The Formynder Field Manual

December 2025

From the Field

This truly is one of my favorite times of the year. The temps are cool enough to strike up the firepit and actually stand next to it; running is more enjoyable too! It's the season of pumpkin spice everything and in our house, Christmas decor went up seemingly overnight while both Mariah Carey and Michael Bublé (or bubble) came out of hibernation. Leaves are pretty much completely on the ground at this point. New to this season, I felt like taking a more "all natural" approach to leaves - mow with no bag and "leaf" them where they land. (See what I did there?)

The BLUF

I know you'll want to read the entire newsletter, but here's a preview of what's included in this month's edition.

✅ Feel Good Moment. My semi-annual guys weekend tradition.

✅ The last days of open enrollment. Didn't we talk about this the last two months? Yes. Again, it's that important!

✅ The breakfast sausage fatty. A smoked recipe so rich, just reading about it might raise your cholesterol!

✅ 31 days until we struggle to write the year correctly for the next 3 months. Let's look at those end of the year deadlines.

✅ Merry Christmas... to me? Potential buried treasure you hid and didn't even know about.

✅ In plain site. Some of the other places you'll find my musings.

Feel Good Moment

I'm not even sure I can compete with the number of "Feel Good Moments" from my last newsletter, so why bother. And, why should it really matter anyway - that's not the point. The point is to identify the events in my life that align with the values I determined are most important to me. That's where I focus my resource capital of time, energy, attention, and money. (Thank you, Carl Richards.) In October, there were so many personal and professional accomplishments that all came together at once. It happens like that sometimes. In my more normal months, like November, I can reflect on one area at a time. In this case, the focus was on my spiritual health as I headed to the Shenandoah National Forest with my two best friends for our twice yearly, Forge Retreat. As old(er) Marines, we executed our updated version of camping, in an Airbnb of course, appley named "Papa Bear Cabin," for 3 days of low tech time and fellowship. We used this time to encourage each other and as men of faith, and refined our own faith journeys to be better men, husbands, fathers, leaders, and business owners.

Between our conversations, our traditional Saturday hike, and eating like it's our last weekend on this earth, it's a trip I look forward to every Spring and Fall.

Open Enrollment is Closing

You have between 7-9 days from this letter to change your healthcare insurance for the 2026 calendar year unless you have a Qualifying Life Event. As Olin Miller said, "If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it". Or as your college kid self might say, "My productivity peaks right before the deadline. Some call it chaos, I call it a strategy."

At a Glance

Once again, here’s a quick cheat sheet on various open enrollment deadlines and potential changes to make:

• TRICARE: November 10 – December 9​
• DC & HC FSA:November 10 - December 8​
• FEDVIP: November 10 - December 8​
• FEHB: November 10 - December 8​
• Medicare: October 15 – December 7​
• Employer Plans: Vary, but usually sometime in the Fall

Have a look at your primary healthcare plan.

• Do you want no low-to-no annual premiums and no out of pocket costs, but little choice in care?
• Do you want more choice in care, but higher premiums and out of pocket costs?
• Do you still need that family plan?
• Is it time for your young adult to get their own healthcare?
• Do you typically have out of pocket healthcare costs you could use a HCFSA for?
• Do you typically have out of pocket dependent care costs you could use a DCFSA for?
• Do you need to look into vision or dental care?

Remember, if you do nothing, your coverage will remain the same (unless you're in a plan that is no longer offered - see next note). However, if you do nothing towards your HCFSA or DCFSA, those amounts will go to zero. You must renew the allotments to FSA every open season.

An Especially Important Note to Those in FEHB

If you are under FEHB, please have a look at this article regarding what plan administrators are doing to those enrolled in plans that are no longer offered. The bottom line is that if you do nothing and your plan is no longer offered, you may find yourself in a much more expensive plan.

The Breakfast Sausage Fatty - You'll wish you never read this!

One more thing that makes our semi-annual Forge Retreat enjoyable, is the inevitable nap required after eating the smoked breakfast sausage fatty. Cooked onions, jalapeños, bell peppers mixed with scrambled eggs, layered with shredded cheddah, (you're welcome, Boston), wrapped with a blanket of hot ground breakfast sausage, wrapped with a layer of weaved bacon. I told you - your heart just skipped a beat, didn't it?

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You can check it out here (this is not a referral link - it's just a recipe).

You Thought Last Minute Gifts Were Hard

December 31st is significant for a multitude of reasons. But what kind of finance-focused newsletter would this be if I didn't list a few reasons December 31st is important to your finances?

• Qualified Workplace Plan Deferrals. Your workplace plans such as 401(k), TSP, 403(b), etc., all have deferral deadlines of December 31st. Don't get this confused with your IRA contributions that you can make all the way up until the tax deadline. If you're reading this and thinking you'd like to defer just a bit more this year, keep in mind that:
  1. Each year, there is an annual employee deferral limit. In 2025, the limit is $23,500 unless you are 50+ whereas you can defer an additional catch-up amount of $7,500. Unless you are 60-63, whereas you can defer an additional super catch-up amount of $11,250, not to be combined with the regular catch-up. (Only the IRS could come up with this.) The point is, be sure you're not overcontributing. While most plans will not allow overages by themselves, it is possible to have more than one plan and those plans not coordinate. Remember, these limits apply to the aggregate - not per plan. So if you've overcontributed, you'll have some work to do to back out the excess by the tax filing deadline.
  2. If you have room to contribute still, chances are that it might be hard to defer any more of your pay into your workplace plan in the month of December as those are made via payroll deduction. However, it would be beneficial to have a look ahead to 2026 contribution limits of $24,500, catch-up of $8,000, and super catch-up of $11,250. Depending on your age and your personal plan of coordinated IRA contributions, go ahead and make a plan for balanced deferrals throughout the next year to get you to your goal by December 2026. My usual strategy is to get any match offered first, then fill up your IRA, then go back to your workplace plan.
• Roth Conversions. Remember the point of Roth conversions is to deliberately pay taxes in a year when you think it is to your advantage - i.e., tax arbitrage. So when you do a Roth conversion, you are deliberately distributing income from your tax-deferred account to pay taxes on it while rolling it into your Roth account. The strategy requires that you have a pretty close estimate of your taxable income for the current year. This is so you can set a goal for the maximum amount of taxes you would choose to pay this year, such as filling up the 22% or 24% tax bracket for instance. Remember, if you are not 59 1/2 yet, you will need to pay for your conversion with money that is not from the conversion itself, such as from a brokerage or other savings account. Rob Moore and I have an entire episode of the Fiscal Foxhole dedicated to Roth conversions.
• Qualified Plan Distributions. Similar to Roth conversions, this is a planned distribution that adds to your income in the year of distribution. While taxes shouldn't discourage you from taking distributions, just remember to be mindful of what distributions (from anything other than Roth accounts) could do to your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) and the many limits / credits / additional taxes associated with an elevated AGI.
• Required Minimum Distributions (RMD). Whether you are age 73 or older, or you've inherited a tax-deferred account as an eligible designated beneficiary, RMDs are, well... required. Each year, the balance of your tax deferred account(s) on December 31st, is calculated against your life expectancy found in one of three uniform IRS tables. Depending on whether it's your own IRA or one you inherited determines the timeline and the amount of the RMD for the following year. You'll have between January 1st and December 31st to distribute it. There are some nuances in the cases of whether or not this is an inherited IRA, this is your first distribution after turning 73, you have multiple tax-deferred IRAs, or have IRAs and a qualified workplace plan. If any of these scenarios sound like you, please feel free to send in a question using the link below and I'd be happy to prioritize writing about it in a future edition. If you need something sooner and you are a client, use your Client Portal to book a meeting and let's chat. If you're not a client and have questions, I am accepting new clients😊
• Charitable Giving. With charitable giving, please remember that if you are not charitably inclined already, this really isn't the move for you - you're effectively giving a dollar to save a quarter. However, if you are charitably inclined, then you might as well save a quarter! With regards to the December 31st deadline, how you give, matters. For example, if you use a credit card or wire transfer, the effective date of giving is the date the charity receives it. If you like your old school checks, the donation is the date postmarked by the USPS, which is not the same as if you use FedEx which counts as of the date the charity deposits your gift. Before you ask, I don't know. Just be sure you know what date counts for the method you give to get the deduction in your desired year. Also, given the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, there are a few changes that you may want to take advantage of in both 2025 and then 2026 and beyond.
  • 2025: this will be the last year without the imposition of a floor on itemized charitable giving. Beginning in 2026, there will be a 0.5% of AGI floor that you must surpass for those charitable donations to count. For example, if your AGI is $100,000 and you gave $10,000, the first $500 would not count, leaving you with an itemized deduction of $9,500. This is similar to the already existing itemized floor of 7.5% of AGI for unreimbursed medical expenses. So this year, it may be a good time to think about a larger gift / larger deduction before the AGI floor goes into effect.
  • 2026: There will also be a new above the line deduction of up to $1,000, per filer, for those who give charitably but don't itemize, which is about 95% or America. This above the line deduction is not reduced by any itemized 0.5% AGI floor since the premise is that you have to take the standard deduction to use this above the line deduction.
• Qualified Charitable Deductions (QCD). QCDs are an effective tax reducing strategy for those who are charitably inclined. QCDs work by designating a distribution from your tax-deferred retirement account and having it sent directly to a charity. You not only avoid the taxes on the income of that distribution, depending on the amount, you can also claim the charitable amount given. You can begin QCDs on your 70 1/2th birthday, (not in the year of), AND your QCDs can take the place of some or all of your RMDs when you are required to begin those. There are a couple of keys to success to keep in mind:
  • The money cannot be distributed to you, for you to then give to the charity; It must go directly. If it goes to you first, it will be considered a distribution to you.
  • **NEW** for 2025 is an optional (to the custodial institution) code "Y" in box 7 of your 1099-R, designating the distribution as a QCD. Before that code, it was scout's honor and some really good record keeping. I'd still keep your records.
  • I mentioned QCDs can take the place of some or all of your RMDs, depending on the size of your RMD. The allowable QCD changes each year, but in 2025 is $108,000 per person. That's 216,000 if you are married filing jointly (although each individual cannot designate more than their $108,000 share).
• Tax loss (or gain) harvesting. Tax loss harvesting is the deliberate sale of investment losses in order to offset gains in other areas or even your ordinary income, up to $3,000 per year. Rob and I dedicate an entire episode to this concept in our 9th episode of the Fiscal Foxhole. In short, if you sell a house for more than the Section 121 exclusion, sell some of your investments at a capital gain, or simply want to reduce your AGI, intentionally selling a losing investment from your taxable brokerage can help you offset gains or income in the year of sale. If you sell a loss and you don't have enough gains to offset it and you take your $3,000 loss from ordinary income, you can carry additional losses forward indefinitely. Just be careful you don't sell a loser and then buy it back within 30 days, subjecting yourself to the wash sale rules, effectively disallowing your loss. Alternatively, if you find yourself in the 0% or even the 15% long term capital gains tax bracket, it may make sense to intentionally sell some winners to pay this lower percentage tax. And while the wash sale rule applies to losses, it doesn't apply to gains. You could conceivably get this free "step-up" in basis by selling a gain while in a 0% long term capital gains tax bracket and rebuy the same asset 30 seconds later, thus resetting your basis.

One more note about all the things needing to be done by December 31st. Many custodians, the one I use included, have set deadlines for when they will accept last transactions in order to guarantee that the December 31st deadline will be met. December 19th is a date being thrown around at the moment. Everything after that is "best effort." While I know that some transactions only take a matter of a few hours, if you know you are going to distribute money, do a Roth conversion, or give, best not wait until Christmas day.

A Good ol' Fashioned Treasure Hunt!

If you are as big a fan of the National Treasure films as we are, you're going to love this! Given that many readers are military folks who've moved from duty station to duty station, often times you might have PCS'd while leaving some unfinished business with the cable company. The website, MissingMoney, is a site where you can simply enter your name to find where various state businesses or governments have registered and associated unclaimed property with you! Sometimes it is a few pennies (probably pointless today) and sometimes it could be a few hundred dollars. In either case, it's pretty fun to take a trip down memory lane and maybe claim some long-forgotten cash along the way.

In Plain Site

I am a huge advocate of financial education as a primary source of empowerment. If you find this newsletter helpful, amusing, well-written, heck, maybe you're even thinking that this has New York Times best seller all over it, please share it. The more we can educate people, the more TikTok tragedies we can avoid.

You may have noticed that I occasionally like to write. Here's my latest musings over The Value of Financial Advice Part 2: The Rest of the Story.​

Have I mentioned Rob Moore and I have a podcast now? In our latest episodes of the Fiscal Foxhole, Rob and I work our way through taxes (nerd-alert!). Specifically, your withholding, tax loss harvesting, and Roth conversions. Listen, review, share!

• ​Spotify​
• ​Apple​

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Disclaimer: This newsletter is provided for educational, general information, and illustration purposes only. Nothing contained in this material constitutes tax advice, a recommendation for purchase or sale of any security, or investment advisory services. I encourage you to consult a financial planner, accountant, and/or legal counsel for advice specific to your situation.