Happy Holidays!

Counting today we have ten market days left in the year – it’s crunch time. This calendar compression isn’t new but is still hard to get comfortable with. I’m spending these last days double checking that RMDs have been taken on schedule, Roth conversions and other transfers are completed, portfolios are properly balanced, and that appropriate losses get harvested for tax purposes.

There’s been less of the latter this year, fortunately. Stocks have done well and bonds have chugged along, with core bond market indices up for the year about 2-3% as I type. There’s been volatility in both parts of the market but it seems like bonds have been consistently choppy. This has created some unrealized losses in bonds that could be harvested within non-retirement accounts, so I’m watching that closely as we approach year-end. Ultimately, I’ll only harvest a loss if the tax benefit is proportionally large enough not to get absorbed by a short-term upswing, or if the client has other realized gains this year that I’m trying to shield. Maybe this is too much information, but it sheds a little light on some of the important details I handle as we close out the year.

Otherwise, at this point we’re expecting another 0.25% short-term rate reduction from the Fed when the rate-setting committee meets tomorrow. The CME’s FedWatch tool indicates a 97% probability of a reduction (down a smidgeon from yesterday’s 99%) so the only question now is how the Fed explains its decision and how it sees the road ahead for inflation, the job market, and the economy. Market and economic indicators show a mixed bag while there still seems to be a tailwind as we prepare to enter the new year, but it’s always best to expect the unexpected.

I’ll write more about all this in my Quarterly Update during the first week of January. Until then I’m taking the next couple of weeks off from writing this blog. I’ll still be hard at work, of course, both with details like I already mentioned and the rip-roaring fun of formal continuing education. My education never stops since I read and watch daily, but it doesn’t often come with “credit”. I normally do a lot of formal continuing ed via industry conferences but I’ve slacked off on those this year. Couple that with a regulatory change requiring a certain amount of hours by year-end and I have some catching up to do. Note to self: don’t procrastinate so much next year!

Beyond that, let me take this opportunity to wish you and yours a happy holiday season and a fabulous start to 2025. Good luck and best wishes from all of us here at Ridgeview Financial Planning.

Have questions? Ask us. We can help.