Continuing on in the tax management series, this month we’ll look at account sequencing during wealth accumulation and retirement withdrawal periods. The basic questions are:

1) When accumulating funds, what accounts (tax-deferred, taxable, etc.) should be funded first?

2) When withdrawing funds, in what order should funds be withdrawn?

Individual circumstances may constitute different strategies, but the following examples demonstrate two common approaches. The first is based on someone in the accumulation phase who pays taxes in the highest bracket, and the second is a retiree in the withdrawal phase who will leave behind some amount of inheritance:

Following logical strategies for adding and withdrawing funds ensures that you accumulate and retain the maximum after-tax amount possible.

Next month, we’ll look at matching investments with the most appropriate account types.

With our investing philosophy, by and large, we recommend a set it and forget it mindset as it relates to your investment plan, which generally doesn’t benefit from excess activity. Tax planning, on the other hand, offers more frequent opportunities to actively add value (even above and beyond the extreme tax-efficiency of the investments themselves).

Here are three examples:

1. Guiding the sequence of additions to your various accounts during your career and, likewise, ensuring that withdrawals are taken in proper order from those accounts in retirement

2. Matching the right type of asset (equity, fixed income, real estate) with the appropriate account registration (be it taxable, tax-deferred, or tax-exempt)

3. Making creative suggestions based on our understanding of your situation and goals (i.e. IRA contributions, Roth conversions, charitable giving)

As the CPA on the team, I can assure you that we all work together to minimize the impact of taxes on your portfolio and maximize opportunities to leverage tax planning. Tax sensitivity is one of the things that helps us support you in your goals.

Watch in future newsletters for detailed discussions on each of the items listed above.

We’re always open to charitable inspiration, and I recently found it in a book called Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune.

Huguette Clark, the daughter of William A. Clark, a former U.S. Senator and copper magnate, lived a fulfilling life—though marked by her own unique style—that ended with the last 20 years in a hospital and an estate worth more than $300 million. The centenarian never worked for a dollar and didn’t seem much interested in business. Her real talent was giving money away and seeing others enjoy it. She personally orchestrated gifts of cash to employees and toys to their children. She even included complete strangers and often arranged recurring gifts for the entire life of the recipient.

No matter how big or small the scale, charitable giving can bring the same amount of joy to you as it did for Clark. She never failed to embrace the excitement in making someone else’s life a little bit better.