When I worked as a tax CPA for KPMG in the late 90s, I served many corporate executives and wealthy families as their senior tax specialist and prepared many individual income tax returns, trust returns, and gift tax returns. Now, I use that knowledge and expertise to help my affluent and high-income clients plan ahead to keep more money in their pockets by using smart tax savings strategies. 

Looking at this Historical Tax Rate Chart 1913-2021, you can see that the current top income rate is relatively low. Like the importance of diversification in investing, I believe that tax diversification is just as relevant as you plan for your financial future.

I have five tax savings strategies I’d like to share with you today to help you keep more of your money.

One of the keys to wealth building is protecting as much of your income as possible, making it crucial for high-income earners to develop a smart tax savings strategy. Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are a great tool to help you accomplish this goal, yet they are often overlooked or misunderstood. When you do take advantage of an HSA – and you use it correctly – it provides an easy annual income tax deduction, but it can also create dedicated, tax-free savings for your healthcare needs in retirement.

Think of your retirement savings (IRAs and 401(k) as going to pay for other retirement expenses such as food, shelter, and clothes, and you can see that you need to jump-start saving in your HSA for your health care costs (including Medicare premiums) in retirement.  Moreover, an HSA is a savings account with a unique triple tax benefit. All contributions are tax-free, their growth within the account is tax-free, and qualified withdrawals (that is, ones that are used to cover qualified medical expenses) are tax-free, too.

Though this may sound promising, one-size-fits-all investment strategies don’t exist. Would an HSA make good financial sense for you? Read on to find out.

There is so much to consider when making investment decisions, especially when you’re working toward meeting specific short- and long-term financial goals. This is certainly true of the tax implications of your investment strategy, as taxes can reduce your investment returns from year to year and jeopardize your ability to achieve your goals. This is especially true if you fall into a higher federal income tax bracket, making it even more important to consider the impact of taxes when making any changes to your investments. While you should always consult with a tax professional regarding your unique investment and tax scenarios, the following six tax-efficient investing strategies may be beneficial to your finances.

A traditional IRA is a fantastic retirement savings tool because you can minimize your current tax burden and pay taxes on your contributions later. There are some instances, though, when you may want to take care of what you owe the government now so that you can avoid subsequent taxes down the road. To accomplish this goal, you’ll want to convert some of your traditional IRA balance to a Roth as Roth IRA distributions in the future including all the gains will be income tax-free.

When might a Roth conversion make sense? Although you should always consider your unique financial planning needs, there are four scenarios in which it makes sense to consider a Roth conversion.

Independence Day is one of America’s favorite summer holidays. What is one of your favorite traditions on Independence Day: fireworks, hotdogs, parades? In this blog, I want to talk about another kind of Independence Day, your Financial Independence Day.

If money and time were not an issue, what kind of activities would you be doing over the next twelve months? The day when work becomes optional—when you can choose to stop working and start doing those activities that you enjoy while maintaining your current standard of living—is the day you’ve reached your financial independence day. This day is the end result of a process of determining your retirement income goals, the actions, and the decisions necessary to achieve those goals. Retirement planning is, in essence, preparation for life after paid work ends, not just financially, but in terms of lifestyle choices, such as how to spend time in retirement, where to live, when to completely quit working.

A Plan for Every Stage of Life

People often deny themselves their dreams because they don’t understand the resources needed. This is why it’s important that I get their list of dreams during a discovery meeting in order to explore options and tell them what’s realistic. If a goal is unrealistic based on current net worth, income, and expenses, I can make suggestions for changes to get them to a better place. I can run some scenarios to show if they are spending too much now to retire in their target year, and I can offer recommendations. Financial independence isn’t necessarily just about retirement; it could involve the pursuit of a new career.