The return your accountant files reports decisions that were already made. Planning is what happens before: deciding what income to recognize when, and coordinating every recommendation with what it does to your tax bill over the next several years.
Most tax advice arrives as a finished return, at a point when the choices that mattered have already been made. Planning is the other side of that: it works a few years ahead, decides what income to take in which year, and checks every investment move, withdrawal, and gift for what it does to the tax bill before it happens.
That is only possible when one firm sees the whole picture, as part of the financial plan. Blackshire does the planning and coordinates it with the CPA who files.
Tax planning does not sit in its own silo at Blackshire. Trades, withdrawals, conversions, and gifts are evaluated for their tax impact before implementation. Clients whose investments we manage get this as part of the single advisory fee. For clients who want the planning on its own, it is available for a fixed annual fee. How the fee works.
No. Preparation is the return, filed after the year is over. Planning happens before the decisions are made: it looks at the next several years, decides what income to recognize in which year, and checks every recommendation for what it does to your tax bill. We do the planning and coordinate closely with the CPA who files.
No. Blackshire does not prepare or file returns. We model the tax consequences of every recommendation, project your bracket across years, and work directly with your CPA. If you do not have one, we can point you toward a good fit.
In your lower-income years, where converting fills up a bracket you would not otherwise use. For many people that is the window between leaving work and the start of required minimum distributions at 73, and before Social Security is fully switched on. The right amount depends on your balances and your income forecast for the rest of retirement.
IRMAA is a surcharge on Medicare Part B and Part D premiums for people above certain income thresholds, based on income from two years earlier. A single high-income year, from a large Roth conversion or a stock sale, can raise your premiums for a full year. Managing income around those thresholds is part of tax planning.
Reviewed September 2026 by Henry Supinski, MBA, ChFC®, founder of Blackshire Wealth Management.
A 30-minute call. Bring last year's return if you have it, and we will tell you where the planning gaps are and whether they are worth acting on.
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