Taking a loan from a 401(k) account may not be a good decision if the participant’s access to other funds is a viable option. If a plan loan is ultimately taken by the participant, there are plenty of technical rules to navigate, along with the continuing risk of a deemed distribution and possible excise taxes for an early distribution if the loan is not timely repaid. In short, there are plenty of traps that go along with taking a loan from a 401(k) account.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OB3) was passed with such haste and secrecy in the dead of night (but with a lot of fanfare the following day) that it is only natural that many mistakes were made when the bill was signed into law on July 4, 2025. Some of those mistakes, or oversights, are now coming to light, prompting many questions directed at the Department of Treasury.

If you have clients who have asked questions about opening and funding a Trump Account, some tentative answers can be found in the IRS Notice 2025-68 which was released on December 2, 2025.

The OB3’s new rule that limits the overall itemized deductions indirectly affects the otherwise ‘unlimited’ charitable income tax deduction that is available to trusts and estates. Fiduciaries will now be required to reassess both planned charitable distributions and investments needed to generate liquidity to deal with the resulting income tax liability that many trusts and estates will face in 2026.

Health Savings Accounts are much more than just a checking account to pay for copays and medical deductibles. They can also function as a quiet retirement savings vehicle with unmatched tax advantages using consistent annual contributions, investing the HSA balance wisely, and delaying, if possible, HSA distributions until the owner’s retirement years.

While the Form 709 gift tax return appears pretty straightforward, it is a lot more complex than one would surmise from its breadth. We often throw around the ‘3-year-statute-of-limitations’ like it is a simple clock that starts to run from the date the return is filed, and the donor is magically ‘home free’ after three years, which is not the case.

With the charitable giving rules changing in about a month, there may a couple of last-minute steps to take to maximize the tax deduction impact of a charitable gift.

In some ways it might make more sense for Dad to simply transfer his interest to a younger generation family member, because the transfer of an interest, rather than a restriction or elimination, will not be a lapse that results in a deemed gift.

In ‘down markets’ it might make sense to take a required minimum distribution (RMD) in-kind, rather than selling the investments and satisfying the RMD obligation paying cash from the sales proceeds.

The IRS just published the inflation adjusted retirement plan contribution limits for 2026.