Financial resolutions for 2022

Start the new year right by reviewing and revamping your financial plan.

Instead of hauling out those familiar New Year’s resolutions about keeping a journal or drinking more water, how about focusing on your financial well-being? Here’s a set of resolutions that can help ensure your long-term financial confidence.

Update your beneficiaries

If you don’t correctly document your beneficiary designations, who gets what may be determined by federal or state law, or by the default plan document used in your retirement accounts. When did you last update your designations? Have life changes (divorce, remarriage, births, deaths, state of residence) occurred since then?

Update your beneficiary listings on wills, life insurance, annuities, IRAs, 401(k)s, qualified plans and anything else that’d affect your heirs. If you’ve named a trust, have any relevant tax laws changed? Have you provided for the possibility that your primary beneficiary may die before you? Does your plan address the simultaneous death of you and your spouse? An estate attorney can help walk you through these various scenarios.

Create flexible liquidity

Cash has inflation and opportunity tradeoffs, but a lack of access can cause greater problems if you find yourself needing to draw from your investments. Finding a balance in line with your life and goals is important to avoid disrupting your long-term plans.

The right liquidity strategy will be different for every investor and could incorporate cash reserves, cash alternatives, highly liquid securities, lines of credit, margin loans or even structured lending. Multiple institutions and account owners can be used to hold more than $250,000 with FDIC guarantees.

Evaluate your retirement progress

What changes are needed given your current lifestyle and the market environment? Don’t fixate solely on your assets’ value – instead, drill down into what types of securities you hold, your expected cash flows, your contingency plans, your assumed rate of return, inflation rates and how long you’re planning for. Retirement plans have many moving parts that must be monitored on an ongoing basis.

Review your account titling

Haphazard account titling can create problems down the line. If one partner dies and an account is titled only in their name, those assets can’t be readily accessed by the survivor. The solution may be creating joint accounts, but it’s not always that simple. Titling has implications across a range of estate planning issues, as well as other situations such as Medicaid eligibility and borrowing power, too.

Develop a charitable strategy

Giving comes from the heart, but you can also do well when doing good. For example, consider whether or not it’d make sense to donate low-basis stocks in lieu of cash, or learn about establishing a donor advised fund to take an upfront deduction for contributions made over the next several years. Give, but do so with an eye toward reducing your tax liability.

Spark a family conversation

Sustaining the benefits of wealth for generations is nearly impossible without a mutual understanding among family members. Consider creating a family mission statement that outlines the shared vision for your wealth and legacy. This should include nonfinancial topics, too, like your values, expectations and important life lessons.

Digitize your record keeping

You likely receive emails, letters reports and updates from multiple accounts. Consider going paperless and centralizing important files in one place to reduce frustration and ensure easy access when needed. Your advisor may have access to secure storage tools that can help.

Invest with your values

Your portfolio should reflect what matters to you – and that can mean anything from avoiding particular industries to actively pursuing an ESG (environmental, social and governance) investing approach. So whether you want to promote the transition to clean energy, advocate for diversity and inclusion in the workplace, or support companies with strong data privacy practices, your portfolio can be tailored to reflect those priorities.

Check in with your advisor

Your advisor can offer specialized tools, impartiality and experience earned by dealing with many market cycles and client situations. Communicate openly about what’s happening in your life today and what may happen in the future. It’s difficult to manage what they aren’t aware of, so err on the side of over-communicating and establish a regular check-in schedule for the year ahead.

These suggestions are a helpful starting point, but no two long-term plans are identical – so reach out to your advisor for more specific guidance about progressing toward your goals in 2022.

Links are being provided for information purposes only. Raymond James is not affiliated with and does not endorse, authorize or sponsor any of the listed websites or their respective sponsors. Raymond James is not responsible for the content of any website or the collection or use of information regarding any website’s users and/or members. Raymond James does not provide tax or legal services. Please discuss these matters with the appropriate professional.

Links are being provided for information purposes only. Raymond James is not affiliated with and does not endorse, authorize or sponsor any of the listed websites or their respective sponsors. Raymond James is not responsible for the content of any website or the collection or use of information regarding any website’s users and/or members. Raymond James does not provide tax or legal services. Please discuss these matters with the appropriate professional.

From the Desk of Dale Crossley and Evan Shear

We hope this email finds you and your loved ones safe and well. For our last 2021 edition of The Journey, you’ll find helpful articles on Medicare open enrollment, Social Security increases and a delicious chicken cacciatore recipe. We'd like to wrap up the year with last-minute tax and Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) reminders and a bit about the recently passed infrastructure bill. 

Before the year ends, it’s a good time to make sure that you’ve set yourself up properly from a tax standpoint for 2022. Check with us to see if you can benefit from tax-loss harvesting which is selling a losing investment to offset gains. It’s also important to pay attention if you’re at or near the next tax bracket. If so, we can discuss ways that you can reduce taxable income now as the year comes to an end. We also want to remind you of RMDs for 2021. Last year, there was a special RMD waiver due to the CARES Act, but that’s no longer the case. If you are 72 or older as of December 31, 2021, please remember to take your RMD by year-end to avoid a penalty (if you are turning 72 in 2021 and this is your first RMD, you have until April 1, 2022). To read about all these year-end strategies in detail, we've included Make Your Final Tax-Saving Moves Before Dec. 31 in our newsletter.

As we close out 2021, we also want to acknowledge the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Bill that just passed. The $1.2 trillion bill will fund the building and repairing of roads, bridges, railroads, and ports, as well as make broadband investments throughout the country. If the reconciliation budget comes through in December, which remains to be seen, building and infrastructure initiatives in America will be greater than experienced during the New Deal era. These projects will not begin overnight, so most effects on the economy and investments will be beyond 2022. 

The second part of the original bill supports social infrastructure such as healthcare, childcare and housing. The Build Back Better Act proposes an additional $1.2 trillion in spending totaling $3 trillion for both packages. Both sides are still not in agreement on this additional bill. As 2022 begins, we’ll be hearing much commentary on how these bills might influence the economy moving forward. To read more about these bills, we’re sharing the article America has an infrastructure bill. What happens next?

Links are being provided for information purposes only. Raymond James is not affiliated with and does not endorse, authorize or sponsor any of the listed websites or their respective sponsors. Raymond James is not responsible for the content of any website or the collection or use of information regarding any website’s users and/or members. Raymond James does not provide tax or legal services. Please discuss these matters with the appropriate professional.

There is no guarantee that these statements, opinions or forecasts provided herein will prove to be correct. All opinions are as of this date and are subject to change without notice. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

Cooking time 30 minutes

Serving size 4-6

Difficulty level Easy

Chicken Cacciatore

In Italian cuisine, “alla cacciatora” refers to a meal prepared “hunter-style”, a rustic style. In fact, it comes from the tradition of farmers and hunters, which was and is still based on the consumption of their own products they grow and produce. So many regions from the centre of Italy claim to have originated this dish, which really varies among them. For instance, some use tomato sauce, some not. We won’t tell you we are giving you the ‘national’ recipe, but of course we are giving you the Roman one, which we definitely believe, but don’t tell this to a Tuscan, is the most authentic.

Ingredients

1.5 kg (3.5 lbs) whole chicken with skin (you can also buy chicken pieces, bone in, skin on)

250 gr (8.8 oz) pitted green olives

2 medium-sized red onions

180 gr (6.3 oz) salted capers

½ cup of table white wine

3 rosemary sprigs

EVOO

Mediterranean Sea Salt

Ground black pepper

Setting up:

Finely chopped onions, capers and olives.

Directions

If using a whole chicken, cut into thighs, legs and breasts.

Heat a large sauté pan. Brown the chicken, and as soon as a golden patina is reached on both sides, add EVOO, finely chopped onions, capers, olives and rosemary sprigs. Stir it. Pour in the white wine and let it blend into the sauce. Once the alcoholic part has been reduced, season with salt and ground black pepper, stir and then cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes. 

This dish perfectly pairs with Chianti DOCG

Article printed from LA CUCINA SABINA: https://www.lacucinasabina.com

URL to article: https://www.lacucinasabina.com/recipe/chicken-cacciatore/

Links are being provided for information purposes only. Raymond James is not affiliated with and does not endorse, authorize or sponsor any of the listed websites or their respective sponsors. Raymond James is not responsible for the content of any website or the collection or use of information regarding any website’s users and/or members. Raymond James does not provide tax or legal services. Please discuss these matters with the appropriate professional.

Links are being provided for information purposes only. Raymond James is not affiliated with and does not endorse, authorize or sponsor any of the listed websites or their respective sponsors. Raymond James is not responsible for the content of any website or the collection or use of information regarding any website’s users and/or members. Raymond James does not provide tax or legal services. Please discuss these matters with the appropriate professional.

Make Your Final Tax-Saving Moves Before Dec. 31

Proactive investors know that the months before year-end can be an ideal time to make strategic adjustments.

While keeping in mind your long-term investment goals, meet with your advisor and coordinate with your tax professional to examine nuances and changes that could impact your typical year-end planning.

Mind your RMDs

Be thoughtful about required minimum distributions (RMDs) to ensure that you comply with the rules – especially as some of those rules have shifted throughout the course of the pandemic.

Last year, the CARES Act waived all RMD obligations. But for 2021, requirements are back to normal. Investors that reach a certain age – 70 1/2 for those born before July 1, 1949; 72 for those born after – are required to take RMDs from their IRAs. You’ll face a hefty 50% tax penalty on amounts not withdrawn from your IRA to meet the RMD, so be sure to speak with your advisor to ensure you’ve met your obligations.

A few reminders for future distribution planning:

• RMDs can be automated with your advisor to help ensure you don’t miss applicable deadlines.
• Your first RMD can be delayed until April 1 of the year after you turn 72. If you delay, however, you must also take your second RMD in the same tax year. This can inflate your income, which may affect your tax bracket.
• Subsequent RMDs must be taken no later than December 31 of each calendar year.
• Qualified charitable distributions allow traditional IRA owners who transfer RMDs to qualified charities to exclude the amount donated from their adjusted gross incomes, up to $100,000.
• Be mindful of how taking a distribution will impact your taxable income or tax bracket. If you have space left in your bracket or a down income year, you may want to consider taking additional distributions.

To harvest or not to harvest

Evaluate whether you could benefit from tax-loss harvesting – selling a losing investment to offset gains. The first $3,000 (single or married filing jointly) offsets ordinary income. Excess losses also can be carried forward to future years. With your advisor, examine the following subtleties when aiming to decrease your tax bill:

• Short-term gains are taxed at a higher marginal rate; aim to reduce those first.
• Don’t disrupt your long-term investment strategy when harvesting losses.
• Be aware of “wash sale” rules that affect new purchases before and after the sale of a security. If you sell a security at a loss but purchase another “substantially identical” security – within 30 days before or after the sale date – the IRS likely will consider that a wash sale and disallow the loss deduction. The IRS will look at all your accounts – 401(k), IRA, etc. – when determining if a wash sale occurred.

Manage your income and deductions

Those at or near the next tax bracket should pay close attention to anything that might bump them up and plan to reduce taxable income before the end of the year.

• Determine if it makes sense to accelerate deductions or defer income, potentially allowing you to minimize your current tax liability. Some companies may give you an opportunity to defer bonuses and so forth into a future year as well.
• Certain retirement plans also can help you defer taxes. Contributing to a traditional 401(k) allows you to pay income tax only when you withdraw money from the plan in the future, at which point your income and tax rate may be lower or you may have more deductions available to offset the income.*
• Evaluate your income sources – earned income, corporate bonds, municipal bonds, qualified dividends, etc. – to help reduce the overall tax impact.

Evaluate life changes

From welcoming a new family member to moving to a new state, any number of life changes may have impacted your circumstances over the past year. Bring your financial advisor up to speed on major life changes and ask how they could affect your year-end planning.

• Moving can significantly impact tax and estate planning, especially if you’ve relocated from a high income tax state to a low income tax state, from a state with a state income tax to one without (or vice versa), or if you’ve moved to a state with increased asset protection. Note that moving expenses themselves are no longer deductible for most taxpayers.
• Give thought to your family members’ life changes as well as your own – job changes, births, deaths, weddings and divorces, for example, can all necessitate changes – and consider updating your estate documents accordingly.

Next steps

Consider these to-dos as you prepare to make the most of year-end financial moves, and discuss with your financial advisor and tax professional:

• Manage your income and deductions, paying close atten­tion to your marginal tax bracket.
• Evaluate your investments, keeping in mind whether you could benefit from tax-loss harvesting.
• Make a list of the life changes you and your family have experienced during the year.

*Withdrawals prior to age 59 1/2 may also be subject to a 10% federal penalty tax. RMDs are generally subject to federal income tax and may be subject to state taxes. Consult your tax advisor to assess your situation. Raymond James does not provide tax or legal services. Please discuss these matters with the appropriate professional.

Links are being provided for information purposes only. Raymond James is not affiliated with and does not endorse, authorize or sponsor any of the listed websites or their respective sponsors. Raymond James is not responsible for the content of any website or the collection or use of information regarding any website’s users and/or members. Raymond James does not provide tax or legal services. Please discuss these matters with the appropriate professional.