- Tax Loss Harvesting
Many people pay taxes. What about you?
Families subject to federal income tax at times face a dilemma. Investments they had purchased might have appreciated in the past. Now they want to sell some at a profit. However, these families might also face a substantial tax bill due to huge accumulated capital gains.
Or another family might generate significant income from dividends on their investments. However, such a family might also have a high federal or state income tax bracket. This family might also be subject to ordinary income tax on dividends and income.
Selective, opportunistic trading in investments might potentially reduce such tax burdens. There also might be an opportunity for better diversification while preserving your family’s long-term objectives.
- Concentrated Stock Positions
“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”
This might be good advice. However, carrying it out might be more difficult than it appears. Especially for families with large, concentrated stock positions.
Simply liquidating an entire stock might be complicated and self-defeating. Taxes might be an issue. Liquidity of the stock might be another issue. Sometimes, you might just happen to like the stock of the company you hold.
However, doing nothing might be problematic. Would you rather ride in an elevator car held by 1 cable or many?
We have worked with other clients facing similar situations. We might be able to help you find a happy medium.
- Tax Planning
The largest expense for many hard-working Americans is taxes.
Governments have lots of grand plans. You fund these plans through your tax dollars. You pay income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, capital gains taxes, estate taxes – do you get the idea?
The more you earn or save, the more at risk you might be to more taxes.
A savvy accountant might help you with specific issues at tax time. However, your situation might involve more complexity. Your situation might require a more holistic approach. One that examines not just your income for a given year, but also looks at the state of your balance sheet, including outside and illiquid investments, as well as debt.
- Estate Planning
You have worked hard to get to where you are. You still need to think ahead.
We can help you. By understanding your unique situation, we can apply relevant experiences from our work with other families to help you think through the issues of estate planning.
Here are a couple (many) examples of people who might benefit from estate planning.
Married couples, for example, should consider reviewing their assets and seek out professional advice in preparation of losing or leaving their spouse. We also want to make sure you or your loved one will benefit during the process of transferring wealth with minimal tax liabilities.
Some families have children whom they feel are unable to manage money on their own with responsibility. There might be a concern that giving money for grandchildren’s college education could be squandered by their parents on something else.
Proper estate planning raises the chances for success and mitigates chances for risks.
We work with families who want to help younger generations by setting up safeguards.
- Legacy Planning
Living your life with purpose also includes thinking about others.
Families with significant wealth often consider donating a part of it to charitable causes in which they believe. Donating wealth to charity is not as simple as writing a check and putting it in the mail. Hard-working families deserve the best.
We have worked with families in thinking through prudent strategies of charitable giving. Not only can families do good, but with the right strategy, they might even do well. “Doing good” funds a good cause in satisfying a mission in which you believe. “Doing well” might mean saving you on taxes or satisfying other requirements you might otherwise have had to pay more for.
Let us explore how we can help you wisely manage your legacy.
- Generational Wealth Transfer
It is true that we do not live forever.
We can help your family figure out the intricacies of conveying wealth to the next generation.
Assembling a will and appointing an executor are only parts of the process. There are many more factors to consider. How will you divide things up among beneficiaries? What are the risks of adverse tax ramifications? Have you thought through contingent issues (premature death or incapacitation of a beneficiary)? Do you equally trust all your beneficiaries? If not, how will you plan to deal with each of them?
We can help you address these issues thoughtfully.