Tying It All Together

Continue fully funding your retirement account. Your maximum contributions for 2024 are $23,000 for a 401(k) and $7,000 for an IRA ($30,500 and $8,000 respectively if you’re age 50 or older).

Work with your advisor to see if converting a traditional IRA to a Roth makes sense, especially if you’re in a lower tax bracket this year. This tax-free growth could be especially valuable considering potential future tax rate changes. For key points to consider before completing a Roth conversion, see "Three Questions To Consider Before a Roth Conversion."

Max out your Health Savings Account (HSA) for 2024. You can contribute up to $4,150 individual coverage or $8,300 for family coverage, with an extra $1,000 if you’re age 55 or older. HSAs allow you to build tax-advantaged money for future health expenses.

If you’ve met your health insurance deductible for 2024, consider accelerating future health expenses into this year.

Review existing health, life, disability, long-term care, home and auto insurance coverage. Do these policies and coverage amounts still fit your current needs?

Review your portfolio’s asset allocation, including personal and retirement accounts. Extreme swings in the market this year could leave your portfolio out of balance, leading to a mix of investments that no longer matches your goals.

Consider “harvesting” losses on underperforming stocks, especially if you have realized gains that can be offset. Keep in mind the wash sale rules that restrict when you can repurchase investments sold for a loss.

Connect with your advisor to evaluate your current gifting strategies. Properly timing gifts between tax years can maximize the tax benefit of your donations. For more information on timely charitable giving strategies, see "Strategic Giving for the Greater Good."

Consider donating appreciated assets. This can provide a double tax benefit: you can deduct the full value of the position while also avoiding the capital gains tax on the growth.

Update all primary and successor beneficiary designations on retirement plans, insurance policies and more.

Review your legacy administration decisions, such as power of attorney and healthcare proxy, and ensure all documents still reflect your intentions.

Take advantage of the annual gift tax exemption. In 2024, any individual can gift up to $18,000 to any other individual under the annual exclusion limit (couples can gift $36,000). These gifts will benefit others while lowering your taxable estate.

Consider strategies to take advantage of the lifetime gifting exemption before the window closes. In 2024, the exemption is $13.61 million per individual. This amount may fall by about half in 2026 under the sunset, so those with large estates should act soon.

Review your income and expenses for the year. Have you made progress on goals like paying down debt or building an emergency fund?

Prepare for potential tax rate increases in 2026. Tax rates are scheduled to increase 2-4% across the board after 2025, so consider actions like Roth conversions, stock option exercises and more to avoid those higher rates.

Complete a credit check annually, and consider enrolling in a credit monitoring service.