The close of the calendar year is financially significant. For one, Dec. 31 marks the end of the tax year, which affects retirement contributions and your capital gains tax liability, among other things.
Year-end also creates a natural opportunity to assess your finances to ensure you are on track to meet your goals. So, when the Halloween and holiday decorations appear in your favorite mass market retailer, consider that a reminder to connect with your financial advisor.
Use the five conversation starters below to uncover the highest-impact money moves you can make before the new year.
No. 1: Are there opportunities to accelerate or defer income?
Regan Smith, CFP and wealth advisor at Adero Partners, recommends tapping your financial advisor for guidance on deferring or accelerating income before year-end.
Learn more: What is a financial advisor and what do they do?
Deferring income is appealing when you are in a higher tax bracket today but expect to make less in the future — say, after you retire. The deferral lowers your tax liability now and potentially lowers what you will pay in the future. A common strategy here is to participate in an employer's deferred compensation plan.
Deferred compensation plans can be structured as pensions, 401(k)s, or stock options. The key feature is that the employee can contribute current income on a pretax basis. Income taxes are paid later, usually when the funds are withdrawn in retirement.
Income acceleration may be appropriate when your taxable income is temporarily lower. Perhaps you took time off work this year but plan for a full work schedule next year. You can accelerate income with a Roth conversion, which moves pretax assets into an after-tax Roth account. You pay the taxes on the transferred amount in the current tax year so that you can take tax-free qualified withdrawals later.
No. 2: Can I minimize my capital gains tax liability for the year?
According to Jeff DeLarme, CFA, CFP, and president of DeLarme Wealth Management Inc., clients should ask their financial advisors to estimate their capital gains tax liability and recommend strategies to minimize it. There may be opportunities to realize offsetting losses or carry forward capital losses from prior years, for example.
Ryan Zabrowski, CFP, MSF, and senior portfolio manager at Krilogy, confirms that you can use losses to offset up to $3,000 in gains in the current year. Losses over that limit can be carried forward to use in future years.
This conversation can easily lead to a productive strategy evaluation too. As an example, frequent trading can create short-term capital gains, which are taxed at a higher rate than long-term capital gains. If the projected tax liability is burdensome, clients and financial advisors can discuss shifting to a more tax-efficient approach.
No. 3: Have I maxed out my tax-advantaged accounts this year?
Contributions made to traditional IRAs, 401(k)s, and health savings accounts are tax-deductible. Tax-deductible contributions lower your tax bill in the current year and raise your long-term wealth potential.
The tax savings opportunities are ample, but the IRS limits how much you can contribute to these accounts annually. Making full use of those contributions is important, according to Jake Skelhorn, CFP with Spark Wealth Advisors. Since unused contributions do not roll over, they become a lost opportunity at year-end.
No. 4: How can I prepare for upcoming life events?
Marcella Mollon-Williams, co-founder and behavioral financial advisor at Legacy Builder Group LLC, recommends talking to your financial advisor about planned or potential life events before the new year. The conversation ensures your advisor knows about your plans and encourages proactive, rather than reactive, financial moves.
A goal to buy a home within 12 months, for example, changes your liquidity needs and could affect your risk tolerance. Your advisor can help you talk through these issues and what strategy adjustments are required.
No. 5: What should we have done differently this year?
Hindsight can be instructive, according to Brian Windsor, CFP and vice president at Bogart Wealth. Windsor appreciates when clients ask whether the current year's performance should influence the future strategy.
Throughout the year, you may have learned more about your risk tolerance or liquidity needs, for example. Maybe the volatility in your speculative positions caused you more worry than you would like. Or, perhaps an unplanned major purchase left you short on cash. Either scenario might prompt a discussion about adjusting your allocation targets to reduce riskier holdings or increase liquid assets.
How often to meet with your financial advisor
The fourth quarter is a productive time to meet with your financial advisor, but whether that's the only time you two connect depends on your circumstances.
Chad Gammon, CFP and owner of Custom Fit Financial, schedules meeting cadences according to the maturity of the client's financial plan. With new clients, for example, he prefers to meet three times annually. Later, the frequency can dip to one conversation every year or two, unless there are specific complexities to address.
If you are comfortable with your net worth growth and you do not expect major life changes in the short term, a once-annual meeting can be sufficient. Life changes that should prompt more frequent conversations include retirement, divorce, or an inheritance. Any of these can change your income or liquidity needs or your risk tolerance.
Year-end wealth opportunities
Small changes to your financial plan before year-end can yield big results. Don't miss the opportunity to review your income, capital gains, retirement contributions, planned life changes, and overall strategy performance in the fourth quarter. Your advisor will appreciate the conversation, and you will feel more connected to your wealth plan.
