Midyear financial checkup: Here's what to look at

Citi is no longer accepting applications for the Citi Custom Cash® Card product as of May 28, 2026. 

As the calendar flips into the second half of the year, it can be a smart idea to check in on your finances to see where you stand.

You may have been forced to deplete your emergency savings, or perhaps the high-inflation economy is hitting your wallet extra hard this summer. Maybe you recently came into some money and want to accelerate your debt payoff.

These three areas of your personal finances — emergency funds, spending and debt — are what Elisabeth Kozack, managing director at Marcus by Goldman Sachs, says you should pay attention to during your midyear financial checkup.

An emergency fund is a savings account set aside to cover unexpected expenses, such as a surprise medical bill, sudden car maintenance or a home repair. By having an emergency fund to fall back on, you are financially prepared for when things go wrong so you don't have to withdraw funds from your checking account or long-term investments.

The midyear mark is a good time to reassess how much you have in your emergency fund, especially if you have tapped into it within the last year and a half.

Kozack suggests keeping the following best practices in mind when completing a financial checkup:

• First, consider your budget and where you can reallocate funds to savings.
• From there, schedule an automatic transfer to your savings account every time you get paid that works within your budget — even if it's $25 a month.
• Next, make sure your money is working smart. Keeping your emergency fund in a high-yield savings account can be a great option to earn interest and still have access to your cash.
• Finally, think about the timing of when you may receive any additional income, such as a quarterly sales bonus, and consider increasing your emergency fund.

How much should go into your emergency fund?

Just how big your emergency fund needs to be depends largely on your individual situation: your monthly expenses and bills, your income and your family size, Kozack explains. The general rule of thumb is to have three to six months' worth of living expenses in your emergency fund, but even putting aside only a few hundred dollars per month is a good goal when you can't save as much as three to six months of expenses.

If you don't yet have a high-yield savings account, CNBC Select named LendingClub LevelUp Savings as one of the best options as it offers a high APY and no monthly fees. It also offers a free ATM card, which is uncommon for a savings account.

If you're looking for an account with a slightly higher APY, the Western Alliance Bank High-Yield Savings Account is a great option. With a current APY of 3.80%, the account also only has a required minimum deposit of $1 making it affordable for almost anyone looking to earn a return on their cash.

To ensure you are staying in control of your finances, Kozack suggests reevaluating where your money is going throughout your financial checkup.

"It's time to ask, 'Is this a need or a want — and where can I put that extra money?'" she says.

By checking in on your spending midyear, you can see how your spending patterns are shifting and just how much more (or less) money is coming out of your bank account as we continue into summer.

To find other areas to cut back on, consider unsubscribing from those recurring expenses that you keep forgetting to remove, Kozack adds. These expenses may include virtual fitness classes or streaming subscriptions — divert the money saved on canceling these services towards building up your emergency fund or paying off debt.

Use rewards credit cards where possible

Cash-back credit cards reward you for making purchases by putting money back into your wallet. With the no-annual-fee Citi Custom Cash® Card, you can get 5% cash back on your top spending category, plus a $200 welcome bonus after spending $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening. The bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou^® Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back.

If you prefer to earn travel rewards, consider signing up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, which offers 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. (see rates and fees).

The Q1 2024 Household Debt and Credit Report from the Federal Reserve shows that household debt has risen $184 billion since Q4 2023 reaching a total of $17.69 trillion

For those who have made paying down debt a priority this year, a financial checkup is a great time to review your progress.

"It's important to consider two things when prioritizing debt in your payment strategy," Kozack says. One, know that not all debt is equal since different loans have different interest rates, and two, consider that everyone needs some type of emergency fund.

Prioritize paying off the higher-interest debt, like credit card debt, since that is costing you more the longer it goes unpaid. And, before accelerating your debt payoff, make sure you already have an emergency fund set aside. An unexpected financial emergency will just end up increasing your debt and hinder your efforts to pay it down, Kozack explains.

A debt consolidation loan helps pay off existing debt across accounts, including credit cards, student loans and other installment loans.

With an Upstart Personal Loan, applicants with insufficient credit history and no credit score can apply. Upstart takes into account your education level, employment and more in addition to your current financials.

At CNBC Select, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. For this story, we interviewed Elisabeth Kozack, managing director at Marcus by Goldman Sachs.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every personal finance article is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of financial products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.

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