Client Year-end Checklist
Now that we’ve started the 4th quarter of the year, we wanted to publish a list of task items that you may consider visiting between now and the end of the year, then some additional considerations once we are into 2025.
- Medicare Open Enrollment: October 15 to December 7.
If you are currently enrolled in Medicare, Open Enrollment is October 15th to December 7th. This is for anyone enrolled in Medicare who wishes to make changes to your plan. - 401k / 403b Contribution Settings
Through the middle of October, we are approximately 79% through the year, which leaves around 21% of the year remaining. If you aren’t on “glideslope” to hit your maximum contribution limits for the year, you still have time to make a play for the maximums!
As a reminder, the 2024 limit for Pretax or Roth 401k contributions is $23,000. If you are 50+ years at any point this year, then you may contribute an additional $7,500 Catch-Up contributions.
Brent has built a model that uses some individual inputs from your paystub or earnings statement, then calculates the contribution percentages to hit your maximum by 12/31. If you would like him to run those numbers, feel free to reach out.
Once the IRS limits for 2025 are released, we would be happy to help re-calculate your 2025 contribution percentages to maximize your 401k over the course of the year. - Prepare cash for IRA/Roth contributions for 2024 and 2025
If we execute Back-Door Roth Conversions on your behalf, please start saving or cordoning off cash to fund your accounts after the beginning of the year. There is a sweet spot of the year between January 1st and April 15th where you can make the previous year AND current year contributions simultaneously (assuming you haven’t already funded 2024). Back-Door Roth Conversions can’t be done in parts, but instead need to be done in lump sums. This is a great time to prepare for that funding in the first quarter of 2025. - Required Minimum Distributions…From All Sources!
If you are subject to RMDs, we closely track those calculations and distributions from your accounts here at Raymond James. However, the IRS requires RMDs from all Pretax 401k or IRAs, regardless of where they’re held. Therefore, if you have outside 401k or IRA assets that we need to consider, please let us know. Failing to take your RMDs for the year can lead to 15-50% penalties on the undistributed amounts! - Charitable Contributions
If you intend to make cash charitable contributions for this tax year, they need to be made by 12/31. If you intend to make Qualified Charitable Distributions from your IRA, we need to have that distributed by 12/31 as well but will likely need a few days lead-time to execute.
By the way, Qualified Charitable Distributions straight from your IRA to a qualified charity are non-taxable AND meet RMD requirements! Two birds, one charitable tax free stone! - Tax Loss Harvesting
If you have taxable brokerage accounts, it’s time to consider having us do Tax Loss Harvesting in order to use the losses for tax purposes. This is where we cherry-pick capital losses so that you can either use them to offset other capital gains, use them to deduct against your income, or bank them for loss carryovers in future years.
If you have an Active Index account, this is already addressed on a quarterly basis, so no action needed. In addition, please let us know if you have outside capital gains or losses in other capital assets (outside brokerage accounts, real property, rentals, etc.) so we can take them into consideration. - Enroll in Client Access
If you haven’t already, please enroll in Client Access at raymondjames.com. There is a great deal of functionality on Client Access, to include being able to download digital copies of your 1099s and other tax documents, as well as uploading key documents to the encrypted digital Vault. - Upload last 2-3 years of Tax Returns on Vault
And finally, if you haven’t already, please upload your last 2-3 years of tax returns on Vault. Brent can do a quick assessment of your tax return and provide feedback on overall tax liability, whether you are paying additional taxes due to Investment Income, and to see if you have any Short- or Long-Term Carryovers from previous years. This is critical for tax advantaged investing strategies!
Raymond James and its advisors do not offer tax or legal advice. You should discuss any tax or legal matters with the appropriate professional.
