Boston, MA Feb. 2, 2015 – While “death and taxes” are said to be inevitable, studies of investors and their experience in receiving advice conducted separately by Hearts & Wallets LLC and Ernst & Young LLC says: “taxes are the biggest expense” for most investors; that “taxes can be reduced and outcomes improved by as much as one third;” and “most investors think this is already being done.”
Hearts & Wallets recent annual Inside Retirement Advice 2104: At Retirement Focus – How Benchmarking Today’s At-Retirement Advice & Guidance Points the Way to Future Improvements offers an in-depth, “side by side” examination of 30 leading advice experiences. For the third year in a row, LifeYield, an enterprise software developer that provides detailed guidance to advisors and their clients on how to improve after-tax outcomes, earned the highest quality rating for recommendations. LifeYield was one of the top five firms, in particular for its unique ability to reduce taxes – by up to 33 percent, according to comparisons conducted by Ernst & Young.
Gaps in advice delivery
“Taxes are the biggest expense for investors with $500,000 or more of investible assets. Taxes managed in an optimal fashion can significantly improve investor outcomes,” according to Laura Varas, Principal at Hearts & Wallets. “Investors are shocked to learn tax optimization is not even in scope for most firms and advisors. And for investors with between $100,000 and $500,000 of investible assets, they still pay more in taxes than for health insurance and discretionary spending. The Hearts & Wallets advice-experience analysis found only LifeYield and its client firms address tax optimization in a comprehensive, cross-account way and quantifies the potential benefit for the investor.”
LifeYield improves
“LifeYield stands out among the advice experiences we examined for its unique ability to reduce taxes and improve investor outcomes,” Varas said. “Most firms are woefully inadequate in addressing tax optimization. LifeYield helps financial firms confront this issue directly. This provides a competitive advantage to advisors who use its software. LifeYield consistently ranks among the top experiences because it improves investor outcomes by reducing taxes.”
Tax efficiency increase income
“Investing for the future is critically important for Baby Boomers and those who follow because so few will receive a traditional pension,” said LifeYield CEO Mark Hoffman. “The earlier a strategy of tax-efficient investing is employed across multiple accounts, the more investors will have to spend in the future.”