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The Halfway Point: A Mid-Year Check-In That Isn’t About Your Portfolio

Every July, the financial world publishes its mid-year reviews. Charts, forecasts, percentages. And yes there’s plenty to talk about this year. The Bank of Canada held its key rate steady again this month, inflation has been bumpy thanks to energy prices, and markets have stayed surprisingly resilient through it all.

But here’s the mid-year review I’d rather you do and it has nothing to do with your statement.

Ask yourself: how has the first half of the year felt?

In January, most of us had quiet intentions for the year. More time with the grandkids. That trip you keep postponing. Fewer Sunday nights dreading Monday morning. A little more golf, a little less “I’ll get to it eventually.”

So halfway through 2026 how’s it going? Not your rate of return. Your rate of living.

The three questions I ask clients at the halfway point

1. What did you say you wanted this year and has any money actually gone toward it? It’s remarkable how often the answer is no. We budget carefully for bills and savings, then treat the things that make life rich as leftovers. If the trip, the renovation, or the extra week at the lake hasn’t happened yet, the second half of the year is right there waiting.

2. Is anything keeping you up at night? Headlines this year have given us no shortage of worry trade tensions, oil prices, global conflict. If market noise is costing you sleep, that’s not a portfolio problem to white-knuckle through. It’s a conversation to have. Often, a plan review is all it takes to remember that your plan was built for exactly this kind of weather.

3. Has your life changed since we last spoke? A new grandchild. A health scare. A retirement date that suddenly feels real. An aging parent who needs more of you. Plans don’t go stale because markets move they go stale because life moves. If something has shifted, your plan should know about it.

Why summer is the perfect time for this

There’s something about July in Ontario the long evenings, the slower pace that makes it easier to think clearly about what matters. You don’t need a spreadsheet for this check-in. You need a patio, a cup of coffee (or something colder), and twenty honest minutes.

And if those twenty minutes surface anything a worry, a wish, a what-if that’s what I’m here for. The second half of 2026 starts now. Let’s make sure it’s spent living, not just watching.

Warmly,
Jen

“Wealth isn’t just about your money. It’s living along the way.”

Jennifer Jackson  |  (519) 640-7643  |  jennifer.jackson@cibc.ca  |  jenniferjackson.ca