Countdown to NYE: Your Q4 investor checklist for key dates and deadlines

Ahh, the fall.

Holiday shopping. Travel. Family. Mentally preparing for Mariah Carey on repeat.

While there’s much to do as the holiday season approaches, it’s also prime time to review your portfolio. A handful of deadlines hit before December 31—missing them could mean starting 2026 a step behind.

While we can’t help you coordinate contest-winning Halloween costumes or an Instagram-worthy Thanksgiving Day spread, we can help you organize your financial calendar. From topping off retirement accounts to rebalancing your ETF holdings, let’s walk through what to keep on your radar between now and the NYE ball drop.

TL;DR

• Max out tax-advantaged accounts. Contribute to your 401(k) or IRA (and use catch-up contributions if eligible).
• Give your portfolio a check-up. Open a brokerage account if you’ve been putting it off, rebalance holdings, and confirm your ETFs still match your goals.
• Do a quick tax check. Review opportunities for tax-loss harvesting, watch for capital gains distributions, and consider making charitable donations.
• Cover your bases. Double-check your emergency fund, insurance policies, and beneficiary designations.
• Plan ahead. Knock down high-interest debt and document your 2026 game plan so you’re not scrambling come January.

Why Q4 is an important time for ETF investors

Life can be chaotic in the last quarter of the year. You’re juggling pumpkin-spiced everything, office parties, and the inevitable year-end fire drills at work.

So, why should ETF investors squeeze their portfolio into already packed schedules?

• Deadlines. Retirement contributions, charitable donations, and tactical tax strategies (like loss harvesting and Roth conversions) are all tied to the almighty calendar. They need to be wrapped up before 2025 ends.
• Market mayhem. Volatility tends to pick up this time of year, as companies report earnings, investors rebalance, and funds distribute gains. All of this can impact your portfolio and tax bill. 
• The early bird gets the…wealth. Putting on your proactive hat allows you to start 2026 on the right foot and take a step toward your financial goals, instead of playing catch up.

We get it…January is the ultimate “I’ll get my life in order” month. But pushing these tasks off until then could be a costly approach for investors.

October: Portfolio check-in and strategy review

Revisit your portfolio. When was the last time you reviewed your investment strategy? While you don’t need to break out the drawing board and start from scratch, it doesn’t hurt to make sure your ETF allocations still line up with your risk tolerance and goals.

Employ tax-loss harvesting. Even though markets have generally trended upward this year, you might still be sitting on some losses. October is a good time to consider realizing those losses to offset gains elsewhere. This is known as tax-loss harvesting. So long as you avoid buying “substantially identical” securities, you can reinvest the proceeds without throwing off your overall strategy, while minimizing your tax bill.

Check your contributions. Are you on track to max out your 401(k) or IRA? For 2025, the 401(k) employee contribution limit is $23,500 ($31,000 if you’re 50 or older),¹ while the IRA limit is $7,000 ($8,000 for those 50 and older).² If not, you still have a few pay periods left to bump up contributions.

Open that account you’ve been putting off. According to our 2025 Retail Investors by the Numbers Study, less than half of investors (48%) have a personal brokerage account.³ If you’ve been meaning to open a brokerage account, why not this month (or even today)? It sets you up to put new money to work before year end.

November: Charitable giving and proactive planning

Consider charitable contributions. The season of giving can also be the season of saving—on your tax bill. Donations made by December 31 may qualify for deductions if you itemize. If you’re already planning to give, November is a good time to act so you’re not rushing to the closest Goodwill while everyone else is sitting by the fire drinking hot chocolate.

Review retirement strategies. This is also a good checkpoint for IRA contributions and catch-up contributions if you’re 50 or older. While IRAs give you until tax day to contribute, 401(k) deadlines are tied to the calendar year. November offers just enough runway to adjust before the final pay periods hit.

Explore Roth conversions. If your income is lower this year than you expect in the future, converting part of a traditional IRA into a Roth IRA could make sense. You’ll pay taxes now, but qualified withdrawals down the road are tax-free. Keep in mind, conversions must be completed by December 31.

Map out next year’s plan. With the year winding down, November is the perfect time to set your 2026 roadmap. Whether that’s paying down high-interest debt, ensuring your emergency fund is adequately funded (and liquid), or simply clarifying your saving and investing goals, have a plan in place before the holidays—even if it’s just an initial draft.

December:

Wrap up contributions. December 31 is the hard stop for 401(k) contributions. If you’ve been meaning to top off your account, now’s the time. IRA contributions can wait until April’s tax deadline—but don’t let that lull you into inaction.

Mind capital gains and dividends. December is when many funds make their final distributions. That could mean taxable capital gains showing up in your account, even if you didn’t sell any assets. Take a moment to check your holdings, and be mindful before adding new positions right before a payout.

Update the fine print. Beneficiary designations, insurance coverage, estate documents—they all tend to gather dust until life events force us to revisit them. A quick December refresh can save your future self a lot of hassle.

Schedule a planning conversation. December is also an apt time to sit down with a financial advisor (or even just yourself and a notebook) to review the past year and map out future goals. A 60-minute check-in now can prevent rushed decisions later.

Wrap the year with confidence

Q4 is busy enough without financial to-dos, but carving out a little time now pays off down the road. From topping off retirement accounts and harvesting tax losses to updating beneficiaries and giving to causes you care about, the final months of the year are filled with opportunities (and a few hard deadlines).

Start getting everything squared away now, and you’ll enter 2026 clear-headed versus doing mental gymnastics over a pile of financial to-dos. And if the checklist feels overwhelming, that’s your cue to talk it through with someone you trust—or at the very least, block an hour or two to document your own plan.

Frequently asked questions