Year-End Wealth Management Checklist for Keene Professionals

December always seems to arrive quickly. Work gets busy. Holidays take over. In a blink, January is just around the corner, and the window for making meaningful financial decisions in the current year starts to close fast. 

The good news is that there is still time to conduct a year-end financial review before we head into the new year. In fact, now is an ideal time for professionals across Keene and the Monadnock Region to conduct a financial pulse check. A proactive review can help align your investments, strengthen your tax position, sharpen your long-term goals, and ensure your strategy reflects the season of life you’re in.

This guide outlines some of the essential steps you can take now to support a more resilient financial plan as we move into January. It is designed to serve as a practical year-end financial checklist and a foundation for a deeper conversation with your advisor.

1. Review Your Investments for Alignment and Rebalancing

Investment portfolios shift over time. Market performance, contributions, withdrawals, and changing objectives can all influence how your accounts are allocated. A year-end review helps ensure your investments still match the level of risk you want to take and the goals you want to achieve.

For many professionals in Keene, this includes:

Rebalancing Your Portfolio
If one asset class has grown faster than others, your risk exposure may have drifted. Rebalancing helps restore your intended mix and can reduce the chance of investing too heavily in a single area during a volatile year.

Evaluating Investment Performance
Rather than chasing returns, the goal is to ensure your portfolio behaves as it is designed to. If your strategy no longer matches your time horizon or comfort level, now is a smart time to adjust it.

Confirming Your Tax Strategy Still Serves You
This includes assessing where you hold certain investments. Tax-efficient placement may provide better long-term outcomes and is an integral part of strong wealth management planning.

A professional review with a trusted Keene wealth management firm can bring clarity to these decisions and help your investments continue to support your broader plan.

2. Explore Tax Opportunities and Charitable Giving Strategies

Taxes are one of the most essential factors in protecting long-term wealth. A thoughtful year-end review can help reduce your overall tax burden and strengthen your charitable impact.

Key areas to consider include:

Tax-Efficient Contributions
Reviewing your 401(k), IRA, and HSA contributions can help you determine whether increasing your year-end amounts could improve this year’s tax position.

Capital Gains and Loss Harvesting
If you have realized gains this year, strategic loss harvesting may help offset them. This option requires careful planning to avoid wash-sale issues, so coordination with a professional financial advisor in NH is important.

Charitable Giving Opportunities.
For those who itemize deductions, year-end giving can influence your taxable income. Donor-advised funds, appreciated securities, and qualified charitable distributions may help you have a bigger impact with the same dollars.

Charitable planning is not only a tax discussion. It is an opportunity to align your giving with the values and priorities that matter most to you. A good advisor will help you evaluate both sides of the equation.

3. Revisit Insurance and Liability Protections

Insurance is often overlooked during busy seasons. However, your policy coverage can play a vital role in protecting both your wealth and your family. A year-end review helps you confirm that your coverage reflects your life today, not the life you had five years ago.

Key topics to assess include:

Life Insurance
Life brings lots of changes, and your insurance should keep up. As your income, assets, or family needs shift, your coverage may need to be adjusted.

Disability Insurance
For established professionals, the ability to protect income has a significant long-term impact on financial stability.

Homeowners and Property Coverage
Rising home values throughout New Hampshire may mean your current policy does not fully reflect replacement costs.

Umbrella Liability Coverage
Additional protection can help shield assets from unexpected liability events, a valuable part of thoughtful wealth management.

Taking time to update your insurance with the help of a professional advisor helps keep your risk plan aligned with your overall financial strategy.

4. Update Estate Planning and Legacy Documents

A strong legacy plan is one of the most meaningful aspects of long-term wealth management. It ensures your intentions are honored, your family is supported, and your assets transfer efficiently. As life evolves, your estate plan should evolve with it. A year-end review may include:

Updating Your Will
Significant life changes, new relationships, or new assets can affect how your estate should be structured.

Reviewing Beneficiary Designations
These often outrank your will, which means keeping them current is essential.

Checking Powers of Attorney and Healthcare Directives
Make sure the people listed are still the individuals you trust to make decisions on your behalf.

Discussing Legacy Goals
This often includes charitable intent, family support, or succession planning for business owners.

For many professionals, this is also the moment to confirm your estate plan reflects New Hampshire-specific considerations, such as property taxes and probate procedures.

5. Evaluate Philanthropy and Gifting as Part of Your Broader Plan

Year-end is a natural time to think about giving — not only for tax purposes, but for the impact you want to have on the people and causes you care about.

Consider reviewing:

Annual Gifting Strategies
This may include family support, educational contributions, or gifting appreciated assets.

Multi-Year Philanthropic Goals
If you plan to create lasting impact, your charitable strategy should coordinate with your investment and tax strategies.

Opportunities to Simplify Your Giving
Donor-advised funds or structured gift plans may help you stay organized and intentional year after year.

A thoughtful philanthropic plan aligns your generosity with your long-term goals and helps ensure your resources go where you want them most.

A Proactive Checklist Creates a Stronger Year Ahead

A year-end review is more than a routine task. It is a chance to step back, reflect on the year behind you, and prepare with intention for the one ahead. For many professionals in Keene, this simple pause brings clarity, direction, and a renewed sense of control.

Birch Financial Group helps make that process easier. We take the time to understand your whole life — the goals you’re working toward, the responsibilities you’re balancing, and the details that shape your decisions. That level of partnership is what turns a checklist into a coordinated plan that actually fits the way you live.

If you want support reviewing your investment strategy, tax planning opportunities, insurance structure, or estate and legacy decisions, our team is here to help you move into the new year with a clearer path forward. Schedule a free consultation with Birch Financial Group today!