9-15-26 10 Money Moves to Make Before Year-End

AI-related capital spending has not yet pulled back, with generator backlogs extending to 2032, even as AI-slowdown headlines contributed to a stock selloff. The host characterized the broader market as range-bound and driven more by sector rotation than by a broad selloff, while a break below the 50-day and 100-day moving averages would be a stronger warning.

Goldman Sachs argued that a rate hike may not be justified when oil is driving much of the inflation, because tightening against a temporary oil shock could later require rate cuts; markets nevertheless expected a 25-basis-point hike. This rate sensitivity also matters for real estate, whose returns can fluctuate with interest rates even though limited supply may support appreciation over time.

The host described a potential Treasury tax swap in which an investor sells a 10-year Treasury bought at a 4.3% yield after yields approach 5%, realizes a tax loss, and moves into five-year Treasuries yielding about 4.7% to 4.8%. Any repurchase strategy must account for the wash-sale rule, which generally requires waiting 30 days and applies across accounts and custodians, although the host said ETFs may be treated differently.

The episode emphasized that tax planning spans both charitable giving and retirement distributions: donating appreciated, low-cost-basis securities to a donor-advised fund can avoid capital-gains recognition for the donor, while qualified charitable distributions from traditional IRAs can avoid taxable income for people age 70½ or older. The transcript states that the 2026 qualified charitable distribution maximum is $111,000 per person.

Retirement distribution timing can create avoidable tax concentration: people turning 73 in 2026 generally need an RMD by December 31, while delaying the first distribution until the following April can require two RMDs in that next year. Non-spouse beneficiaries who inherited an IRA in 2020 or later may also face the 10-year distribution rule and should determine whether a year-end distribution is due.