A spring financial reset starts with the employer match you're leaving on the table

If you're not contributing enough to your workplace retirement plan to get the full employer match, you're leaving free money on the table — and it's compounding the longer you wait. This isn't a hypothetical future problem: it's a measurable loss, dollar for dollar, every pay period. Abby Reed, Co-CEO of Reed Financial Group, recommends using the post-holiday, post-tax-season window to fix exactly this kind of gap. The employer match is the most immediate financial foundation, because it offers an instant, guaranteed return on your contribution. After that comes building an emergency fund and reducing high-interest debt — both of which protect income and prevent backsliding. For those receiving tax refunds, Reed suggests balancing modest rewards with progress on these goals, then directing the remainder toward the foundation. Once those are in place, increasing contributions to tax-advantaged accounts and investing beyond retirement accounts become realistic next steps. But the match comes first — because it's the one financial move that pays you just for showing up.