Tax Strategies

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  • 1.  Which 2025–2026 Tax Changes Matter Most to You and How Do You Stay Organized?

    Posted 20 hours ago

    The new AAII 2025–2026 Tax Guide lays out a huge slate of changes: new deductions, shifting MAGI phaseouts, higher retirement contribution limits, expanded senior deductions, SALT cap increases, estate and gift thresholds and dozens of inflation-adjusted rules across investment income, Social Security, Medicare and more.

    For many investors, the challenge isn't just knowing the rules-it's keeping track of them.

    So I'd love to hear how others approach tax planning now that the landscape is more complicated than ever:

    👉 With all the phaseouts, thresholds, MAGI definitions, and new deduction types, how do you stay organized?
    Do you rely on a CPA, software like TurboTax, a personal spreadsheet, or some combination?

    And on the strategy side:

    👉 Which of the new 2025–2026 tax changes do you think will have the biggest impact on your own planning-and why?
    Is it the enhanced senior deduction, higher SALT deduction cap, increased IRA/401(k)/HSA limits, QCD threshold changes, or something else entirely?

    Curious how other investors are adapting, and if you haven't yet, the full article in AAII's annual Tax Guide is worth a read. It's a comprehensive walk-through of every key number shaping your 2025 and 2026 tax bill.

    This article is part of The Individual Investor's Guide to Personal Tax Planning for 2025–2026. See all sections | Download complete PDF



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    Jenna Brashear
    AAII Community Manager
    Chicago, IL
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  • 2.  RE: Which 2025–2026 Tax Changes Matter Most to You and How Do You Stay Organized?

    Posted 2 hours ago
    Edited by DAVE GILMER 2 hours ago

    Hands down the extra $12,000 Senior deduction has the most impact on our savings and I'm using it by filling up the LTCG zero bracket with LTCG, that have sky-rocketed since 2022.

    I keep organized with spreadsheets, one of which is a tax forecaster for each year that tracks my own general categories such as interest, dividends, ordinary income, RMDs , LTCG, STCG, pension, and SS all in a single row of a spreadsheet which calculates the Total Tax and effective tax. I check this with tax software to confirm its accuracy. I can then see year over year how these items change along with the tax brackets & standard deduction.



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    DAVE GILMER
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Which 2025–2026 Tax Changes Matter Most to You and How Do You Stay Organized?

    Posted an hour ago
    Jenna

    Regards for the Season.

    I pay Gene, my longtime CPA (a Sancho Panza type), to advise me on these decisions. So far, Gene is 100% for the last 30 or so years. 

    The Lois Lerner case thought me that there are some IRS agents who have grudges to grind, and her example proves they can CHOOSE which taxpayers to harass ... AND still get full retirement check. 

    The odds of guessing wrong here look very bad. 

    My palate is too delicate for prison food, even in "Club Fed" in Panama City.  I would just as soon grasp a naked electrical wire as I would guess how to comply with a NEW IRS tax change.

    Let someone else be the test case. This is way beyond my risk-tolerance spectrum. I like having my Christmases at home too much. I pass.

    Regards 



    Original Message