Financial Advisors Say Do These 6 Things With Your Money Before the End of 2026
The last half of the year goes fast. And once Dec. 31 passes, several financial moves that could have reduced your tax bill, strengthened your retirement position or cleaned up your estate documents become impossible until next year.
Zakry Levitt, private wealth advisor at Northwestern Mutual's Heritage Planning Partners, laid out these six things worth doing before the clock runs out.
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1. Max Out Retirement Contributions (or Get Closer)
The 2026 contribution limit for a 401(k) is $24,500, with an additional $8,000 catch-up contribution available for those ages 50 and older. IRA contributions max out at $7,500, with a $1,100 catch-up. HSA limits sit at $4,400 for individuals and $8,750 for families.
Levitt said even if fully maxing out isn't realistic, increasing contributions before year-end still matters over time. The tax reduction on this year's income is real and immediate.
One caveat worth keeping in mind: Don't over-contribute at the expense of liquidity. Retirement accounts restrict access before age 59.5. Putting every available dollar into a 401(k) while carrying credit card debt or maintaining no emergency fund is the wrong trade.
2. Rebalance Your Portfolio
A year of uneven market performance can quietly shift a portfolio away from its intended allocation. Strong gains in one sector leave some investors carrying more risk than they planned for. Weak performance elsewhere does the opposite. Neither situation is obvious until you actually look.
Year-end is a natural time to check whether current holdings still reflect your goals, timeline and risk tolerance and to make adjustments. Levitt called this less about dramatic changes and more about intentional decisions before the window closes.
3. Harvest Tax Losses
If you hold investments in taxable accounts that have lost value this year, those losses can be used strategically. Tax-loss harvesting allows you to sell declining positions, realize the loss and use it to offset capital gains elsewhere. This potentially reduces your taxable income for the year.
Levitt's important qualifier is that you shouldn't make investment decisions purely for tax reasons. The broader strategy still needs to make sense. But for investors who have already been considering a change in their portfolio, year-end is when the tax math makes that decision more valuable.
4. Review Your Cash Position
Sitting on a larger cash balance than you need is more common than people realize and it's quietly expensive. Money parked in a standard checking or savings account earning near-zero interest is losing ground to inflation every month it sits there.
Levitt's recommendation splits into two parts. First, determine how much cash you actually need for near-term expenses and emergencies — and move anything beyond that toward long-term goals, debt reduction or investments. Second, for cash you plan to keep accessible, make sure it's working. High-yield savings accounts and money market accounts currently offer rates that at least partially offset inflation.
5. Give More Strategically Before Year-End
Charitable giving done at the last minute is still giving, but it often misses tax advantages that could have amplified the impact. Levitt pointed to two approaches worth evaluating before Dec. 31.
Donating appreciated assets (stock that has grown in value) lets you avoid paying capital gains tax on the appreciation while still receiving a deduction for the full fair market value. Bundling contributions, where two years of giving are combined into a single year to clear the standard deduction threshold, is another approach that can produce a better tax outcome without actually changing how much you give over time. Both strategies require a little planning, which is exactly why waiting until the last week of December tends to close those options off.
6. Update Estate Documents and Beneficiaries
This is the one that consistently gets pushed to next year until something goes wrong. Marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, a home purchase, a career change; any of these can create situations where a beneficiary designation or estate document no longer reflects what you actually want to happen.
Levitt said financial plans evolve faster than the paperwork does. A quick review of retirement account beneficiaries, life insurance designations and estate documents before year-end takes less time than most people expect and avoids complications that can be difficult and expensive to untangle later.
The through line in all six of these, as Levitt framed it, is that year-end planning is rarely about dramatic moves. It's about making deliberate decisions before opportunities that exist only on a calendar disappear.
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This article was provided by MoneyLion.com for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, legal or tax advice.
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