The end of the year always sneaks up quickly. We like to encourage clients to complete their end-of year items before the holidays arrive so that they can protect that time to spend with family and friends instead of completing their to-do list. Here are a few of the general areas we check in on.
Tax-Loss Harvesting
Every year around this time we analyze our clients realized gains for the year, identify the tax implications, and look for ways to offset those gains if they would like us to.
If some taxable investments have declined in value this year, we may be able to sell them to offset gains elsewhere in a portfolio. This is a strategy known as tax-loss harvesting. Just be mindful of the IRS wash-sale rule, which prevents you from repurchasing the same or a substantially identical investment within 30 days.
Maximize Retirement Contributions
If applicable to you, make sure you’re on pace to fund your 401(k), IRA, or other retirement accounts. Increasing contributions before year-end boosts your future savings and may also reduce your 2025 taxable income (depending on the account type that you contribute to). If you have questions on 2025 contribution limits or Roth conversions, please reach out to us.
Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)
If you’re 73 or older or inherited an IRA, make sure your RMDs are complete before December 31. We fulfilled most of our clients’ RMDs throughout the year already and are working one on one to complete the remaining few according to the client’s preferences.
For those not yet at RMD age who want to plan ahead, reminder that the RMD age is changing to 75 for those born in 1960 or later.
- Birth year 1950 or earlier: RMDs are due at age 72.
- Birth year 1951–1959: RMDs are due at age 73.
- Birth year 1960 or later: RMDs are due at age 75.
Charitable Giving
We encourage those that are willing and able to give charitably. Many people donate by distibuting funds directly from their bank accounts. For those interested in other strategies, we encourage them to look into Qualified Charitable Distributions or Donor Advised Funds.
Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) are donations made directly from an IRA to a qualifed charity. QCDs are option to IRA accountholders age 70.5 and older and can be used to fulfill RMDs up to the 2025 limit of $108k. The distribution must go directly from the IRA custodian to the eligible charity and cannot go to your bank account first.
Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) are irrevocable gifts of cash, investments, or other assets to the charitable organization. We always recommend seeking the advice of a tax professional before implementing these strategies.
Account Maintenance
This is a broad category we use to refer to a variety of account management tasks such as:
- Are your beneficiary designations up to date?
- Do you have a strong password set for each of your financial accounts? Is two-factor authentication turned on to better protect your accounts?
- Do you have any miscellaneous accounts you should consolidate and/or close? Ex: previous employer 401k accounts at various places that can be rolled over into one Rollover IRA for simplicity.
Taking care of these items now will set you up for a successful year end and a strong start to 2026. Reach out if there is anything we can do to help you address some of these items.