Every year has a rhythm.

Most retirees feel that rhythm more than they ever did while working.

During your working years, the calendar was driven by performance reviews, bonus cycles, open enrollment, tax forms from the company, kids’ school calendars, holidays, spring break.

In retirement, the calendar becomes internal.

But here’s the thing most people don’t realize:

retirement has its own critical calendar — and one of the most important “moments” is RIGHT NOW, at year-end.

It’s easy to think the major decisions are behind you. But year-end is one of the most powerful control points retirees have.

Small strategic moves right now can lower your taxes for the next 12 months, reduce future required distributions, prevent portfolio drift, avoid beneficiary disasters, and keep your financial life aligned with what you actually want this next chapter to look like.

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So very simply:

Before you close the books on this year, take a few minutes to check your financial foundation.

A quick review today can make next year smoother — and materially more secure.

Here’s how to do it in a smart, simple, high-ROI way.

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1) Review your investment allocations

Most retirees never revisit their allocation until something goes wrong.

That’s backwards.

Risk should be driven by math and cash flow needs, not fear and not headlines.

Markets move. And when markets move, your allocation moves without you doing anything.

Example:

if equities had a strong year, your portfolio may now be more equity-exposed than you intended.

If you built your allocation originally to target 50% stocks, 50% bonds — and now it’s 58% stocks, 42% bonds — you are taking more risk than you planned for.

You didn’t choose that. The market chose it for you.

Year-end is the perfect moment to ask:

• does my allocation still align with my spending plan?
• does it reflect my risk capacity (not just my risk tolerance)?
• does it fit the actual cash flow needs of the next 3-5 years?

This is not about timing the market.

It’s about making sure your portfolio is doing the job you hired it to do: generate reliable, repeatable income — without exposing you to risk you don’t need to take anymore.

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2) Rebalance your portfolio

Reviewing is step 1. Rebalancing is step 2.

If your allocation is off by more than your target bands (ex: +/- 5%), year-end is a natural moment to bring things back in line.

Why year-end is ideal for rebalancing:

• it pairs with tax planning (capital gains/losses)
• it avoids letting “portfolio drift” compound into your future
• it forces disciplined behavior (you buy more of what’s cheap and sell more of what’s expensive — the opposite of what most investors emotionally do)

There is a deep, quiet advantage retired households have here: you are not making ongoing 401(k) contributions anymore.

You don’t have new money monthly dollar-cost averaging.

So rebalancing IS your disciplined behavior mechanism.

A quick scheduled rebalance once or twice per year keeps your risk right-sized — and your plan in your control.

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3) Schedule your tax-loss harvesting conversation

This one is often misunderstood.

Tax-loss harvesting is not about losing money on purpose.

It’s about:

• taking strategic losses that already exist
• using them to offset gains and/or future gains
• while keeping your portfolio invested

Harvesting losses can meaningfully reduce current or future tax drag.

For retirees, this can be especially attractive if:

• your RMDs will increase future taxable income
• you’re in a temporarily low bracket (ex: early retirement years, 62-70 before Social Security, or before meaningful RMDs begin)
• you had concentrated stock positions that performed well this year

Also — tax-loss harvesting is not something you have to execute manually. But you do need to look at positions and flag opportunities before December 31.

If there is any year-end conversation worth putting 15 minutes on the calendar for — it’s this one.

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4) Double-check your beneficiary designations

This is not a “big” heavy estate planning meeting.

This is a 5-minute sanity check that can prevent one of the most heartbreaking errors in personal finance.

Beneficiary designations override your will.

Let’s say your will says:

“Everything goes to my spouse, and then to my kids.”

But your IRA still lists your sister from 1997.

Your sister wins. Not your spouse.

This happens constantly.

Any year you have a life change — a grandchild, a divorce in the family, a death, a marriage, a move, a new account — beneficiaries need a quick review.

Your tax return, your required distributions, your investment allocation… all of that pales in comparison to ensuring your assets go where you intend.

Five minutes of review here can avoid colossal estate errors.

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5) Confirm healthcare coverage for the new year

This is where retirees often carry the most fear — and often the most avoidable hidden liability.

Health coverage is not static in retirement.

Premiums change. Formularies change. Networks change. Supplement plans change.

Healthcare costs are one of the largest drivers of sequence-of-returns risk simply because unexpected expenses force you to withdraw assets at the wrong time.

That means healthcare decisions are not just healthcare decisions — they are portfolio preservation decisions.

Questions worth asking right now:

• are your medications still covered next year?
• is your preferred doctor still in-network?
• is your supplement or advantage plan still optimal for your utilization?
• do you understand your out-of-pocket exposure?

The time to solve this is before January.

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The deeper message here:

Retirement planning isn’t a one-time event.

It is a series of small, consistent, intentional checkpoints.

None of the above are dramatic.

They are not “scary.”

They don’t require a market outlook or a guess about interest rates or a prediction about the election or the dollar or inflation or the Fed.

They are quiet, proactive stewardship.

And the retirees who execute little, boring, consistent, year-end disciplines like these — tend to avoid the big problems.

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Peace of Mind Is an Output of Process, Not Luck

When people see confident retirees who seem relaxed and unbothered by markets, it is not because they have magic investments or insider knowledge.

It’s because they have structure.

They have a rhythm.

They have a checklist.

Year-end is your chance to practice that rhythm one more time.

Let the new year begin with alignment, clarity, and confidence—because you took the time to close this one well.

A little prep today creates peace of mind tomorrow.

Save this list. Check them off one by one.

Your retired self one year from now will be glad that you did.

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