At the end of the year, most people in the United States are thinking about the holidays and the potential credit card bills for gifts and family visits. One good way to control this potentially stressful month is to take some time to breathe and get your own finances in order. There are several actions you should consider and complete before the year ends in order to start next year on the best foot possible.

There is good news for everyone saving for retirement through a 401(k) account. The IRS has approved an increase in the 401(k) maximum. Anyone who is in a financial condition comfortable enough to maximize the contribution throughout the year will see an increase from $16,500 to $17,000 for the year. Savers age 50 or older qualify for an extra $5,500 in addition to the $17,000.

If you maximize your contribution, take the time now to contact your benefits department or visit your benefits website to change your deductions now. The change could take a few weeks to take effect, so if you want your changes to take effect for the beginning of the year, it’s best to start looking at the details now.

In many cases, employers offer some time of matching contribution. For example, the company might match half of your contributions up to the first 6% of your salary you contribute or math all your contributions up to the first 3% of your salary. In the first case, to maximize your tax benefit and matching benefit, you’ll need to deduct 6% of your paycheck every period if 6% of your annual salary adds up to $17,000 or less (or $22,500 or less if you’re 50 years old or older). In the second case, you’ll only need to deduct 3% of each paycheck. If the optimal percentage would result in exceeding the government-mandated maximum, you’d have to determine the best percentage that prevents you from exceeding that threshold.

I found out recently that some employers offer a benefit, sometimes called something like “spillover protection.” If you contribute more than the IRS maximum, companies that offer this feature will allow you to continue deferring income to your 401(k), it would just be considered after-tax contributions. Most employers will automatically stop your contribution once you hit the limit, and if the employer matches your contribution on a per-paycheck basis, you’ll miss out on some matching contributions.

Employers may also have other contribution limits. It’s common for a corporation to say that the maximum contribution percentage is 50% of an annual salary.

Recalculating the 401(k) contribution at the end of the year is not a tactic just for those earning enough to maximize the tax benefit. If you received a raise or cost of living increase this year and haven’t adjusted your 401(k) deferment to match the extra cash flow, the end of the year is a good time to bump your contribution by one or two percentage points. Some 401(k) plans have options where the investor can initiate automatic investment increases each year. This is a good opportunity to turn this feature on or manually adjust your contribution.

This advice isn’t just for people working for a large corporation. Non-profit organizations often offer similar benefits called 403(b) plans, and if you’re self-employed, you may save for your retirement using an individual (or Solo) 401(k) plan.

Don’t wait. The process of changing your contribution can take a few weeks to take effect, so if you want to contribute a consistent percentage of your income throughout the new year, the sooner you make the change, the easier that will be.

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Thanks to inflation, the maximum amount of money you may contribute to your 401(k) in 2012 will change. This applies to 403(b) accounts, as well. For 2009, 2010, and 2011, the maximum you may designate to your 401(k), not including your employer’s matching contributions, was $16,500, but in 2012, this will finally increase to $17,000. If you are age 50 or older, you can contribute an additional $5,500, which remains the same from 2011, beyond this maximum for a total of $22,500.

The total contribution limit, including employer contributions, has increased from $49,000 to $50,000.

For anyone who contributes to a traditional IRA, this is normally tax deductible, but this benefit phases out. In 2011, the phase-out occurred for single taxpayers whose modified adjusted gross income fell between $56,000 and $66,000, but in 2012, this phase-out begins at $58,000 and is fully eliminated for those earning $68,000. Similar increases pertain to married (filing jointly) taxpayers resulting in a phase-out between MAGIs of $92,000 to $112,000.

This past year, I worked fully for myself. Without an employer, I had no access to a regular 401(k), but I did initiate an Individual 401(k), which follows the same rules. By the end of the year, I expect to have maximized the employee portion of my 401(k) contributions at $16,500 with extra invested for the employer portion.

To lower your tax burden this year by up to $5,000, consider opening up an IRA (Individual Retirement Account). Mint.com has an IRA wizard that can show you what kind of IRA to open and where to open it.

My 2010 contributions fell short from the maximum by about $700, and a portion of that is due to leaving the company in the middle of December. I received the full company match, a 100% match on the first 4% of my salary that was contributed to the plan, in every pay period.

In 2009, I contributed the maximum $16,500, but I didn’t plan for an extra paycheck at the end of the year, so that last paycheck did not include a contribution to my 401(k). As a result my imperfect calculation, I missed out on a portion of my employer’s matching contribution. Some employers match after taking all contributions for the year into account, but mine contributes on a pay period basis. Any pay period that I did not contribute to my 401(k), the company did not match.

In 2008, I missed the full contribution amount by $1,000. That year, I made several changes to my contribution rate and lost track of what my rate needed to be in order to maximize my contribution.

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