Tax Planning

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Tax Planning Advice

You may leave behind a lot of things when you retire, but your tax burden isn’t one of them. In fact, without proper income tax reduction strategies, they can potentially be an even bigger burden in retirement. As financial advisors, we’ve found that the keys to avoiding that problem are awareness and planning.

First, let’s talk about how different sources of retirement income are taxed, starting with the good news. If your only source of retirement income is Social Security, you probably won’t pay any taxes. That’s because Social Security income – by itself – is tax exempt.

Now for the bad news. If you’re like most people, Social Security won’t be enough. You’ll need other sources of income, which means a portion of your Social Security income probably will be taxed. As for how much will be taxed, it varies, but it can run as high as 85%.

For example, you’ll probably pay that 85% if you get large monthly income payments from a pension. With the pension itself, most are funded with pre-tax income. If that’s the case, it means all of your pension income is taxable each year. However, if a portion of your pension was funded with after-tax dollars, then only a portion of the income will be taxed.

For investment income from interest, dividends, or capital gains, naturally you’ll have to continue paying taxes on that just like you did before you retired.

Now, what if your strategy is to systematically sell investment shares to generate retirement income? In that case, each sale would also generate a long- or short-term capital gain or loss, which you would need to report on your tax return. In most cases, this is a bad strategy.

Tax Planning for Individuals and Families

In our years of serving as financial advisors, we’ve seen that the main source of retirement income for most, besides Social Security, is the money they have in their 401(k)s and IRAs. Those accounts are tax-deferred until you start taking withdrawals, which the IRS forces you to do starting at age 73 to satisfy your required minimum distributions (RMDs). Your RMDs are unavoidable even if you have plenty of income from other sources.

Through our retirement planning services, we can help you implement tax saving strategies and income tax reduction strategies that can help to minimize the amount of taxes you pay when the time comes to start taking withdrawals from your retirement accounts.

Learn More About Mandee

In preparation for her continuing the family business and taking over full time once Dee retires, Mandee Carter, the Vice President and Associate Advisor of the Carter Financial Group, has been working alongside her father running the day-to-day business and learning the ropes, so to speak, since 2017.

Mandee received her BS in Psychology in 2016 and started her career in the Financial Industry in 2010 when she started helping in the office. After acquiring her degree, she came on full-time in March 2017 as Dee’s business partner and Main Associate Advisor helping clients navigate the intricacies of investing for retirement and overall successful financial planning.

In 2021, she was named an Elite Producer with American Equity amongst other accolades.

In Mandee’s spare time, she likes to go to the gym, spend time with her boyfriend, friends and family. She is an animal lover and rescuer. She has 2 German Shepherds that she rescued from the shelter 6 years ago. She still enjoys almost all things Psychology related and is constantly researching something. She enjoys meeting new client prospects and likes speaking with her current clients. She loves helping people.