With the holiday season upon us, your to-do list might seem endless. Avoid letting the chaos distract you from your financial to-dos as you prepare for the holidays and look forward to a new year. Year-end strategies, including Roth conversions, qualified charitable distributions and required minimum distributions, should be considered to help ensure you begin 2026 on the right foot. It is also important for you to take an active role in your retirement planning. Life changes and events happen that require you to update your tax and estate plans. Use the information below to see how your planning might be affected.
Have you had any of these life events?
- Birth, death, marriage, divorce, remarriage or illness
- Began collecting Social Security benefits
- Layoff or new job
- A child’s marriage or divorce
- An inheritance or gift received
- Creation of a trust
- Moving, change of residence, home sale
- Change of the IRA or plan custodian
- Roth conversion
Make sure to talk to your beneficiaries about:
- Post-death distribution options and required minimum distributions (RMDs)
- Tax rules for inherited IRAs, including setting up properly-titled inherited IRAs
- Spousal beneficiary options
- Estate tax return deadlines
- Tax benefits to beneficiaries, including net unrealized appreciation (NUA) and income in respect of a decedent (IRD) deduction
Milestone ages
- 50 – Catch-up contributions to retirement plans and IRAs
- 50 (or 25 years of service, if earlier) – Plan exception to 10% penalty for public safety employees
- 55 – Plan exception to 10% penalty
- 59½ – 10% penalty free withdrawals
- 70½ – Qualified charitable distributions from IRAs
- 73 – RMDs and required beginning date
- 75 – 403(b) exception
Year-end checklist
- Evaluate the effect of this year’s market volatility.
- Be sure to take your RMD from all applicable accounts.
- Consider qualified charitable distributions.
- Check that inherited IRAs with multiple beneficiaries are split by the end of the year following the year of the IRA owner’s death.
- Check to see if enough money is withheld and/or paid in through estimated tax payments to avoid penalties. If you are short, consider withholding taxes from IRA distributions and replacing those funds within 60 days. (Watch out for the once-per-year rollover rule!)
- Roll over IRA funds to company plans where the still-working exception applies before year’s end to avoid taking RMDs on those funds next year.
- Estate planning – take advantage of annual exclusion gifts.
- Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous 2026!
Copyright © 2025, Ed Slott and Company, LLC. Reprinted with permission. Ed Slott and Company, LLC takes no responsibility for the current accuracy of this information. Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC (Kestra IS), member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS), an affiliate of Kestra IS. Reich Asset Management, LLC is not affiliated with Kestra IS or Kestra AS. The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect those held by Kestra Investment Services, LLC or Kestra Advisory Services, LLC. This is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations for any individual. It is suggested that you consult your financial professional, attorney, or tax advisor with regard to your individual situation. To view form CRS visit https://bit.ly/KF-Disclosures.
Eric is President and founder of Reich Asset Management, LLC. He relies on his 25 years of experience to help clients have an enjoyable retirement. He is a Certified Financial Planner™ and Certified Investment Management AnalystSM (CIMA®) and has earned his Chartered Life Underwriter® (CLU®) and Chartered Financial Consultant® (ChFC®) designations.
