Donation to Charity really a good idea?

[SLYKTAX]

Thank you Victoria.  Understood.

I thought donation to charity would remove  some money from my MAGI so that I won't get hook into IRMAA.

That said, no matter what, I would be hooked up with IRMAA?

[MonikaK1]

You would need to reduce your Adjusted Gross Income in order to reduce income subject to IRMAA. Some nontaxable income items may also affect IRMAA. See this Social Security webpage for more information about the IRMAA calculation.

You could choose, for example, to sell stock or other investments at a loss in 2025 if it would reduce your AGI, or if you qualify and would benefit from making a deductible IRA contribution, that could also help. 

This TurboTax Calculator can be used to estimate taxes for 2024. Here are the changes for 2025 as of now.

@SLYKTAX 

[SLYKTAX]

Assuming I have a stock loss of $6,000 in 2025, I know I could deduct $3,000 from ordinary income, the other $3,000 will have to carryover to 2026. I cannot deduct $6,000 all together,  is that correct?

I am retired and also have to take my RMD; same with my wife.  Our 2024 AGI is already close to $200K.   With the extra WEP windfall, I don't foresee I can get pass the IRMAA in 2025 unless there is other deduction I can take that I don't know.

Since, I could not get pass IRMAA,  the estimated MAGI for first  IRMAA bracket is $212K to $266K.  Don't you think I should do some ROTH conversion  to get my 2025 MAGI under $266K so that my future RMD will get less?  Thanks

[RobertB4444]

You can make a charitable IRA distribution.  This is probably what people are talking about when they say "give to charity".  A charitable distribution takes the money from your IRA and contributes it directly to a charity, removing it from your taxable income.  You need to discuss this with the folks managing your retirement accounts about how they handle charitable distributions.  But that is what you need to do in order to get your income where you want it super quick.

@SLYKTAX