End-of-Year Tax Planning Strategies, Ep #125

<p>The St. Louis Cardinals broadcaster, Dan McLaughlin, was asked what makes the best professional baseball manager. He believes that the <em>vision</em> of a manager is one of their greatest attributes. They’re not just focused on the present, but looking forward and putting a strategy together based on what’s coming next. </p> <p>When we are talking about end-of-year tax planning, we are looking at the years ahead, too. Why? Because it might change what we do today. So in this episode of the Retirement Made Easy podcast, I’ll share some end-of-year tax planning strategies that you should be mindful of. </p> <p> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<PLAYER CODE GOES HERE>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>></p> <h2>You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...</h2> <ul> <li>[1:54] Get FREE resources at RetirementMadeEasyPodcast.com</li> <li>[2:47] End-of-year tax planning is forward-looking</li> <li>[6:04] Strategy #1: Charitable giving in tax planning </li> <li>[6:52] Strategy #2: Harvesting unrealized capital losses</li> <li>[7:55] Strategy #3: Roth conversions when the stock market is down</li> <li>[10:48] Strategy #4: Max out tax-deductible opportunities</li> <li>[11:12] Strategy #5: Rebalance your portfolio at the end of the year</li> <li>[13:25] Listener Question #1: Why do you need to find specialists?</li> <li>[17:37] Listener Question #2: Did contribution limits increase? </li> </ul> <h2>Strategy #1: Charitable giving in tax planning </h2> <p>What have you given this year? Do you want to give more to a favorite charity or nonprofit before the end of the year? If you’re 72, giving counts as qualified charitable distributions (QCDs), which can help with taxes. Donor Advised Funds allow you to bunch multiple years of charitable giving to get a deduction in one year. </p> <h2>Strategy #2: Harvesting unrealized capital losses</h2> <p>If you have unrealized capital losses, you might look at harvesting some of those before the end of the year. You can deduct up to $3,000 of capital losses in any one tax year. If you have capital losses