Pillar Four
Strategic Tax Planning: Maximizing what you keep.
Tax preparation is looking in the rearview mirror to see what you owed last year. Tax planning is looking through the windshield to lower your lifetime tax bill.
The Strategic Window
We identify "planning windows," specific years where low ordinary income creates an opportunity for Roth conversions at a 12% or 22% bracket. By paying a small tax now, we move money into "tax-free territory" forever, shielding you from future tax hikes and managing future Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs).
Location and Timing Optimization
Our integrated approach includes:
- Tax-Loss Harvesting: Turning market volatility into a tax benefit by selling losing positions to offset gains.
- Asset Location: Ensuring the right assets are held in the right accounts (Taxable vs. Tax-Deferred vs. Tax-Free).
- Business Succession Timing: For business owners, timing a sale by even one day can shift the tax liability between fiscal years, creating massive optionality.