3 Retirement Account Moves You Can Still Do for 2024
The April 15 tax-filing deadline has come and gone. However, for some 2024 retirement account planning strategies, it’s not too late! There is still time beyond the April 15 deadline. Here are three retirement account moves for the 2024 tax year that are still available to make in 2025.
1. Correct a 2024 IRA Contribution
For IRA owners who are now discovering they have an excess IRA contribution for a 2024 IRA, there is still time to correct the contribution (article was for last year but the process still applies) and avoid a 6% excess contribution penalty. This can be done by withdrawing or recharacterizing the 2024 contribution, plus net income (or loss) attributable, by October 15, 2025.
October 15 is also the deadline to remove or recharacterize 2024 IRA contributions that are not actually excess contributions but are, instead, simply unwanted. After October 15, 2025, this flexibility for 2024 IRA contributions goes away.
The October 15, 2025, deadline for correcting 2024 contributions applies to anyone who timely files their 2024 tax return. This is true even if you do not have an extension past the standard April 15 deadline.
2. Make a 2024 SEP Contribution
There is also additional time for those looking to establish and contribute to a SEP IRA plan (also for last year, but again, the process still applies) for 2024. While contributions to a traditional or Roth IRA must be made by the tax-filing deadline, a SEP IRA plan can be established and funded at any time up to the business’s tax-filing deadline, including extensions.
The SEP limit for 2024 is 25% of up to $345,000 of compensation, limited to a maximum annual contribution of $69,000. (For 2025, these numbers increase to $350,000 of compensation, limited to a maximum contribution of $70,000.)
3. Make a 2024 Employer Contribution to a Plan
If a business has employees, any employee contributions to a retirement plan for 2024 must have already been made. Employee salary deferrals have strict deadlines that require deferrals to be deposited into the plan throughout the year soon after the contribution is withheld.
However, employer contributions for 2024 to retirement accounts have a later deadline. Employer contributions can still be made until the business’s tax-filing deadline, including extensions. This rule applies to employer contributions to both qualified plans, such as 401(k) plans, and SIMPLE IRA plans.
By Sarah Brenner, JD
Director of Retirement Education
Ed Slott and Company, LLC
Christian Cordoba, founder of California Retirement Advisors, has been a member of Ed Slott's Master Elite IRA Advisor Group since 2007.