Best Financial Advisors in Richmond, IN

There’s a tremendous difference between tax planning and tax preparation. Effective tax planning can save you thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of dollars over your lifetime. Think about it – when your accountant or tax preparer sits down to prepare your taxes they are dealing with numbers from last year. It’s already over and in the books. Nothing can be changed, except for maybe a deduction here or credit there. Their job is to ensure you pay the taxes you owe, in accordance with local, state, and federal tax laws, and no more. This is a necessary and valuable service but it’s not the same as tax planning. The typical tax preparer simply doesn’t have the time or expertise to provide truly comprehensive, long-term tax planning. What’s worse is that most financial advisors don’t have the expertise or inclination to provide this service either. In fact, most advisors will tell you straight out that they cannot, and will not, provide tax planning services. (Just as they cannot and will not provide advanced income planning, Social Security, Medicare, risk management, survivor, or estate planning.) Ironically, most will tell you to seek the advice of your accountant regarding tax planning matters. But as we’ve explained, tax preparation and tax planning are completely different.