Tax Planning

It's easy to think about taxes once a year when it's time to file your return. But some of the best opportunities to be more tax-efficient happen long before tax season.

We take a closer look at your tax returns and overall financial picture to identify opportunities you may not have considered. That could mean making the most of retirement contributions, being thoughtful about when to realize investment gains, taking advantage of lower-income years, or finding more tax-efficient ways to give to charity.

We also look at how one decision may affect another. Sometimes a strategy that saves you money today could create a larger tax bill down the road.

A Roth conversion can be a valuable planning opportunity, especially for someone approaching retirement, but it doesn't make sense for everyone.

A Roth conversion involves moving money from a traditional IRA into a Roth IRA and generally paying income taxes on the converted amount today. With that, that money can potentially grow and be withdrawn tax-free in retirement, assuming the withdrawal requirements are met.

For example, let's say you retire at 62 but don't begin Social Security until 67. Those years without a paycheck may create an opportunity to convert some traditional IRA money while you're in a lower tax bracket.

We help evaluate whether a conversion makes sense, how much to consider converting, and how it could affect your taxes, Medicare premiums and future retirement income.

When you retire, you may have money spread across traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, 401(k)s and individual investment accounts. While they all hold your savings, they aren't all taxed the same way when you start using that money.

We help determine where your retirement income should come from and how those withdrawals may affect your taxes. For example, taking $50,000 from a traditional IRA can have a very different tax impact than taking the same amount from a Roth IRA or selling investments in a brokerage account.

Through our Five-Year Retirement Income Plan, we coordinate your income needs with your investment and tax strategies. That means we're not simply deciding how much you can withdraw, but also considering which accounts make the most sense to use and when!

You may have spent decades saving into a traditional IRA or 401(k) and enjoying the tax benefits along the way. Eventually, the IRS requires you to begin withdrawing money from many of those accounts, whether you need the income or not.

These are called required minimum distributions, or RMDs, and they can create a significant tax bill, particularly for someone who has accumulated substantial retirement savings.

Rather than waiting until those withdrawals are required, we look years ahead. We evaluate opportunities to strategically withdraw money earlier, consider Roth conversions, and understand how future RMDs may affect Social Security taxes, Medicare premiums and your overall retirement income.

It's not just what you invest in that matters. Where you hold those investments and when you buy or sell them can make a difference in how much you pay in taxes.

For example, selling an investment in a taxable brokerage account could create a capital gains tax bill, even if you plan to reinvest the money. Certain investments may also generate taxable income each year, while others may be better suited for accounts with different tax treatment.

We look at how your investments are positioned across your accounts and consider opportunities to manage capital gains, harvest investment losses when appropriate, and make thoughtful decisions when rebalancing your portfolio.

We want your investment strategy and tax strategy working together, so you're not unnecessarily giving up more of your investment returns to taxes.

If giving to charity or leaving money to loved ones is important to you, there may be opportunities to accomplish those goals in a more tax-efficient way.

For charitable giving, we can explore strategies such as donating appreciated investments instead of cash, using donor-advised funds, or making qualified charitable distributions directly from an IRA when eligible. Depending on your situation, these strategies may help you support the causes you care about while also managing your tax liability.

We also look at what happens to your assets when they're passed to your family. For example, inheriting a traditional IRA can create very different tax consequences than inheriting a taxable investment account. Understanding those differences may influence how you spend, gift or leave certain assets.

We believe some of the best financial decisions happen when your financial advisor and tax professional are working together.

Your CPA typically focuses on preparing your tax returns, making sure everything is reported correctly, and helping you navigate tax rules. Our role is to look ahead and identify how the financial decisions you're making throughout the year could affect your taxes.

We review your financial picture for planning opportunities, help evaluate different strategies, and coordinate with your tax professional when needed. Whether it's considering a Roth conversion, planning a large withdrawal, or selling an investment with significant gains, we want everyone working from the same information.

You shouldn't have to be the person connecting all the dots between your financial advisor and your CPA. We want to help bring those conversations together so important opportunities don't get overlooked.