Most financial plans look impressive on paper but fall short when it comes to taxes.
The charts and projections are there, yet clients still overpay the IRS year after year. A tax‑first planning framework flips that script so taxes are part of every decision, not an afterthought.
Traditional planning often treats taxes as a “check the box” step that happens once a year.
You build a retirement projection, run a Monte Carlo, maybe talk about Roth conversions in passing, and that’s it. The problem is that real tax savings usually come from the small, repeated decisions, account choices, timing of income, and charitable strategies that rarely make it into those 50‑page binders.
In a tax‑first framework, you start every conversation with the tax return and the calendar. Instead of asking only “Are you on track for retirement?” you also ask “Where are we giving up avoidable tax today?” You build the plan around questions like: Which accounts should we fund first this year? Is there an opportunity for tax‑loss harvesting? Does a donor‑advised fund or charitable remainder strategy make sense right now?
Here’s an example:
Imagine two clients with the same portfolio and income.
The first gets a traditional plan and a few broad tax reminders.
The second works with an advisor who reviews their tax return, identifies that they’re bumping into a higher bracket, and staggers Roth conversions across multiple years. Over time, the second client keeps far more of what they earn without taking more investment risk.
A tax‑first framework is also easier for clients to follow when it’s distilled into a one‑page action plan. Instead of burying them in 50 pages of projections, you give them a simple sheet: the three to five tax decisions that matter most this year, the deadlines, and who is responsible for what. That’s what leads to behavior change and measurable results.
This is the kind of planning we’ll be focusing on at the Tax Summit 2026.
You’ll see how to turn a traditional plan into a tax‑first one, step by step, and walk away with a one‑page template you can use in every client meeting. If you want to move beyond “nice plans” and start delivering real, trackable tax savings, the Summit is built for you.
Ready to build a tax‑first framework you can actually implement with clients?
Reserve your seat for the 2026 Tax Summit and walk away with a one‑page action plan you can use immediately.
