Happy Holidays, and five year-end tax moves worth a look

Happy Holidays! We hope you and your family enjoy a joyful holiday season and a great start to the new year.

This is our inaugural newsletter, where we hope to bring you timely and interesting information as it becomes available. If you have questions, information, or things you would like to see in this newsletter, please let us know. We value your opinion.

As 2025 comes to a close, thank you for trusting us with your financial needs this past year. As we look ahead, we wish you a safe, successful, and prosperous 2026 filled with new opportunities and steady growth. We appreciate your support, and we look forward to continuing our work together in the year to come.

Year-end planning

End-of-year tax planning

As we come to the close of 2025, here are some tax strategies and ideas you might want to consider:

Look at your income. See if you should add more money to your retirement accounts before the year ends.

Check your giving. Giving to charities you care about may help lower your taxes.

Review your investments. Selling losing positions could help balance out your gains.

Use your tax-free accounts. Make sure you have used any tax-free savings options, like health or flexible spending accounts.

Get organized. Gather and organize your financial papers so you are ready for tax time in early 2026.

Oaks profile

The Professional Financial Resources Group (PFRG) is a group of unaffiliated associates that Bob brought together starting in 2016. Over the next few months, we will highlight people we collaborate with to develop holistic and comprehensive strategies for our clients. Since this issue’s focus is on taxes, we want to introduce you to David Paul, CPA.

David is the Tax Partner and head of all tax services with Carpenter, Evert & Associates, Ltd. He focuses on tax preparation, consulting, and planning for individuals, corporations, partnerships, estates, and exempt organizations, and spends most of his time working with business owners and real estate investors.

David is an unaffiliated professional. Oaks Financial Services receives no compensation for this introduction, is not responsible for his services, and this is not an endorsement of any specific advice.

Fast facts

• The largest U.S. bill ever printed was the $100,000 bill.
• The stock market has been around for more than 400 years.
• The first ATM was installed in 1967, in London.

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As always, these ideas are starting points. Every family’s situation is different. If anything here sparks a question, get in touch. We read every one.

Robert Ward ChFC, RICP, CLTC, FIC