How to set and reach your financial goals in 2025

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Got things you want to achieve in 2025? Find out how you could set and reach your financial goals this year.

1. Make a note of what you want to do

A helpful first step is to know what you want to do this year. Are you hoping to pay for a holiday, clear credit card debt, or save more for your long-term future in 2025? If so, how much money will you need – and when?  

You could jot this information down in a notebook or type it in a spreadsheet. You may even choose to make a ‘vision board’ – a collage of images and words representing your ambitions for the year. How you do it is up to you, but having your goals written somewhere can help keep you motivated.

If your goals involve your loved ones and you’re going to be splitting costs, it’s usually worth talking to them and making sure you’re on the same page.

2. Create or review your budget

A budget can come in handy when you’re trying to reach your financial goals.

Budgeting typically involves looking at how much money you’ve got coming in and how much you’re spending each month (think: utility bills, etc). Once you have a clear picture of your current financial situation, you can then factor your goals into your budget. How much could you realistically afford to put towards your goals, and will this amount be the same each month? 

3. Consider ways of saving and investing

It’s worth looking into how you could potentially make your money work harder for you in 2025.

If you’ve earmarked money for a particular goal, you might consider putting that into a savings account, where you can usually earn a bit of interest. There are different ones you could go for, including, but not limited to, easy-access savings accounts or Cash ISAs (ISA stands for ‘Individual Savings Account’). 

Or you could invest your money, and potentially achieve investment growth on it over time. There are different ways to invest, including Stocks and Shares ISAs. Remember, the value of investments can go down as well as up and you could get back less than was paid in.  

What’s right for you depends on your goals. To find out more about the difference between saving and investing, check out MoneyHelper. 

Some products are designed to help you save for specific goals. For example, a Lifetime ISA can be used to help you buy your first home. You can read more about these, and other types of ISAs, on the government’s website.

4. Automate your savings (or investments)

There are ways you can automatically move money out of your current account and into a savings or investment account, meaning you don’t need to think too much about it.

You may be able to set up a standing order with your bank to transfer money between accounts. Or you could look into apps and online tools that automate your savings and investments.

It’s also worth checking in on how your savings and investments are doing throughout the year to see if you’re on track for your goals.

5. Think about the end of the tax year

5 April 2025 is the last day of the current tax year. This is an important date to keep in mind, particularly if you’re continuing to pay (or aiming to pay more) into a pension plan before then.

Why does this matter? There’s something called the ‘annual allowance’, which is the maximum amount that can be paid into a pension plan in a tax year without you needing to pay a tax charge. 

Unless you have particular protections, the annual allowance is usually £60,000 or your total salary – whichever is lower. But a different annual allowance might apply to you if you’re a high earner (usually if you have 'income' over £200,000) or you’ve already started taking money from a pension plan, so make sure you check. You can visit MoneyHelper to learn more about pension allowances. 

If you’ve used all your annual allowance for this tax year, you might be able to use unused allowances from the past three years (known as ‘carry forward’). You can find out who can carry forward their allowance on MoneyHelper.

It’s worth checking that you’re still comfortable with your payments before the tax year ends. If you still have some allowance left and want to make the most of your plan’s tax benefits, you might decide to increase your monthly payments or top up your plan with a single payment. 

If you’re a Standard Life customer, you can usually make a single payment online or on our app, and you might be able to change your monthly payments this way too. Or if your employer set up your plan, speak to them to find out how to change your monthly payments.

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You can also visit our contact and support page for FAQs and other ways to get in touch.

 

The information here is based on our understanding in January 2025 and shouldn’t be taken as financial advice.

Pensions and some types of ISAs are investments. Their value can go down as well as up and could be worth less than was paid in.

A pension is a long-term investment which you cannot normally access until age 55 (rising to 57 from 6 April 2028).

Your own personal circumstances, including where you live in the UK will have an impact on the tax you pay. Laws and tax rules may change in the future.