As a certified financial planner (CFP®) professional in the Boston area at Parkmount Financial Partners LLC, I've worked with many clients in who are surprised by the tax implications of their retirement savings. Understanding how to strategically manage taxes that are incurred can potentially enhance your retirement planning and future income. Here's a straightforward guide to a few ideas that are relevant to minimizing your tax burden during retirement.
Understanding the Impact of Taxes on Retirement Savings
Many of our clients at Parkmount Financial come to us with substantial retirement accounts in a company 401(k) that they have worked hard to build over a number of years or decades—often in the millions. It's critical to realize that a significant portion of these savings could be taxed by the government. For instance, if you have a $2 million retirement account, up to $400,000 or more might be owed in taxes.
Strategic Awareness: The First Step to Reducing Your Tax Burden
The key to effective tax management is strategic awareness. You need to understand your total taxable income, including all potential income sources like earnings, pensions, Social Security, and annuities. Also, you need to forecast your needs for investment account withdrawals in retirement for cost of living, and how you may source additional funds for one large expense. By creating a framework to understand income sources and income needs in retirement, you can project future tax rates, and make decisions on the margin of where to get additional cash or when to accelerate income (i.e. Roth Conversions) that can help generate tax efficiency over a lifetime. A lot of people always focus their tax planning on reducing taxes this year, but by considering current tax bracket and potential future brackets you can make decisions that have greater impact over the course of your life in minimizing potential tax impacts.
The Power of Roth Conversions in Tax Planning
Roth accounts offer tax-free growth and distributions, making them a powerful tool in retirement planning. The timing of Roth conversions—shifting money from tax-deferred accounts like 401(k)s or IRAs into Roth IRAs—is crucial. Ideally, these conversions should occur in years when your income is lower than usual, allowing you to pay taxes at a lower rate before the money grows tax-free. However, there are several pitfalls to be aware of in evaluating if a Roth is a sensible tool in any given year, so it is important to consider impact on social security tax and also filing these correctly.
Asset Location: Maximizing Tax Efficiency Through Strategic Investment Placement
Different investment types are taxed differently. For example, bonds are typically taxed at higher ordinary income rates, while long-term capital gains and qualified dividends enjoy lower tax rates. By strategically weighting the location of assets in the appropriate accounts (e.g., placing bonds in tax-deferred accounts and stocks in taxable accounts), you can significantly reduce your tax liability. With that said, it important to make sure your portfolio is balanced and aligned with your needs first and foremost, but if you can make adjustment across different account types to achieve greater tax efficiency too, that is great approach.
Final Thoughts
Implementing these strategies requires a deep understanding of both your financial situation and the tax laws. Each plan is highly individualized, reflecting personal goals, income sources, and potential tax scenarios. These ideas represent potential value, and a qualified financial planner can assist in evaluating if it could be useful in your situation. We are located as a financial planner in Boston, but we do work with clients all over, and specialize in working with people from Public Technology Companies looking to retire.
If you're planning for retirement and looking for personalized advice, visit our website at www.parkmountfinancial.com. You can also subscribe to our newsletter for ongoing insights into financial planning and retirement strategies.
Stay Informed and Plan Wisely
Navigating retirement planning and tax strategies can be complex, especially in states like Massachusetts with unique tax laws. Staying informed and working with a knowledgeable financial planner can help ensure that you maximize your retirement income and minimize tax liabilities.
Here is video we produced covering a similar topic:
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