Do these 5 things before the new year

1. Freeze your credit

If you have not frozen your credit, this is the single highest leverage thing you can do this week.

Credit freezes are free. They take minutes to set up with the three major credit bureaus. They do not affect your credit score or your existing accounts. They simply prevent new credit from being opened in your name without your consent.

Identity theft today is opportunism at its best. It starts with a breached database (of which there are many), a cleverly designed phishing email, and perhaps a well-timed impersonation that hits when someone is tired or distracted thrown into the mix. A relative of mine was recently caught in an online scam. It was a relatively light one by comparison — several charges that needed to be cleaned up but no drained accounts or destroyed credit — but it still took days to unwind. Think hours on the phone, repeated explanations of the exact same things, and lots of follow-up.

Think of this as adding a deadbolt to your front door in a neighborhood where everyone’s regular house keys have already been copied.

2. Spend your FSA money

Flexible Spending Accounts are one of the few tax advantages with an actual expiration date. If you miss the deadline, the money disappears.

Many health care FSAs are use it or lose it, however, some employers allow a small carryover or a grace period. Dependent care FSAs are often stricter. The rules vary, which is precisely why people lose money every year.

Check your balance. Spend what is left. Glasses, contacts, prescription sunglasses, first aid supplies, sunscreen, menstrual products, therapy copays, childcare reimbursement.

Remember, this is money you’ve already earned. Make sure it gets put to use.

3. Lock down your digital accounts

Your email account is the skeleton key to your financial life, so treat it accordingly.

As well, password reuse continues to be the most common reason accounts fall like dominoes. Before the year ends, do a security sweep. Use a password manager — we use Dashlane and have used 1Password in the past.

Turn on two-factor authentication for email, financial institutions, cloud storage and anything you care about preserving and protecting. Prefer app-based authenticators like Duo or passkeys over SMS when available, since phone numbers are vulnerable to SIM-swap attacks.

A short sweep now saves a lot of time and heartbreak later.

4. Review your investments

Before Dec. 31, review your taxable brokerage accounts. If you have losses, you may be able to harvest them to offset gains or a portion of ordinary income. If you have gains, this may be a year to realize some intentionally, depending on your income and future expectations.

This is about awareness, not action for everyone. The point is to look while options still exist. If you work with an advisor, ask questions. If you manage your own accounts, slow down and assess whether or not you can benefit from tax-loss harvesting.

5. Reduce the data you are carrying forward

Every unused account is an attack opportunity that you have long forgotten about. Every random or underutilized subscription is a drain on your pocketbook and your inbox energy. And very importantly, every saved payment method is an invitation you did not mean to send.

Close accounts you no longer use. Cancel subscriptions you forgot existed. Remove stored credit cards from sites you rarely visit. Review shared access to documents, photos and family accounts.

This is both a financial and psychological reset. Fewer open loops means fewer things demanding attention in the background and lower risk of your data being breached. Starting the year lighter is an advantage.

Maybe to ring in the new year, you were expecting to read a hopeful column involving a potentially poignant story that asks people to pause and think — sorry to break with the formula. Today and for the next 48 hours, I hope you will do a bit of sweeping in your chimney and shore up your digital footprint and financial readiness. January can handle aspirations and hope. December is for closing the doors that do not need to stay open.

See you in 2026.