End of the Year Financial Checklist

It’s been quite a year: market volatility, a roller coaster of current events, wars, hurricanes, and to top it off, a presidential election. In the midst of all that, it’s easy to lose sight of the year-end deadlines fast approaching. Take a moment to review these aspects of your financial plan to ensure that you don’t miss any important deadlines.

Be aware of both the hard and soft deadlines. Some items MUST be completed by December 31st. Other items, while ideally completed by end of year, do allow prior year contribution to be made up until April 15th.

Hard Deadlines – December 31st

• Capital Loss Harvesting

• Capital Gain Step Up (for those in the 12% brackets)

• Employee 401(k) Contribution

• Simple IRA Contributions

• IRA Roth Conversion

• Required Minimum Distributions (for beneficiary IRA’s and those over the age of 73)

• 529 Contribution (for states that don’t allow prior year contributions)

• Charitable Contributions

• Deferred Compensation enrollment

• Business Deductions (depending on accounting method)

Soft Deadlines – Prior-year contribution allowed until April 15th

• IRA / Roth IRA contributions

• 529 contributions (Wisconsin)

• Employer contributions to retirement plans (SEP, 401k)

There are numerous other non-investment related tax items to be aware of and we always recommend checking in with your accountant prior to the end of the year.

This is also a good time to check in on other, non-tax related details:

• Are your beneficiaries up to date?

• Do you have any old investment accounts that should be consolidated?

• Do your accounts need rebalancing?

• Have you built up excess cash in your bank account?

• What does the next 1-3 years bring financially and are you prepared for that?

The end of year is a good time to check in on at least some of these items. If you would like to schedule a review or have any questions about your account, please contact us at your convenience.

The information given herein is taken from sources that IFP Advisors, LLC, dba Independent Financial Partners (IFP), IFP Securities, LLC, dba Independent Financial Partners (IFP), and its advisors believe to be reliable, but is not guaranteed by us as to accuracy or completeness. This is for information purposes only and in no event should be construed as an offer to sell or solicitation or an offer to buy any securities or products. Please consult your tax and/or legal advisor before implementing any tax and/or legal related strategies mentioned in this publication as IFP does not provide tax and/or legal advice. Opinions expressed are subject to change without notice and do not take into account the particular investment objectives, financial situation, or needs of individual investors. This report may not be reproduced, distributed, or published by any person for any purpose without IFP's express prior written consent.