Ah, it’s that time of year again, tax season 2024! It’s not quite as exciting as opening day at Fenway (while that’s arguable this year); it is a time people reflect, strategize, and scramble to get their financial information ready for the IRS. From January 29th – April 15th, 2024, I’ll receive lots of questions from clients regarding how their financial planning strategies align with what they must submit to the IRS.
For Bostonians, we all know that the end of tax season coincides with Marathon Monday (Patriots’ Day), one of my favorite local holidays. What can beat getting into Fenway Park for an 11 am day game as beautiful spring weather begins!? Another way of looking at it is, “Woohoo! Tax season is over! Let’s get into spring!”
Now, as a family financial planner, I cannot provide advice for tax season as a tax accountant or CPA would. Still, I am busy during tax season because people often reevaluate their current financial strategies and want to know how I can help them better align with their financial goals.
Tax Season 2024 – What I Will Be Hearing
So, there are various questions I hear from clients and non-clients alike during tax season; some of the repeats I hear most are:
- “What changes in laws or regulations should I be concerned with?”
- “Are there any tax-efficient ways to transfer wealth to my children or other family?”
- “How can I optimize my retirement savings contributions to reduce my tax liability?”
- “What are the tax implications of buying, selling, or renting out property?”
- “What should I prioritize as far as legacy planning goes?”
Of course, each family/individual is going to have different circumstances, caveats, and opportunities here and there, like snowflakes; no two tax filings are identical, but the questions above are more common, and I can depend on hearing each, multiple times, during annual tax season.
While I can’t provide answers without knowing all the details involved, each tax season, I like to share my Tax Control Triangle with anyone curious about how they can improve their situation heading into the next financial year and years after that. It’s not just about diversifying your holdings but how and where they are kept when needed. Watch my video below; it’s a 5-minute discussion on how individuals can stash their holdings into three tax buckets: tax-deferred, tax-free, and taxable.
Tax Season 2024 – The Difference Between Myself and an Accountant
So, how does someone like me, working in Boston wealth strategies, differ from a tax accountant and CPA? As a financial planner in Boston, I work to help my clients set and achieve financial goals, including retirement planning, investment management, risk management, estate planning strategies, education funding, and so on. My services work towards attaining life-long financial goals, not the goal of the current fiscal year. Accountants work differently; they help individuals and businesses with tax compliance, tax planning strategies, financial statement analysis, audits, and other services. Simply put, a financial planner works to help attain goals over different stages of life. In contrast, an accountant may focus more on organizing numbers and tax filings for the present and near future.
Now, do not think I’m poo-pooing accountants here; they do great work, and I have many friends and colleagues who are accountants; we just work from different perspectives with different goals. Where our advice may differ is an accountant could recommend the filing strategies to save you money now, whereas I will make recommendations based on lifetime goals.
For example, you may want to pay more in taxes one year to avoid larger payouts down the road; there could be a scenario where paying 20k in taxes this year could save 100k in healthcare premiums down the road. Maybe your retirement needs and timing don’t align with most Americans, and there are strategies to have more liquidity when needed.
As I said, no one’s financial needs and goals are the same, so it’s best not to proceed with advice that doesn’t account for all your circumstantial particulars.
If you’d like to discuss your current situation and how financial planning can help you meet your goals for the future, please book a call with me.
This information is not intended to be a substitute for specific individualized tax advice. We suggest that you discuss your specific tax issues with a qualified tax advisor.
