Year-end tax tips

This time of year can be overwhelming with all the holiday preparations, but don't let that keep you from looking at some great year-end tax tips. Many need to be done before December 31, so it's time to start checking them out now. CNN Money.com has some great tips for year-end at http://money.cnn.com/2006/11/01/pf/taxes/yearend_tax_tips/index.htm.

I've done many of these that have saved me come the dreaded April 15th. My contribution to an IRA (you have until 4/15) or 401K (by year end), giving to charity (whether it be cash or goods), and selling winning or losing stocks have been several of my regular year end tactics. The above article mentions selling losing stock to offset capital gains, but don't forget that if you have a carryover loss from previous years you can take that opportunity to sell some winning stocks at a profit as long as your losses will offset them.