Back to School Season: Time to Check Your Financial Backpack

Ten areas worth checking before the year runs out, from contribution limits to loose ends left over from the move.

Summer always goes faster than expected. Six weeks off if you’re used to the UK version, a little more if you’re stateside, but either way, September has a way of snapping everyone back into a routine, kids included. Not a bad moment to do the same with your finances. So Damien and I put together a few areas worth checking before December arrives and you’re suddenly out of time to do anything about them.

1. Check your contribution limits

Have you maxed out your 401(k) or IRA? For 2026, the 401(k) limit is $24,500, plus another $8,000 if you’re 50 or older, or $11,250 if you’re lucky enough to be 60 to 63 (the IRS’s idea of a birthday present). The IRA limit is $7,500, plus a $1,100 catch-up once you hit 50. If maxing out is the plan, it’s worth spreading contributions across the next four months rather than saving it all for December, the holidays are expensive enough already.

2. Take your RMD

If you’re 73 or older (or turned 73 this year), make sure your required minimum distribution has actually been taken. Miss it and the penalty can run up to 25% of what should have come out. If you’ve inherited a retirement account, the rules depend on your relationship to the original owner, so it’s worth checking rather than assuming.

3. Explore a Roth conversion

As the year winds down, most people have a clearer idea of what this year’s income actually looks like, which makes it a sensible time to think about a Roth conversion, paying tax today on the converted amount as if it were ordinary income. Useful if this year’s income is lower than usual, or if you expect rates to be higher down the line. It’s also a handy way to bring down future RMDs, and a good account to leave behind, since qualified withdrawals come out tax-free for whoever inherits it.

For anyone planning to retire in the UK, there’s an added angle worth knowing: the UK recognises the tax-free status of a Roth, and its higher tax band arrives sooner than in the US. Worth exploring whether a conversion fits your numbers, we’re happy to help you work that out.

4. Take a proper look at retirement planning

Maybe it’s the summer sun, or maybe it’s just having a bit more headspace, but this time of year tends to get people thinking about retirement, sometimes bringing the date forward without quite meaning to. Worth putting that shift in mindset to use: where do you actually want to retire, and when? How much will you realistically need to fund the life you want? What do you have today, across all your accounts, US and UK, and does it get you there? Check your Social Security estimate and your UK State Pension forecast if you have one, and be honest with yourself about whether you’re actually on track, or just hoping.

5. Check in on your UK pension

For most of our clients, moving to the US meant leaving something behind: pensions. A UK pension stays a UK pension, it doesn’t follow you across the Atlantic. The real question is a simple one: do you know what you actually have, is it still what you want, and is there something better suited to your situation today? If you’ve got a defined benefit pension, have you requested this year’s free CETV (cash equivalent transfer value)? Worth doing annually as a check-up, whether or not transferring has ever crossed your mind. For defined contribution schemes, it’s worth knowing whether you can take income flexibly, control the underlying investments, and invest in dollars if you’re retiring in the US.

6. Revisit your asset allocation and risk tolerance

Take a look at whether the actual makeup of your investments still suits your risk tolerance, not just what you meant to hold, but what you’re actually holding. If it’s drifted, rebalance in a tax-efficient way, using any proceeds towards income needs coming up next year. It’s also worth looking at asset location, whether your holdings sit in the right kind of account for their tax treatment, and whether any positions have become too concentrated. And make sure you’re holding enough liquidity for anything you need in the new year, rather than everything being tied up mid-rebalance.

7. Review your insurance, and think about where annuities fit

The end of the year is a sensible time to check your insurance is still fit for purpose. Life changes quietly, and cover that made sense a few years ago might not anymore. Annuities are, at heart, insurance contracts, and worth a proper look too: have you thought about whether one could play a role in your retirement, and have you actually explored that, or is it something you’ve been meaning to get to?

8. Harvest losses where it makes sense

Review your brokerage accounts for opportunities to harvest losses, offsetting gains and up to $3,000 of ordinary income if losses exceed gains, with anything left over carried forward to future years. Just mind the wash-sale rule if you’re planning to buy the same (or a suspiciously similar) investment straight back.

9. Maximise your 529 or Coverdell contributions

It’s back-to-school season, so worth a mention here. You can contribute up to $19,000 a year to a 529 without touching your gift tax exclusion, $38,000 if you’re filing jointly, and the same goes for Coverdells on a smaller scale. If gifting towards education is part of your plan, this is the window to get it in before the year’s out.

10. Any loose ends still lingering from the move?

It’s easy for things to slip once you’ve relocated, and one worth checking is your UK residence status. Since April 2025, UK inheritance tax hinges on residence rather than domicile: ten out of the last twenty tax years as a UK resident makes you a ‘long-term resident,’ and your worldwide estate stays exposed to UK IHT for a period after you leave, the tail. That tail can run anywhere from three to ten years depending on how long you were resident, and simply leaving the UK doesn’t switch it off. If it’s been a while since the move, it’s worth checking exactly where you stand, and whether anything else from the transition still needs tidying up.

September has a certain logic to it: the kids are back at their desks, the summer chaos has died down, and the margaritas are giving way to something warmer. It’s as good a nudge as any to actually get this done rather than let it drift into December. We know how overwhelming this can feel to take on alone, that’s where Damien and I come in, helping UK-connected people keep one eye on the UK and one on the US.

You’ve still got a few months before the UK tax year catches up with you, but give yourself the next three months, four if you’re especially organised around the holidays, to check in, make any adjustments, and head into 2027 with a clearer picture. Reach out to us today if any of this raises a question, or if you’re simply not sure what your next step should be. We’re always happy to talk it through.