Making the Most of the Year’s Final Quarter
September marks the beginning of the most consequential planning window of the year. With one quarter remaining before December 31, the decisions made in the next few months can meaningfully reduce this year’s tax bill, but only if action is taken before the calendar turns. Most of the levers that matter for 2026 taxes are hard deadline items: Roth conversions, required minimum distributions, tax-loss harvesting, and qualified charitable distributions must all be completed by December 31. Once the year closes, those opportunities are gone.
The good news is that September and October are actually better months to execute many of these strategies than November or December. By now, most of 2026’s income is known or estimable, which means decisions can be sized precisely rather than rushed at year-end.
Project Your RMDs Now
For investors subject to required minimum distributions, those who have reached age 73, calculating the full-year RMD amount now, rather than in December, leaves time to make strategic decisions about how and when to take it. An RMD that is taken in a single December distribution is often less efficient than one spread thoughtfully across the year, particularly when coordinated with other income sources, charitable giving, or a Roth conversion plan.¹
Projecting the RMD also helps identify whether total 2026 income is tracking toward a bracket threshold or an IRMAA Medicare surcharge level. This information is essential for sizing a Roth conversion or deciding whether to accelerate or defer other income.
The Roth Conversion Window Is Narrowing
September and October represent the optimal window for Roth conversion decisions, not because the rules change, but because the math becomes clearer. With most of the year’s income already recorded, it is possible to calculate precisely how much can be converted without crossing into the next tax bracket or triggering an IRMAA surcharge. Converting too much is an irreversible mistake; sizing the conversion too conservatively leaves bracket room on the table. The Q3-to-Q4 window is where precision is possible.²
For retirees in the pre-RMD years — past retirement but before mandatory distributions begin at 73 — this window is particularly valuable. As Mercer Advisors has noted, systematic conversions during these lower-income years can reduce the size of future RMDs, lower lifetime taxes, and increase the after-tax wealth passed on to heirs.³ With tax brackets now permanent under current law, the case for conversion rests on bracket management and RMD compression rather than rate uncertainty.
Tax-Loss Harvesting: Review Now, Act Before December
A review of taxable investment accounts in September — identifying positions with unrealized losses that could be harvested before year-end — is more effective than waiting until December, when market movements and year-end trading volumes can make execution less precise. Realized losses can be used to offset capital gains dollar-for-dollar, and up to $3,000 of net losses can be applied against ordinary income, with any excess carrying forward to future years.⁴
The wash-sale rule requires care: repurchasing a substantially identical security within 30 days before or after a loss sale disallows the deduction. Planning the harvest in September or October leaves room to reinvest in a similar — but not identical — position before year-end without triggering the rule.
Qualified Charitable Distributions: A Tax-Efficient Year-End Tool
For investors aged 70½ or older, a Qualified Charitable Distribution — a direct transfer from a traditional IRA to a qualified charity — remains one of the most tax-efficient giving strategies available. The 2026 QCD limit is $111,000 per person. Because the distribution is excluded from taxable income entirely, it is often more valuable than a cash donation followed by a deduction — particularly for investors who take the standard deduction and would not otherwise benefit from itemizing charitable contributions.⁵
QCDs also count toward satisfying the year’s RMD, making them a way to fulfill a distribution obligation while simultaneously supporting a charitable goal and reducing taxable income. For investors who have not yet taken their full RMD and are charitably inclined, the QCD is a natural first step before year-end.
Coordinate Before December
The most important insight about Q4 tax planning is that the strategies above interact. A Roth conversion changes the income calculation that affects QCD efficiency. A harvested loss changes what gains can be recognized. An RMD affects the bracket room available for other moves. The value of coordinating these decisions — ideally in September or October rather than the final weeks of December — is significant, and it is exactly the kind of integrated planning that a financial advisor is positioned to help with.
Bottom Line: The Q4 planning window is shorter than it appears — and the strategies that matter most have hard December 31 deadlines. Reviewing your RMD projections, evaluating a Roth conversion, identifying tax-loss harvesting opportunities, and considering a QCD are all decisions worth making now, not in December. Your Wedbush advisor can help you sequence these moves in a way that maximizes their combined impact.
Sources:
- https://taxstra.com/retirement-tax-planning/
- https://www.windwardfp.com/wealth-insights/roth-conversion-window
- https://www.merceradvisors.com/retirement/2026-tax-strategies-with-roth-conversions/
- https://whzwealth.com/blog/your-fall-tax-planning-checklist-high-value-moves-to-make-before-december-31
- https://www.schwab.com/learn/story/required-minimum-distributions-what-you-should-know
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