Stacy's News: 7 Valuable Year-End Planning Tips

7 Valuable Year-End Planning Tips to Get Your 2026 Finances in Order

Year-end is one of the most important times of the fiscal year, and we are here to guide you through. We focus on tax mitigation, portfolio maintenance and long-term adjustments. 

Here are our top 7 year-end financial planning tips to implement before the calendar resets:

1. Tax-Smart Portfolio & Income Strategies

• Tax-Loss Harvesting: Review taxable brokerage accounts to identify unrealized losses. These can be used to offset realized capital gains from earlier in the year, plus up to $3,000 of ordinary income. Keep an eye out for potential wash-sale rule violations if you intend to repurchase similar securities.

2. Retirement Accounts

• Max Out Contributions: Remember to check your employer-sponsored plan contributions (like 401(k)s or 403(b)s). Ensure catch-up contributions are fully optimized if aged 50 and older (including specialized higher catch-up tiers if you’re between ages 60–63).

3. Required Minimum Distributions

• Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs): Aged 73 or older—or those managing inherited IRAs—ensure that your RMDs are fully satisfied by December 31st to avoid steep IRS penalties.
• Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs): If you are over 70½ and are charitably inclined, you might consider satisfying your RMD directly via a Qualified contribution.

4. Investment Portfolio Rebalancing & Risk Alignment

• Asset Allocation Check: Has your risk tolerance changed? It might be time to discuss a different asset allocation if there has been a change in your life.

5. Beneficiary Updates

• Life changes (marriages, divorces, births, deaths) mean beneficiary designations on IRAs, 401(k)s, and insurance policies occasionally need to be updated in order to align with your wishes. Remember that beneficiary forms supersede a will.

6. Forward-Looking Cash Flow & Goal Setting

• Review Major Upcoming Expenses: Discuss anticipated large capital outlays for the upcoming year (e.g., home remodels, vehicle purchases, college tuition funding via 529 plans) with your advisor to ensure the funds are available to you when you need them.

7. Emergency Funds

• Confirm that your cash on hand still covers three to six months of living expenses.

Reach out to us at 215-579-5601 or info@ewmginc.com for valuable year-end planning.