📊Tax planning time
Man, did 2025 fly by fast.
The Fed finally cut rates (a few times), AI’s coming for your job (maybe), consumer debt hit an all-time high, and you still don’t know what “6 7” means.
(Honestly, I'm scared to know what the kids are up to)
😤Meanwhile, the IRS? Doesn't care.
🏛️Tax Day is still April 15th.
So, before you get drunk 🍾 off Uncle Smitty's eggnog, and blackout on all those Amazon returns you will be making, let's talk tax strategies.
Here are 6 year-end tax moves to make before the clock runs out.
6 Tax Planning tips for Individuals
🧿 Charitable Deductions
↳ Itemizers: donate cash, clothing, stock, or that elliptical you used twice.
↳ Stock or "stuff" donations have tricky rules. Please don't wing it.
↳ Document everything, or the IRS will treat you like you donated "air".
💼 Fund Your Retirement
↳ Max out your Traditional IRA or 401(k) before 12/31.
↳ Employer Matching = free money. Be like Cartman, grab your free money.
↳ Each retirement plan has a different limit, so ask HR before you play cowboy.
📈 Stock Loss Harvesting
↳ Sell your losers to offset your winners (Buffett cries, but your CPA smiles).
↳ Capital losses are capped at $3,000/year, the rest gets carried forward.
↳ Basically, it's the only time your Wall Street failure feels like a win.
🌰 Roth IRA Conversions
↳ Low tax year? Perfect time to convert Traditional IRA to Roth IRA.
↳ $5K converted at 10% now may become $80K tax-free in retirement.
↳ Worth it? Yes. Confusing? Also, yes. Get Help.
🚗 Backdoor Roth IRAs
↳ Make too much for a Roth? There’s a loophole for that.
↳ Fund a Traditional IRA, then convert it to Roth IRA.
↳ Complex, but powerful. If you have many different IRAs, this may not work. So don’t DIY using with Reddit advice.
🎁 Annual Gift Tax Exemption
↳ Give $19K per person ($38K if married) tax-free before 12/31.
↳ Kids, grandkids, random freeloaders, whoever. Spread the love (and reduce your estate).
↳ Bonus: they’ll like you more than Santa.
4 weeks left in the year.
Plenty of time to plan.
Or not. You can just let it ride.
(Next week I'll give you some tips for business owners)