Pillar 3
Taxes are planned in years, not in April.
Your accountant tells you what you owed. We focus on what you’ll owe, and on the decisions over the next several years that change that number.
Explore
What this pillar covers.
- A multi-year view of your likely tax bill, so decisions can be timed instead of rushed.
- Roth conversion analysis: whether, when, and how much, with the effect on your estate included.
- Required minimum distributions and qualified charitable distributions, planned together.
- Pre-tax versus after-tax decisions about what you save and where.
- How your income will be taxed in retirement: dividends, interest, capital gains, pensions, Social Security, and inheritances.
- Coordination with your CPA throughout the year, so your strategy and your filing match.
Where it touches the other pillars.
Nearly every decision in the other four pillars has a tax consequence: the order you draw income, where your investments are held, how your estate transfers, how a business is sold. This pillar is where we check those consequences before the decision is made, not after.
What tax planning is not.
They say only two things in life are certain, and taxes are the one planning can do something about. We structure your finances so you and your family aren’t paying tax that good planning could have reduced. That’s different from tax avoidance, and it doesn’t come with a promise of a smaller bill.
What the work looks like.
By the findings meeting, you’ll see a multi-year projection and the specific moves worth considering, with your CPA kept in the loop.
Frequently asked questions
We focus on planning: the decisions throughout the year, and over the years, that change what you owe. Your CPA handles the return, and we coordinate with them so the plan and the filing match.
A Roth conversion moves money from a pre-tax retirement account into a Roth account. You pay tax now so that withdrawals later can be tax-free. It tends to make sense in years when your income, and your tax rate with it, is lower than it will be later. We model it against your full plan before recommending it.
Accountants are usually paid to file your return accurately. Planning the next several years, like when to convert, when to realize gains, and which account to draw from, is a different job. It’s the one we do, working alongside your accountant.
Let’s move forward together.
You’ve worked hard to build what you have. Start with a Discovery Meeting, at no cost and with no obligation. We’ll talk about where you are and where you want to go, and you’ll leave knowing exactly what working together would look like.
