Tax season is done… or is it? Now is the time to approach people about their 1040’s. You can find all sorts of benefits (tax savings) that is for your client … and for youself (new sales), in a client’s tax return. It pays to invest your time in becoming an expert at this. I always recommend the advisors I coach become adept at the skill of mining a 1040 for ideas… and it almost always pays off.
A few things to look for. Are they?
- Fully funding retirement plans?
- Doing it correctly? (In other words to their best advantage by using one retirement plan over another)
- A good candidate for Roth conversion?
- A good candidate for an in-service transfer?
- Using all their deductions?
- A good candidate for a split annuity?
- Using all their benefits to the largest degree possible? i.e. flex plans, HSAs, 401k’s, disability, etc.
- Unnecessarily paying taxes on their Social Security retirement
- Should they be doing IULs vs. their retirement plan?
- Do they have an opportunity to offset their gains with losses?
- Do they have large interest or dividends that could be deferred?
- Do they have an intelligent plan in place to mitigate the taxes incurred by RMD’s?
I could go on, but you get the idea. If you become an expert on mining 1040’s, your sales will go up significantly! Oh, and if done right, it can generate a bunch of referrals in the process!
