Tax Return Review – Relax, It's Retirement Podcast

Spring Tax Cleaning: 3 Hidden Opportunities in Last Year’s Return (Ep. 107)

By Relax, It's Retirement | March 24, 2026

A tax return can reveal more than what happened last year; it can point to choices that may help reduce friction and improve retirement income over time.

What hidden issues could be sitting in your paperwork, and what small moves today could help you avoid bigger tax headaches later?

In this episode, Josh Leonard explains how a closer look at your tax return can uncover planning opportunities before they grow into larger retirement issues. He covers phantom gains in taxable accounts, why a 0% tax bill can still create future problems, and how tax bracket planning matters before required distributions begin. Josh also walks through charitable giving strategies, including new 2026 deduction rules and qualified charitable distributions for IRA owners.

Key takeaways:

Why phantom gains from mutual funds can create taxable income even when your account balance declines overall
How a 0% tax return may hide a future jump into higher brackets once pensions and RMDs begin later on
Why reviewing taxable income sources can reveal avoidable drag from dividends, rebalancing, and fund sales
How Roth conversions can help spread taxes across retirement years instead of pushing income into later spikes
Why charitable gifts may be more effective through new deductions or direct IRA transfers after age 70 and a half
And more!