the levers of tax alpha into their proposal, through household-level asset location, tax harvesting, direct indexing, tax transitions, Roth conversions, multi-account rebalancing and income generation.
My wife and I are both 73 years old, so we’ re already taking Social Security. If we were younger, I’ d expect an advisor to talk about our filing strategy so that we maximize our benefits.( The Social Security Administration doesn’ t do that.)
We’ re like so many others inching toward retirement who need frank talk and planning around income, tax management and wealth transfer. Our younger Gen X friends might have some different needs, but experts in Social Security say this group should also be thinking about how the benefits will shape their futures— and do this well before they reach the age of 62.
How Our Search Turned Out
One of our previous advisors struck out on most of the items on this tick list and never took much interest in our family or what we wanted our money to do now and later. His focus on market returns, bond prices, Monte Carlo projections, etc., left us cold, and he only called us when money came into the accounts. A poor result for a mortgage refinance cost us money and sent us on a search for a new advisor.
The team we chose instead listened and pointedly addressed our concerns about these things:
1. Taxes. The winning team’ s proposal quantified how much they could save us in taxes and increase the value of our edgeably. We know how complex this all can be, and it hasn’ t felt that way.
Like most clients, we expect our advisors to offer a breadth of services. We have planned to sell a home, and they put us in touch with a private banker. We’ re shifting our checking and savings to this institution to make it easy to move money around. We also set up a donoradvised fund for our charitable giving. Shortly, we’ ll start working on our estate plan through this team as well.
A Payoff For All
The most important benefit of the planning process was that it prompted meaningful conversations with our children. Our top priority is to spend more time with them, wherever they live. They asked us not to sell our vacation home. It turns out they wanted a place where they could
Market volatility is always a concern. Our new advisory team explained how their recommendations were aimed at making us less vulnerable to it.
assets available for healthcare, living expenses, in-home help and gifts— the concerns that most people have as they age.
2. Income generation. The team demonstrated how, when my wife and I are ready to convert our assets into income, they’ d be able to identify specific accounts and amounts to withdraw to minimize the tax drag and keep more money invested longer.
3. Risk management. Market volatility is always a concern. Our new advisory team explained how their recommendations were aimed at making us less vulnerable to it, with a clear eye on minimizing taxes across our multiple account types as our asset allocation and asset location inevitably shift.
Their concierge-level service has been a delight. They’ ve worked with us handin-hand on all the transfers with minimal effort on our end. When we have a question, they answer quickly and knowl- kick back together with their spouses, grandchildren, cousins and friends.
Engaging our children in this way was good for us. It’ s good for our advisors, too. As one of them said,“ If we provide good advice and service, we hope we can someday work with your children.”
After all, advisors are aware that a great wealth transfer is coming. According to Cerulli Associates, $ 124 trillion will flow to heirs and charities by 2048. And advisors also know the grim anecdotes about heirs taking their inheritances to other advisors and firms.
Trust is at the heart of any business or personal relationship. And if you’ re trustworthy in this way, you also get an added benefit: You can feel better asking clients to refer their friends and acquaintances.
JACK SHARRY is a managing director at SEI LifeYield and host of the WealthTech on Deck podcast.
MAY 2025 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | 49