Tax Planning for Retirees

All we do is financial planning for retirees and people close to retirement.
We are retirement specialists with a simple goal of making sure your retirement is a success.

We serve as the single, coordinating point-of-contact for all our clients' financial planning needs.
  • INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT
  • SOCIAL SECURITY TIMING
  • RETIREMENT INCOME
  • TAX PLANNING
  • RETIREMENT PLANNING
  • OPTIMIZING INSURANCE
Tax Planning for Seniors and Retirees


An important part of financial planning is tax planning. Many retirees are surprised to discover that tax planning isn't automatically included in every financial planning relationship. As a result, lots of opportunities are missed, and valuable tax savings are forfeited, sometimes year after year.



I've heard many real-life horror stories of tax mistakes that have cost senior citizens tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars--dollars that could have been used to fund their dreams and goals.  At Echols Financial Services, we will help you implement tax strategies in retirement to ensure that doesn't happen to you. We have been helping retirees in the Cumming GA area since 2003.



We study hard so we can recommend creative, well-researched tax strategies that will make the biggest impact on your retirement success. If your current advisor doesn’t help you with these tax-saving strategies, you may want to look for one who does. I’m not saying hire me. But at this point in your life, you might need an advisor who includes this important aspect of financial planning in his practice. 


To gain more insight into the potential of these tax reduction strategies, register for your Online Masterclass " How to Take a Hatchet to Your Retirement Taxes " and watch now or schedule to watch later.


What is Tax Planning?

The primary objective of income tax planning is to pay the least amount of income taxes possible while safely complying with all tax laws. By planning ahead, you can implement tax strategies that meet your obligation without overpaying federal and state income tax.


Let's be sure to differentiate tax preparation from tax planning. Tax preparation, also called tax return preparation, looks backward, one year at a time, to get the numbers right to accurately calculate your tax liability (and how much you owe or overpaid). 


Tax planning on the other hand looks at taxes in the context of your overall financial picture. A tax planner not only looks in the rear-view mirror but will look forward 20 to 30 years at your projected tax liability and ask what can be done to lower your lifetime tax bill.

tax planning for seniors

What's the Objective of Tax Planning for Retirees?

Tax planning is important before and after retirement, though the tax strategies are different. The legendary CPA, Ed Slott, quips, “To make money through investments and yet omit tax planning for distributions is like playing the first half of the game and sitting out the second half.” Even if you are great at accumulating assets, what good is it if you lose them through unnecessary taxes or leave yourself vulnerable to excessive taxes you could have avoided through proper planning?


A financial adviser who offers tax planning services will annually review your tax return and coordinate tax reduction strategies with you and your tax preparer. This team approach to financial planning helps you implement the most effective tax strategies for your situation.


A tax planner will review your retirement accounts (401ks, IRAs, Roth IRAs), taxable savings, tax-free investments, medical expenses, Medicare, Social Security benefits, capital gains and losses, tax breaks, tax credits, tax deductions, minimum distributions (RMDs), capital gains, as well as your long-term care and estate plans. 


When doing tax planning, the primary advantage you can have over the IRS is that they are looking at a single calendar year while you can consider your entire lifetime.


You could take a do-it-yourself approach, but a financial advisor will help you avoid mistakes and worry. A comprehensive, long-term plan will help you reduce your lifetime income tax burden while ensuring you comply with the complex and constantly changing tax laws.

What are the Methods of Tax Planning?

Tax planning for retirees involves several layers of financial understanding. Your tax professional understands your tax rate now and helps you predict your future tax rate. You can make decisions about your assets and retirement income with the intent to minimize your overall tax burden while never risking poor tax compliance.



There are four main methods of lowering your taxes. They are:

  • Tax avoidance—excluding income (such as municipal bond interest) and deducting expenses (such as mortgage interest and charitable donations which lowers your taxable income)
  • Tax deferral—postponing paying taxes until your tax rates will be lower (such as traditional IRAs and 401ks)
  • Conversion—converting short-term capital gains into long-term capital gains which is lower than your marginal rate
  • Income shifting—transferring income-producing assets to someone in a lower tax bracket

 


In retirement many factors can combine to create pitfalls and opportunities that smart tax planning can uncover in advance--factors such as the progressive nature of the tax code (for both ordinary income and capital gains), the tax diversification of different types of accounts, the phased-in (and potential torpedo) taxation of Social Security, Medicare Part B and Part D Premium Surcharges at various thresholds, the Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT) impact, and Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs).   



Tax planning will not only show your key numbers and eligible tax breaks, but reveal tax-saving strategies based on how these factors affect your situation. Also, with the SECURE Act of 2017 and then the One Big Beautiful Bill of 2025, itemized deductions are harder to take advantage of because of the higher standard deduction. I discuss the new rules of tax planning for seniors in detail in my free guide below. 



Free Guide:  How to Lower Your Taxes in Retirement

Email it to me

Tax Planning Equals Financial Stability

Your income tax return holds vital information for your overall retirement strategy and personal finances, so don't let the opportunity pass you by. Enjoy what you have today while planning for your future. From your current income tax to future income taxes and estate taxes, our tax planning services have you covered.


Remember, what we do is not tax preparation (not to minimize the importance of proper tax preparation). With our firm, you build a relationship with someone who knows your financial picture inside and out and who is looking through the windshield at the road ahead (not just the rearview mirror) for any tax savings that will help make the most of your retirement.


Our financial planning process includes investment recommendations and tax guidance, but it is not meant to represent formal tax advice. We do not offer specific tax services to clients. Our goal is to bring to your attention effective tax planning strategies to coordinate with your tax preparer to reduce your lifetime taxes. (We have found over 20 years of experience that this team approach to tax planning and tax preparation works best.)



As an eighth-generation Forsyth County resident, we are thrilled to help clients in the Cumming area with their tax planning needs as part of our holistic retirement planning services. If you want to stop overpaying the IRS, contact us to help get you on track.



Our Process

We have a carefully designed process to help you make an educated and informed decision about working with us. You will receive a free retirement assessment that can also be used to evaluate other advisory firms you may be considering.