January is thought to be named for the Roman god Janus, the god of beginnings and endings, whose two faces look forward and backward at the same time. The change of the calendar makes this a great month for reviewing what happened last year, and looking ahead into the year to come.
Closing the books on 2014 means looking forward into 2015 in another way, though: Taxes. W2s and 1099s are going to be coming out soon — they must be sent out before February 2 this year — and lots of people will be calling tax advisors to schedule an appointment.
This year, as you begin collecting paperwork together, make a point to grab this “Key Financial Data for 2015” document too. There’s information here about tax brackets and rates, as well as some of the more frequently used deductions, exemptions and credits. It also shows contribution limits for the various types of retirement plans and IRAs.
We hope you’ll do two things with this document. First, we hope you’ll share this document with your tax advisor, as a way of introducing us. The more we can coordinate information and efforts among the various parts of your financial management team, the better job we can all do on your behalf. And please feel free to share this with friends and family that might benefit from this sort of quick Key Data reference, which can be very helpful in gathering information or checking assumptions.
Second, we hope you’ll take the opportunity to think about making your retirement contributions for both 2014 and 2015, in order to catch up and keep ahead. Recent studies show that making contributions sooner, rather than later, can make a big difference to the amount you’re able to accumulate over the long run.
Of course, you can always contact us if you have specific questions or concerns, or if you want more detailed information. We’d be happy to help.
