| So much recalibration. So much fun! As the year comes to a close, imperative shifts are taking place to further optimize the flow.
You may notice a little dip in the cash department. Due to the upcoming 2018 tax laws, I went ahead and paid the remainder of my 2017-2018 property taxes this year ($4200) in order to write that off on 2017 taxes. My SALT/property tax deductions usually land around $13,000, well above the new $10,000 limit imposed. It's almost a no-brainer to shift some of that to this year where I can take advantage of it, saving around $600 in taxes.
The change has been made to downgrade healthcare from Gold 80 to Bronze 60 HDHP. In January I'll be opening up an HSA account, most likely with Lively, to coincide with the cheaper plan, starting with a $600 deposit and $150 monthly contributions, which help bring down taxable income.
Some time before April 17, I'll be transferring my lingering 401k to an SEP and will resume monthly contributions there. Just waiting on a friend to complete his CPA certification, happening imminently. He has plenty of insurance clients, but I promised to be his first retirement fund client!
Other places to trim the fat will be happening, such as moving to a cheaper cell phone plan and cutting off TV service (just using free OTA antenna) seeing as how I barely/never watch TV these days.
I see plenty of freelance coming my way, so I'm hoping that the economy continues to flourish well into 2018. But hope and reality can be two very different things. The most important thing is how to handle it should the tide drastically change. |