Tax Efficient Investing

Taxes touch nearly every decision you make with your wealth. Our financial advisors help you plan ahead for how investments, income, and giving are taxed, and coordinate those decisions with your CPA so nothing is left to the last week of the year.

Request a Tax Planning Consultation

CFP^® Certified Financial Planner^®Steve Zeller
AIF^® Accredited Investment Fiduciary^®Steve Zeller & Trevor Kern
Fee Fee-Based Services For Transparency
2007 Serving Families and Business Since 2007

A Tax-Aware Approach to Your Wealth

Most people think about taxes once a year, when it is time to file. By then, most of the decisions that shaped the bill have already been made. Zeller Kern Wealth Advisors approaches tax efficient investing as an ongoing part of your wealth plan, looking ahead at how your investments, income, retirement accounts, and charitable giving are likely to be taxed, and shaping those decisions while there is still time to act.

Tax planning strategies is woven into our investment management and retirement work rather than treated as a separate exercise. We work with your CPA or tax professional to forecast your income, review the tax character of each account, and look for opportunities such as harvesting losses, timing Roth conversions, and structuring gifts, then coordinate the plan with your professional team so everyone is working from the same picture.

The goal is clear, coordinated decisions about taxes across the years ahead, made within a plan that reflects your goals, your values, and your family.

Tax Planning Perspective

Why This Matters

For Sacramento-area families, business owners, and executives, the tax side of a decision can weigh as heavily as the investment side. A few rules show why planning ahead can matter.

01

California Taxes Gains as Income

California does not offer a lower rate for capital gains. Every gain, whether short-term or long-term, is taxed at the same rates as wages, which makes the timing of a sale an important planning decision.

California Franchise Tax Board, Capital Gains and Losses

02

Losses Have Annual Limits

When capital losses exceed capital gains, only $3,000 of the excess ($1,500 if married filing separately) can offset other income in a given year. That is why harvesting losses is most useful as part of a multi-year plan.

Internal Revenue Service, Topic No. 409, Capital Gains and Losses

03

Roth Conversions Add to Taxable Income

The pre-tax amount converted from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA is generally included in income for the year of the conversion. The size and timing of each conversion shape what it costs.

Internal Revenue Service, Publication 590-A

What Our Tax Investment Strategies Includes

Each strategy is considered in the context of your full plan, reviewed as your income and goals change, and coordinated with your CPA or tax professional before anything is put into motion. We use a comprehensive wealth-planning and financial analysis platform to help model, analyze, and visually demonstrate tax strategies as part of comprehensive financial planning.

Income Forecasting

Projecting your income and likely tax bracket for this year and the years ahead, so decisions about sales, withdrawals, and conversions are made with the full picture in view.

Tax-Loss Harvesting

Reviewing taxable accounts for positions that can be sold at a loss to offset realized gains, while keeping your portfolio aligned with your long-term allocation.

Tax-Efficient Investing

Considering which investments belong in taxable, tax-deferred, and Roth accounts, and how turnover and distributions inside each account affect what you owe.

Explore Our Investment Management

Roth IRA Conversion Planning

Evaluating whether converting part of a traditional IRA makes sense, and if so, how much to convert in a given year based on your projected income and retirement timeline.

See How This Fits Retirement Planning

Charitable Donation Planning

Structuring gifts to the causes you care about, including donating appreciated assets and coordinating giving with your estate plan, so generosity and tax planning work together.

Review Estate Planning Strategies

Stock Option Exercise Planning

Mapping when and how to exercise employee stock options and manage concentrated company stock, with attention to the tax character of each choice.

Planning for Executives and Equity

Why Work with Our Advisors

Tax decisions rarely stand alone. They touch your investments, your retirement income, your business, and what you hope to leave behind. Our advisors look at all of it together, through a written plan that is reviewed as your life changes.

Recommendations within the advisory relationship are made in your best interest.

Planning Within a Written Process
Tax strategy is built into the Focused Wealth^® Process, so each decision connects to your goals rather than a single tax year.
Coordinated with Your CPA
We share projections and recommendations with your tax professional so your plan and your return tell the same story.
Experience with Executives and Owners
Stock options, concentrated equity, and business sales bring layered tax questions that we help clients plan for well in advance.
Rooted in Gold River
We meet with clients from our office on Gold Meadow Way and serve families across the greater Sacramento region.

Steven E. Zeller

CFP^® • AIF^® • NQPC^® • President

A CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional with more than 30 years in the profession, Steve helps families, executives, and business owners build purposeful, tax-smart wealth plans. He developed the firm's Focused Wealth^® Process and writes regularly on managing and protecting family wealth.

Read Steven Zeller's Full Bio

Trevor K. Kern

AIF^® • AAMS^® • Vice President & CFO

An Accredited Investment Fiduciary^® with a Master's in Finance from CSU Sacramento, Trevor works closely with pre-retirees and business owners on investment management and company retirement plans, guiding rollovers and account transitions as clients move toward retirement.

Read Trevor Kern's Full Bio

Areas We Serve

From our office in Gold River, we provide tax-aware wealth planning to individuals, families, executives, and business owners across the greater Sacramento region.

Gold River

Sacramento

Rancho Cordova

Folsom

Carmichael

Fair Oaks

Roseville

El Dorado Hills

2377 Gold Meadow Way, Suite 100
Gold River, CA 95670
Office: 916.436.8270

Start a Purposeful Conversation
About Your Taxes

Whether you are weighing a Roth conversion, planning a stock sale, or simply want fewer surprises at filing time, we would welcome a conversation. We will listen to where you are today, look at the decisions ahead, and talk through how tax planning could fit into your broader wealth plan.

Request a Tax Planning Consultation Prefer to talk now? Call 916.436.8270

Frequently Asked Questions

What is tax planning, and how is it different from tax preparation?

Tax preparation looks back at a year that is already over and reports what happened. Tax planning looks forward. It considers how investment sales, retirement account withdrawals, Roth conversions, stock option exercises, and charitable gifts are likely to be taxed before you make them, so you can weigh the timing and the trade-offs while there is still room to choose.

Do you work with my CPA?

Yes. We see our role as coordinating tax-aware planning and investment decisions with your CPA or tax professional, who prepares your return and advises on your specific tax situation. We share income projections and planning ideas so the recommendations in your wealth plan and the figures on your return line up.

How does California tax capital gains?

California does not have a lower rate for capital gains, so both short-term and long-term gains are taxed as ordinary income at the state level (Source: California Franchise Tax Board, Capital Gains and Losses). Because federal law treats long-term gains differently, a sale can be taxed very differently on your federal and state returns. We factor both into decisions about when and how to sell appreciated assets.

What is tax-loss harvesting?

Tax-loss harvesting means selling an investment in a taxable account for less than you paid, so the loss can offset gains realized elsewhere. If losses exceed gains, up to $3,000 of the excess ($1,500 if married filing separately) can offset other income each year, and unused losses carry forward to future years (Source: Internal Revenue Service, Topic No. 409). We look for these opportunities while keeping your portfolio aligned with your long-term allocation.

Should I consider a Roth conversion?

It depends on your current and expected future tax brackets, how long the money can stay invested, and how you plan to use it. The pre-tax amount you convert is generally included in income for the year of the conversion (Source: Internal Revenue Service, Publication 590-A), so we often look at converting in measured amounts during lower-income years, such as the gap between retiring and claiming Social Security. Your CPA can confirm the tax impact before any conversion is made.

Can you help with stock options or a concentrated stock position?

Yes. Executives and employees with equity compensation face decisions about when to exercise, when to sell, and how much company stock to hold. We help map those choices against your income, your diversification goals, and your tax picture. Learn more on our page about concentrated equity planning for executives.

When is the best time to start tax planning?

Earlier in the year generally leaves more options open. Many strategies, such as harvesting losses, completing Roth conversions, or making charitable gifts, need to be finished by December 31 to count for that tax year. Starting well ahead of year end, or well ahead of a known event like a business sale or retirement, gives you time to plan rather than react.

Do you only work with clients near Sacramento?

Our office is in Gold River, California, and we work with clients across the greater Sacramento region and beyond. Financial professionals may transact business and respond to inquiries only in states in which they are properly registered. The best first step is to start a conversation so we can confirm how we can help.

Neither Equitable Advisors, LLC nor any of its representatives are in the business of giving tax or legal advice. Individuals should consult with their own professional advisors to determine the appropriateness of any course of action. Fee-based, and non-fee based financial planning is offered by financial professionals who are investment advisor representatives of Equitable Advisors, LLC, a SEC-registered investment advisor.