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Planning can help take the pain out of taxes. Stay on track with our income tax and estate planning checklists. 2024 planning Meet with your clients and review major life events, such as marriages or divorces, births or deaths in the family, or employment changes. Also consider significant planned expenditures, such as real estate purchases or college tuition payments. Consider traditional IRA and Roth contributions and maximizing retirement plan contributions. Review beneficiary designations and update as necessary. Consider the potential for higher taxes in the future. The current income and estate taxes sunset on December 31, 2025. 2024 income tax planning Review charitable contributions to help maximize income tax deductions. Consider bunching charitable gifts (think about using a donor-advised fund) to itemize tax deductions in one year and take the standard deduction in another year. Consider the qualified charitable distribution if your client is over age 70½. Consider donating appreciated capital gain assets that have been held for one year or more, rather than cash. Plan for traditional IRA-required and traditional 401(k)-required minimum distributions. Evaluate converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. Consider maximizing retirement plan contributions (including "backdoor" Roth strategies). Confirm that they've spent the entire balance in their flexible spending account (FSA) by the plan deadline. Evaluate application of the 3.8% Medicare surtax on net investment income. Anticipate quarterly federal and state tax payments. Consider harvesting capital losses to offset realized gains, and rebalancing taxable investment accounts. Consider harvesting capital gains in 2024 if there is concern about potentially higher taxes in 2025 and beyond.