If a Roth conversion is on the table, model it now, while there's still time to change the answer.
And respect the calendar. A QCD has to be completed by Dec. 31, and "completed" means the money is out of your IRA and in the charity's hands. If you use IRA check-writing, the check needs to be cleared before year's end. Custodians and charity offices both slow down in December. Start a QCD on Dec. 28 and you may learn in February that it landed in the wrong tax year.
The giving isn't the hard part. Retirees are generous people. The order is the hard part, and in a year like this one the order is worth more than most people's investment returns.
Kurt Supe is a CPA and retirement planner with CFD Investments, Inc., Registered Broker Dealer, and Creative Financial Designs, Inc., Registered Investment Adviser. Follow him on X and YouTube at @KurtSupeCPA. For additional information and disclosures, visit www.creativefinancialgrp.com.
-Kurt Supe
