Forest Hill's Jeff Judge in MarketWatch: Why your summer finances deserve more than a glance

By Jeff Judge, CFP®, AEP®, ChFC®, CLU®, Managing Partner, Chesapeake Financial Planners, Forest Hill, MD.

MarketWatch financial-planning columnist Beth Pinsker reached out to ask what a midyear financial review actually looks like in practice. My answer surprised a few readers.

The clients who call me in a panic in July are almost always the ones who skipped their last review. When you have not looked at your finances in six months, every headline starts to feel like a signal. A social media post about a coming "reset." A neighbor who quietly moved everything to cash. By the time they reach out, they want to undo decisions they made two weeks ago. My job in those meetings is not portfolio management. It is talking someone back from a move they would regret by October.

But there is a better version of summer. It is deliberate instead of reactive. Here in Harford County and the Baltimore area, I sit down with clients around this time of year to look at what actually changed since January: savings rates, retirement contributions, beneficiary designations, estate documents that may be out of date. Summer is quieter than December. There is no year-end tax deadline pressing. That space is worth something if you use it.

If you are within ten years of retirement and have not had a midyear conversation with your planner yet this year, I would encourage you to schedule one. Not to react to the market. To make sure your plan still reflects your life.

This piece builds on "Take a cue from the rich: Do a midyear financial check-in," in MarketWatch (June 2026)

Jeff Judge, CFP®, AEP®, ChFC®, CLU®, is Managing Partner at Chesapeake Financial Planners in Forest Hill, MD. Book an intro call.