Teapot Year End Checklist 2025: Essential Tasks for Investors

As we approach the end of 2025, it's time to review your financial situation and make strategic moves that can save you money and set you up for success in the year ahead. This year-end checklist covers the essential tasks every investor should consider before December 31st.

Start by taking a comprehensive look at how your investments have performed this year. Review your portfolio across all accounts: taxable, retirement, and tax-advantaged accounts. Understanding your year-to-date performance helps you make informed decisions about rebalancing, tax planning, and future strategy adjustments.

Look beyond just returns: examine your asset allocation, fees you've paid, and how your portfolio aligns with your long-term goals. To truly understand your performance, compare it against an appropriate benchmark. You can compare your portfolio's performance with a default benchmark that matches your allocation, or use a custom benchmark you've defined to track against your specific investment strategy or peer group.

Market movements throughout the year likely shifted your asset allocation away from your target. Year end is an ideal time to rebalance, which can help you:

If you haven't already maxed out your retirement accounts, now is the time. Contribution limits are per person, not per account. For 2025, if you are under age 50, you can contribute up to $23,500 to your 401(k) or 403(b), and up to $7,000 to a Traditional or Roth IRA. If you are age 50 or older, a special catch-up contribution is available: you can contribute an additional $7,500 to your 401(k) or 403(b) (bringing your total to $31,000), and an additional $1,000 to your IRA (bringing your total to $8,000). For those ages 60 to 63, an enhanced catch-up contribution of $11,250 is available for 401(k) plans, allowing total contributions of up to $34,750.

These contributions reduce your taxable income (for traditional accounts) or provide tax-free growth (for Roth accounts), making them among the most powerful tax-advantaged strategies available. Remember, you have until April 15, 2026 to make IRA contributions for 2025, but 401(k) contributions must be made by December 31st.

If you are a business owner and your business has profit, contribute to your self-employed retirement accounts. SEP IRAs and Solo 401(k)s typically have higher contribution limits than traditional IRAs. For 2025, you can contribute up to $70,000 to a SEP IRA or Solo 401(k) (or $77,500 if age 50 or older for Solo 401(k)), with limits based on your business income. These accounts allow business owners to save significantly more for retirement than standard IRAs.

If you are 73 or older, withdraw your RMDs to avoid penalties. Failing to take the full RMD results in a 25% penalty on the shortfall. Verify that you've taken the correct amount by December 31st. RMDs apply to traditional IRAs, 401(k)s, and other tax-deferred retirement accounts, and the amount is based on your account balance and life expectancy.

Contribute to education savings and potentially receive state tax deductions or credits. 529 plans offer tax-free growth when funds are used for qualified education expenses, and many states provide tax benefits for contributions. Year-end is a good time to maximize these contributions.

Offset capital gains by selling underperforming investments or replacing them with wash sale-safe alternatives to maintain exposure. Tax-loss harvesting allows you to realize losses that can offset capital gains and up to $3,000 of ordinary income per year per tax return, with unused losses carrying forward indefinitely.

Convert traditional retirement funds to Roth accounts to manage future tax liability and avoid RMDs. Popular among people near retirement with large traditional account balances, Roth conversions allow you to pay taxes now at potentially lower rates and enjoy tax-free growth and withdrawals in retirement. This strategy is particularly valuable if you expect to be in a higher tax bracket in retirement or want to reduce future RMD obligations.

Avoid underpayment penalties by adjusting estimated tax payments. If you've had significant capital gains, income changes, or other tax events during the year, you may need to increase your estimated tax payments or make an additional payment by January 15th to avoid penalties. Review your year-to-date income and tax withholding to determine if adjustments are needed.

Make charitable contributions for potential tax deductions. If you itemize deductions, charitable contributions can reduce your tax bill. Consider donor-advised funds to contribute appreciated securities and avoid capital gains taxes, or qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) if you're 70½ or older to donate directly from your IRA. Year-end is also a good time for bunching strategies, combining multiple years of giving into one year to exceed the standard deduction threshold.

Life changes throughout the year—marriages, divorces, births, deaths—can make your beneficiary designations outdated. Review beneficiaries on retirement accounts (401(k), IRA, 403(b)), life insurance policies, brokerage accounts, and bank accounts with transfer-on-death designations. Beneficiary designations override wills, so keeping them current ensures your assets go to the right people.

Complete your year-end financial review and start 2026 with confidence.