2025 Is Over. But Your Opportunity to Make 2025 Investments Isn’t

• IRA contributions for 2025 can be made until April 15, 2026.

• The 2025 IRA contribution limit is $7,000 or $8,000 for those 50 and older.

• A $7,000 traditional IRA contribution saves up to $1,540 in taxes for those in the 22% bracket.

• A recent study identified one single habit that doubled Americans’ retirement savings and moved retirement from dream, to reality. Read more here.

With 2026 now underway, you may assume that your opportunity to accomplish your 2025 financial goals is over. However, that’s not actually the case.

Although 2025 has come to an end, you actually still have the opportunity to make investments for the previous year. And, in fact, you should take advantage of this opportunity if you can.

Here’s why you can still make 2025 investments and some reasons why doing so could make good sense.

So, how is it possible to invest for 2025 even though the year is over?  It’s simple. The deadline for contributing to certain tax-advantaged accounts isn’t the calendar year. You have until tax day for the year that you are claiming the contributions to invest your money.

This is the case for both traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs, although it is not the case for 401(k) contributions, which generally do have a calendar-year deadline.  Since both traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs allow you to invest until the tax deadline, you can put money into these accounts until April 15, 2026.

If you are investing in a SEP-IRA, you may also have an extended deadline. Money can be put into this account until the time of the employer’s tax filing deadline, including any extensions.

For most people who are investing in their own IRAs, this is good news because it means that you have over 100 more days to invest for 2025 if you haven’t yet maxed out your contributions.  Since IRAs are an excellent investment account with generous tax breaks that make investing for retirement easier, this extra time could be a great thing to take advantage of.

For the 2025 tax year, the combined contribution limit for the 2025 tax year was $7,000, although those who are 50 or over can contribute an extra $1,000 for a total of $8,000 in contributions. The extra $1,000 is called a catch-up contribution.

Most people are allowed to contribute up to these limits, although if you earn too much money, then you may not be able to invest in a Roth IRA at all or make deductible contributions to a traditional IRA.  If you fall under the income limits, however, then being able to invest $7,000 or $8,000 in a tax-advantaged account is a great way to increase your retirement savings, especially given that IRAs are flexible accounts you can open with any brokerage firm and use to invest in almost anything you want.

The tax savings these accounts offer are one of the best reasons to try to make your contributions each year. Roth IRAs offer a deferred tax break, which you can take advantage of as a senior when you make tax-free withdrawals. Traditional IRAs, on the other hand, provide you with tax savings now.

If you invest $7,000 or $8,000 in an IRA for the 2025 tax year, you can reduce your taxable income by that amount. If you had $50,000 in taxable income and invested $8,000, you’d reduce your taxable income to $42,000.

Not paying the tax on that income would save you up to $1,760 if you were in the 22% tax bracket. For those not eligible for catch-up contributions who max out at $7,000 in IRA investments, the maximum tax savings for someone in the 22% tax bracket would be $1,540.  You can claim this deduction if you invest the money any time before the deadline, even if you make your entire contribution on April 14.

Unfortunately, once the deadline has passed, you can’t go back and get the tax savings for the 2025 year. It’s gone forever. So if you can find the funds, it’s best to try to make your contributions while you still can, as the tax break gives you a big leg up in preparing for your future. You don’t have to invest the full $6,000 or $7,000 either. Anything you can put in this year allows you to benefit from tax savings and make your retirement more secure.

Most Americans drastically underestimate how much they need to retire and overestimate how prepared they are. But data shows that people with one habit have more than double the savings of those who don’t.

And no, it’s got nothing to do with increasing your income, savings, clipping coupons, or even cutting back on your lifestyle. It’s much more straightforward (and powerful) than any of that. Frankly, it’s shocking more people don’t adopt the habit given how easy it is.