Please stay tuned for important disclosure information at the conclusion of this episode.

Welcome to Investing Insights. I'm your host, Margaret Giles, filling in for Ivana Hampton to

bring you a personal finance episode. Tax Day is quickly approaching and it's time to get organized.

New tax rules might make it worth your while to itemize rather than take the standard

deduction this year. And don't just file away your 1099 forms. They can offer valuable insight

into your portfolio's tax efficiency. Christine Ben's Morningstar's Director of Personal Finance

and Retirement Planning, is here to discuss

what you need to consider before and after you file.

Christine, thanks for being here.

Margaret, it's great to see you.

So we are barreling towards tax day, which is also the due date to make those IRA and

HSA contributions for 2025.

Now, is there a reason to wait until the last minute to make those contributions?

No, from a practical standpoint, a lot of people do.

And it might be that some folks are waiting to see what their tax return looks like and

use that to guide whether their income comes in below the thresholds to make an IRA contribution

or whether they have the funds on hand to make a contribution.

But ideally, you should hit those contributions as soon as you possibly can.

So for the 2025 tax year, that would have been back at the beginning of January 2025.

If you are making that 2025

contribution right now, one thing to do is see if you have the wherewithal to also fund

2026 at the same time because there really is a procrastination penalty, as Vanguard has called it

...