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Keep Your Eyes on the Big (Tax) Picture

October 9, 2017

Posted in How We Work

While we offer many services, including tax planning and tax return preparation, Johnson Bixby’s true strength is our focus on the big picture.

At Johnson Bixby, our clients work with us to create a flexible, but resilient, framework for living their lives, working toward their goals, dealing with challenges, and enjoying their retirement. Clients partner with us because of our deep expertise in financial planning, investing, insurance, and tax.

You can see the Services we offer by clicking here, but I personally believe our true strength is our focus on the big picture. While this applies to everything we do at Johnson Bixby, but I’d like to show how it applies to your taxes and tax planning.

Very few tax-saving strategies can be implemented once the tax year is over. Effective and efficient tax strategies need to be identified and implemented long before the tax return is due, so we look ahead, plan, and keep our eyes on the big picture.

Everyone knows that tax law is complex and ever-changing. It can be challenging to keep up year-to-year. In addition, a particular choice may be beneficial for one year, but have an adverse impact in later years. For that reason, Johnson Bixby’s financial planners and tax professionals consider the tax impact (as well as many other factors) on the decisions we make with our clients, and not just on the current year, but on your overall financial health as well. We strive to minimize your tax burden on an overall basis, which isn’t possible to do at a once-yearly appointment after the tax year is over.

Examples are endless, but here are a few:

  • The American Opportunity Credit, a credit for qualified education expenses, is limited to four tax years per student. Based on education funding sources, the anticipated cost, and your child’s plans, we may be able to choose which four years to claim the credit, so you gain the most benefit.
  • When you’re considering buying a new vehicle, we may recommend when to buy it in order to maximize the impact of the sales tax deduction.
  • We can coordinate and adjust the timing of the sale of assets, the drawing of Social Security and/or pensions, and other infrequent events to minimize the tax bite.
  • Tax gains can be harvested during years other income is low, or tax losses can be harvested during years other income is high.

Our impact is so much stronger when we work with you during the year. We can thoroughly research and think about various options, and make recommendations to help you make more informed decisions. Then preparing your tax return feels like putting a bow on the work we’ve done together throughout the year.

If you haven’t talked to your financial planner or tax professional lately, please give us a call. The year will be over before you know it.

 

 

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