I have the opportunity to attend several confer­ences over the course of the year. At many of them (like the AICPA Advanced Personal Financial Planning Conference), there is a remarkable amount of technical information covering all the areas of personal financial planning from dawn to dusk. At others, I experience a thought-provoking perspective on practice management related topics through in-depth presentations delivered by leaders in the pro­fession.

There is a very simple way for financial advisors to save their clients' money and improve their investment results, and that is building tax-efficient portfolios. For many clients, taxes could be the single biggest expense they face each year. While last year’s tax reform bill reduced tax rates overall, the top ordinary rate is still 37% and the top capital gains tax rate is 23.8%, and that’s before you factor in state income taxes.

In our neverending quest to provide the best possible service to our clients, L.K. Benson & Company is using SafeSend Returns™ technology this year to simplify the tax return process. With SafeSend Returns, you can handle the delivery, review and signature of your federal and state individual income tax returns from the convenience of your computer, smartphone or tablet.

Retirement can be a very difficult transition. The primary challenge many focus on tends to be how to spend your time now if you are no longer working every day. However, as we help clients with their financial planning, we often find that an even bigger issue they are struggling with involves decisions around their residence. Where do they want to live once they stop working? Is it reasonable to grow old in their current home? Do they want to move to be near their children and grandchildren? If they are thinking of moving to a new area, should they rent first or just buy something? For many of our clients, these often tough and emotional decisions become some of the most important ones they make as they transition to retirement. All of these are issues we have discussed with clients in the past few months. Maybe you are thinking about them too! Here are some thoughts on issues we see clients facing and how to approach them.

I recently read a great article from the CFA Institute and I wanted to share it with our clients because I think it’s something we all struggle with. The title of the article is “Best Does Not Mean Optimal” and it discusses the neverending quest by portfolio managers to try to build the “optimal” portfolio for clients.

In November we introduced a new software called TaxCaddy to all of our tax clients. Now that tax filing season has begun, we thought it would be helpful to provide a few tips and tricks to using TaxCaddy to organize your tax information: