There are many aspects of wealth management we cannot control. Tax codes evolve. Global events come and go. The markets will go up and down. By carefully minimizing taxes due, we can exert an important degree of control over maximizing end returns – the kind you get to keep as your own.

It starts with our annual tax packets. Each year, we aggregate our clients’ Form 1099s from Schwab, and deliver them to their tax professionals for timely and efficient tax-filing.

That’s just one small thing. We are working all year round to help our clients keep a lid on their taxes due. Below are additional examples:

• Asset Location: Locating the most tax-efficient holdings in taxable accounts, and the least tax-efficient holdings in tax-deferred or tax-free accounts, to minimize a portfolio’s overall taxes due.
• Tax-Loss Harvesting: Acting on opportunities to reduce taxes through tax-loss harvesting when appropriate.
• Tax-Managed Funds: In taxable accounts, using tax-managed funds whenever possible, to reduce the capital gains and dividends that fund managers must pass on to shareholders.
• Tax-Favored Accounts: Helping clients establish tax-favored IRAs, 529 plan accounts, Healthcare Savings Accounts (HSAs) and similar accounts as appropriate.
• Charitable Giving: Helping clients shift their tax-wise charitable giving plans following the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. For example, implementing Donor Advised Funds and Qualified Charitable Distributions when appropriate.
• Estate Planning: Collaborating with clients’ estate planning and insurance professionals to consider advanced planning strategies for minimizing and covering taxes due upon estate transfer.

So, this spring – or any time of year – let us know if you’d like to explore how you might increase your overall wealth by decreasing your taxes due.

We are proud to share the story of Gateway to Hope, a local charity that supports breast cancer patients by covering their medical costs during treatment. Our own Katie Trout co-chaired their 2015 KaleidoHope event along with our peer advisor, Tiya Lim (both pictured above). They celebrated many successes, including the organization’s 10th anniversary. Best of all, they have never turned a patient away. To learn more about their story, click here.

It was especially poignant for me and other members of my family to attend since we lost my mother to breast cancer this August. Thank you to all at Gateway to Hope and elsewhere who support breast cancer patients, survivors, and their families.

Many people have told me that it is more difficult to give money away than to earn it. The general instinct to support charitable organizations and causes may come naturally, but the question remains: which ones?

When I started at Wake Forest University I took ROTC, knowing my plan was to enlist in the Army upon graduation. I had one thing standing in my way: poor eyesight as a result of a detached retina. My sophomore year I qualified for Advanced ROTC. Thanks partially to my place in line, I had plenty of time to memorize the smallest characters on the eye exam next to the door. However, on the first day of a required six week summer camp at Fort Bragg, NC prior to my senior year, I entered the eye testing area from the back of the room and—without the chance to study the chart—I failed the eye exam. I was classified as 4F (unfit for service) and spent less than 24 hours in the Army while all of my ROTC class shipped off to Vietnam. Some may look at this as a good break, but my one life regret is that I didn’t serve in the military. This experience is at the core of my strong feelings for those who serve our country as well as my lifelong support of military non-profits.

Our life experiences are often a good starting point when deciding where to gift money. If you had $100,000 that you had to give away to someone other than a family member, what would you support?

Here are some beginning steps to get started:

1. What specific causes move you or have had an impact on your life?
2. Identify the non-profits that best address this need.
3. Start small and increase your gifting as you get more comfortable with the organizations.