With the final hot snap of summer in the rearview mirror, it’s time to get your finances ready for the last few months of 2022.
Having a fall financial checklist in place will allow you to make fall a financially productive season. It’s a great time to start thinking about what you can do to save some money, prepare for the following months, and improve your life.
Agemy Financial Strategies has put together a fall financial checklist to help you get your financial house in order.
The tasks on this fall financial checklist will help you to remember to sign up for health insurance, beef up your retirement savings, reviewing your estate plan and more!
Health Insurance
This is the time of year where we should get our health insurance information together. Open enrollment for 2022 through the Health Insurance Marketplace (HealthCare.gov) starts on Monday, November 1 and you have to enroll by December 15, 2022 for coverage that starts January 1, 2023. Some states have their own ACA exchanges which in turn have different date ranges for open enrollment. Colorado and Connecticut fall under this category.
State | State Open Enrollment Period for 2023 Plans |
Colorado | November 1, 2022 – January 15, 2023 |
Connecticut | November 1, 2022 – To Be Announced |
If you have private health insurance or health insurance through your employer, you will want to find out what important dates you need to sign up for or get information from them, so that you do not miss out.
By doing as much research as you can now, you will ensure that you will have the best health insurance plan for you and your family. Holidays typically sneak up on us; you will probably be quite busy. By taking care of this now you can avoid many headaches in the future.
If you are nearing retirement, this is an especially important step to protect your nest egg. Did you know that health care continues to be one of the largest expenses in retirement? To help fill a gap in saving for health care expenses, consider increasing contributions to your tax-advantaged accounts, especially HSAs (if you have one), which enable tax-free spending on health care in retirement.
Max Out Your Retirement Savings
Saving for retirement is one of the best financial strategies you can take part in. Everyone will hopefully retire at some point in their lifetime. Saving early on in life for your golden years will help prevent you from running out of money. Whether you're on track for retirement or need to catch up, a Fiduciary financial advisor can help prepare you for your later years. Here are a couple ways you can max out your savings:
- Take advantage of your company 401k or 403b
- Apply for retirement savings credits
- As mentioned, contribute to a health savings account (HSA)
It's important to look at your retirement plan and see if any of our tips could maximize your savings. If you’re like most people, qualified-retirement plans, Social Security, personal savings and investments are expected to play a role. Once you have estimated the amount of money you may need for relocating in retirement, a sound approach involves taking a close look at your potential retirement-income sources.
Tax Return Extension
If you received an extension on your tax return, make sure you complete and file it by October 17, 2022. You can get an automatic extension of time to file your federal income tax return by filing Form 4868. This gets you from April 18, 2022, to October 17, 2022, to file without incurring any penalties.
However, getting an extension doesn't give you more time to pay, it only gives you more time to file your return. Anything you owe after the deadline is subject to interest and a late-payment penalty–even if you get an extension. Fortunately, you may be able to catch a break on the late-payment penalty if you’ve paid at least 90% of your actual tax liability by the deadline.
Tax-Loss Harvesting
Tax-loss harvesting may be able to help you reduce taxes now and in the future.
Tax-loss harvesting allows you to sell investments that are down, replace them with reasonably similar investments, and then offset realized investment gains with those losses. The end result is that less of your money goes to taxes and more may stay invested and working for you.
If you have more capital losses than gains, you may be able to use up to $3,000 a year to offset ordinary income on federal income taxes, and carry over the rest to future years.
Rebalance if Needed
Rebalancing refers to the process of returning the values of a portfolio's asset allocations to the levels defined by an investment plan. Those levels are intended to match an investor's tolerance for risk and desire for reward.
This sound investment strategy involves cashing in some profits on your better-performing assets and reinvesting the proceeds into your laggards. Rebalancing assumes you own a mix of investments and have a target for how to allocate them, holding certain percentages in stocks, bonds, cash and so on, including subcategories such as small or international stocks. It also assumes that hot investments will cool off, and laggards will perk up, eventually.
Review Your Estate Plan
Benjamin Franklin said it: “Nothing in this world can be said to be certain but death and taxes.” Perhaps once a year, you should verify that you have listed the right people to take over your wealth should the time come.
Once you’ve created your estate plan, it may be tempting to put it on a shelf and forget about it. However, factors that affect your estate plan can quickly change, resulting in a need to update your plan so that it continues to match your goals and minimize taxes.
Budget for the Holiday Season
The holidays are right around the corner. With Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s and many other holidays, the holiday season can be expensive. If you haven’t yet, creating a holiday budget can help you save in the long run. Start saving money for the holidays if you haven’t done so already, and find ways to make extra cash if you think your budget is cutting it close.
A great way to start is by creating a list of all of your expected expenses. For example:
- Travel
- Holiday meals
- Gifts for loved ones
- Charitable donations
Final Thoughts
As we head towards the holidays, it's important to know where your financial assets stand so you can avoid any missteps when it comes to managing your money. It's always important to meet with your Financial Advisor to get the facts from the source. Preferably a Fiduciary. “Fiduciary” means trust, and a person with a fiduciary duty has a legal obligation to maintain that trust.
Be sure to provide them with updates on your financial situation, including your expected retirement date, income needs, and any other family situations that may affect your financial plan.
However you're spending the holidays this year, the team at Agemy Financial Strategies are always on-hand to help guide you through your financial planning journey. Contact us here today to get started.