Why Tax Planning, Investment Management, and Financial Planning Should Work in Sync
Are Your Investments Getting the Attention They Deserve?
By Jared McDaniel, CFA, CPA, CFP®, CPWA, AIF®, CMT, CEPA® – Wealth Advisor, Cornerstone Wealth
When most people think about financial planning, they picture investments. Maybe a 401(k). Maybe a well-balanced portfolio. But here’s the problem: investments alone don’t build wealth efficiently.
Not efficiently considering tax planning, risk, and retirement savings.
Many investors I meet are doing all the “right” things—saving diligently, choosing quality funds, assessing their eligibility for different investment opportunities, and maybe even working with a professional. And yet, they’re missing something big: coordination.
To unlock the full potential of your financial life, you need more than investment selection. You need a strategy that aligns tax planning, investment structure, and long-term financial goals. That’s where the Trifecta Strategy comes in.
What Is the Trifecta Strategy?
The Trifecta is our framework for delivering comprehensive wealth management, the kind that makes every financial decision work harder by connecting the dots between:
Tax strategy
Investment management
Financial planning
When these elements operate in silos, investors unknowingly miss out on tax savings, risk-adjusted returns, and strategic opportunities, as well as possible deductions, which can result in big losses.
But when thoughtful investment management, tax planning, and financial planning strategies are integrated to benefit taxpayers? That’s when your plan becomes powerful.
What Most Portfolios Miss
Most financial plans, even well-intentioned ones, are incomplete and often overlook the benefits of deductions and tax credits. Here’s what we regularly see lacking when we meet with new clients:
Tax analysis and consideration that identifies proactive opportunities, not just retroactive reporting
Roth conversion planning in low-bracket years (especially post-retirement, pre-RMD)
Asset location strategy—Are your investments in the most tax-efficient accounts?
Access to private market alternatives like private credit and structured income
Ongoing coordination between investment choices, income needs, and estate goals
Regular Adjustments are made as economic, political, and personal situations change.
Suppose your portfolio isn’t addressing these areas. In that case, you may be questioning your eligibility for tax refund opportunities, considering potential deductions, paying more in taxes, assuming unnecessary risk, and risking not meeting long-term goals.
Pillar 1: Tax Strategy – More Than Just Filing
Tax planning should be year-round, not just a box checked in April. It’s a strategic tool that goes beyond simply filing your tax return and helps manage your taxable income effectively, including optimizing for retirement savings.
At Cornerstone Wealth, we review your tax return and tax records strategically, ensuring compliance while considering your filing status.
We look for opportunities to maximize your tax refund and more, such as leveraging tax deductions for eligible expenses and utilizing tax credits when applicable.
Underutilized brackets for partial Roth conversions
Opportunities for loss harvesting or gain harvesting
Areas where a different investment location could reduce tax drag
One of the most overlooked tax strategies is the “retirement tax desert”—that golden window after retirement but before RMDs and Social Security, which also provides an opportunity to enhance your retirement savings.
For many clients, this period offers a chance to lock in tax-efficient Roth conversions that could save six figures over time as part of a comprehensive wealth management strategy. With eMoney planning software, we model this down to the dollar.
Another common mistake is not allocating investments in the correct account for the best after-tax returns. It takes considerable time and thought to ensure the proper asset location, but getting higher returns and paying less tax is worth it.
That’s why we:
Place income-producing investments in tax-deferred accounts
Allocate high-growth assets to Roth IRAs for tax-free appreciation
Use taxable accounts for tax-efficient investments like ETFs and muni bonds
Pillar 2: Investment Management – Purpose Over Performance and Best Suited Options
Investing isn’t just about beating the market but also understanding how deductions can impact your overall tax liability, which is where a financial advisor can provide valuable guidance. It’s about building a structure that aligns with your goals, tax strategy, and effectively managing your taxes and tax liability.
Goals focused on investing increase the likelihood of creating the best portfolio to meet your specific goals and objectives.
Some benefits that create a strong investment strategy:
Cheaper access to investments through institutional-level pricing
Independence and Access to a wide range of investment choices to find the best investment solution for your circumstances
Being flexible allows the adjustments necessary to adapt as you progress through your unique financial journey
We also evaluate private credit, structured notes, alternatives, and methods to maximize charitable donations when appropriate, because traditional bonds and stocks aren’t always enough.
What matters most is what you invest in, where, and why.
Pillar 3: Financial Planning – Tie It All Together
Accurate planning connects your portfolio to your real life.
Whether it’s assessing eligibility for certain tax benefits, understanding the impact of the standard deduction, increasing your retirement savings, claiming tax credits, exiting a business, reviewing tax records, assessing tax liability, or leaving a legacy, your financial plan should serve as the blueprint for all tax and investment decisions.
Through comprehensive modeling in eMoney, we enable seamless integration of:
Annual and long-term cash flow projections
Retirement income optimization
Gifting strategies
Charitable planning and trust design
Estate planning aligned with multi-generational goals
When your plan is actively updated—not just created once—it becomes a living strategy, not a static document.
The financial plan, incorporating tax preparation, is used in real time to make fully informed financial decisions.
The Outcome: Financial Clarity and Tax-Efficient Strategies
When tax, investment, and planning decisions are coordinated, you can:
Reduce lifetime taxes
Improve after-tax returns
Create flexibility around retirement income, considering taxes
Enhance charitable donations and estate outcomes
Gain confidence in making fully informed investment decisions
Most importantly, you stop reacting to markets and tax laws, and start planning through them with compliance as a key priority.
Is It Time for a More Comprehensive Strategy?
If no one is helping you align your tax situation with your portfolio, or your financial plan with your income needs and other long-term objectives, there’s a good chance your investments aren’t getting the attention they deserve.
Schedule a complimentary consultation with me, and let’s see where your wealth management strategy stands. With the proper framework, your financial life can move from functional to fully optimized.
Jared McDaniel, CFA, CPA, CFP®, CPWA, AIF®, CMT, CEPA® Wealth Advisor | Cornerstone Wealth – Tampa, FL
Helping investors bring clarity, strategy, and structure to every layer of their financial lives.
This is for informational purposes only and does not serve as personal advice. Please speak to a qualified representative regarding your unique circumstances. Links within this blog are not associated to Cornerstone Wealth and are subject to change. Hyperlinks will take you to a third-party website whose content Cornerstone Wealth does not control. Investment advisory services offered through Cornerstone Wealth Group, LLC dba Cornerstone Wealth, an SEC registered investment adviser.
