Stay on track with important tasks and deadlines that could help boost your retirement savings and lower your taxes.
The final months of the year are a great time to review your finances and address crucial housekeeping tasks, but they can also be very busy. Amid the rush of year-end activities, investors also must contend with the many IRS-imposed deadlines for retirement savings and tax purposes.
To help you sort through the many time-sensitive financial tasks that need addressing, here’s a checklist of essential actions to complete before the year ends. We are here to help you tackle these to-dos to help you end the year on a strong note.
In this article:
- Max out your retirement accounts, if possible
- Harvest your investment losses and gains
- Take your RMDs
- Make charitable gifts or QCDs
- Defer income
- Consider a pre-tax Roth conversion or backdoor Roth IRA
- Spend any remaining FSA funds
- Reflect on your financial goals
- Meet with us
- Questions to discuss with us
1. Max out your retirement accounts, if possible
Tax-advantaged retirement accounts, like IRAs and 401(k) plans, can help reduce the amount of overall taxes you owe on your investment earnings. As the year comes to an end, look at how much you have contributed in 2025, and increase or max out, your contributions by the year-end deadline, if possible. Not only can this help lower your 2025 taxes, but it can provide an added boost to your retirement savings accounts.
The 2025 maximum contribution limits for retirement tax-advantaged accounts are:
- IRA: $7,000 (or $8,000 if you’re 50 or older)
- 401(k): $23,500 (Those 50 and older can contribute an additional $7,500. Those between 60-63 can contribute an additional $11,250)
Deadline: 401(k) contributions must be made by Dec. 31, 2025. IRA contributions for the 2025 tax year can be made until April 15, 2026.
Learn more: How maxing out your retirement accounts every year can pay off
2. Harvest your investment losses and gains
The end of the year can be an optimal time to harvest losses and gains. At this point, you have a sense of what your income tax bracket will be for the year, as well as your portfolio’s performance, giving you a clearer understanding of potential tax implications.
If you’ve experienced investment losses, you may consider tax-loss harvesting, which involves selling investments at a loss to offset the taxes owed on capital gains from other investments.
Or if you have investment gains, you may consider tax-gain harvesting, which entails selling assets that have appreciated in value when it is most advantageous, such as during a year when you are in a lower tax bracket or when you have losses to offset the gain.
Deadline: Dec. 31, 2025, to have your harvested gains or losses count for the 2025 tax year.
3. Take your RMDs
If you’re age 73 or older, then you are subject to the IRS required minimum distribution (RMD) rules, which mandate that a minimum amount must be withdrawn from qualified retirement plan accounts by Dec. 31 each year.
If you do not take a distribution or if you withdraw less than required, you could face penalties from the IRS.2
Deadline: Withdraw the correct RMD amount from the necessary retirement accounts by Dec. 31, 2025 to avoid tax penalties. If you recently turned 73, you may have until April 1, 2026, to make your withdrawal for 2025, but would still need to take your 2026 RMD by Dec. 31, 2026.
4. Make charitable gifts or QCDs
The last few months of the year are a popular time for nonprofits and charities to run end-of-year giving campaigns to boost financial support for their causes. If you itemize your taxes and charitable giving is a priority, consider increasing your giving or make a year-end donation to your preferred charity to be eligible for a tax deduction for the 2025 tax year.
If you’re aged 70½ or older, consider making a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) from your IRA, instead of a direct gift. QCDs count toward your RMD amount if you have not taken it.3 When you donate the withdrawn funds to a charity via a QCD, neither you nor the charity will owe taxes on the amount.
Deadline: Make your charitable gift or QCD by Dec. 31, 2025, for the 2025 tax year.
5. Defer income
To lower your 2025 tax bill, you may want to take advantage of strategies to postpone taxable income until 2026. For example, you may be able to defer your year-end bonus, depending on your employer, or refrain from taking distributions from your investment accounts until the new year begins. If you do decide to defer income prior to year-end, make sure you understand the impact it will have on your taxes in 2026.
Learn more: Ways to potentially lower your taxes
6. Consider a pre-tax Roth conversion or backdoor Roth IRA
By the end of the year, you typically have a good sense of your income tax bracket. If you find yourself in a lower bracket than usual, it could be a good opportunity to consider a pre-tax Roth conversion, which involves converting pre-tax assets to a Roth IRA or Roth 401(k). When you implement such a conversion, you’ll owe taxes on the converted funds for the year of conversion. And if you’re in a lower tax bracket, you’ll typically owe less taxes on the converted funds.
High earners who are ineligible to contribute to a Roth IRA because of income restrictions may want to consider initiating a backdoor Roth IRA in 2025. A backdoor Roth is a strategy in which you make post-tax contributions to a new or existing traditional IRA, and then convert those funds to a Roth IRA.4
Deadline: A pre-tax Roth conversion or a backdoor Roth must be finalized by Dec. 31 to count for the 2025 tax year. Even if you don’t complete a conversion in 2025, you have until April 15, 2026, to make IRA contributions for the 2025 tax year, and could always convert in 2026.
7. Spend any remaining FSA funds
If you have employer-sponsored benefits, you may have access to a flexible spending account (FSA). FSAs allow you to contribute pre-tax money — up to a certain amount — to an account that can be used to pay for eligible out-of-pocket health care expenses or eligible dependent care services, such as childcare. However, FSA funds typically are “use it or lose it,” meaning they generally do not roll over into the next calendar year.5 To avoid losing any unspent funds, make a plan to use the money before the year is up.
Deadline: Make the most of your FSA by utilizing remaining funds before Dec. 31, 2025.
8. Reflect on your financial goals
As the end of the 2025 nears, you may find yourself reflecting on the progress you’ve made toward your financial goals. You may want to ask yourself:
- Are there any steps I can take before the end of the year to meet my financial goals?
- Do I need to adjust or amend any of my financial goals?
- Are there any new financial goals that I can start making progress on?
Deadline: There is no deadline. Consider reflecting on your goals before your next meeting with my team.
Learn more: Why you should prioritize an annual financial review
9. Meet with us
We are here to assist you in completing essential year-end financial tasks, providing the support needed to finish the year strong and continue progressing toward your financial goals.
Deadline: If you need help with any of the financial actions in this article, schedule a meeting with us.