Tax Planning in Sarasota
Fee-only fiduciary advisors serving Sarasota. No commissions. No conflicts. Just advice that puts your interests first.
Florida's lack of state income tax draws retirees to Sarasota—but federal taxes still take a significant bite. FirsTrust helps Gulf Coast retirees keep more of what they've earned through strategic Roth conversions, intelligent RMD timing, charitable IRA distributions, and tax-aware withdrawal sequencing. Our fee-only model means we're focused on reducing your tax bill, not selling you products that generate commissions for us.
The FirsTrust Difference
Why Choose a Fee-Only Advisor in Sarasota?
When it comes to strategic tax planning, the advisor you choose matters. Here's what sets us apart.
100% Fee-Only
No Commissions, Ever
We're compensated directly by our clients—never by commissions, referral fees, or product sales. This eliminates conflicts of interest that can compromise your financial future.
Fiduciary Standard
Your Interests First
As registered investment advisors, we're legally bound to put your interests ahead of our own. This is the highest standard of care in the financial industry.
Transparent Fees
No Hidden Charges
You'll always know exactly what you're paying. Our fees are clearly disclosed upfront—no surprises, no fine print, no games.
CFP® & CFA® Certified
Proven Expertise
Our advisors hold the most rigorous credentials in financial planning and investment management—backed by years of education and experience.
Ready to work with advisors who put you first?
Schedule a CallTax Planning for Complex Wealth
Multi-year, tax-smart strategies can produce tangible savings for complex estates and high-income families.
Retirement Income & Distribution
Coordinate withdrawals from taxable, traditional, and Roth accounts, strategically time Roth conversions, manage required minimum distributions, and limit exposure to higher tax brackets and Medicare surcharges.
Estate, Gift & Charitable Strategy
Combine revocable and irrevocable trusts, lifetime gifts, charitable techniques, and available exemptions to minimize estate and gift taxes, manage capital gains, and reduce potential income taxes for your heirs.
Tax-Alpha Investment Management
Significant benefits can be captured through proactive Tax-Alpha management: tax-loss harvesting, maximizing tax deferral, "asset location" strategies to hold certain types of assets in tax-favorable accounts, holding-period management of the Wash Sale Rule to optimize long-term capital gains treatment, and sourcing your spending for tax-optimized withdrawals.
Collaboration
A collaborative tax advisor ensures all your key financial, legal, investment and estate planning professionals are working from the same playbook, helping you reduce taxes, avoid costly mistakes, and better preserve your wealth for you and your family throughout the entire year.
Tax-Smart Strategies
Integrated Tax Planning Across Your Investments, Income, and Estate
Tax-Efficient Investing & Portfolio Design
- Asset location across taxable, IRA, and Roth to cut ongoing tax drag
- Ongoing tax-loss and gain harvesting with wash-sale awareness.
- Realized-gain budgets to avoid April surprises
- Total return investment strategies that account for inflation, fees and taxes.
Retirement Income & Roth Strategies
- Tax-smart withdrawal order across taxable, pre-tax, and Roth accounts
- Multi-year Roth conversion plan using low-tax years and market opportunities
- RMD and charitable-IRA timing to reduce lifetime taxes
- Limiting surprise add-on taxes and Medicare premium surcharges
- Social Security timing coordinated with the rest of your tax plan
Estate, Gift & Charitable Planning
- Trust coordination (revocable, SLAT/ILIT/GRAT) with your estate advisors
- Annual-exclusion gifting, 529 “superfunding,” and lifetime-exemption strategies
- Structure charitable giving with appreciated assets and IRAs to cut taxes
- Align beneficiaries, titling, and step-up rules across accounts
- Plan business exits and equity comp with your CPA for tax efficiency
Tax Planning FAQs
We proactively employ strategies to maximize tax deferral, thoughtfully harvest investment gains & losses, maximize deductions, defer tax recognition, source your spending in a tax-optimized manner, and mitigate estate taxes. These can significantly reduce the taxes you pay over time.
We “quarterback” the process, sharing relevant data, implementing tax planning strategies, and collaborating with your CPA and/or attorney for accounting and document preparation.
Send your most recent federal tax returns and any supporting schedules/K-1s. We perform an efficiency review of your return and monitor changes in income, deductions, brackets, exemptions, and credits throughout the year.
Core tax planning is included in our Comprehensive Financial Planning service. Clients whose tax profiles involve greater complexity can elect to add the services of our Strategic Tax Planner.
We understand taxes can be a significant drag on net returns, so we seek to offset taxable gains by harvesting losses, minimize the tax bite on cash flows, and strategically position assets in taxable/non-taxable accounts to help keep your portfolio tax-optimized over time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about strategic tax planning in Sarasota
Fee-only means we're compensated solely by our clients—never by commissions, referral fees, or product sales. This eliminates conflicts of interest that can compromise advice quality. When you work with FirsTrust for strategic tax planning, you can trust that our recommendations are 100% in your best interest.
Financial advisor fees in Sarasota vary widely. Commission-based advisors may appear "free" but earn money from products they sell you. FirsTrust uses transparent fee-only pricing—we're compensated directly by our clients, never by commissions. Contact us for a free consultation to discuss pricing for your specific situation.
A fiduciary is legally required to put your interests first. Many "financial advisors" only need to recommend "suitable" products—which may include options that pay them higher commissions. FirsTrust advisors are fiduciaries, meaning we're held to the highest standard of care and must always act in your best interest.
While you can manage strategic tax planning on your own, a qualified advisor brings expertise in tax optimization, investment strategy, and estate planning that may benefit your overall financial picture. An advisor can help you avoid common mistakes, stay disciplined during market volatility, and coordinate complex planning decisions. Whether professional guidance is right for you depends on your unique situation—schedule a consultation to discuss your needs.
Look for advisors who are Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) with the SEC, hold credentials like CFP or CFA, and operate as fee-only fiduciaries. You can verify credentials at BrokerCheck.finra.org and advisorinfo.sec.gov. FirsTrust is a registered RIA and our advisors hold CFP and CFA certifications.
Visit Our Sarasota Office
Schedule a call to meet with our team
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