For high-net-worth individuals, wealth planning isn’t just about performance; it’s about aligning investments with core values, preserving a family legacy, and using the process to strengthen relationships with the ones you love.

While financial planning is important to keep up with year-round, the beginning of the year is a critical time for getting your affairs in order — which is true now more than ever. Economic policy changes at the federal level, market instability, and significant adjustments to the U.S. tax code are rapidly shifting the landscape of wealth and estate planning.

However, it’s easy to forget that planning is not about predicting the next seismic events around the corner. Rather, it’s about staying knowledgeable and nimble, making the best decisions with the information at your fingertips. Working with a trusted wealth advisor can simplify the process of strategizing for the future and protect what you’ve already built, as your circumstances evolve.

At Peak, we understand that reaching the heights of success starts with proactive planning. Here’s what you need to know about starting 2026 on the right foot.

Asking the Right Questions

Everyone would like to reduce taxes and improve investment results, but you may be unsure where to begin. In order not feel overwhelmed, here’s a list of simple questions to ask yourself:

• When’s the last time that you met with your advisor(s)?
• Do you have a crystalized plan for the next year? Three years? Five years?
• Are you taking full advantage of tax deductions?
• What’s your strategy around Required Minimum Distributions?
• Do you feel organized and ready for next year’s tax season?

Tax Planning For 2026

The passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) in 2025 introduced meaningful changes to the tax code, making proactive planning especially important for high-net-worth individuals. Ask your advisor to discuss the following strategies — and more — to ensure that you’ll feel confident heading into this year:

• Retirement Contributions: If you are seeking ways of lowering your taxable income, consider maxing out your retirement plan contributions. Maxing out these limits can meaningfully reduce your taxable income while also boosting your long-term savings.
• Capital gains planning: If you anticipate higher tax rates for yourself or your estate in the future, you can take measures now that will reduce your long-term tax liability. With a careful capital-gains strategy, you can sell off assets and realize gains now while you’re in a lower tax bracket.
• Bunching charitable contributions: Consolidating multiple years of donations into a single tax year can help you maximize deductions while amplifying your philanthropic impact.

These strategies are most effective when evaluated with an advisor who has a comprehensive understanding of your financial situation.

Look Beyond Next Year

Don’t get caught up in year-over-year changes at the expense of a three-, five-, or 10-year plan. As you look ahead to 2026, it’s important to consider what strategies might benefit your family further down the road as well.

One such consideration is how to navigate the lifetime estate exclusion. This is the total amount of money that you can transfer to heirs — during your lifetime or after death — without triggering federal estate or gift taxes. It works in tandem with the annual gift exclusion: any gift over $19,000 counts against your lifetime exemption.

Before the OBBBA, the lifetime exclusion was scheduled to be cut in half next year. Instead, the new law raised the exemption to $15 million per individual starting in 2026. While there’s no set expiration for this higher limit, future legislation could change it. As a result, some families may want to take advantage of today’s thresholds by planning to make larger annual gifts or transferring assets while the rules remain favorable.

Don’t Forget RMDs

Once you turn 73, the IRS typically mandates that a person begin taking Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from retirement accounts, such as traditional IRAs and employer-sponsored plans. The annual withdrawal deadline is December 31, which can impact tax planning for the following year.

A knowledgeable advisor can help you navigate the rules that apply to your circumstances, including:

• Determining the proper annual withdrawal amount, which is calculated using your account balance and an IRS life expectancy factor
• Understanding whether RMDs from multiple IRAs can be aggregated and taken from a single account
• Evaluating whether a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) makes sense for your goals. With a QCD, your RMD is sent directly to an eligible charity, and when structured correctly, the amount is excluded from taxable income.

More and more retirees are incorporating QCDs into their year-end strategies. Especially for those looking to manage taxes while supporting charitable causes, it’s important to plan around RMDs.

Optimize While Organizing

January is an ideal time to evaluate your system for financial record-keeping and the overall organization of your estate. Clear out unnecessary paperwork, keep what you need, and set up a simple system — digital or physical — that makes next year less of a scramble before the calendar turns. Whether that means creating a filing system, removing duplicate records, or reviewing your bookkeeping habits, a little cleanup now can make tax season a lot less stressful in the future.

Take the next step

With an experienced advisor by your side, year-end planning no longer feels like a chore. At Peak, we specialize in guiding high-net-worth clients through all of their options and turning their goals and values into action. Now is the ideal time to develop a strategy that aligns with your long-term goals and fosters a lasting legacy for your family.

Let’s have a conversation about how we can set you up for success in 2026 — and beyond. Reach out today to schedule a meeting.