As we look forward to 2026, are you concerned about the future? Financial "awareness" can help turn resolutions into realities.

Inflation remains a top concern for many, as reflected in Fidelity's annual New Year's Financial Resolutions study (tinyurl.com/bdfx32rn). This year's version, released on Dec. 11, surveyed 3,026 adults (18 years of age and older) in early October.

When asked what the top financial concerns were for 2026, 45% cited "rising everyday prices," which finished ahead of "unexpected expenses or financial surprises" (31%) -- last year's top concern -- and "rising health care or insurance costs" (28%). In addition, 55% said they felt overwhelmed by their personal finances, and 31% described their relationship with money as "stressful."

Inflation is not just a U.S. concern. T. Rowe Price's 2025 Global Retirement Savers Study, which conducted an online survey in June and July of 2025 of more than 7,000 respondents from five countries (the U.S., Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia), reported that 42% of retirement savers indicated their top concern was inflation, finishing ahead of geopolitical events (30%), interest rates (27%) and unemployment (20%) (tinyurl.com/28dvphx8).

Among global savers in the T. Rowe Price study, 50% said they expected a recession by mid-2026, including 48% of the 3,000 U.S. respondents surveyed.

While some inflation is now lower based on a recent Department of Labor measure, combating economic challenges remains a priority, and there are reasons for optimism, including signs that financial planning continues to be embraced.

Seventy-one percent of those surveyed by Fidelity said they have a plan to reach their financial goals, and 78% said they plan to build up their emergency savings.

For those considering a 2026 financial resolution (64% in the Fidelity study), the top three concerns remained consistent from previous years: save more money (44%), pay down debt (36%) and spend less money (30%).

The question becomes: How do you make those resolutions become realities?

In the Fidelity survey, the No. 1 motivation for those who make a financial resolution is "The desire for greater peace of mind." That coincides with the T. Rowe Price study, in which the No. 1 ranked answer for financial objectives was "Overall, having financial peace of mind."

Achieving peace of mind -- how does one do that? From my perspective, having worked with hundreds of clients and students over the years, I can share that the exercise starts with a clear desire to avoid future regret -- and it begins with something ever so simple.

No matter how wealthy someone is, the process starts with awareness. Call it "financial awareness," which is the first step to achieving financial literacy.

It can be as simple as getting in the habit of "observing" spending. Keep track one day a week for a while. If you want to do more, increase the number of days.

Don't bother trying to budget unless you feel that will help you. Budgeting apps are available if you want to go that route -- examples include Rocket Money and Monarch Money. Worksheets are offered by Excel (tinyurl.com/4rxcjdus) and the Navy Federal Credit Union (tinyurl.com/3j8k5uf5). Or, see if a calendar might work for you (Charles Schwab offers a "Personal Finance Calendar for 2026," a month-by-month guide, at tinyurl.com/2ypwvf9t).

Something I can't emphasize enough: You don't want to find yourself at an older age regretting that you didn't do enough when you were younger. The future is always right around the corner. I encourage you to give financial awareness a try -- just for a day. How are you consuming your financial assets now? Does that pattern work for you? Or, is there room for improvement?

The T. Rowe Price survey found that only 31% of those surveyed said they would live in retirement "as well as or better than I did when I was working," while 17% said "I will run out of money." In the Fidelity study, 30% said they were more stressed than in previous years when it came to having enough retirement savings to retire as planned.

Achieving financial peace of mind starts with awareness -- a good way to start the new year. We'll touch on other aspects of financial awareness as the year unfolds.

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When writing about taxation of retirement accounts, I've referred to IRS Publication 590-B many times, as it provides guidelines to taxpayers for handling required minimum distributions (RMDs) from inherited accounts and IRA withdrawals in general. I also recommend that you talk with your tax adviser.

Before I proceed, a little history: The IRS used to have one publication that addressed issues related to retirement accounts: Publication 590, Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs). It covered both parts of IRAs: contributions and distributions.

However, starting with the 2014 tax-year returns (tinyurl.com/mw2pu7wn), the IRS split the publication into two sections: 590-A (which covered contributions to IRAs, along with the rules for rollover and conversion contributions) and 590-B (which dealt with distributions from IRAs, along with the rules for RMDs and IRA beneficiaries).

IRS Pub. 590-B is a key resource for taxpayers. Citing the most recent version (2024 tax year):

"This publication discusses traditional and Roth IRAs. It explains the rules for:

"Handling an inherited IRA, and ... [r]eceiving distributions (making withdrawals) from an IRA. ...

"It also explains the penalties and additional taxes that apply when the rules aren't followed. To assist you in complying with the tax rules for IRAs, this publication contains worksheets, sample forms, and tables" (tinyurl.com/y2cjrd5y).

As a taxpayer, however, you do need to be cautious about reading and relying solely on the publication. First, be mindful of the evolution of tax policy and the passage of time.

Let me give you an example. The SECURE Act, which was signed into law in December 2019, changed how RMDs were to be calculated for inherited traditional IRAs by establishing a new 10-year limit for distributions for most beneficiaries (as opposed to a potentially much longer period of life expectancy for the inheritor).

When the IRS first put out Publication 590-B in 2021 for the 2020 tax year, it offered an example that implied someone (a non-exempt beneficiary) who was subject to the new 10-year rule had to make an annual withdrawal from the inherited account.

After questions arose about whether that interpretation was correct, the IRS later released a corrected 590-B that indicated a beneficiary was allowed, but not required, to take distributions prior to the end of the 10th year, when the account needed to be emptied.

Then, in February 2022, the IRS and the Treasury Department issued proposed regulations for the SECURE Act, with subsequent final regulations not arriving until July 2024. Both the proposed and final regulations clarified that if RMDs were started by the deceased owner of the retirement account, they had to be continued by the beneficiary for nine years, then the rest of the account would be distributed in the 10th year.

In other words, Publication 590-B had it right, then changed the wording in the revised edition of 590-B, only to eventually go back to the original stance. In the meantime, the IRS issued three notices (2022-53; 2023-54, 2024-35) providing temporary relief from penalties for those who inherited IRAs after the initial owner died between 2020 and 2023 and did not make RMDs during that time.

In general, is Publication 590-B a reliable source that offers comprehensive guidelines for important tax issues? Yes. However, it's important to realize that it does not have the legal standing of the Internal Revenue Code (tinyurl.com/5cw5h7tx).

"The most reliable hierarchy of information begins with the Internal Revenue Code and Treasury Regulations, followed by official IRS rulings, notices, and announcements," Denise Appleby, CEO of Appleby Retirement Consulting Inc., wrote in the article "When IRS Guidance Goes Wrong: How to Avoid Costly IRA Mistakes" for Morningstar (tinyurl.com/yuy7rrww). "A Private Letter Ruling can also be useful, but it applies only to the taxpayer to whom it is issued."

My advice: When making decisions having to do with retirement accounts and taxes, understand that IRS Publications are helpful resources. But they are not the final word on how the Internal Revenue Code applies to a taxpayer's particular situation. When making a decision on an action that has tax consequences, your personal situation will dictate the result. That's why you need your tax adviser guiding you.

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When age is factored into studies of investment fraud and risk, seniors are often the focus. No longer. A younger cohort (ages 18 to 34) may actually be more likely to be susceptible to fraud than seniors.

As reported by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation study we discussed last week (tinyurl.com/4afmv6bw), 64% of those surveyed in this age group said they would opt for an investment that promised a guaranteed, risk-free 25% annual return -- a phrase that raises red flags with experts. What about seniors? Would they be attracted to such an investment? "No" or "don't know" for most of the 55 and older cohort, but "yes" for roughly 1 in 3.

What else can we learn about this younger cohort? The FINRA study reported:

-- This age group is much more likely than the other age groups surveyed (35 to 54; 55 and older) to own individual stocks than to own mutual funds (82% to 47%).

-- Only 26% are invested in non-retirement accounts.

-- In the past year, 38% have bought or sold investments in non-retirement accounts at least four times, and 80% use a mobile app for trading.

-- When it comes to options trading, 68% have an account that offers options trading, and 43% have traded options -- both figures much higher than those of the other two age groups.

-- As for cryptocurrency, 54% consider it to be very or extremely risky, but 1 in 2 are currently invested in it.

What about where the younger investor is getting financial investment information? The study reported more reliance on friends, family and colleagues (85%) than financial professionals (67%), and 1 out of 2 (54%) have talked with their parents about investing. When using social media channels for information on investing, YouTube (61%) is the most popular. Reddit (36%) and Instagram (35%) are next. Most (61%) use "finfluencers" (social media personalities) for recommendations when it comes to making investment decisions.

What about the overall investment knowledge of younger investors?

On an 11-question FINRA investment knowledge quiz, their age group answered only 4.3 out of 11 correctly. (Another 4.3 of 11 provided wrong answers, and 2.3 answered "don't know.")

That's not a good sign by any means. Notwithstanding, 1 in 2 (52%) consider themselves highly knowledgeable when it comes to investing.

A majority (62%) said that they need "to take big risks with ... investments in order to reach ... financial goals." A potential disconnect is when it comes to being willing to take "substantial financial risks" -- only 15% said they are actually willing to do so.

Some suggest there may be historical issues that influence younger investors: "Younger investors didn't grow up in the booming 1990s. Instead, their formative years were shaped by the 2008 financial crisis, the burden of student loans, and the turbulence of the pandemic. Trust in Wall Street has taken a hit -- and so has belief in the idea that you can build real wealth by just throwing money into the S&P 500 and waiting," citing the AOL article "Why Millennials and Gen Z Are Skipping Stocks and Investing in Startups" (tinyurl.com/3wy72vej).

Some may believe that "it is no longer possible to achieve above-average investment returns by investing solely in traditional stocks and bonds" -- a statement confirmed by 72% of high-net-worth younger investors (ages 21-43), compared to 28% of investors 44 and older, surveyed in the 2024 Bank of America Private Bank Study of Wealthy Americans (tinyurl.com/4edr6u5n).

How can younger investors best learn to make solid financial decisions for themselves and their future families? This will no doubt sound old-fashioned, but here it is: Stop depending on shortcuts and magical guaranteed investments. Start a step-by-step learning process that you can expect to continue for the rest of your life. Study history, especially bad market periods. Don't make the mistake of overconfidence earned during favorable markets. Don't use leverage (such as margin) without a full understanding of how it can work against you.

Remember that investing is a long game -- something that will need your attention for the rest of your life. It takes commitment, grit and persistence to succeed.

If you are a young investor, let me know what you think at readers@juliejason.com.

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