Financially, many of us associate the spring with taxes – but we should also associate December with important IRA deadlines. This year, like 2020, will see a few changes and distinctions.

December 31, 2021, is the deadline to take your Required Minimum Distribution from certain individual retirement accounts.

May 17, 2021, is the deadline for making 2020 annual contributions to a traditional IRA, Roth IRA and certain other retirement accounts. This extension from the traditional April 15 deadline follows an extension of the traditional tax deadlines.

Some people may not realize when they can make their IRA contribution. You can make a yearly IRA contribution between Jan. 1 of the current year and April 15 of the next year. Accordingly, you can make your IRA contribution for 2021 any time from Jan. 1, 2021 to April 15, 2022.

If you are making a 2021 IRA contribution in early 2022, you must tell the investment company hosting the IRA account for which year you are contributing. If you fail to indicate the tax year that the contribution applies to, the custodian firm may make a default assumption that the contribution is for the current year (and note exactly that to the IRS).

So, write “2022 IRA contribution” or “2021 IRA contribution,” as applicable, in the memo area of your check, plainly and simply. Be sure to write your account number on the check. If you make your contribution electronically, double-check that these details are communicated.

This information should not be construed by any client or prospective client as the rendering of personalized investment advice. All investments and investment strategies have the potential for profit or loss, and there can be no assurance that the future performance of any specific investment or investment strategy including those discussed in this material will be profitable or equal any historical performance levels. Investment strategies such as asset allocation, diversification, or rebalancing do not assure or guarantee better performance and cannot eliminate the risk of investment losses. Any target referenced is not a prediction or projection of actual investment results and there can be no assurance that any target will be achieved. Stacy Bush is with Bush Wealth Management.