Here are some things to do or consider for your financial health as 2021 winds down

As the November wind rapidly blows us toward the end of 2021, there are several items on the personal finance checklist that might need to be addressed before the new year, depending on your age and individual circumstances.

If you are over 70 and own an individual retirement account (IRA) or other pre-tax retirement account, the rules have changed over the past year. In 2020, in response to COVID-19, required minimum distributions (RMDs) from pre-tax retirement accounts were waived. While COVID is still with us, opting out of a required withdrawal is not. You need to make the withdrawal before Dec. 31. Another COVID-era change to the RMD is the start date. If you reached 70½ on Jan. 1, 2020 or later, your RMD does not start until the year you turn 72.

For the charitably inclined, using your IRA to make donations to non-profits from pre-tax dollars in your retirement account remains an effective use of the tax code. You can make a qualified charitable distribution from your IRA (have a check made payable to a qualified nonprofit directly from your IRA’s custodian) after you have turned age 70½. Note that this is not in the year you turn 70½ but only after the half-year milestone date. The maximum that you can gift each year from your IRA is $100,000.

For people working toward financial freedom, there are three issues related to health care that might need your attention.

This January, Washington state plans to implement the new “Washington Cares” long-term care program. Residents with earned income had the option to opt out of the new long-term care payroll tax if they had a privately purchased long-term care insurance policy in place by Nov. 1. Your human resources payroll department needs to know that you have evidence to opt out of the tax, and you must make a one-time report of your insurance policy to the state. To do this you have to apply for an approval letter from the Washington Employment Security Department. The letter needs to be shared with your employer and kept on file by the employer. Start the process at https://wacaresfund.wa.gov/private-insurance/ by clicking “Apply for an Exemption.” (Warning: It requires several steps and verification of identity.)

Aside from insurance for potential future long-term care, many people without employer group health insurance use Affordable Care Act plans via the state exchange for coverage now. There is a significant change for moderate-to-high-income participants. As part of COVID relief efforts, the subsidy cliff that used to eliminate all discounted rates for taxpayers above specified income limits does not apply for 2021 or 2022. Instead, if your income exceeds the prior limits, your insurance policy premiums are capped at 8.5% of your household income. Rather than having the costs change significantly if you are one dollar over the previous income “cliff”, the costs are more affordable now if you exceed the previous income limits.

Some people pay current medical insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs from a health savings account (HSA) each year. To maximize the triple tax-free benefit of an HSA, however, it is best to forgo using HSA dollars to pay current medical expenses and instead use the HSA as an investment account. Contribute the maximum each year and invest for long-term growth so that you can use it for eligible medical expenses in retirement. That way, you receive a current income tax deduction for your contribution, the growth is tax-free and your withdrawals are tax-free. You must have a high-deductible health insurance plan that qualifies for use with an HSA.

The best use of HSAs also requires knowledge of where you are with out-of-pocket maximums in your plan each year and the potential for tax deductibility of your medical expenses if you have a particularly costly year. It’s a fair amount of tracking and understanding, which is probably why only 5 to 6 percent of people who have HSA accounts actually invest their HSA money, according to Morningstar.

Finally, regardless of whether you are just now becoming serious about your personal finances in younger life or you are a wise retiree, the next year-end task applies to everyone who has money invested in stocks and bonds.

Through the end of October, the U.S. stock market had gained 21 percent year-to-date. The U.S. bond market declined 2 percent. If you had an investment portfolio of 60 percent stocks, 40 percent bonds entering the year (a common “balanced” strategy), that mix could now be 65 percent stocks, 35 percent bonds. This is a good time to rebalance back to your prior target weights for stocks and bonds, especially if you have known expenses that you will need to make withdrawals to fund in 2022.