Savings and investments checklist
15 questions on saving for 5–10 years and beyond. The framework favours broad index funds, low costs and infrequent trading.
Base: cash flow
00 / 05Structure: the portfolio
00 / 06Behaviour: habits
00 / 04Reviewed 30 September 2026. A self-check for education, not financial advice. The checklist reviews your budget, portfolio and habits against the principles of long-term index investing. Green means your answers meet these criteria. It does not guarantee returns or show whether your savings will cover your goals. The check follows the Bogleheads philosophy: invest regularly, diversify broadly, keep costs low and follow a plan. This reduces dependence on individual companies, fees and the temptation to predict market moves. Index funds can fall too; the appropriate stock allocation depends on your horizon, goal and tolerance for losses. Base covers expenses, the reserve, regular saving and debt. Structure covers costs and the allocation of investments. Behaviour covers trades and reactions to market drops. The reserve and money for near-term goals are considered separately from long-term investments. Geldchen chose the thresholds of 10%, 0.25%, 60%, 3 years and 30% for this check. The sources explain the principles but do not validate each threshold. For example, the 50/30/20 rule allocates 20% of take-home pay to saving and debt repayment. Here, saving 10% regularly is enough for a green answer. A family knows its fixed costs and keeps 4 months of spending in a separate account. It saves 12% automatically after payday. The core holds 1–2 broad index funds costing about 0.2% a year. Individual stocks account for under 15%; there is no leverage. The family checks the portfolio quarterly and follows its plan. A family spends the first year after moving building its reserve, then starts investing 10% regularly in a broad index fund. Small amounts alone do not prevent a green result: the check rates how savings are organised and the habits around them. These are illustrative examples. All else equal, saving 10% and 40% regularly gets the same colour. The check does not assess whether savings are enough for early retirement (FIRE). This is not legal or financial advice. No. This is an educational check using selected criteria. It does not choose products or account for your full situation. A personal plan may need calculations for specific goals or independent advice. Without these numbers, it is hard to assess costs and allocation. Find TER in the fund documents and account fees in the broker’s price list. You can calculate the broad index fund share from the amounts invested. The check favours long-term investing, so it marks the absence of market investments red. If interest after tax is below inflation, savings lose purchasing power. For the reserve and near-term goals, access and preserving the amount matter. Red here is a reason to review the horizon and goal. No. Saving 10% and 45% regularly right after payday gives the same green answer. Whether that amount covers your goal needs a separate calculation of time and contributions. That is the scoring rule: two red answers give a red result, and each question has equal weight. It flags several departures from the criteria, rather than calculating the probability of loss. If only Base is rated, one red answer is enough. No. The calculation runs in your browser; answers are written after the # in the address. That part is not sent to the server. The result link contains your answers: anyone you send it to can see them.Approach and scoring criteria
Why this approach?
Three blocks
How the result is scored
Where the thresholds come from
What each question explains
Examples of a green result
Regular saving
Starting again after a move
Questions and answers
Is this checklist investment advice?
Why does “don’t know” count as red?
Why is money in a savings account a red line?
Does saving more give a better result?
Why do two red lines make the whole result red?
Do you store my answers?
Sources