Keep more of what you’ve worked for.
Tax planning is built into every plan we write. Pick where you are, and we’ll point you to where tax tends to leak and what to do about it.
Taxes while you’re building
The choices you make while you’re earning decide how much of your savings you keep later.
- Roth or traditional: whether to pay the tax now or later
- Using an HSA as a retirement account, not just a copay fund
- Stock pay (RSUs and ESPP) and the tax when shares vest
- Withholding set right, so April isn’t a surprise
The Wealth Builder Tax Leak Audit
Twelve questions that find the tax leaks in your plan while there’s still time to close them.
Roth or Traditional: Which Should I Choose?
Choose traditional when your tax rate is higher today than it will be in retirement, Roth when it is lower, and some of both when unsure. How to decide.
TaxesThe HSA Most People Waste
The triple tax advantage in plain English, why most people use an HSA as a checking account instead of investing it, and who this actually fits.
TaxesRSUs and ESPP, in Plain English
What restricted stock units and employee stock purchase plans actually are, what happens when shares vest, and the tax tripwires that catch people at both.
Taxes in retirement
In retirement you decide when income shows up, and that decides how much of it is taxed.
- Roth conversions in the years before Social Security and required withdrawals
- Required minimum distributions, and shrinking them by planning in your 60s
- Which account to draw from first
- Withholding on IRA withdrawals, pensions and Social Security
The Retirement Tax Leak Audit
Twelve questions that show where taxes may be quietly draining your retirement income, and what to focus on first.
What Is a Roth Conversion, and When Is It Worth It?
A Roth conversion moves pre-tax IRA money into a Roth and pays the tax now. When it works, and why the years before Social Security are often the best window.
TaxesShould I Convert to a Roth or Leave It Alone?
The honest comparison: pay the tax now on your terms, or leave it and let the IRS's calendar decide the rate. Who each choice is right for.
RetirementWhat Is a Required Minimum Distribution?
RMDs force taxable withdrawals from pre-tax retirement accounts starting at 73. How the amount is set, and how to shrink it by planning in your 60s.
Taxes for business owners
When you own the business, its taxes and yours are tied together.
- The retirement plan that fits the business, and what it lets you save
- How you pay yourself
- Benefits through the business
- Year-end timing, and the tax on an eventual sale
The Business Owner Tax Leak Audit
Twelve questions that show where tax may be leaking out of you and your business, and which areas to raise with your CPA first.
Which Retirement Plan Is Right for My Business?
A plain look at the SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA, solo 401(k), safe harbor 401(k) and cash balance plan, who each one fits, and how the choice affects what you can save.
BusinessHow Do I Plan My Exit From My Business?
The four ways owners step away from a business, why the best exits start years ahead, and the steps that tend to raise what you keep.
TaxesHow Does an HSA Work?
A Health Savings Account skips tax on contributions, growth, and medical withdrawals. How to use an HSA as a retirement account instead of a copay fund.
We plan the years. Your CPA files the return.
- Years ahead, not just this April. The biggest tax decisions, like when to convert, which account to draw from and when to sell, play out over many years.
- Alongside your CPA, not around them. We share the plan with your CPA so the return and the strategy match. If you need a CPA, we can introduce one.
- Fiduciary, every time. We’re required to recommend what’s best for you, and we show our reasoning.
Straight answers
Should I choose Roth or traditional?
Compare your tax rate today with your expected rate in retirement. A higher rate today favors traditional; a lower rate today favors Roth; genuinely unsure argues for holding some of both so future-you has options.
When is the best time to do a Roth conversion?
Often the stretch between retiring and starting Social Security and required withdrawals, when taxable income drops and the lowest brackets sit mostly unused. Converting in those years can move money out at 12% that would otherwise come out at 22% or higher.
What is a required minimum distribution?
The yearly amount the IRS makes you withdraw, and pay income tax on, from pre-tax accounts once you reach the trigger age: currently 73, moving to 75 for younger generations under current law. The amount is each account's balance divided by an IRS life-expectancy factor.
Does tax withholding end in retirement?
No. IRA withdrawals, pensions, and even Social Security need their own withholding elections, and nobody sets them for you.
Can a retirement plan lower my business's taxes?
For a business owner, a retirement plan isn't only a benefit for the team. It's one of the best tools you have to build savings outside the business and lower your taxes at the same time.
Do you work with people outside Minnesota?
Yes. Every meeting is a virtual appointment, so we work with people anywhere in the United States, and the first conversation is free.
Bring us your last tax return
We’ll go through it with you and talk about where the next few years might cost less. No cost, no obligation.
No office to walk into. Just meet us from home.