You have until April 15 to file your 2024 taxes. As the name implies, nearly all of what matters when it comes to your return happened last year. The various paperwork you’ll have to go through over the next couple of months will likely concern property you sold, money you made and loans you repaid in 2024.

But the income you’ll owe tax on isn’t quite set in stone. If you want to trim your bill between now and Tax Day, there are still a couple of moves to be made.

“There are certain times after the fact that you can sill reduce your taxable income for the prior year,” says Ryan Losi, a certified public accountant and executive vice president with Piascik. “If you make contributions to your IRA or HSA, you have until April 15 to have it treated as a prior year contribution.”

Indeed, a single taxpayer who maxed out an individual retirement account and health saving account could trim their taxable income by thousands of dollars. Here’s how it works.

Let’s start with the IRA. An individual retirement account is a retirement savings vehicle you open through a brokerage. The so-called “traditional” versions of these accounts are funded with pre-tax dollars, which means you can deduct the amount you contribute from your taxable income for the year you made the deduction.

But IRA contributions also come with a little grace period. You can designate any money you put in between now and April 15 as a prior-year contribution.

For 2024, you can put up to $7,000 into an IRA, or up to $8,000 if you’re age 50 or older. As long as you didn’t already hit the limit last year, you can still shield more of your money from 2024 income tax. Some taxpayers are subject to limited deductions if they or their spouse make a certain amount of money and are covered by a retirement account at work.

Cash in an these accounts isn’t shielded from taxes forever. Money you withdraw from an IRA is treated as taxable income in retirement. Plus you’ll owe an additional tax penalty if you withdraw the money before age 59½.

Still, financial pros generally view getting a tax break this year while stashing money away for retirement as a win-win — if you can swing it.

“Obviously it’s a great privilege to have several thousand dollars laying around, but it’s one of the only things you can take action on within this tax season that will help you on this year’s taxes,” says Courtney Alev, head of tax and consumer financial advocate at Credit Karma.

You can also make retroactive contributions to a health savings account.

These accounts are renowned for their triple tax advantage. Like an IRA, you can deduct contributions from your taxable income. If you invest within the account, your portfolio grows tax-free. And you won’t owe Uncle Sam anything when you withdraw the money, provided you use it for qualified medical expenses.

These accounts, which are only available to workers enrolled in high-deductible health plans, are a favorite among financial planners, who view them as a powerful retirement savings tool.

As with an IRA, you have until April 15 to make a 2024 contribution. For the 2024 tax year, individuals can contribute up to $4,150 if they have self-coverage and up to $8,300 for family coverage. If you’re age 55 or older, you can kick in an extra $1,000.

So, assuming you have ample cash lying around, have family coverage, are 55 or older and didn’t contribute a nickel to your IRA or HSA in 2024, you could theoretically still reduce your 2024 taxable income by $17,300 — all while putting money toward long-term goals.

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As a physical therapist and fitness trainer, my clients are always asking me what they can do to keep their bodies young and healthy.

As we age, we naturally lose strength, range of motion and flexibility, which can cause stiffness, discomfort and an increased risk of injury. So mobility is crucial for long-term pain relief and overall longevity.

So if you ask any fitness expert what stretch is the best for longevity, they’ll tell you about the “World’s Greatest Stretch.” This full body movement can improve mobility, work a variety of muscle groups and keep your body in excellent condition as you age.

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1. Start in a high plank position. Keep your hands directly beneath your shoulders, and your body in a straight line from head to heels.
2. Step your right foot forward. Place it outside your right hand, forming a deep lunge. Make sure your front knee stays aligned over your ankle.
3. Reach your right arm upward. Rotate your torso to the right, extending your arm toward the ceiling. Follow your hand with your eyes to enhance spinal mobility.
4. Return your hand to the ground. Bring your right arm back down and place it on the inside of your front foot.
5. Straighten your front leg. Shift your weight back slightly to stretch your hamstring. Hold for 10 seconds, then return to the lunge.
6. Switch sides. Step your right foot back to the plank position and repeat on the left side.

Not only does this stretch feel amazing, but it is also science-backed. According to studies, dynamic stretching is more effective than static stretching at increasing flexibility and getting your muscles ready for exercise.

For the best results, aim to perform this stretch for five to 10 repetitions on each side, holding each position for a few seconds. Try to reach a little bit deeper into the lunge as you rotate to improve your mobility over time.

As you do this stretch on a daily basis, you’ll start to notice:

• Improved hip flexibility: Tight hips are a common issue that can lead to increased tension in the lower back.
• Strengthened stabilizing muscles: By holding the stretch position, you’re actually performing a core exercise by stabilizing at your hips and trunk.
• Boosted circulation: Dynamic movements stimulate blood flow to the muscles, which helps with recovery and reduces inflammation.
• Enhanced joint health: Moving joints through their full range of motion promotes synovial fluid production, which lubricates and protects cartilage.

Keep in mind that, while this stretch is excellent for most people, it’s not for everyone. If you have a physical condition or health concerns, consult with your doctor first.

Andy Fata-Chan is a physical therapist and the founder if Moment Physical Therapy and Performance, which specializes in helping patients with chronic debilitating pain get back to high performance. His experience ranges from youth athletes to Olympic and professional-level athletes.

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The U.S. has made some strides toward reaching racial equality since the days of the civil rights movement. 

But President Donald Trump has made ending diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives a priority under his administration. As the president has instructed federal agencies to end related programming and dismiss relevant employees, major companies like Target and Google have followed suit in rolling back their own DEI initiatives.

Both historically and now, it’s reasonable that many Black residents in the U.S. are saying they feel the American Dream is not a viable pursuit for them.

In fact, 75% of Black Americans report experiencing discrimination from time to time, if not regularly, according to a 2023 Pew Research survey. And 67% of Black adults say the U.S. political system was designed to hold Black people back.

Leaving the U.S. may not be a solution to racism, which certainly exists in other countries. Plus, it can be expensive or difficult to secure a job that lets you work abroad. But many of the Black expats CNBC Make It has spoken with report greater senses of security and more overall happiness.

Below, three Black Americans who moved abroad share their experiences. 

Cara West and her family relocated to the Greek island of Syros in 2024. She says the regularity and tragedy of school shootings in the U.S. was a large motivator for her to look for safer places to raise her daughter, but she says she found more security and acceptance for herself as a Black woman living abroad as well.

“I just get to exist in peace and I’m not worried about someone following me around at the store or treating me differently because of my skin color,” West recently told CNBC Make It.

The content creator and luxury travel concierge spent time living nomadically in several different places, including Portugal and Belize, before settling in Greece, and she “always felt welcomed,” she said. “I’m really seen first as an American, and not necessarily for the color of my skin.”

West often gets questions from her Black viewers about moving abroad. Many just don’t know where to start.

“I hope that the content that I create and the experiences that I’m able to showcase on my platform really helps people understand where there are safe places for Black Americans who are looking to either travel or to live abroad,” she said. 

Like West, Jamal Robinson says he’s seen more as an “American first” than a Black man when traveling, he recently told CNBC Make It. He retired in 2024 from his corporate tech career at just 39 and currently lives in Dubai, where he says he’s “much happier.”

“My experience has been very different than what I’m used to in America,” he said. ”[In the U.S.,] you’re typically identified as a Black person first, and then after that you’re an engineer or a janitor or whatever they want to label you as.”

In addition to seeing Black Americans as just Americans, Robinson said when he’s been in places where locals aren’t used to seeing Black people, “it’s almost like you’re celebrated.”

“People will come up to you and they want to talk and engage with you,” he said. “For the first time in my life, [it’s been] a privilege to be a Black person, and it’s been really beneficial, the reception that I’ve received as I’ve traveled around.”

Both being American and being Black are rare characteristics for people living in Iceland. But Jewels Chambers, a Black woman who’s lived there since 2016, says that hasn’t been a problem.

“Living in Iceland has 1,000% had an amazing impact on my mental health,” she told CNBC Make It in 2024. “The nature aspect has helped me in so many ways, shedding this idea that it always has to be about my skin color has helped.”

While she doesn’t deny that racism exists in Iceland, Chambers says she’s been fortunate not to experience it herself. Through her podcast and YouTube channel, “All Things Iceland,” she shares what life is like as an expat and wants her audience to see the positive impact living there has had on her life.

“For many people who are of color, whether they’re Black or from some other ethnicity, they come here and say that they’re happy … they were just treated like another tourist,” she said.

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Steve Barsh spends his workweeks mentoring startup founders, consulting with artificial intelligence experts and advising organizations like SeatGeek and NASA.

For one to two hours per day, the full-time startup investor also runs his side hustle, a property management company called Parker Chase Properties that manages short-term rentals across five luxury condo units in Park City, Utah, and Deer Valley, Utah.

The side hustle started 26 years ago when Barsh sold a software startup he co-founded called SECA, and together with his wife Amber Salzman, bought a $820,000 three-bedroom condo in Park City. The Philadelphia-based couple used the condo for vacations and rented it out through a property manager for the rest of each year — until Barsh, annoyed at how much he had to pay the property manager, decided to handle bookings himself, he says.

Salzman and Barsh now own four of the five condos managed by Parker Chase, which brought in $1.27 million in revenue — roughly $105,000 per month, on average — on Airbnb, VRBO and travel software platform Hospitable last year, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. (Barsh is an investor in Hospitable, according to the company.)

Barsh pockets 40% to 50% of those bookings as profit, he estimates. He essentially runs the side hustle solo, contracting only with a housekeeping company and, when he’s traveling, a backup property management company, he says.

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Now a full-time Park City resident, Barsh “refined” his guests’ experience over time, he says. He pictured travelers wanting to kick back in leather chairs, drink cold beers from a mini fridge and watch ESPN on a wall-to-wall flat-screen TV — when they weren’t skiing on nearby slopes — and spent to make such luxuries possible, anticipating that the investment would pay off later.

He collects feedback from guests constantly, and refuses to cut corners, he adds. Most of the time, Parker Chase’s positive reviews come from small details, like lint rollers in the laundry room. Once, one of Parker Chase’s regulars told Barsh that she desperately needed a rice cooker, he says. He stopped at Costco and texted her a photo of one on the shelf.

“She was like, ‘Not a crappy American rice maker, a Chinese rice maker,’ and sent me a link to a $390 version,” Barsh says. “It was a no-brainer for me.”

Barsh’s property management side hustle is decidedly upscale — it’s hard to create a luxury experience for guests without spending money first, including the roughly $10 million he and Salzman spent to purchase their four condos, he says. (The funds came from a $4.3 million sale of their initial condo, and money that Salzman, a longtime biotechnology executive, made in a corporate acquisition, Barsh notes.)

Correspondingly, a night at a Parker Chase property is pricier than the average vacation rental: The company’s current availability for March shows a median price of $3,390 per night. The average daily rate for an Airbnb or VRBO listing in Park City is $761, according to an estimate by short-term rental analytics company AirDNA.com.

Barsh pockets more money from Parker Chase than the combined salaries of the average property manager and real estate investor in the U.S., based on data from job search platform ZipRecruiter. He also uses his side hustle to teach his two children how to invest in appreciating assets, and he genuinely enjoys the hospitality aspect of running the business himself, he says.

“Four Seasons, when they hire people, know that they can teach people how to work a front desk, open a front door or clean a room, but they look for people with that hospitality instinct,” says Barsh. “I don’t know what it is in me, but I really enjoy hospitality. I really enjoy when people tell me they’ve had an amazing experience. It just makes me feel good.”

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While the brain makes up only 2% of your body weight, it is responsible for over 20% of energy expenditure each day.

I’ve spent 15 years studying the brain, and five years as a medical director of a residential memory care facility. I am always reminding people to eat things that feed the brain, not harm it. You want to give your brain the nutrients it needs to heal, repair tissues, fight toxins and create neurotransmitters so that it can stay young, sharp and energized for as long as possible.

That means nutrient-dense, lower-carb foods. Nutrients to provide the building blocks, and lower carbs to help stabilize your blood sugar and even out the roller coaster of spikes and drops that create so many cognition-impairing side effects, including lightheadedness, anxiety, fatigue, irritability and a decrease in focus.

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So if you do one thing to improve your diet to protect the brain, start raising your carb-consciousness and begin swapping out some of the carb-heavy foods you eat most often for lower-carb alternatives.

A healthy amount of carbs to shoot for is around 130 grams per day (about 25% of calories in a 2,000 calorie diet).

But not all carbs offer the same health benefits, so the quality of the carbs you eat is much more important than the number. Consider that eating a higher carb fruit like grapes or watermelon after a high-fat, high-protein snack like greek yogurt will reduce how quickly and how much your blood sugar will go up.

Eat high-fat, high-protein foods first in your meal and save the higher carb options until later. Aim to snack on low-carb options like cucumbers, bell peppers, cheese, coconut yogurt, pecans or walnuts.

Sweets on an empty stomach will raise your blood sugar high and fast, then it will drop. Generally that drop in blood sugar feels bad and makes us act hangry, and over time it leads to diabetes, insulin resistance and cognitive impairment. 

That could look like:

• One piece of avocado toast for breakfast instead of a whole bagel or cereal.
• Soup and salad instead of a sandwich and chips for lunch.
• Swapping your side dish of potatoes or rice for quinoa or cauliflower rice at dinner.
• Berries with a little whipped cream or a few squares of dark chocolate instead of ice cream for dessert.

Don’t get too hung up on counting every gram of carbohydrates you consume, because it can be stressful and overwhelming (which is the opposite of what we want!).

But many times my patients don’t realize how many carbs they’ve been eating. Becoming aware of how many carbohydrates you’re eating in a day will help you eat less of them — after all, you can’t change a habit you don’t know you have.

Just this one change would do a ton of good — including bringing down glucose and insulin levels (and therefore reducing inflammation), and upping consumption of the nutrients that support brain health (protein, vitamins and minerals from vegetables and fats).

Dr. Heather Sandison is a naturopathic doctor specializing in neurocognitive medicine and the founder of Solcere Health Clinic, a brain optimization clinic, and Marama, the first residential memory care facility to have the goal of returning cognitively declined residents to independent living. Her latest book, “Reversing Alzheimer’s” is out now.

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Adapted excerpt from the book: “REVERSING ALZHEIMER’S,” by Dr. Heather Sandison. Copyright © 2024 by Dr. Heather Sandison. Reprinted courtesy of Harper Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.