Although tax filing is probably not your favorite time of year, it is possible to use tax season to your advantage to help move you toward your financial goals.
Here are three questions to ask yourself to be sure you're maximizing opportunities that tax time presents:
1. Am I contributing to the correct tax bucket?
Are you contributing the right amount of pre-tax dollars vs after-tax dollars. This would mean that you are contributing the proper amounts to your Pre-tax bucket (Traditional IRA or 401(k)) as compared to the After-tax bucket (Roth IRA, Roth 401(k), Joint Investment account, or other Non-qualified account).
This would mean that you are correctly allocating your assets to ensure that you are not paying more taxes than what you need to pay now. While also ensuring that you have a tax-efficient future when you start using your retirement assets.
2. Am I claiming all of the credits & deductions that I am due? You will want to be sure that you do not miss any legal opportunities to reduce your tax bill. If you work with a tax preparation professional, the answer to this question is probably yes. However if you prepare you own taxes, you may be not be listing all possible credits and deductions when you file. If you don't have time to research this yourself, it could actually save you money to hire a tax professional.
3. Can I conduct a Roth Conversion? We have discussed this topic quite a bit during this past year. That's because it's a great tool for possible saving taxes in the future. To figure out if it is right for your situation, we would encourage our clients to provide their most recent tax return when they come in for their annual account update meeting. We can use our analysis tools to let you know if it’s in your best interest to conduct a Roth Conversion. You have until the end of 2021 to complete your Roth conversion.
This can be a complex scenario that is not in the best interest of all situations, but we will walk you through the various decision points that may make sense for you.
Use tax season to your benefit - set the table up for a strong financial future!