Fall Fun
While summer still lingers this week with the warm and humid weather, glimmers of beautiful Virginia fall are peeking through. And our family loves the fall—the kids clamor to go apple picking, grab pumpkins and mums to decorate the yard, and jump on the Spooky Bus at Meadow Farms:
At Meridian, fall kicks off a whole bunch of other traditions:
- Tax planning—In October, we work with clients and their accountants to look at their current taxable events to date. We work in concert with our client’s accountants to uncover any tax efficient or tax savings strategies and get them implemented before year end.
- Tax harvesting—in taxable portfolios at Meridian, we review the capital gains and losses for the year to determine if we can use them to our client’s advantage. For example, in 2018, many fixed income funds have an unrealized loss due to interest rate increases (see Nathan’s last blog about this here). If these funds are sold and replaced by another similar (but different) fund, the loss will be realized and can be used to offset other gains or income. And, the portfolio still maintains its desired exposure to fixed income, so there is no disruption to the overall investment strategy.
- Required minimum distributions—IRA owners who have reached age 70.5 must take a required amount out of their IRA annually. As the penalty is VERY steep (50% of the required distribution amount), Meridian double checks client’s IRAs to verify that the required amount has been distributed.
- Review of portfolio objective and current positioning—while we are reviewing this all year long, we do a full review of the portfolio performance and current positioning as we close the year out. It is also a great time to confirm the portfolio strategy with clients, as their circumstances or preferences may have changed throughout the year.
- Look forward into 2019 cash needs, gifting desires, and other desired distributions to make sure the portfolio is positioned correctly for the upcoming cash flow needs.
So generally, fall is pretty busy for us—personally and professionally!
Happy Fall, Y’all!
