Meritage Periodical - December 2022
Advisor Perspective
Prompting critical thinking and conversations around issues in our industry. Not intended as personal financial advice.
Looking back before we look forward
With a new year at our doorstep, many of us will be setting new personal and business goals. However, before looking forward, it is natural to first stop and look back at 2022. We hope you look back fondly on the year, personally and professionally, and celebrate many accomplishments.
If you’re looking to take inventory of 2022 for your financial life, we have two major suggestions:
- Check your financial plan. Start by focusing on the big picture, not the details. For us, this means reviewing your financial plan and seeing where you stand. Answer the question, “am I still on track?” For our clients with well-established plans, this has been a great discussion. Many have discovered that despite recent portfolio declines, they are still ahead of their plan and the good years have, in fact, created a cushion for a challenging year. If you don’t have a plan developed, let us know and we can help.
- Benchmark your results. We all want some assessment of our investment performance; however, this can be challenging to evaluate when different people assume different levels of risk and have different investment timeframes. Making a comparison to a friend or neighbor can be dangerous without knowing specifically how they’re invested. We’d also urge you to be careful with comparisons to the major benchmarks we see on TV, like the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and NASDAQ. They simply may not be representative of how you are, or want to be, invested. That all said, it is very important to be able to evaluate your results and be confident you are being well rewarded as an investor. Please let us know if we can help you review your 2022 results and create a personalized benchmark for your portfolio.
We’re always here to help you assess 2022 and set goals for the year ahead. Wishing you a joyful and prosperous new year, and looking forward to continuing our work with you in 2023!
Timely Topics
Contribution Limit Increases
The IRS released the 2023 contribution limit increases for the following:
- 401(k)s, 403(b)s, most 457 plans, and the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan will increase from $20,500 to $22,500. The catch-up contribution limit is $7,500 for those age 50 and older (an increase of $1,000).
- Simple IRA contribution limits will increase from $14,000 to $15,500, with a $3,500 catch-up for those age 50 and older (an increase of $500 since 2015-2022).
- For Health Savings Accounts (HSA), the maximum contribution in 2023 for an individual is $3,850 and $7,750 for a family, up $200 and $450 respectively, with an additional $1,000 catch-up contribution limit if age 55 or older.
Now is a good time to review your contribution rate for 2023.
2022 Tax Filing
2023 is about to arrive, and with it the task of completing our tax filing. Employers are required to send you W-2 forms no later than January 31st. Upon receiving a W-2, most people would like to get their tax filing done as soon as possible. We want to provide a friendly reminder that custodians of investment accounts have an extended timeline to send 1099s and other related forms for your investment accounts. Also, investors with interest in partnerships may receive this information even later in the year. The point of sharing this is to remind you that you can only do your taxes as fast as your unique situation allows.