{"id":14884,"date":"2021-12-15T11:08:40","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T19:08:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/?p=14884"},"modified":"2025-12-10T16:34:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T00:34:11","slug":"your-end-of-year-financial-to-do-list-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/your-end-of-year-financial-to-do-list-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Your End-Of-Year Financial To-Do List"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>2021 is drawing to a close, which means many of us are thinking about enjoying the holidays and spending time with our family and friends. It\u2019s also a great time to check in on your finances to make sure you\u2019ve set yourself up for success in the new year. To help you get started, here are six important financial tasks you should consider before the clock strikes midnight on New Year\u2019s Eve.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Move excess cash to your investment account<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the last year, maybe you saved up some extra cash because of cancelled travel plans or altered spending habits during the pandemic. If this sounds like you, <a href=\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/3-signs-youre-holding-too-much-cash\/\">you should be aware of the potential for cash drag<\/a> \u2014 especially in times of higher-than-normal inflation. Especially now, holding too much money in cash will cause you to lose buying power. Consider moving your excess cash to an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wealthfront.com\/investing\">investment account, like those offered by Wealthfront<\/a>. Our software makes it easy to build long-term wealth, and you can even put your money to work for good in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wealthfront.com\/socially-responsible-investing\">Socially Responsible portfolio<\/a> designed around sustainability, diversity, and equity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Consider a Roth conversion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/3-benefits-of-iras-and-1-drawback-what-you-need-to-know\/\">IRAs are a great way to save for retirement<\/a>. If you\u2019ve been thinking about <a href=\"https:\/\/support.wealthfront.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/209335726-Does-Wealthfront-support-Roth-conversions-\">converting your Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA<\/a> for the 2021 tax year, the deadline to do so is the end of the year. A Roth conversion allows you to take advantage of the tax benefits of a Roth IRA (namely, tax-free growth growth and distributions in retirement) even if you aren\u2019t eligible to contribute to one directly. There\u2019s also a chance that new legislation could prevent you from executing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.investopedia.com\/terms\/b\/backdoor-roth-ira.asp\">backdoor Roths<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nerdwallet.com\/article\/investing\/mega-backdoor-roths-work\">mega backdoor Roths<\/a> in 2022 and beyond. If you plan to execute a backdoor Roth with Wealthfront in 2021, make sure you request the conversion by December 22, 2021.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Harvest your losses to lower your tax bill<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/tax-loss-harvesting-101\/\">Tax-loss harvesting<\/a> allows you to reduce your tax bill while you maintain the risk and return characteristics of your investment portfolio. Human advisors will often harvest losses manually at the end of the year, but Wealthfront\u2019s software looks for opportunities to lower your tax bill all year long. If you use Wealthfront\u2019s Tax-Loss Harvesting service and have our Classic recommended portfolio, you\u2019re <a href=\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/how-wealthfronts-tlh-pays-for-itself\/\">likely to receive tax savings that more than cover your annual advisory fee<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. Spend down your FSA<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have an FSA, you may want to spend the bulk of it on qualifying expenses in case you aren\u2019t able to carry it over to next year. Generally, FSAs operate on a \u201cuse it or lose it\u201d system, but you should know that legislation from late 2020 means <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2021\/10\/06\/fsas-have-more-generous-rules-this-year-heres-what-to-know-.html\">FSA rules are temporarily more lenient this year<\/a> if your employer opted into the changes. If you previously had a grace period to use FSA funds from the previous year, the grace period to use 2021 money could now last until the end of 2022. If you were previously only able to roll over $550 in healthcare FSA funds from a previous year, that cap could be lifted. You should check with your employer to see if your company adopted these changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. Give a qualified tax-deductible charitable contribution<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Now is a good time to donate to a cause you believe in and simultaneously benefit from it on your 2021 tax return. In a temporary measure due to the pandemic, you can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2021\/11\/30\/you-can-deduct-up-to-300-in-charitable-donations-this-year.html\">claim a qualified deduction<\/a> up to $300 as a single filer and up to $600 as a joint married filer for cash donations you made in 2021 even if you take the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.investopedia.com\/terms\/s\/standarddeduction.asp\">standard deduction<\/a>. Just make sure the organization you donate to is on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/charities-non-profits\/tax-exempt-organization-search\">IRS\u2019s list of eligible groups<\/a> and hold onto your receipts. And if you itemize your deductions, you can claim deductions for qualified donations worth up to 100% of your adjusted gross income in 2021. Normally, the cap is 60%. For more information, check out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/newsroom\/expanded-tax-benefits-help-individuals-and-businesses-give-to-charity-in-2021\">this IRS resource on the tax benefits of charitable giving in 2021<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">6. Consider contributing to a 529<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have kids, a 529 college savings account (like the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wealthfront.com\/college\">529 plan Wealthfront offers<\/a>) can be a great way to save for their college education. If you <a href=\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/saving-for-college-how-to-choose-529-account\/\">enroll in a 529 early<\/a>, your savings will have more time to compound tax-free. You can even consider <a href=\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/saving-for-college-superfunding-529-account\/\">superfunding a 529<\/a>, which allows you to fund the account with up to five years\u2019 worth of contributions at once without it counting towards your lifetime gift tax exclusion limit. For most states, the 529 contribution deadline is December 31 although <a href=\"https:\/\/www.savingforcollege.com\/article\/states-where-you-can-can-claim-a-prior-year-529-plan-tax-deduction\">in a few states (Georgia, Iowa, and Mississippi) the deadline is in April<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Start off 2022 strong<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We hope these tips help you prepare for a financially rewarding future in 2022 and beyond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2021 is drawing to a close, which means many of us are thinking about enjoying the holidays and spending time with our family and friends. It\u2019s also a great time to check in on your finances to make sure you\u2019ve set yourself up for success in the new year. To help you get started, here [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10000,"featured_media":14885,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1278],"tags":[2183],"coauthors":[1250],"class_list":["post-14884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-planning","tag-financial-checklist"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Financial To-Dos Before 2022 \u2758 Wealthfront<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"2021 is almost over. Here are some financial to-dos you should consider before 2022 is here.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/your-end-of-year-financial-to-do-list-2021\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Financial To-Dos Before 2022 \u2758 Wealthfront\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"2021 is almost over. Here are some financial to-dos you should consider before 2022 is here.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/your-end-of-year-financial-to-do-list-2021\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Wealthfront Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-12-15T19:08:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-11T00:34:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/erwan-hesry-WPTHZkA-M4I-unsplash-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"965\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chris Hutchins\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/erwan-hesry-WPTHZkA-M4I-unsplash-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Wealthfront\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Wealthfront\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Chris Hutchins\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/your-end-of-year-financial-to-do-list-2021\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/your-end-of-year-financial-to-do-list-2021\/\",\"name\":\"Financial To-Dos Before 2022 \u2758 Wealthfront\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/your-end-of-year-financial-to-do-list-2021\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/your-end-of-year-financial-to-do-list-2021\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/erwan-hesry-WPTHZkA-M4I-unsplash-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-15T19:08:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-11T00:34:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/dab26849baacffef502035f907045563\"},\"description\":\"2021 is almost over. Here are some financial to-dos you should consider before 2022 is here.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/your-end-of-year-financial-to-do-list-2021\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/your-end-of-year-financial-to-do-list-2021\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/your-end-of-year-financial-to-do-list-2021\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/erwan-hesry-WPTHZkA-M4I-unsplash-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/erwan-hesry-WPTHZkA-M4I-unsplash-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":965,\"caption\":\"Photo by Erwan Hesry on Unsplash\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/your-end-of-year-financial-to-do-list-2021\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Your End-Of-Year Financial To-Do List\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Wealthfront Blog\",\"description\":\"Personal Finance &amp; Investing Insights\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/dab26849baacffef502035f907045563\",\"name\":\"Elizabeth Rowe\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/author\/elizabethrowe\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Financial To-Dos Before 2022 \u2758 Wealthfront","description":"2021 is almost over. Here are some financial to-dos you should consider before 2022 is here.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/your-end-of-year-financial-to-do-list-2021\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Financial To-Dos Before 2022 \u2758 Wealthfront","og_description":"2021 is almost over. Here are some financial to-dos you should consider before 2022 is here.","og_url":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/your-end-of-year-financial-to-do-list-2021\/","og_site_name":"Wealthfront Blog","article_published_time":"2021-12-15T19:08:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-12-11T00:34:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":965,"url":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/erwan-hesry-WPTHZkA-M4I-unsplash-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Chris Hutchins","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/erwan-hesry-WPTHZkA-M4I-unsplash-scaled.jpg","twitter_creator":"@Wealthfront","twitter_site":"@Wealthfront","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Chris Hutchins","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/your-end-of-year-financial-to-do-list-2021\/","url":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/your-end-of-year-financial-to-do-list-2021\/","name":"Financial To-Dos Before 2022 \u2758 Wealthfront","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/your-end-of-year-financial-to-do-list-2021\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/your-end-of-year-financial-to-do-list-2021\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/erwan-hesry-WPTHZkA-M4I-unsplash-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2021-12-15T19:08:40+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-11T00:34:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/dab26849baacffef502035f907045563"},"description":"2021 is almost over. Here are some financial to-dos you should consider before 2022 is here.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/your-end-of-year-financial-to-do-list-2021\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/your-end-of-year-financial-to-do-list-2021\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/your-end-of-year-financial-to-do-list-2021\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/erwan-hesry-WPTHZkA-M4I-unsplash-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/erwan-hesry-WPTHZkA-M4I-unsplash-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":965,"caption":"Photo by Erwan Hesry on Unsplash"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/your-end-of-year-financial-to-do-list-2021\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Your End-Of-Year Financial To-Do List"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/","name":"Wealthfront Blog","description":"Personal Finance &amp; Investing Insights","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/dab26849baacffef502035f907045563","name":"Elizabeth Rowe","url":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/author\/elizabethrowe\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10000"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14884"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14884\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17998,"href":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14884\/revisions\/17998"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14884"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=14884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}