Physical mail has become a downer, outside of the occasional and appreciated postcard. There are only two types of mail: the kind that asks you to donate money and the kind that forces you to pay money, such as for a parking ticket or for a medical bill. When the latter type comes in the mail, there is usually a big, bold due date. For retirees, most of the tax planning you should be doing comes with a big, bold due date of December 31, not April 15. Here’s the catch: Most of the custodians have deadlines a few weeks or even a month earlier to ensure that the transactions are completed by December 31.
The end-of-year tax planning we do for our clients typically starts on October 1. Here are five of the December 31 deadlines we are evaluating.
