Episode 37 – GIA’s End of Year Planning Guide with Justin Pitcock

Reid Trego and CFP Justin Pitcock discuss Goodwin Investment Advisory’s end-of-year planning guide on the Money PIG podcast. They highlight the importance of tax planning, maximizing employee benefits, understanding capital gains distributions, utilizing donor advised funds for charitable giving, and managing medical expenses. They also mention hobby loss rules for small business owners and paying state taxes through a pass-through entity to maximize deductions.

The discussion focuses on tax planning and estate and disability planning. Justin Pitcock mentions redirecting state tax liability to hospitals through programs like Georgia Heart Program. The importance of reviewing estate documents, beneficiary designations, life insurance policies, and disability insurance policies is emphasized in estate and disability planning. In terms of investment planning, it is important to understand the tax implications of mutual fund capital gains distributions and to schedule a meeting with an advisor to discuss goals and distribution strategies. Lastly, retirement planning involves ensuring that investments are performing enough to reach one’s goals while considering a long-term investment horizon even after retirement.

Justin shares some financial tips and strategies emphasizing the importance of saving at least 15% of your income for retirement, especially if you start later in life. He also recommends increasing contributions to a 401K by 1% or more and highlights the need to understand how employer matching works. He suggests paying off debt incrementally rather than depleting an emergency fund all at once. The speaker advises maximizing Roth IRAs if eligible and considering backdoor Roths for higher-income earners. They mention taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) from traditional IRAs and caution against missing these distributions to avoid penalties. Additionally, they discuss Roth conversions as a strategy for those who are retired but not yet receiving Social Security benefits. The speaker touches on helping children fund Roth accounts early on and talks about the potential growth over time due to compound interest.

If you want help managing and investing your money, or just a second opinion on your retirement plan, one of our CFP® professional wealth advisors would love to discuss your individual goals and options with you. Please reach out by scheduling a free 20 minute intro call with our Goodwin Investment Advisory consultant here.