Why I Use Holistiplan to Make Taxes Simpler—and What It Means for Your Retirement Plan
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Taxes touch nearly every part of your financial life, especially as you approach retirement. Yet for many investors, taxes remain a black box—a jumble of numbers and jargon that show up once a year, often with surprises no one wants.
I’ve seen firsthand how tax issues can derail even the best retirement plans. I’ve also seen how powerful it can be when people finally understand their tax picture and make proactive decisions. That’s why I use Holistiplan with clients. It’s a tool that helps me turn your tax return into clear, practical insights so we can plan with more confidence—and fewer surprises.
Why listen to me on this topic?
I’m not here to claim I’ve worked with thousands of people or to throw around big credentials. What I can share is that in my experience working with individuals and families, I’ve found that tax surprises often become the single biggest disruptor of otherwise solid financial plans. And the flip side is equally true: investors who take time to understand and plan for taxes often achieve more flexibility, peace of mind, and long-term success.
Key Takeaways
Holistiplan helps me transform your tax return into meaningful planning insights.
It allows us to spot tax-saving opportunities and avoid costly mistakes.
It makes tax conversations clearer and less stressful for clients.
Tax planning should be integrated into your retirement and investment strategy, not treated as an afterthought.
Planning proactively helps ensure you pay no more tax than you’re legally required to pay.
Why I Use Holistiplan for Clients
1. Because Your Tax Return Holds Hidden Clues
In my experience, most people view their tax return as a chore—something they file and then forget. But the tax return is actually a goldmine of planning data. Holistiplan takes your tax return and, in seconds, reveals:
What tax brackets you’re in
How close you are to phaseouts for deductions, credits, or Medicare surcharges
Opportunities for Roth conversions
Potential benefits of charitable giving strategies
How income stacks into different tax categories like ordinary income or long-term capital gains
Without Holistiplan, this data might remain buried in dozens of pages of IRS forms. With it, we can see the full picture, and that means fewer surprises down the road.
While it requires sharing your tax return, and while it’s not a replacement for professional tax preparation, it’s an incredibly powerful tool for forward-looking planning.
2. Because Clarity Builds Confidence
Over the years, I’ve learned that the best financial strategies often fall apart when clients feel uncertain or overwhelmed. Holistiplan helps me turn complicated tax data into reports that are easy to understand.
For example, in tax reports like the one I provided for Peter and Paula Professor, clients can see:
Their total income and adjusted gross income
How their income breaks into different tax rates
The value of itemized deductions
Potential exposure to Medicare surcharges
A clear split between long-term capital gains and ordinary income
Instead of staring at numbers in tiny print, you see charts and visuals that show where you stand. That often leads to questions like:
Should we do a Roth conversion this year?
Will selling certain investments push us into a higher tax or Medicare bracket?
Are there smarter ways to give to charity?
These conversations become easier because clients finally see what’s happening under the hood. While the reports still contain a lot of detail, they’re a huge step toward making taxes less intimidating.
3. Because It Helps Spot Opportunities and Avoid Pitfalls
One of the things I value most about Holistiplan is how it identifies specific issues or opportunities in your tax picture. The Observation section of each report flags items like:
Being close to the income threshold for the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax
Unused deductions or credits
Possibilities for grouping charitable gifts for better tax benefits
Roth conversion details and how much of it is taxable
Tax planning isn’t just about last year’s return—it’s about setting up the future. Holistiplan helps us spot strategies to:
Reduce future tax liability
Avoid costly Medicare premium increases
Time income or capital gains to minimize taxes
Implement charitable strategies like Donor Advised Funds
These observations aren’t generic—they’re tailored to your actual tax numbers. Not every insight applies to every client, and sometimes we’ll still need input from a tax professional, but the ability to see potential action steps is a major advantage.
Want to learn how to retire without the worry of running out of money in retirement? Click here to watch this video
4. Because It Makes Working with Your CPA Easier
A big reason I use Holistiplan is because it bridges the gap between financial planning and tax preparation. The tool produces a Tax Letter summarizing key details your CPA needs, including:
Roth conversions you’ve completed
Rollovers that could otherwise look like taxable distributions
HSA contributions
Charitable gifts, including Donor Advised Fund contributions
A list of accounts where tax documents should be expected
In my experience, this saves time, prevents mistakes, and may even lower your tax prep costs because your CPA has organized data at their fingertips. Of course, Holistiplan can’t capture every detail, so keeping good personal records still matters. But it’s an enormous help in keeping all professionals on the same page.
5. Because Retirement Planning Is About Avoiding Tax Cliffs
One of the biggest challenges in retirement is how certain thresholds can suddenly increase your tax costs. Small changes in income can trigger:
Higher Medicare Part B and D premiums
The 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax
The loss of deductions or credits
Holistiplan shows exactly where your income stands relative to these “cliffs.” For example, it details the Medicare premium tiers based on your Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI). Knowing this helps us plan smarter moves, like:
Spreading income over multiple years
Timing Roth conversions carefully
Delaying large capital gains until the tax impact is lower
These are strategies that can save thousands of dollars, but they require proactive planning. And tax laws can change, so ongoing monitoring is essential.
Conclusion
In my view, tax planning shouldn’t be a once-a-year scramble. It should be woven into your financial life so you’re making decisions that fit both your goals and your tax reality. That’s why I use Holistiplan—it gives us clarity, insights, and a shared language for talking about how taxes affect your retirement plans.
From my experience, clients who engage in proactive tax planning often feel more confident and prepared for retirement. They’re less likely to be caught off guard, and they keep more of their money working for what matters most.
If you’re curious what your own tax return might reveal—or if you’d simply like to make taxes less stressful—I’d be happy to talk about how this tool could help you.
Want to learn how to retire without the worry of running out of money in retirement? Click here to watch this video
FAQs
Q1. Is Holistiplan only for people with complex tax returns?
No. Even people with straightforward tax returns can benefit. I’ve found that many people are closer to important tax thresholds than they realize. Holistiplan helps clarify where you stand.
Q2. Will Holistiplan replace my CPA?
Not at all. Holistiplan is a planning tool. It helps spot issues and opportunities, but your CPA is still essential for preparing returns and implementing strategies.
Q3. How secure is my data in Holistiplan?
Security is very important. Holistiplan uses encryption and secure systems, and I only upload tax returns with a client’s explicit permission. Like any digital tool, no system is perfectly risk-free, but I’m happy to discuss how we keep your information safe.
Disclaimer: Case studies are hypothetical and do not relate to an actual client of Lock Wealth Management. Clients or potential clients should not interpret any part of the content as a guarantee of achieving similar results or satisfaction if they engage Lock Wealth Management for investment advisory services.