirement products.

📅 January 15:

• If applicable, file your fourth-quarter estimated income tax payment by January 15. Be sure to chat with your tax professional and review the IRS.gov website for any changes in 2025 that may impact you directly.

💞 February 🤎

🟤 Themes: February brings some high-spending and, sometimes, high-anxiety events. From Superbowl parties to Valentine's Day, many of us are hosting and spending money this month. Here’s what to keep in mind for February spending.

📅 February 9:

• If you plan to host a Super Bowl party, maybe start putting away a little cash now. That way, things won’t hit immediately and blow your February budget.

📅 February 14:

• Valentine's Day brings lots of spending opportunities and can get away from us if we’re not careful. If you’re making baskets for the kids or planning to splurge for a partner, write that into the budget now so you’re ready to make the purchase.

 🟢 March 🤎

🟤 Themes: With March, we’re already through a full quarter of 2025. March brings an opportunity to reflect and get excited about what the rest of the year looks to bring. Regarding money, March is usually quieter unless you have many personal days like birthdays and anniversaries. In March, take a moment to reflect on what worked in Q1 and what you want to continue to carry into the remainder of the year.

📅 March 17: St. Patrick’s Day is our only big spending holiday in March.

We hope this list helps you navigate Q1. We’ll be back in March with an outline for Q2.

Vocab, Mindfulness, and Quick Facts

💰 My Final Two Cents

💬 Money Vocabulary:
The Gold Standard: The gold standard is a monetary system in which the value of a country's currency is directly linked to gold. The United States discontinued this system in 1933. Read more about the history of The Gold Standard system here. For a detail on how the system works in practice, look here.

🧘🏾‍♀️ Mindful Money Prompt:
As you finalize your money plans this month, what still feels overwhelming? Why? What information or support would you need to help make that goal less overwhelming?

📠 Money Quick Fact:
When most of us hear ‘March on Washington,’ we think of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This week, I’m highlighting A. Philip Randolph. Mr. Randolph organized the March on Washington Movement (MOWM), which took place between 1941 and 1946 - twenty years before MLK’s March on Washington (1963). Randolph’s focus was to end employment discrimination in the defense industry and ban segregation in the armed forces. He was widely known as a spokesperson for the Black working class. Read more about A. Philip Randolph here.

Celebration Syndicate

🎉 Introducing a New Way to Celebrate You

Did you get a higher-paying job, pay off a credit card, or meet a savings goal? No matter what your money accomplishment is, we want to celebrate you! Share your money wins here for a chance to have them featured in future newsletters and on Ed. Opal socials!