Tax Corner: Year-End Planning Opportunities

Trump Accounts

Trump Accounts are tax-advantaged investment accounts for children under age 18. In a recent announcement on October 1, 2026, the U.S. Treasury confirmed that automatic enrollment for Trump Accounts is now complete. This means every eligible child under 18 with a valid Social Security number now has a Trump Account ready to be claimed.

Children born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028, who have their account claimed will receive a one-time $1,000 contribution from the U.S. Treasury. Parents, family members, friends, and employers can also contribute up to $5,000 annually until the child turns 18.

What Parents Should Do Now:

• If you have a child under age 18, this is a good time to check whether they have an automatically enrolled Trump Account waiting to be claimed. A parent or guardian must claim the account to manage it and for the child to receive the $1,000 Treasury contribution.

• Parents can claim their child’s account through the official Trump Accounts app for iOS or Android. The process includes verifying your identity and relationship to your child and accepting the account terms.

Trump Accounts and custodial IRAs both offer opportunities to start saving early and benefit from long-term compounding. The right choice will depend on your child’s age, income, and your family’s goals.

If you would like to learn more about Trump Accounts or discuss whether they may be appropriate for your family’s financial goals, please contact your advisor.

Check your child’s eligibility and learn how to claim their account at TrumpAccounts.gov.

Thinking About a Roth Conversion?

If you have savings in a traditional IRA, you may have wondered whether it makes sense to move some of it into a Roth IRA. This is called a Roth conversion. You pay income tax on the converted amount now, and qualified withdrawals later come out tax-free.

It can be a useful tool if you expect higher tax rates down the road, want more control over your retirement income, or plan to leave tax-free assets to your family. Because Roth IRAs have no RMDs during your lifetime, converting can also reduce the required withdrawals you would otherwise face from your traditional accounts.

Timing matters. Recent retirees who have not yet claimed Social Security or reached RMD age, people with a lower-income year, and those with large pre-tax balances are often good candidates. It helps to have cash outside your retirement accounts to pay the tax bill and to not need the converted money anytime soon.

The trade-off is that a conversion adds to your taxable income for the year. That could move you into a higher bracket or raise your future Medicare premiums (IRMAA). Spreading conversions over several years is one way to manage that cost. Reach out to your financial advisor to start the conversation on whether a Roth conversion is right for you.

Tax-Loss Harvesting: Putting Market Declines to Work

Market declines and volatility are frustrating, but they can sometimes create a tax benefit. Tax-loss harvesting means selling an investment in a taxable account (non-qualified) for less than you paid for it, then using that realized loss to offset capital gains from other sales.

Here is a simple example. If you sold one investment for a $10,000 gain and another for a $10,000 loss, the two would offset each other. Your taxable gain on those sales would be zero. Note that the loss reduces the gains you are taxed on. It does not reduce your tax bill by $10,000.

If your losses are larger than your gains, you can generally use up to $3,000 of the excess each year to offset ordinary income. Any remaining loss carries forward to future years. This strategy applies only to taxable investment accounts, not to IRAs or 401(k) plans.

After selling, many investors reinvest in a similar, but not substantially identical, investment so they stay on course with their overall plan. Be aware of the IRS wash-sale rule. If you buy the same or a substantially identical investment within 30 days before or after the sale, the loss is generally disallowed. This includes purchases made in other accounts, such as an IRA.

Tax-loss harvesting is often discussed near year-end, but it can be considered at any time as markets move. The goal is to improve tax efficiency without letting taxes drive poor investment decisions. Please reach out if you would like to learn more about tax-loss harvesting.