LEGACY INSIGHTS & ARTICLES

It’s officially summertime, and that means it’s travel season. Have you seen the roadtrip playlist suggestions our staff made for the summer?

It’s fun to reminisce about a past trip (although we’ve all seen the old TV trope of a returned vacationer pulling out the slide deck to show off their trip photos and the rest of the crowd groaning!). But a lot of the fun of taking a trip is in the anticipation and planning.

Taxes are less fun than travel, but this same general principle applies. Tax preparation is important. But tax planning can take a lot of the guesswork out of the planning process, and make the road ahead smoother and more predictable.

Prep vs. planning: what's the difference?

Let’s get those basic definitions out of the way:

• Tax Preparation is backward-facing and reactive. It’s what we all do in the first part of the year when we get all of our documents and either take them to the CPA’s office or boot up our tax software to get our returns filed. It’s like looking in the rearview mirror on your roadtrip to make sure you didn’t miss anything along the way.
• Tax Planning is forward-facing and proactive. In some cases, by working with a Holistic Planner and organizing your portfolio a certain way you can minimize those bills from Uncle Sam and make them more predictable and manageable.

Holistic Planning and Taxes

At Chamberlin, Tax Strategy is one of the seven pillars of a Holistic Plan, and we have a team of in-house CPAs who work with our planners on both the planning and preparation of our clients’ taxes. Like the other pillars, your tax strategies work in conjunction with the other six pieces. Adjusting the Social Security dial can have tax implications, or making certain Medicare decisions can trigger certain thresholds.

In the real world

For the Adens, two of our clients who live in the Illinois suburbs of St. Louis, taxes were one of their biggest concerns heading into retirement. You can hear their story directly from them in our video:

Build the Legacy You Deserve

Creating a tax plan is not a one-size-fits-all process; it requires a strategy customized to your assets, your risk tolerance, and your hopes and goals.

Take action now by scheduling a 20-minute, no-fee strategy session with one of our trained and certified Legacy Guides. They are trained to answer your questions and assess your needs with absolutely no pressure to sell you products.

If you qualify to work with one of our holistic planners, you will receive a complimentary Chamberlin mini-plan. This plan includes three free deliverables:

• A Social Security Maximization Report to help you map out the best utilization of spousal and survivor benefits.
• A Tax and Portfolio Audit recommending ways to structure your assets so the IRS ends up with as little of your money as possible.
• A Customized Wells of Wealth Report detailing exactly how this system can revolutionize your personal and generational financial plan.

And don’t forget to ask for your free copy of the new book our CEO, Don Chamberlin, just released this spring! “The Wells of Wealth System” digs deeper into holistic planning with real-world examples and stories. We’ll cover the postage and handling, and get your copy to you as soon as we can. Schedule your call with Chamberlin Legacy today.

Disclosures

This commentary reflects the personal opinions, viewpoints and analyses of The Chamberlin Group. It does not necessarily reflect the views of Foundations Investment Advisors, LLC (“Foundations”) and is provided for educational purposes only and the contents are solely maintained by and the responsibility of the applicable 3rd party. The 3rd party content is subject to change at any time without notice, and does not represent an express or implied opinion or endorsement of any specific investment opportunity, investment strategy or planning strategy. Foundations in no way deems reliable any statistical data or information obtained from or prepared by third party sources in this commentary, nor does Foundations guarantee its accuracy or completeness. No legal or tax advice is provided or intended.