Wealth Management Tax Planning Services
Keep more of what you’ve earned through careful tax planning management

 

Your wealth will grow more and be more effectively protected if tax planning is considered in every major financial decision in your life. It can help you avoid overpaying taxes and under-contributing to your charitable interests and your investment portfolio. At KAR, our goal is to recognize and proactively address potential tax implications to minimize your tax burden. We work with you to identify tax-efficient ways of gifting, maximize the tax efficiency of your investments, and execute tax-loss harvesting when appropriate.

 

Contact the KAR wealth management team today to schedule a consultation.

Philanthropy and Estate Planning

For many people, charitable giving is an important personal value. The tax rules around philanthropy can be complicated, but understanding and working with them can help optimize the benefits of your gifts for both you and the charitable organizations you support. During your lifetime, there are gifting techniques and opportunities that can lower your overall tax bill. When you want to accomplish charitable goals through your estate, tax planning is even more important. Without it, taxes can devastate your legacy.

Tax planning is equally important, of course, when you want to transfer wealth to your loved ones, both during and after your lifetime. There are many strategies to consider, including tax-free gifts, trust arrangements, life insurance plans, and business ownership structures.

Efficient Investing

Investment success is not only about how much you earn in appreciation and income, but also how much you keep after taxes. We look for opportunities to reduce or defer taxes as much as possible. A lower tax bill this year means more money left to work for you, and this can affect your portfolio value significantly over time.

The tax efficiency of a portfolio depends on multiple factors:

  • The tax efficiency of its components. Certain asset classes can be more tax-efficient and thereby more appealing to investors in higher tax brackets.
  • The turnover rate. High turnover is likely to result in higher-tax-rate short-term gains rather than long-term capital gains.
  • The timing of distributions.

Since the most effective strategies will suit your individual situation and investment objectives, we address questions such as: Should you have investment strategies that generate tax-free income? Are you maximizing tax-deferred contributions to your retirement accounts? Would you benefit from having a separately managed portfolio ?

Tax-Loss Harvesting

During the first stage of the overall financial planning process, we carefully review your current situation, including assets, liabilities and cash flow.  If we find that you are generating significant taxable capital gains, we can show you alternatives to throwing up your hands and paying a large tax bill. For example,  is the process of selling securities at a loss to offset capital gains tax liabilities. The loss can be realized in the same tax year or carried forward to future years. This strategy is helpful when one or more stocks in your portfolio have dropped below your cost basis. It is especially useful for reducing taxes on short-term capital gains, which—unlike long-term capital gains—are often taxed at higher, ordinary federal income tax rates.

If you’re ready to protect and grow your wealth by integrating tax planning into all your important financial decisions, contact us today.