Your 2026 Year-End Financial Planning Guide

Most year-end financial decisions don't fail because they were wrong — they fail because there wasn't enough time to make them well. By December, the calendar narrows. Custodians have cutoff dates. Tax elections can't be undone. Decisions that deserved a conversation get made in a rush, or not at all.

October and early November are different. There's still room to look at the full picture, weigh a few options, and coordinate with your CPA or estate attorney before anything is final.

This guide outlines the areas retirees and near-retirees most often review before December 31 — and why starting the review now, rather than later, matters.

1. Review Tax-Loss Harvesting Opportunities

Tax-loss harvesting means selling an investment at a loss to help offset capital gains or, in some cases, ordinary income. The concept is simple. The execution isn't — it needs to be coordinated with your broader portfolio strategy so a tax decision doesn't quietly become an investment decision.

The timing detail that matters most: losses have to be realized before year-end to count for the current tax year.

2. Evaluate Roth Conversion Timing

A Roth conversion is taxed in the year it happens. Reviewing your projected income in October — rather than in December — gives you time to see whether a partial conversion fits inside a specific tax bracket, and time to change course if it doesn't.

Conversions aren't right for everyone. Reviewing the option early simply keeps it available.

Source: IRS, Roth IRAs and Conversions

3. Confirm Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)

If you're 73 or older, you're generally required to take an RMD each year. Confirming the amount and timing early — rather than in the final days of December — leaves room to correct course if something was miscalculated or missed.

4. Consider Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs)

If you're 70½ or older, a QCD lets you send money directly from an IRA to a qualified charity. Done correctly, it can satisfy your RMD requirement while excluding that amount from your taxable income.

Source: IRS, Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)

5. Review Retirement Contributions and Catch-Up Opportunities

Depending on your income and eligibility, there may still be room to contribute to an IRA, HSA, or employer plan before year-end or your filing deadline. It's worth confirming rather than assuming the window has closed.

6. Coordinate Estate and Gifting Considerations

Year-end is also a natural checkpoint for:

• Making family gifts within the annual exclusion limit
• Reviewing beneficiary designations against what your estate documents actually say
• Confirming your estate documents reflect your current wishes, alongside your estate attorney

We coordinate this conversation — we don't draft the documents. That stays with your attorney.

None of this requires a last-minute scramble. It requires starting the review while there's still time to think it through, ask questions, and coordinate with the other professionals in your financial life.

Independence You Trust. Logic You Value.

📞 Schedule Your Year-End Review: 904-644-7803

When you're ready, we're here — a complimentary introductory conversation is a good place to start.

^{Disclosure: Educational and informational content only. Not personalized investment, tax, or legal advice. Advisory services offered through St. Johns Asset Management ("SJAM"), a registered investment adviser. Securities offered through J.W. Cole Financial, Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC. Investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal. Individual circumstances vary. Past performance is not indicative of future results.}