George Kamel - Do This NOW to Save on Taxes in 2026

Episode Date: December 10, 2025

💰 Get in touch with a RamseyTrusted tax pro.   Tax day may seem far off, but it’s right around the corner! In today’s video, we’ll look at eight things you can do before the end of the year to avoid overpaying the IRS so you can use more of your hard-earned cash on the things in life that really matter.   Next Steps: Watch my video Money Expert Shocked by Broke TikTokers. 📈 Are you on track with the Baby Steps? Get a free personalized plan.  💵 Start your free budget today. Download the EveryDollar app!   Connect With Our Sponsors: Get up to 40% off Cozy Earth with code GEORGE. Get 20% off when you join DeleteMe. Go to FAIRWINDS Credit Union for an exclusive account bundle!   Explore More From Ramsey Network: 🎙️ The Ramsey Show   🍸 Smart Money Happy Hour 💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights 🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show 💡 The Rachel Cruze Show 🪑 Front Row Seat with Ken Coleman 📈 EntreLeadership   Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tax day might seem far off, but there are money moves you can make before the end of the year that could have a huge impact on how much you'll owe. And if you're like most people, a little extra cash could go a long way right now because those human-sized luboos ain't cheap. In today's video, we'll look at eight things you can do before the end of the year to avoid overpaying the IRS so you can use more of your hard-earned cash for things that really matter in life, like the new K-pop Demon Hunter's T-shirts at your local hot topic, or groceries, whatever floats your boat. This is about priorities.

your priorities. Okay, this first tip is something that's super easy to do. Check your paycheck withholding. Every time you get a paycheck, your employer withholds taxes to send to the IRS. When tax time rolls around, you find out if you had too much or not enough taxes withheld from your paycheck. Withheld too much, you'll get a refund. Withheld too little, you'll have to pay the IRS. So if you had a mild panic attack last year because you owed the IRS a small fortune, get with your HR department to adjust your withholdings and make sure you do it before the end of the year. The goal is to get to this Goldilocks level where you don't owe much and you don't get a refund. You want to get to as close to zero as possible.

And there's actually a decent calculator on the IRS website to figure this out. I know, I'm just as shocked as you. And remember, the goal is not to get a refund because here's what that means. You've been loaning the government your money all year long at zero percent interest. You don't want to do that. Instead, you want to get to as close to zero as possible. So you don't owe anything and you're not getting a phone. refund that was already your money to begin with. Okay, this next money-saving tax tip

might help you if you're self-employed, if you do freelance work, or if you make money from an Etsy store selling things like flavored toothpicks. Wish I was making that up, but found these bad boys on Etsy the other day and let me tell you disconcerting to say the least. Let's check out the flavors here for fun. We've got peppermint. Okay, benign. Bacon. All right, we're heading to some strange territory. Hot cinnamon. Um, Bacon, bacon, bacon, cinnamon, cinnamon, cinnamon, cinnamon.

And breast milk. In a sliding tin. Okay, I gotta, let's double-click on this one, literally. So many questions. Naturally flavored? Who? Who? How? How? How are you naturally flavoring this if it's breast milk? Are you just dipping a quick dip?

Are they soaked? Like, how long? Baby boy or girl funny gag gift, newborn dad prank gift, funny stuff. Nothing's funny about this. Whose milk isn't? Funny product for white elephant. Very nice. Thanks for the item. I'm satisfied with this purchase.

I got a lot of questions for you, John. Oh wow, he's got a lot of favorite items. John is into some weird stuff, man. God bless. Guys, Etsy is being slept on. There's some shady stuff going on and we need to look into it. All right, natural transition. The next tip is to defer your incomes.

Say it with me. Now, obviously, your income is taxed in the year you receive it. So if you're able to defer any income until January 1st or later of the following year, you'll save on this year's tax bill. Now, this won't be a good option for everyone, but if you're a self-employed or a freelancer, you might be able to do this by waiting until the end of December to bill your clients. That way, you'll receive those payments at the beginning of next year. Another way you might be able to defer payments is if you're getting a year-end bonus,

you can check to see if your company will allow you to defer that into next year. But before you try this as a last-minute tax-saving strategy, make sure you check to see whether or not that extra income will push you into a higher tax bracket next year. Now, deferring your income only makes sense if you expect to be in the same tax bracket or even a lower one. And that's hard to tell. So this one may or may not be for you, but it's something to look into. All right, this next tip is one of the most straightforward ways you can save on this year's taxes, and that is, contribute more to your retirement account. Traditional 401ks and traditional IRAs are funded with pre-tax dollars, which means you can lower your tax bill this year by simply investing in these accounts and reducing your taxable income by the amount you contributed.

But remember, since you're not paying taxes on the money you put into these traditional accounts this year, you'll pay taxes on that money and its growth when you take the money out in retirement. And who knows what the tax rates will look like by then. And that's exactly why I recommend going with Roth 401ks and Roth IRAs. You pay taxes now and then forget about it. It grows tax-free and you take it out tax-free as long as you are, of age, withdraw responsibly. Now, there's no tax deduction for the Roth side,

but I will take eternal tax-free growth any day of the week. But if you do have a traditional 401k or IRA, contributing more can help you save your taxes this year. Now, some people will tell you to max out your contributions to save as much on taxes as you can. But here's the deal. Don't just max out your 401k to save on taxes. There's a time and a place to max out your retirement accounts,

and that's when you're completely dead free, including having no mortgage payment. Before you get to that point, I recommend investing 15% of your income into these retirement accounts. No more, no less. That way, you can have room in your budget for things like saving up for your kids' college or paying off your mortgage early. And once the house is paid off, then you can start maxing out those accounts. Okay, the next money-saving tax tip has to do with RMDs,

which, much to my chagrin, does not stand for robotic mayo dispensers, which is not a thing. They don't make those. And yet, they already have it for ketchup? Justice for Mayo! I will be on the streets, all right? Forget the No Kings, give me Justice for Mayo protests. Where are the robotic mayo dispensers? What, are they hiding them from us?

What is I-Robot doing? They're about to file for bankruptcy. They could be in the robotic mayo dispensing game. Big brain-thinking, I-Robot, get in touch. Hello? I-Robot? A cease-in-dea-sitting... I literally just gave you a free... Okay, no, no, no, no.

My lawyers will call yours. Spam. I jest, of course. RMD actually stands for required minimum distributions. It's the minimum you're required to withdraw from your retirement account each year to avoid penalties. Why? Well, because Uncle Sam wants his money long before you croak. So as you get older, they go, hey man, pay up.

It's his money and he wants it now. They'll put a little Uncle Sam hat on me or something. I don't know. Well, I guess I would need to say, it's my money and I want it now. the editors work for that paycheck. They've been getting off scot-free, too easy, throwing in memes and clips. Give me more hats. I'll regret saying that. I'll go, I'll give you hats. Oh, God bless the editors. You ask for it. So, who does this RMD rule apply to? People 73 or older with non-Roth accounts, which would include traditional IRAs, CEP IRAs, 401Ks, 403Bs, and simple IRAs.

If it has the word traditional in front of it, RMDs will apply. And if you don't take it, If you don't take your RMD by the IRS deadline of December 31st, that mistake will cost you 25% in taxes on the amount you should have taken out. It used to be 50% before Secure 2.0 acts. So, thanks, Joe Biden. I think I might be the first person to say that. And I think he would say in return, you're welcome, Jack. See, back in Scranton, we used to watch the trains go by. A guy named Corn Pop used to come by and offer the kids some drugs, but I never took him.

Maybe you should have, Joe. could have used a little amphetamine to get you going. I'm sick and tired. I'm just sick and tired. Now, if you get this corrected within two years, it's just taxed at 10%, which still sucks. Better to avoid this mistake altogether. So the fourth money-saving tax tip is take your RMDs if you're 73 or older.

And while you're at it, take your meds and the supplements. I know it's a tough pill to swallow. Pop-pop. All right, next tip. This one has to do with the gift tax, which is the government's way of taxing you when you give money or property to other people. Now, personally, not a fan of this tax, but at least we have the gift tax exclusion, which is basically a certain amount the IRS lets you give per year without being taxed. For tax year

2025, the annual gift tax exclusion is $19,000 per recipient. So in a typical year, most people probably won't need to worry about this. But if you do go over to that amount, not a huge deal, just make sure to fill out form 709, aka the gift tax return. Now, understand some of your gifts could count toward your lifetime gift tax exemption. I know, I know, exemptions, exclusions, excursions, protrusions, banana, phana foe, fusion, fiefi-fo fusion exclusions. This is about as needlessly complicated as the peg game at Cracker Barrel, but stick with me here.

So not only do you get the 19 grand annual gift tax exclusion for 2025, you also get a lifetime exemption of $13.99 million. So when you give away more than 19 grand in a year or whatever the amount is, depending on the year you watch this video, that excess spills over into your lifetime gift exclusion. But that is such a high number that most of us won't need to worry about this unless we keep giving more than the annual exclusion year after year after year.

But for those of you who are extra generous or just really trying to get your college to name the cafeteria after you, the fifth money-saving tax tip is use your gift tax exclusion. And before we get to the next tip, I want to give you a non-tax tip for keeping your personal info away from spammer, scammers, and creepy stalkers. A great way to do that is by using DeleteMe, a sponsor of today's video. Delete Me finds and removes your info from hundreds of data broker sites that make money by selling your personal information. And they'll even send you a report showing you how much time they saved you and where they removed your info from.

And they've saved me, get this, 108 hours already, which is seven more hours than there are Dalmatians in any dog movie. So help protect yourself from the risks of online scams and data breaches with Delete Me. And with my special link, you can get a discounted plan that comes out to about $9 a month. So to get the deal, go to join deleteme.com slash George or use the link in the description. Okay, back to the tax tips. The next way you might be able to save money on your taxes, take advantage of deductions and credits. Deductions can reduce your amount of taxable income, and credits can simply reduce the amount you end up owing.

Now, don't wait until April to look into these because you might want to make some money moves before the end of the year to take full advantage of them. One example is the property tax deduction. So if you itemize, you can deduct the property. property taxes you paid this year. But you might be able to save even more by prepaying next year's property tax. If you pay next year's property tax in full by December 31st of this year, you can write it off when you file your return. Now this could be a good option if your property taxes aren't already included in your mortgage payment.

But like a lot of these tips, you'll have to itemize deductions in order to do this. So make sure you would be saving more by itemizing rather than taking the standard deduction. And similar to this is the mortgage interest deduction. If you're eligible for this, here's a simple year-end strategy to help you maximize it. Make your January mortgage payment before December 31st. That way, you can deduct the interest portion of your January payment, along with the rest of the interest you paid this year on your next tax return. Again, this one applies to very few people, considering the standard deduction

is the more popular choice for saving money, including the camels. So crunch the numbers with your tax pro and make sure it's right for you. Another way you could save if you itemize is to make some last-minute charitable contributions. You know those bags full of clothes in the trunk of your car that you've been meaning to take to Goodwill for a few months now? Yeah, now's a good time. And make sure you keep a detailed list of your donations and always get a receipt or a letter from the organization that includes the date and the estimated value of your gift. And if you're donating cash, make sure to keep the bank statement. Okay, now pay attention to this next one because the Big Beautiful Bill has completely changed this.

In years past, one potential money saver was the Clean Vehicle Tax Credit. This was offered to taxpayers who bought a qualified electric vehicle or a business. plug-in hybrid vehicle. You could get a credit of up to $7,500 if you bought a new EV and up to $4,000 if you bought a used one. But the Big Beautiful Bill completely eliminated electric vehicle tax credits. They expired on October 1st of 2025. Oh well. Fun while it lasted, Elon. I don't really have a business plan. He really enjoyed that. I think that's when they had their friendship, right? Their awkward timing. Now, if you bought an electric car at any point in 2025, up until the end of September, you can still claim it on your taxes in 2026. Otherwise, it's too late.

So if you buy a cyber truck between now and December 31st, the only credit you'll get is street credit. Just kidding. You won't get that at all. In fact, you might have negative street credit. Street cred in the red, if you will. And speaking of carbon cutting, if you've made any energy efficient home upgrades in the past year, make sure you look into the residential clean energy credit and the energy efficient home improvement credit. This is the last year you'll be able to take advantage of these credits, so do it if it makes sense for you. Now, these were scheduled to last until 2034 and 2032 respectively, but the big beautiful bill put a big beautiful stop to that real quick. The credit will not be allowed for any expenditures made after December 31st, 2025. So if you're

in the market for solar panels, you better squeeze them in before the ball drops. Although I have a feeling Larry's solar solutions is all booked up. That guy's crushing it. Okay, this next tip is one of my favorites. It's not about saving on taxes this year, but it can save you a ton later on in retirement. And that tip is consider a Roth conversion. A Roth conversion is simply the process of transferring funds

from a traditional retirement account, like a traditional 401k, 403B, IRA, into a Roth version of that account. The main reason you do this is so that you can enjoy tax-free growth from there on out. Now, keep in mind, you'll have to pay whatever taxes you owe on the money you're converting to get those benefits. So while it will cost you this year, a Roth conversion could give your retirement savings a major boost over the long run. Now, this is a big financial move that could have a serious impact on your tax situation and your investing strategy.

So talk to a financial advisor before you get the ball rolling on this. Which brings us to our final money-saving tax tip, connect with a tax pro. If your taxes are complicated or you still have questions about year-end tax planning, reach out to a Ramsey trusted tax pro. They can walk you through all the different ways to save money on your taxes, both now and in the future. And don't wait until April to do this. Get an expert in your corner now so you're 100% ready, come tax time. And if you want to connect with a vetted tax pro like the one I use, I'll drop a link in the description below. And if you'll be filing taxes on your own this year, check out this video to see five tax myths that broke people believe.

Give it a click or use the link in the description. Don't forget to like and subscribe and share this video with everyone you know who would like to keep Uncle Sam's pilfering little picture. patriotic paws out of their pockets. Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.