Tax planning built into your financial plan
A plan for the years ahead. More opportunities to save on taxes.
The decisions you make today can affect your taxes for years. We look ahead for opportunities across retirement withdrawals, investments, and equity compensation, then coordinate with your CPA to put your tax strategy into practice.
What is tax planning?
Tax planning means making decisions before the year ends, like which accounts to draw from and whether to convert to Roth, so your April tax return reflects a plan. We look about 10 years ahead, because some of the biggest tax bills are set years in advance.
The moves that decide the bill
The Roth conversion window
The years between your last paycheck and your first required distribution can be the cheapest years to move money out of pre-tax accounts. Read more in The Roth conversion window.
Medicare’s 2-year lookback
Your income at 63 sets your Medicare premium at 65. See the 2026 IRMAA tiers.
The state you retire in
New Jersey, New York, and California each tax retirement income differently. Retiring in a high-tax state compares the three.
The widow’s penalty
The same income can be taxed harder on single brackets after losing a spouse. The widow’s penalty explains why.
What is included in tax planning
When you onboard, we build an initial plan, the Wealth Blueprint™. Tax planning runs through every part of it, because the tax bill changes the answer to the retirement date, the investment mix, and the estate plan. These are the pieces that belong to the tax work.
A 10-year tax projection
Your return rebuilt in planning software, then projected forward 10 years with your salary, equity, pensions, Social Security, and required distributions on the calendar. The projection shows which years are cheap and which are expensive before they arrive.
The Roth conversion schedule
How much to convert each year, to which bracket line, and in which years, with the IRMAA and capital gains thresholds checked at the same time. The schedule is rerun every fall with the actual numbers before the December deadline.
Withholding and estimated payments
W-4 settings, IRA withholding, vest withholding, and quarterly estimates set to the bracket you are actually in, so April brings neither a penalty nor a refund that was really an interest-free loan.
Account order and asset location
Which accounts pay for which years, and which investments sit in taxable, pre-tax, and Roth accounts so the growth lands where it is taxed least. The order is written down and reviewed when income or the law changes.
Charitable, state, and estate coordination
Which lots to give, how a move between states changes the plan, and how the tax plan fits the beneficiary forms and the estate documents, all worked through with your CPA and estate attorney so no one is planning in a separate room.
Align Financial Solutions does not provide tax or legal advice. Please consult your CPA or attorney regarding your specific situation.
Getting started
Start with a 15-minute Align Call.
Tell us what’s on your mind and learn how we work, so you can decide whether Align is the right advice team for you.
Build your Wealth Blueprint™.
When you onboard, we build an initial plan, the Wealth Blueprint™, with your 10-year tax projection built in.
Put your plan into practice.
Every fall we review your year-end tax moves before the December deadlines, and we coordinate with your CPA so the plan carries through to your return.
Is Align the right fit for you?
Tax planning makes the biggest difference when you have decisions ahead. You may be:
- Having saved diligently over decades of hard work and wanting to keep more of it in retirement
- Vesting equity or taking a bonus that pushes the year into a higher bracket
- Planning to retire in New Jersey, New York, or California, or thinking about leaving one
- Recently widowed and facing single-filer brackets on the same income
- Giving to charity and wanting to give in the most tax-efficient way
If your situation is simpler, we will tell you on the call and point you to better-fitting resources. Tax planning is one part of our financial planning services.
Tax planning guides and tools
Start with one of these, or browse more on the blog.
Retirement Tax Playbook
Our free guide to the tax decisions in the years before and after retirement.
Is a Roth conversion right for you?
How to tell whether converting makes sense for your situation.
Tax planning: questions, answered
What is the difference between tax planning and tax preparation?
Tax preparation reports the year that already happened and files the return. Tax planning happens before the year ends and shapes what that return will say.
Do you prepare tax returns?
No. We do tax planning. We look for the tax planning opportunities in your situation and build the strategy, while your CPA prepares and files the return.
Should I convert to a Roth before required minimum distributions start?
It depends on your tax bracket today, the bracket you expect later, and how a conversion affects your Medicare premiums. For some women, the years between the last paycheck and the first required distribution are a good window to convert. For others, it adds tax now with little benefit later. Your tax projection shows which is true for you.
How does tax planning work with my CPA?
We share your tax projection and plan with your CPA, confirm the numbers before year-end, and send a clear record of conversions, gifts, and estimated payments at filing time. If you don’t have a CPA, we can suggest the kind of preparer your situation needs.
How much does tax planning cost?
We are fee-only advisors, paid only by our clients. We receive no commissions and do not sell products. Wealth management is priced on the assets we manage and advise on, and ongoing planning is a flat annual fee set by the complexity of your situation. You get your exact fee in writing at the Outcomes Discussion, and the full schedule is in our Form ADV Part 2A.
Do you work with women outside New Jersey?
Yes. We are based in Hoboken, New Jersey, but we work with clients across the country virtually.
Start with this year’s return
You do not need to organize anything first. Bring last year’s return to a free 15-minute Align Call, and we will tell you what we see and whether Align is the right advice team for you.