It’s easy to put off retirement planning, even when you’re within a decade of that date. However, it doesn’t take a complicated strategy to strengthen your retirement plan. A few strong moves in a single month can reset priorities.

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Here are eight money moves you can make this month to get your retirement on track.

1. Increase Your 401(k) Contributions Now

Increasing your retirement plan contribution now even by as little as 1% “gives us more time to compound throughout the year,” according to Julian B. Morris, a certified financial planner (CFP) and principal at Concierge Wealth Management. “Time in the market is always greater than timing the market.”

This is also the time to revisit contribution limits and catch-up strategies, said Jay Zigmont, CFP, founder of Childfree Trust. For 2026, the standard contribution limit is $24,500. People who are ages 50 or older can add an $8,000 catch-up contribution, and people ages 60 to 63 can make a super catch-up contribution of $11,250 on top of the standard limit.

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2. Prioritize Debt Payoff Before Investing More

Before investing more, the experts agree it’s important to eliminate high-interest consumer debt, such as credit cards and loans, Zigmont said, except perhaps a mortgage or student loans.

That said, Morris urged people to continue to make even a small retirement contribution while paying down debt, so as not to “sacrifice long-term compounding to feel better in the short term.”

3. Make Sure Your Investments Match Your Time Horizon

It’s not enough just to contribute retirement funds, Morris said. “I would encourage people to make sure that the funds that they are investing in align with their risk tolerance and time horizon,” he explained.

However, as retirement nears, your strategy should shift from higher-risk wealth growth to “protecting your assets so that you can have income and not just growth,” Morris said.

4. Rebalance and Diversify

Market swings can push portfolios out of alignment. Rebalancing helps restore your intended mix and reduce unnecessary risk, Zigmont said. It’s especially helpful “if your investments have strayed from your target mix of stocks and bonds.”

Rebalancing isn’t about getting back to a model portfolio, anyway, Morris noted, but “to align the portfolio with what the money needs to do next.”