Working tax efficiency into your financial strategy

Musicians always hit a familiar chord with fans when they sing about life’s mysteries, like love, loss, growing up, looking back—and taxes. The Beatles and Johnny Cash, among many other familiar artists, made hits about taxes that still find their way on to playlists because everyone can relate.

Aside from humming along to the music, what can you do about taxes? It can be a confusing topic. In fact, according to the Thrivent Retirement Readiness Survey*, the most valuable piece of advice that current retirees would have given their younger selves would be to learn about tax implications for their retirement savings. We'll discuss strategies you can put to work that could help reduce what you pay now and in retirement. Let’s start with the basics.

Being strategic about taxes begins with your paycheck. If a tax refund is a consistent windfall every year, consider changing the income tax withholding on your paycheck. It could result in more take-home pay for you throughout the year, of which you can invest the difference. The IRS isn’t providing any return on your extra money they’ve held on to throughout the year.

For proof that taxes can be complicated, just look at the tax brackets in the current federal income tax system. There are seven tax brackets at these marginal tax rates for single filers:

• 10% for incomes $11,925 or less ($23,850 or less for married couples filing jointly)
• 12% for incomes over $11,925 ($23,850 for married couples filing jointly).
• 22% for incomes over $48,475 ($96,950 for married couples filing jointly).
• 24% for incomes over $103,350 ($206,700 for married couples filing jointly).
• 32% for incomes over $197,300 ($394,600 for married couples filing jointly).
• 35% for incomes over $250,525 ($501,050 for married couples filing jointly).
• 37% for incomes greater than $626,350 ($751,600 for married couples filing jointly)

With this system, you pay taxes at progressively higher rates as your income moves from one bracket to the next. The top federal tax rate today of 37% is nowhere near the 70% range in the 1970s when Johnny Cash was crooning on the topic.

Will taxes ever go back up like that? It's been six years since the Tax Cuts and Job Act (TCJA) overhauled the federal tax code and lowered marginal rates for most individual tax brackets. However, after 2025, many of the act's tax law changes are scheduled to expire and those rates may return to their previous levels.

Time diversification, investment diversification and income tax diversification are three strategies you can use as you juggle multiple goals over time. Whether your retirement is decades from now or so close you feel it with every stock market swoon, these strategies can help guide you.

Time diversification

When and how you'll use your money

Investment diversification

Spreading investments across different asset classes

Income tax diversification

The timing of when you'll be taxed

Time diversification plays a role throughout your life as you set out to achieve various short- and long-term goals—buying a home, traveling the world, sending your kids to college, retiring early. As you choose the most tax-efficient type of investment account to help you reach your goals, when and how you plan to use the money will be factors.

Early in your working years, time is on your side, and increasing the amount you save every year may be a financial priority. Generally, the more you contribute to your qualified retirement plan each year, the less you owe in taxes now.

Investment diversification can help you minimize the taxes you will eventually pay in retirement by allocating your assets across a variety of asset classes. Diversification alone does not assure a profit nor can it protect against losses in a volatile or declining market, but it can be an effective way to minimize market risk and protect you from inflation.

Depending on your age, you might be more interested in choosing investments that align with your goals and risk tolerance than in how any earnings might be taxed decades from now. After all, the markets could bounce up and down several times before you need retirement income.

Income tax diversification involves investing in a variety of tax-advantaged accounts to help minimize how you’re taxed on those accounts now and in the future. This concept advocates that you should diversify your holdings into three different buckets: some taxable money, some tax-deferred money and some non-taxable money. We call these buckets "tax now," ‘"tax later" and "tax never" (which leads us into our next concept).

Income tax diversification is about saving more money in the long term. It involves the process of investing in a variety of tax-advantaged accounts … commonly referred to as buckets. Essentially, these three income tax buckets show how different types of investments are taxed at different times.

Tax now

Pay taxes upfront

Tax later

Pay taxes later when you start taking withdrawals

Tax never

No tax liability

"Tax now" accounts are ones in which you've paid taxes on upfront. These types of accounts are typically suited for current or short-term needs.

Examples:

• Savings²
• Checking accounts²
• Certificates of deposit (CDs)²
• Mutual funds²
• U.S. Treasuries^2,3

"Tax later", or tax deferred, assets are ones where your tax liability will come once you withdraw funds. "Tax later" assets are generally earmarked for longer-term needs, like college and retirement.

Examples:

• Qualified employer-sponsored retirement plans like 401(k)s, 403(b)s and other pension plan assets^4,5,6
• Traditional IRAs^4,5,6
• Variable & fixed annuities^4,7
• Stocks²
• U.S. Savings Bonds⁸

Tax-free assets in the "tax never" bucket generally offer preferential income-tax treatment on the accumulated value and distribution of funds.

Examples:

• Roth IRAs^6,9
• Roth 401(k)s^6,9
• Roth 457(b)^6,9
• Roth 403(b)^6,9
• Municipal bonds¹⁰
• Life insurance¹¹
• Health savings accounts (HSA)s & flexible spending accounts (FSA)s

Assuming you’ll pay fewer taxes in retirement could be a mistake since you may have fewer deductions at that time, such as no mortgage interest or children to claim as dependents. And, you will no longer be making tax-deferred contributions to retirement accounts. Being strategic now could help you reduce or even eliminate some tax consequences in later years.

Give yourself a tax-efficiency checkup

Use our tax-efficiency checklist to get a good idea of the tax diversification of your assets today. You may identify ways to reduce eventual tax consequences. As you consider your options for tax-efficient moves, consult with your financial advisor and tax advisor to help you make informed financial decisions both during your working years and in retirement. While Thrivent financial advisors do not provide specific legal or tax advice, they can partner with you and your tax professional or attorney.