Ok, great. I hoped there would be others out there that would use something like this.
Let's hope more people post.
I would venture a guess that any specific end-of-year strategies would have more to do with timing the market, rather than anything else.
That's kind of antithetical to the stay-the-course approach advocated by most on this forum. Apart from rebalancing your asset allocation annually (at minimum) there's really not much else to strategize.
Start taking profits when you retire, as you need to. This is not a year after year decision you should need to make, while you are in the accumulation phase.
Thanks for the response. To be clear, I wasn't thinking about any market timing stuff. I'm a stay the course type of investor.
I also wasn't thinking about rebalancing either. I figure if I'm within a percent or two of where I want to be I don't bother. May not be the best approach, just what I've done.
I'll tack mine onto maizeman.
First things first estimate what your marginal tax rate is going to be based on all the data you have to date.
Any leftover 401k space (particularly solo 401k where you can do both employee and employer contributions)? It's use it or lose it, so try to fill it up before the end of the year. (You have more time before you have to make the decision on IRA contributions.) including HSA, 457, and all the other options that may be available to you.
If your marginal rate is going to be high, decide whether it makes sense to do some tax loss harvesting. If it will be 15% or less (as of 2017), consider tax gain harvesting on taxable investments more than 1 year old, but do not sell enough to exceed the 15% marginal rate.
If it looks like your marginal rate is going to be lower than expected, consider doing some Traditional to Roth IRA rollovers. I assume this takes up gain harvesting space, so you might have to choose.
Rebalance if your schedule calls for it, though there is no particular reason to think that rebalanceing annually at the end of the year is better than other times, frequencies, or methods.
Thanks Maizeman, Radagast, that's good advice. So far I've maxed out employer contributions, and maxed all my and wife's contributions to IRA's. I did rollover from Simple to Traditional earlier this year, so I don't think I could do it again. Please advise if I'm wrong.
I didn't think of looking at my marginal tax rate with regards to tax loss harvesting. I will, just don't think I quite understand how to go about it either. My marginal rate is 15%, and at the end of the year I'll be within a thousand dollars or so of going into the next higher bracket. Is it still worth it?