Year-End Planning Checklist: Tax Optimization and Wealth Strategy
Year-end planning shouldn’t be a reactive scramble in the final days of December. By taking an intentional, checklist-driven approach across taxes, investments, retirement accounts, and estate planning, you can significantly reduce your lifetime tax bill and avoid costly missed opportunities.
In this episode, host Bob Powell sits down with longtime friend and wealth planning expert John Nersesian, founder of Nersesian Wealth Education, to break down essential proactive strategies before the calendar flips.
Topics Covered in This Episode
- Proactive Tax Bracket Management: Marginal rate awareness, bracket stuffing, and managing phase-outs under new tax laws (including SALT caps, Senior Deductions, and QBI).
- Smart Investment Moves: Tax-loss harvesting rules, navigating the 61-day wash sale window, stock option exercise timing, and the emotional discipline of portfolio rebalancing.
- Retirement Optimization: Maximizing 401(k) and IRA limits, traditional vs. Roth decisions, utilizing Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) as supplemental retirement vehicles, and executing strategic Roth conversions.
- Distribution & Program Rules: Mandatory RMD timing and penalty reductions, Social Security claiming coordination, and Medicare enrollment choices.
- Legacy & Philanthropy: Annual gift tax exclusions, 5-year front-loading for 529 plans, “bunching” charitable deductions to beat the standard deduction, and utilizing Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs).