Contributed by: Nick Defenthaler, CFP® 
On November 14th, Melissa Joy, CFP® and I hosted The Center’s annual Year-End Tax Planning Opportunities and Strategies webinar which continues to be one of our best attended discussions throughout the year. In 2016, Melissa and I hosted the webinar two days after the presidential election and this year, the presentation was held several days after the latest GOP tax reform proposal. Needless to say, it’s been a great chance for our team to share timely updates with clients and strategic partners!
If you weren’t able to attend the webinar live, we’d encourage you to check out the recording below. Here are a few key points and takeaways from our discussion:
Potential Tax Reform Highlights
Moving from seven tax brackets down to three or four: 12%, 25%, 35% and 39.6%
Elimination or caps on popular deductions: State and local taxes, medical expenses, student loan interest, mortgage deduction cap, property tax cap
Larger standard deduction (almost doubling from $12,700 for married filers to $24,000)
Repeal of Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)
Corporate tax reduction (moving down to 25%)
Estate tax exemption (almost doubling from $5.5M to $11M, with the goal of repealing the estate tax completely within 6 years)
2018 Updates
Social Security Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA), Medicare premium adjustments, retirement plan contribution and income limit adjustments, etc.)
Retirement Planning
Evaluate your savings rate moving into the new year and if you’re not maxing out your 401k ($18,500 or $24,500 if over the age of 50), consider increasing your savings percentage by 1% - 2% each year
Work with your advisor to determine if the Traditional (pre-tax) or Roth (after-tax) retirement vehicles makes sense for your situation given your current and projected future tax bracket
Charitable Giving
Consider utilizing a Donor Advised Fund to gift appreciated securities from a brokerage account – allows you to take a tax deduction and also avoid paying capital gains tax
Consider utilizing the Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) if you’re over the age of 70 ½ - allows you to gift funds directly to charity from your IRA
Investment Planning
Review your allocation before year end to see if your mix between stocks and bonds is appropriate for your situation
Consider the asset location of your portfolio to potentially improve after-tax returns
Consider proactive planning such as tax-loss harvesting
As mentioned during the webinar, don’t forget to check out our Year-End Planning Opportunities guide in the resources portion of our website. This guide acts as a helpful tool to help organize your financial picture before year and also provides further insight on retirement planning strategies to consider as well as a detailed overview of proposed tax reform. Please feel free to contact your financial planning team at The Center with any questions or concerns, we’re here to help.
Nick Defenthaler, CFP® is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ at Center for Financial Planning, Inc.® Nick works closely with Center clients and is also the Director of The Center’s Financial Planning Department. He is also a frequent contributor to the firm’s blogs and educational webinars.
This information is being provided for educational purposes only and is not intended as specific tax or investment advice. Please note, changes in tax laws may occur at any time and could have a substantial impact upon each person's situation. While we are familiar with the tax provisions of the issues presented herein, as Financial Advisors of RJFS, we are not qualified to render advice on tax or legal matters. You should discuss tax or legal matters with the appropriate professional.