Tax
Strategies

Ultra High Net Worth Tax Strategies

For Accessing, Building and Transferring Wealth

Your taxes are complex enough. Shifting regulations and laws add to the complexity, making it difficult to assess where you could be more tax-efficient and how. LNW experts in ultra high net worth tax strategies work to optimize tax efficiency across your entire asset base by:

• Assessing your current and projected tax exposure in terms of income, capital gains, gift & estate taxes (at the federal and state levels).

• Proposing strategies for increasing tax-efficiency across your asset base – real assets and collectibles, financial accounts, equity investments, existing and future trusts, your estate and legacy plans.

• Tracking how well current tax strategies are working and making adjustments if there are changes in tax laws, your assets, needs or goals.

We work with your CPA(s) to make proactive recommendations for your specific circumstances, so that you are not caught off guard by what your portfolio(s) and holdings are generating in terms of taxes. By consistently applying a variety of strategies within your investment portfolio, including tax loss harvesting and asset location, we help optimize results aligned with your needs. This means you always have a tax strategy integrated into your wealth plan for:

• Investment income
• Capital gains
• Gift taxes
• Estate taxes

Make tax outcomes part of your integrated wealth plan

Accessing, building and transferring wealth — none of this happens most effectively in a vacuum. LNW tax experts work closely with colleagues in investments, wealth planning and trust services to make your wealth plan as tax-efficient as possible in line with your goals. Our aim is to drive better outcomes across your entire asset base now and way into the future.

Tailored tax strategies for your needs

At LNW, we can work strategically with your accountant(s) to seek tax advantages as you access, build or transfer wealth. In your investment portfolio(s), we help improve after-tax returns in multiple ways, including tax-effective asset location, tax-managed portfolios and tax-aware manager selection.

When accessing wealth, there are numerous ways to lower the tax impact. The right strategy depends on your unique situation, but a few examples include:

• Timing the sale of appreciated assets (business interests, real estate, collectibles, etc.) in ways that spread out the capital gains
• Timing the sale or transfer of vested equity compensation (RSUs, RSAs, stock options)
• Accessing deferred compensation
• Funding trusts to capture the benefits in terms of estate taxes, privacy, asset protection and control; managing the assets within trusts to minimize annual taxes for the trust and the beneficiaries
• Arranging a real estate exchange or change in use
• Making lifetime gifts to family and charities, including the creation of a foundation or endowment
• Borrowing against existing assets to fund major purchases

Tax strategies for transferring wealth

Tax awareness becomes particularly important in the transfer of wealth. Many different tools exist that can be used in combination to control the transfer of assets in a tax-effective manner, including titling of property and accounts, various types of trusts and lifetime gifts. Strategic use of these tools can maximize what your family and/or a chosen charity receives. Perhaps more important, an effective wealth transfer strategy can preserve family harmony and create a legacy that lasts over many generations.

Envision a tax-optimized future

Tax strategies at LNW are strategically applied to enhance outcomes; they do not drive decision-making. That means your portfolio(s) may lean toward tax-exempt, tax-deferred or taxable investments depending on the long-term risk and return targets required to attain your goals. It is your vision for the future that drives the tax strategies embedded in your wealth and estate plans, not the other way around. The result is tax-efficiency on your terms and aligned with your goals.