Tax season is in full swing – there are only a couple weeks left to get that 2014 return filed! While income tax is on everyone's mind, it's a great time to start reaching out to clients and get them penciled in for appointments so you can help them reduce their overall tax burden for 2015. Let’s find out how:
Tax Strategy #1: 1040 Overlay
If you’re looking to grow your business and expand your professional contacts, the 1040 overlay strategy is a great choice. Essentially, you sit down with a client or prospect (usually accompanied by his or tax professional) and go over the client’s most recent 1040 tax return. Working together, you and the client’s tax professional can identify ways to help reduce the client’s taxable income using smart planning tools. Both life insurance and annuities offer accumulation, distribution, and death benefit options that can help. Our sales kit has a 15-page guide that walks you through the form, explaining what the amount in each box means and how available financial products can help improve that client’s tax situation.
Here are just a few of the ways a 1040 overlay can help your clients:
- Dependents. Based on the number of dependents, do your clients have enough life insurance coverage? Are your clients saving to put any of the kids through college? Do any of the kids have special needs that could merit a special needs trust as part of the family’s financial planning?
- Income + 401(k) Contributions. For wealthy clients, it’s extremely difficult if not impossible to save enough for retirement through traditional 401(k) OR IRA plans. Take a look at Section B, box 12 to see if they’ve saved the maximum possible in a 401(k) – for the 2014 tax year, this is $17,500 (under age 50) or $23,000 (age 50+). If you see either of those figures, this client is a good fit for solutions that offer supplemental retirement income, like an annuity or a cash value policy.
- Business Income. If your client’s form has an entry in Section D, line 12, it means they could probably use your help on two fronts – with extra retirement savings, and with business continuation strategies. Many small business owners put all their income back into the business, neglecting to save for retirement. At the same time, they’re also often so driven to make the business succeed that they haven’t thought about what happens to it when they’re gone.
Tax Strategy #2: Deferred Annuity
Chances are a client who hasn’t filed yet put it off because they’re worried they’ll have to pay...but there is a strategy that can help reduce their taxable income in the 2014 calendar year. No, it doesn’t involve time travel, although if we figure something like that out, you guys will be the first to know. In this case, we’re talking about using a deferred annuity to help reduce your client’s tax liability. Taxpayers are allowed to make contributions to certain IRA and Roth IRA plans in the current year and have the deduction apply to the previous tax year. Learn more in our free Tax Strategies sales kit.
Get Our Free Tax Strategies Sales Kit
We’ve put together a sales kit that will help you talk to your clients about the types of income they expect to receive during retirement, and how to maximize those assets with life insurance and annuities. Here’s what’s inside:
- 15-page guide to 1040 overlays
- 1-page 1040 overlay case study
- 1-page 1040 overlay implementation checklist
- 1-page guide to reducing taxable income with an annuity
Need help with a case already in progress? Give us a call at 800-823-4852 or email us at [email protected]