With just a few months left in 2016, this is a good time to start thinking about year-end financial planning. Here are five suggestions to ensure 2017 starts on the right note.
- Donate to charity – Not only does donating benefit others, it provides you with a tax deduction. You can also donate appreciated stock and receive both a tax deduction and legally avoid paying capital gains on the donated stock.
- Review your investments – While no one likes paying more taxes than necessary, it does not make sense to hold an investment just to avoid taxes. Now is a good time to review your investments and trim positions that have performed well or sell under-performing investments. It is also important to determine if your asset allocation still makes sense.
- Revisit retirement planning – This is the perfect time to confirm that you are maximizing the use of your 401(k), 403(b), IRA or other retirement accounts. After year-end, you cannot make-up missed 2016 contributions. Thus, you could short your retirement savings or fail to maximize your employer match. In addition, have you thought about converting a Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA? Depending on your tax situation it could make sense. While you do not pay taxes today on a Traditional IRA, you have to pay taxes on withdrawals. With a Roth IRA you pay taxes today, but withdrawals are tax-free. There are rules governing both Traditional and Roth IRAs. Be sure to consult with your investment advisor before engaging in this strategy.
- Gifting to others – Have you done your gifting for the year? Each year you can make annual exclusion gifts of up to $14,000. This allows you to reduce the size of your estate while benefiting family members and friends. In addition to the annual exclusion amount, amounts gifted for use by others as tuition and medical costs can be unlimited.
- Review your flex spending accounts – Flex spending accounts allow you to set aside pre-tax dollars for eligible health care and dependent care expenses. However, any money you place in the account, but do not use by year-end, is generally lost.
- We thank you for your time and attention in reading our newsletter. Should you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to reach out to your FineMark investment advisor. We deeply appreciate the confidence you have placed in FineMark and endeavor to continue to earn that confidence in the future. We wish you and your families a pleasant and joyful holiday season.
By Read Sawczyn
Vice President & Private Wealth Advisor
Additional articles from this issue:
Third Quarter Review and Commentary
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