Tax Planning

Taxes are a central component of a comprehensive financial plan. Almost every financial planning issue – whether it is retirement, investments, insurance, or estate planning – has tax considerations. To that end, we have invested in diagnostic tax software that can help recognize tax planning and investing opportunities simply using your tax return. Moreover, the software has also been useful at identifying potential errors to help ensure you pay what’s appropriate, but nothing more (if tax planning strategies aren’t reported to the IRS correctly, they may as well not have happened)! While we do not prepare tax returns, by incorporating your tax situation into your overall financial plan, we can work together to help minimize your tax liability.

  • Tax-efficient Portfolio Management - A thorough understanding of your tax situation puts us in a better position to understand your overall personal finances. That can allow us to tailor specific approaches to your situation which may lead to a more tax-efficient investment strategy.
  • Review Tax “Gotchas” – Identify credit and deduction phaseouts e.g., Medicare Surcharges, Net Investment Income Tax, Widow Penalty, and Required Minimum Distributions.
  • Retirement Optimization – Comprehensive knowledge of your tax situation allows us to better understand the role each of your traditional (pre-tax), after-tax and Roth retirement accounts play in your overall financial strategy.
  • Retirement Distribution Planning – Taxes are an important factor to consider when withdrawing money from your accounts during retirement, including the consideration of Roth IRA conversions and timing of Social Security. We can illustrate various scenarios to visualize the optimal way to think about these withdrawal decisions.
  • Coordination of Tax Strategies with Your CPA – Having a clear understanding of your tax situation allows us to collaborate effectively with your tax preparer thus reducing the chance of errors. We’ve seen a number of mistakes on the reporting of charitable donations and back door Roth IRA’s to name a few that could’ve been avoided.
  • Ongoing Tax Management – Tax laws and regulations are constantly changing. By reviewing your tax returns periodically, we can show you potential adjustments in your financial strategy that may help keep you up to date with new laws and regulation.

How to send us copies of your tax returns:

  • Upload your return directly using a secure link we’ll email to you
  • Drop your returns off at our office – we’d love to see you and we’ll copy them for you
  • Have your tax preparer send them to us directly

Taxes are an important consideration for us as advisors to understand your personal and financial circumstances and we hope you’ll take advantage of this value-added service. We realize tax season is one and done for many of you but we’re glad to work year-round to help make sure that all aspects of your financial plan are functioning in the most tax-efficient way possible. After all, it’s not just what you earn, but what you keep that matters most!