Tally up your net worth much like you would when applying for a loan. There are a number of online tools to help. This should give you an overview of your financial situation.

It’ll help with your taxes and peace of mind. Enough said.

Retirees especially should evaluate their income strategy every year and take into account changes that occurred throughout the year. Consider these important milestones:turning 59½ – the age at which you can withdraw your retirement money without having to pay a 10% tax penalty for early distributions,turning 72 – the age at which you must start withdrawing money from your traditional IRAs and retirement plans and the age at which you can begin making tax free gifts to charity through your IRA and retirement plan,the performance of your portfolio,capital gains,tax bracket and tax law changes, andgifting strategies.

With the economic turmoil of the last couple of years, some have sought safety by moving everything to cash or bonds, rather than having a balanced diversified portfolio. Meet with your advisor to ensure that the investments you hold are appropriate based on your risk tolerance, goals, and time frame. And once you set those proportions, rebalance at least yearly—or use autorebalancing—to maximize your strategy.

Review and maximize your deductions. Meet with your advisor to offset capital gains and losses. Excess losses can offset up to $3,000 in ordinary income taxes, and losses beyond that can be carried forward indefinitely. It may be better taxwise for you to take a standard deduction, rather than itemizing.

It’s nice getting a tax refund, but that’s money you could otherwise invest—you want to pay the IRS its due but no more. Make sure you’re not having too much or too little taken out of each paycheck or through quarterly estimated tax payments.

If your employer matches your contributions, that’s “free money.” Make sure to contribute enough to take full advantage of that.

You can contribute a maximum of $6,000 to your IRA and $19,500 to your 401(k). If you are 50 or older, you can contribute $7,000 to your IRA and $26,000 to your 401(k) per year. By maximizing your contributions each year, you greatly increase your chances of being able to adequately fund your retirement.

With the help of your attorney, review or write a will or revocable living trust, which avoids probate. Review or create a durable power of attorney, a release of information form, and advanced directives (a durable power of attorney for health care and a living will). Make sure to take into account recent major life changes when updating, and consider dispersing your tangible personal property through a separate signed list of bequests to avoid potential family conflict.

A charitable rollover or qualified charitable distribution allows those who are at least 72 to make tax-free gifts from an IRA or IRAs of up to $100,000 to the University of Wyoming through the UW Foundation. The benefits include meeting your charitable giving goals by transferring the amount of your required minimum distribution while eliminating the income tax associated with the distribution.

Appreciated securities you’ve held for more than a year can be donated to a charity for a full fair market value deduction without incurring tax on the capital gains. Or, if you’re holding securities at a loss, sell them first and then donate the cash, and you can claim the capital loss on your tax return.