Start 2026 Strong with our Financial Checklist

January 4, 2026
New Year 2026 Financial Strategies to reach financial goals

Happy New Year!!


As we step into 2026, it’s the perfect time to review your financial goals and make any adjustments to work towards your goals. We wanted to share a few actionable financial tips to help you make the most of the year ahead:


2026 Financial Checklist:


Review and Adjust Your Goals: Revisit your short and long-term financial objectives and adjust for any changes in your life or market conditions.


Frequently Asked Questions often include how do I to track goals and measure? We suggest creating a template or summary for each goal. i.e building up an emergency fund first and then increase 401k contributions. Or, save $ per paycheck and then monitor these goals on a frequent basis throughout the year.


Maximize Contributions: Take advantage of increased contribution limits for 401(k)s, IRAs, Roth IRAs, HSAs and other retirement accounts in 2026.


A major change this year by the SECURE 2.0 Act is that high earners (earning more than $150,000 in 2025) are required to make Roth catch up contributions beginning in 2026.


There is also a “super catch-up” available for those age 60-63.


Plan for Tax Efficiency: Review your tax strategies early in the year, including opportunities for deductions and tax-loss harvesting.


If you plan to take the standard deduction in 2026, there is a new charitable deduction, on top of the standard deduction, up to $1,000 for single filers and $2,000 for married couples filing jointly.


Diversify Investments: Ensure your portfolio is balanced to weather potential market fluctuations and/or consider buffered strategies.


Frequently asked questions include – what are buffered strategies? These are fairly new strategies that provide a buffer which protects against market downturns, often stated as a percentage. For example, a 10% buffered strategy on the S&P 500 Index would protect against a 10% downturn.

There is no guarantee that a diversified portfolio will enhance overall returns or outperform a non-diversified portfolio. Diversification does not protect against market risk.


Emergency Fund Check-Up: Confirm that you have 3–6 months of expenses saved, especially with economic uncertainties in the new year.


Second Opinion: We offer a complimentary second opinion of your financial plan. Our analysis will conclude one of the following: you are on the right track, you need to make a few changes or you need a full reevaluation.


Feel free to email Amy at amy.kelly@prudential.com


At Kelly Wealth Advisors, we specialize in tailoring planning and investment strategies to help you thrive in today’s dynamic financial landscape.

If you’re ready to take the next step, we’d love to schedule a brief call to discuss how we can help you achieve your goals in 2026 and beyond.

Wishing you a successful and prosperous year ahead!


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income tax planning for 2026

2025 Income Taxes are Filed, Now What?

April 12, 2026
You just filed your income taxes. Now what? You filed your income taxes for 2025. Don’t put those returns away just yet. There is important information you need to know to plan for 2026: What was your Adjusted Gross Income for 2025? If you are still working, consider these strategies for this year’s IRA / Roth IRA contributions: Do you expect your income to be similar this year and if so, were you under $240,000 (married filing jointly) or $153,000 (single) last year and expect to be under that amount for this year to make a Roth IRA contribution for yourself and your spouse? If yes, now may be a great time to make your contribution since the market has been so volatile so far this year. Make your contribution now and hopefully the market will go up from here. If your Adjusted Gross Income was too high to make Roth contributions, you may be eligible to make “back-door” Roth contributions. You can do this as long as you don’t already have an IRA account. If you are still working and making 401k catch up contributions, check your AGI, if it exceeded $150,000 for 2026, your catch-up contributions must be made as Roth 401k contributions. This means, your taxes could increase for 2026 because your catch-up contributions are no longer pre-tax. Do you have a Health Savings Account (HSA) and did you maximize your contribution and income tax deduction for 2025? If you did, excellent work! If not, set up your budget now so you can make the maximum deductible contribution for 2026. Did you know your HSA account is the best savings account to have (in my opinion), because an HSA is the only account Uncle Sam never taxes (as long as you use the account for qualified medical expenses)!! Did you itemize or take the standard deduction? If you took the standard deduction last year and expect to again this year, you may want to take advantage of the EXTRA $2,000 charitable deduction for charitable contributions of cash. Are you still working and age 60? The SECURE 2.0 Act provides an additional 401k catch-up contribution of $11,250 for those ages 60-63. Are you retired and age 65 or over? Was your Adjusted Gross Income over $150,000 (married filing jointly) or $75,000 (single)? If so, you likely part of your extra standard deduction amount for seniors of $6,000 per person. This deduction is prorated, so even if you exceeded the Adjusted Gross Income threshold, you may have received a portion of the additional standard deduction amount. If your income was higher and you lost all or a portion of the deduction, perhaps look at income tax planning for this year to lower your AGI. Was line 15 on your tax return $0 or a negative number? If so, you may have missed a HUGE opportunity to do a Roth conversion. Consider planning to not miss out on this income tax planning opportunity again this year. Please reach out to Amy directly with any questions at amy.kelly@prudential.com . Content in this material is for general information only and not intended to provide specific individualized tax, legal advice, or recommendations for any individual. We suggest that you discuss your specific situation with a qualified tax or legal advisor .
Mega Backdoor Roth Strategy for saving for retirement

The Mega Backdoor Roth Strategy

February 16, 2026
This is a Roth savings strategy for higher income earners who have the ability to save above and beyond their 401k/403b employee contributions limits of $24,500 (or $32,500 if over age 50 in 2026). However, keep in mind the maximum combined employee and employer contribution limit for 2026 is $72,000. This means you are limited as to the amount of after-tax contributions you can make annually. Pros: - Able to direct funds to Roth if you cannot make direct Roth IRA contributions due to income phase-out ranges (phase-out starts at $81,000 of income as single filer and $129,000 for married filing jointly). Logistically you make after-tax 401k contributions that are then converted to Roth within the retirement plan or rolled out to a Roth IRA. - Able to direct funds to Roth if you cannot make back-door Roth IRA contributions (non-deductible IRA contributions converted to Roth). If you already have money in any IRA and make non-deductible IRA contributions with the intent to convert to Roth, you will pay tax on all or part of your current IRA balances. Cons: - Your employer retirement plan must allow for after-tax contributions. - Your employer retirement plan must allow Roth contributions to convert within the plan. - If you make the after-tax 401k/403b contributions, you must then remember to convert to Roth within the retirement plan or rollover to an outside Roth IRA for the growth on the after-tax contributions to be characterized as Roth. - You must be eligible to rollover after-tax contributions out of your 401k, typically in-service 401k rollovers are permitted at age 59 ½ - You are still limited in the amount of after-tax contributions you can make by the $72,000 maximum combined employee and employer contribution annual limit. Mega backdoor Roths are still typically a great strategy for those who have excess funds to save and/or need to catch up on their retirement planning savings. Please reach out to Amy directly with any questions at amy.kelly@prudential.com . Content in this material is for general information only and not intended to provide specific individualized tax, legal advice, or recommendations for any individual. We suggest that you discuss your specific situation with a qualified tax or legal advisor. A Roth IRA offers tax deferral on any earnings in the account. Qualified withdrawals of earnings from the account are tax-free. Withdrawals of earnings prior to age 59 ½ or prior to the account being opened for 5 years, whichever is later, may result in a 10% IRS penalty tax. Limitations and restrictions may apply.