Before September Takes Over
A few thoughts for the last quiet week of summer.
The last week of August doesn’t quite belong to summer anymore, but it hasn’t been claimed by fall either. School supply lists are out. Vacation season is winding down, even at the shore. For clients easing into a second home or a different pace elsewhere, the shift feels different — but the calendar knows what’s coming either way. It’s a strange, useful pause. Most of us treat December as the natural checkpoint for the year, but by then the year is already closed. Late August, while there’s still runway left, is arguably the more honest version of that moment.
That’s a good frame for the fall planning work now coming into view. A few things are worth naming while there’s still room to be thoughtful about them, not reactive:
- Tax-loss harvesting has a real window — and it closes faster than people expect once December arrives. It depends on when a loss is actually realized, not just decided on.
- Charitable giving done in the fall goes further. Appreciated stock or a donor-advised fund, structured with some lead time, tends to outperform a check written in December under time pressure.
- Cash and short-duration yields are worth a second look. Rates have held steady through five consecutive Fed meetings now, higher and longer than most expected even six months ago. The next real signal doesn’t come until the September Fed meeting. [1]
- If you’re 50 or older and a high earner, your catch-up contributions changed this year. As of 2026, anyone whose wages exceeded $150,000 the prior year has to make catch-up contributions on a Roth, after-tax basis — not pre-tax. It’s a quiet rule change, but it affects the math on retirement contributions for a lot of people who haven’t noticed yet. [2]
None of this needs a decision this week. But naming it now tends to change how the fall actually goes.
I see this pattern often: the clients who use a quiet week like this one to take stock — what’s worked this year, what hasn’t, what’s actually top of mind — walk into their fall planning conversations with more clarity. Not because anything about the numbers changed. Because they know what they’re solving for.
If something’s been sitting in the back of your mind — a decision you’ve been putting off, a question about timing, a sense that something in your plan needs a second look — this is a good week for a conversation. No deadline attached. Schedule time to talk through your ClearPath Plan → Schedule with Bob
And if nothing’s urgent: before September fills the calendar back in, take a few quiet minutes for yourself. Notice what’s worked this year. Name what hasn’t. Sit with what you’re grateful for right now. The plan will still be here in September. Enjoy what’s left of the light.
[1] Federal Reserve, FOMC Statement, July 29, 2026 — federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20260729a.htm
[2] IRS, “401(k) limit increases to $24,500 for 2026; IRA limit increases to $7,500” — irs.gov/newsroom/401k-limit-increases-to-24500-for-2026-ira-limit-increases-to-7500
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