WASHINGTON — The end of the year is coming to a close, which means there’s still time to save money before the start of 2016. Where should you start? CBS News Business Analyst Jill Schlesinger offers her top year-end money tips:
1. Compare 2015 to 2014: The most important thing you can do, Schlesinger says, is take a breath and figure out what’s different about your life this year, compared to last. And the easiest way to do this is to review your 2014 tax returns.
If you have a taxable investment account, do you have losses that were carried over to this year? If so, this may be a good time to rebalance your portfolio and sell some winners, Schlesinger says.
“The reality is, when you’ve got your taxable investment account, winners and losers can get washed against one another, and if you’ve got more losses than you have gains, then you can deduct $3,000 of losses against ordinary income and carry forward whatever is left into the next year,” she says.
2. Fund a college savings 529 plan
Every calendar year, you can give up to $14,000 to anybody, without penalty. Schlesinger says a great place to put gifted estate money is in a college savings plan. (If you’re married, this contribution can be $28,000 a year.) You won’t be penalized with a federal gift tax and the money saved in these programs grows tax-free.
3. Estimate your 2016 income
Another tip Schlesinger offers is to estimate your income for next year. This can help you decide whether to make some big business expenses before Jan. 1, or delay those expenses until next year — especially if you are a small-business owner.
Schlesinger says whatever year you are in the higher tax bracket, that’s the year you want to take more deductions and spend money on expenses.
4. Consider gifting stock or fund shares to charity
Instead of cash donations, consider gifting appreciated stock or fund shares to charities.
“You can give those appreciated shares of Facebook to a charity, you take the deduction for the full amount — not what you paid for it — and the charity doesn’t care because they aren’t going to sell it and take any sort of tax hit at all,” Schlesinger says.
You can find more end-of-year tax tips on Schlesinger’s blog, Jill on Money.
