Taxes – Before December is here, you should take a look at your income tax withholding (if you’re employed) and the payments you’ve made on your own (if you’re self-employed). Have you paid in enough money to meet your tax liabilities? If you haven’t, plan to make those payments in the next couple of months. The last thing you want to do is to cause your tax bill to go up with an underpayment penalty.
Retirement Contributions – The IRS has very specific rules regarding how much money you’re allowed to contribute to IRA’s or 401(k)’s each year. Keep an eye on those rules and any contributions you’ve been planning to make as the end of the year approaches.
Flexible Spending Accounts – If you’ve used a flexible spending account to save for medical or childcare expenses, you’ll want to make sure that you’re on track to using those dollars before the end of the year. Schedule your purchases to ensure that you use your account’s balance in the allotted time. In many cases, if you don’t use your money, you will lose it.
Medical Insurance – Deductibles for medical insurance re-sets for most insurance carriers on January 1. If you’ve already met your deductible for this year, you should try to fit any other planned procedures into this year to avoid having to meet another deductible next year. This could be as simple as scheduling your next appointment at the end of December rather than at the beginning of January. The same principle applies to dental insurance, too.