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Is Your Financial Plan Still On Track? Why September Is The Perfect Time For A Reset · The Wealth Cafe

• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Hi everyone, welcome back to the Wealth Cafe, and I am so excited to kick off season three with you.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: If we haven't met yet, I'm Caroline Tannis, lead financial advisor and founder of Tannis Financial Group.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: And as always, I am so glad that you are here.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: I want to start off this season with a question that I ask every prospective client that I sit down with this time of year.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: And that is, do you have a financial plan for the end of this year?
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: And this is not, do you have a vague intention, not a mental note to call your accountant in December, and not a plan that you made in January and that you've never revisited since.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: A specific current coordinated plan for what are you going to do between now and December 31st to make sure that your wealth is working as hard as it should be.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: Most people don't actually have one.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure that doesn't come as a surprise.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't say that as a criticism.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: I say that because September is genuinely one of the most important planning months of the entire financial calendar.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: And it is almost usually treated as a month of catching up from summer rather than a month of serious strategic action.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Here's the thing about September that most people miss.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: By September, you know what this year looks like.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: Your income is largely set, your investment performance is visible, your tax picture is starting to take shape.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: You have four months to actually act before the window closes on December 31st.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: And four months when you can actually use them well, and there is significant runway to do so.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's why today's episode is about what your year-end financial plan should actually look like at your wealth level.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: What to review, what to act on, and what the window is.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Because the women who come out of Q4 in the best financial position are not the ones who were lucky.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: They are the ones who actually plan during this time.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: Let me explain why September is when serious year-end planning starts, not November, and especially not December.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: In November, you are dealing with the emotional weight of the holiday season.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: In December, you are scrambling.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Tax loss harvesting trades need to settle.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: Charitable contributions have processing times, and Roth conversion decisions have to be made before midnight on the 31st.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: And beneficiary form updates have to be processed by custodians who are operating on holiday hours this time of year.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: Every time I have a client who comes to me in December wanting to make a meaningful year-end move, I can help them, but we are operating under real constraints that didn't exist back in September.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: September is the month when you can make the most proactive decisions rather than being reactive to what's happening.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: When you can model out multiple scenarios and choose the best one, when you can actually execute complex strategies without having to rush and hope it's the best decision.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: This is the gift of acting now rather than later.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: I want to give you a clear picture of what September and that review should actually include.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Not a generic checklist, a real framework for decisions that matter at your level of wealth, because that is totally different.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: First, is you need to look at your income and tax picture for the year.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: By September, you can see your income year to date with reasonable accuracy.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: What is it you expect to earn between now and December?
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: Are there any bonuses coming up that have been mentioned?
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: RSU vesting, deferred compensation payouts, or other income events that are coming in Q4 that you now know about that you may not have known about back in January.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: Understanding your total 2026 income picture is the foundation of every other year-end decision you make because your tax bracket determines which strategies are going to be available to you and your family and at what cost.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: The second thing you need to look at is your capital gains picture.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: This is the one that I'm going to spend the most time across this season's episodes because it is the most significant wealth planning story of 2026.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: The SP 500 has surged more than 85% since the beginning of 2023.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: And if you've been invested, and you most likely have been, you are sitting on significant gains.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: The question is not whether you have unrealized gains.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: The question is what are you going to do about them and when and at what tax cost?
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: That requires analysis now, not pushing it off until December.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: The third thing to think about is your Roth conversion opportunity.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: If you are in or approaching retirement, you have a large traditional IRA balance that you want to take a look at.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: And there is a window between now and December 31st that may be your best opportunity of the year to make a Roth conversion at a favorable tax rate.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: We are actually going to be doing a dedicated episode on this topic, but here's the short version.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: September is when you model it.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: October is when you decide.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: November is when you execute, so you can go and enjoy the holidays in December.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: The fourth thing to think about is your charitable giving strategy.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: If you give charitably and are charitably inclined, and most of the women in this audience typically are, the most tax-efficient giving often happens before year end.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: Donor-advised fund contributions need to happen, direct gifts of appreciated securities, qualified charitable distributions from your IRA if you are over 70 and a half.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: Those are strategies that require time to actually execute properly.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: September is when you plan them.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: The fifth thing to think about is your estate beneficiaries and taking time to review them.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: I know this sounds like it's separate from year-end planning, but here's the reality of the situation.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: If your estate plan is outdated December 31st, it's not a tax deadline, but there is a psychological deadline behind it, and most people respond to that.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: Let's be honest.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: Use September and the energy behind that to look at your beneficiary forms, confirm your trust documents, and that they still reflect your intentions under the new$15 million estate exemption, and put an estate attorney meeting on the calendar before the holidays.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: Make that impossible, and everyone gets incredibly busy.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: Here's a specificity that I want you to take seriously.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: Tax lost harvesting trades generally need to settle within three business days.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: It depends on the asset, but something to know.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: To be recognized in 2026, a trade must settle by December 31st, meaning that the actual trade needs to be executed by roughly December 26th, accounting for the holiday schedule in there as well.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: IRA distributions and Roth conversions must be completed by December 31st.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: The paperwork, the processing, and also custodian requirements mean that you want to start this conversation no later than mid-November, which actually means that the decision making needs to happen in September and October.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: So you are ready for that November deadline.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not telling you all these things to create anxiety.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'm telling you this so that you can understand why the urgency here is real and why the women and their families who act in September are playing a fundamentally different game than the women who think about this in December or even January.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: Here are the three specific actions I want you to take away from this week's episode.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, block off an hour or so on your calendar for a year-end planning conversation with your advisor if they haven't proactively reached out to do one with you.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: This is not a catch-up call.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: This is an actionable planning session with a specific agenda.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: And before that meeting, pull together your year-to-date income picture, any Q4 income events that you know about, and your current investment account statements.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to walk in there with the raw material and walk out ideally with a written plan or action steps from your financial advisor.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: Action number two is ask your advisor three specific questions in that meeting.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: And they are number one, what is my capital gains picture looking like for 2026 and what should we be doing about it before the year ends?
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, is there a Roth conversion that's appropriate for this year?
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: And if so, how much should we be looking at and where are we going to pay the taxes from?
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: And number three, what is the most tax-efficient charitable giving strategy for me between now and December 31st, if you have those intention?
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: These three questions will surface high-level planning conversations and opportunities specific to your situation.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: They will also tell you immediately whether your advisor has been proactively thinking about these sessions or is just kind of reacting to what you're saying.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: Action number three is put the remaining planning milestone on your calendar right now.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: In October, you should decide and review on whether you're going to do a Roth conversion and work with your financial team, CPA, and advisor on the amount.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: November is executing a tax loss harvesting strategy and Roth conversion.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: The first week of December is complete any charitable giving that you want to do.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: December 26th, last day to execute anything.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: Typically, a lot of advisors want it done before Christmas, and they might be out during those remaining dates.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Put these on your phone before the episode ends and in your calendar so you have an actionable plan going forward.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: As I mentioned before, September is when the best planning happens.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: Not because January doesn't matter and because April is actually too late for anything.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: But because the women who treat September as a strategic month and who are planning their year-end moves with four months of runway instead of four weeks, they are consistently coming out of Q4 in a better position than those who don't.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: This is the season three energy that I want us to have going forward.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: Let's make the rest of 2026 count and kick off 2027 on a strong foot.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: As we wrap up this episode, I want to invite you, we actually have reopened our financial planning and wealth management services for the rest of 2026.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so as you are planning the rest of the year, if you are navigating this alone, working with an advisor who's no longer the right fit for you or looking to get a second opinion, now is the time.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: You can head over to tannisfingroup.com/slash contact to apply for a complimentary intro call so we can see if you are a good fit for us to work together.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: And that goes both ways.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: So we can figure out if we can help you to the best of our abilities as well.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: I am so excited to both kick off season three and spend the rest of the season with you.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: We have so many great episodes to cover and also help you navigate your financial planning and wealth management strategies the rest of this year and into the future.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: I look forward to seeing you on another episode of the Wealth Cafe.