As an experienced wealth manager, I’m going to let you in on a little secret. When you retire, you can toss out everything you thought you knew about tax planning. The truth is, retirement gives you tons of opportunities to be more strategic about tax planning (which also means you could end up paying more taxes than you need to if you’re not strategic).
Withdrawing even small amounts of money from a particular asset at the wrong time can result in a major tax bill. So here’s the good news: You can start planning now to take advantage of tax strategies that will lessen the impact of taxes on your vision for retirement. A tax strategy advisor who specializes in retirement planning can help you achieve this.
What Does A Tax Strategy Advisor Specializing In Retirement Do?
When you retire, your income sources are likely produced from a variety of assets, including employer-sponsored retirement plans, Social Security, or other income-generating investments. Each asset has different tax characteristics, and properly structured investments can help lower your tax burden if you plan strategically how and when you’ll withdraw income from each.
Most people will receive Social Security benefits during retirement, but 85% of your Social Security income can be taxed at your regular rate if your income exceeds a certain amount. (1) A tax strategy advisor can help you determine how Social Security will fit into your overall plan and structure your other investments to alleviate the tax burden on Social Security income.
Additionally, a retirement tax strategy advisor can help you manage the tax implications of all your other income sources. Because each income source carries different complex tax implications, an expert can help you make decisions about how and when to draw from each investment type.
Do You Need A Tax Strategy Advisor Who Specializes In Retirement?
- If you plan to retire and you’ll have to pay taxes in retirement, then we recommend you have a retirement tax strategy advisor on your team. However, we acknowledge that you likely have other constraints and considerations. You should consider partnering with a retirement tax strategy advisor if:
- You have multiple retirement investments that generate taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-free assets.
- You need to strategically bunch tax deductions owing to changes in standard deductions under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
- You’re interested in minimizing your lifetime tax liability.
- You have a substantial portion of your retirement savings in tax-deferred accounts.
- Your modified adjusted gross income as an individual filer exceeds $34,000 per year or $44,000 as married joint filers.
- You want to minimize your Medicare premiums caused by income-related monthly adjustment amounts for high income earners.
Retirement tax planning should start well before you actually retire so you’re taking advantage of tax-deferral opportunities and tax-efficient investing. Instead of continuing to worry if you’ve simply saved enough money to be comfortable, a tax strategy advisor who specializes in retirement can help you unlock the retirement of your dreams by finding opportunities to reduce your tax burden.
Partner With A Holistic Wealth Manager
At Anderson Financial Strategies, we take a holistic approach to wealth management. Rather than providing you with only investment advice or portfolio management, we help you simplify the approach you need to realize your retirement goals, which always includes strategic tax planning. If you would like to explore our services for your family or business, please call us at 855-237-4545 to schedule an executive briefing to discuss your goals.
About Shon
Shon Anderson is president and chief wealth strategist at Anderson Financial Strategies, LLC with over 15 years of experience. As a fiduciary, Shon’s mission is to provide his clients with quality financial expertise along with rapidly responsive service through an honest relationship. He specializes in providing family office-style services to help his clients organize and focus their financial life. Shon graduated from Wright State University with a bachelor’s degree in financial services and an MBA in finance. He is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) practitioner and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®) designation. His insights have been quoted in leading financial news publications such as CNBC, Yahoo Finance, Fox Business, Consumer Reports, Forbes, Bankrate.com, Investment News, and Kiplinger. Shon serves as an adjunct professor teaching personal finance courses at Wright State University, leads CFP® exam review courses for Keir Educational Resources, and is president of the CFA Society Dayton. Shon and his wife, Jessica, reside in Sugarcreek Township, Ohio, and are blessed with triplet daughters, Elizabeth, Bridgette, and Alexandra, along with their son, Jacob, and dog, Jack. Over the years, Shon has been involved in several volunteer organizations including the Wright State chapter of Delta Tau Delta as an alumni adviser and was a Big Brother in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program. To learn more about Shon, connect with him on LinkedIn.
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