Becky Swansburg · 24 Jan 2025 · 1 minutes

LEGISLATIVE RISK

Will the Trump Tax Cuts Get Extended? Here’s What to Watch (and How to Help Your Clients)

Author: Becky Swansburg Becky Swansburg
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With President Trump’s inauguration this week, all eyes are on Washington to see what policies and priorities the new administration will push.

While the President’s address made scant mention of taxes, it has become a key topic of discussion on Capitol Hill this week, with the President indicating he will use new tariffs to offset the cost of extending the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (a.k.a. The Trump Tax Cuts). 

So can our clients breathe a sigh of relief with the new leadership in Washington?

Will the Trump Tax Cuts get extended?

What about the estate tax exemptions, Social Security taxes, and stealth taxes like IRMAA?

I shared my take with Stonewood members on a special call this week, and multiple advisors asked if I could share a recording of the webinar more broadly. 

You ask, I answer. So here it is. On the call, I evaluate the near-term and long-term impacts of today’s tax and legislative environment and offer up some helpful frames for client communication. I promise you’ll learn a lot in 22 minutes. 

Becky Webinar

Webinar Recording: Will the Trump Tax Cuts Get Extended? And What Does it Mean for Your Clients?

Remember: Retirement isn’t just about the next 4 years, it’s about the next 40. So it’s incumbent upon us as financial professionals to help our clients leverage today’s tax environment to plan for what’s ahead.

Becky Swansburg
About the Author

Becky Swansburg | CEO, Stonewood Financial

Becky helps your clients outsmart Washington and take control of their retirement. Making the complex simple and meaningful? It’s all in a day's work.

Real Advisors. Real Results.

See how advisors are using Stonewood software to win larger cases and deliver better outcomes for their clients.

An advisor was working with a prospect who was a real "do-it-yourselfer" when it came to Roth conversions. The client was converting assets up their existing tax bracket – and hadn't considered any impact to IRMAA.

With Roth Done Right, the advisor was able to show an alternate pattern that sped up the conversion to 6 years. The new structure offered $30,000 savings in conversion taxes – a 20% reduction on the prospect's conversion tax bill. The report also showed hundreds of thousands of dollars in long-term tax and IRMAA savings from the converted assets – an amount the prospect hadn't been able to quantify on his own.

Outcome

A new client with $1M in new AUM, and a $1M FIA sale to fund the conversion process.

An advisor was working with a prospect who already had assets with Ken Fisher. Fisher's team presented a 5% systematic withdrawal projection, so the advisor needed a stronger way to frame the income conversation.

Using the Annuity Alpha report, the advisor showed how an annuity could deliver over 8% in annual cash flow with lifetime income, plus a long-term care doubler. The contrast was clear enough that the prospect moved forward.

Outcome

$1.5M placed and a $100K in new business revenue.

An advisor was working with a 58-year-old couple with an established, well-funded retirement income plan, leaving an additional $3M IRA to build out a legacy for the kids. The couple's existing advisor had no real additional plan for this money, other than to keep it in their managed account and grow that money as much as possible for the kids.

Using the Legacy Done Right report, the advisor showed the need for tax planning on this $3M IRA. According to the advisor, the simple analysis "opened up the wallet" to the Roth conversion story. The advisor then used the blended Roth/Life feature in the report to show a blend of Roth Conversion assets with some Life Insurance to help maximize the client’s legacy.

Outcome

$3M in motion. The advisor picked up a $1.5M FIA sale that will be converted to Roth. And the advisor also sold a 5-Pay Protection focused IUL policy at $225,000 of premium per year.

An advisor group incorporated the Total Tax Burden report into the strategy presentation for all new prospects. They ran the tax snapshot for every new client as part of their first meeting conversation, quantifying the growing tax burden of IRA money – and illustrating the kinds of tax savings possible when working with their firm.

Starting in January of 2023, this simple analysis was presented to every single prospect who walked in the door. The goal was to differentiate their practice and drive overall revenue growth through various Roth conversion strategies.

Outcome

From 2022 to 2025, new annual AUM rose from $5M to $50M. Annual FIA sales rose from $3M to $35M. And annual life premium rose from $50K to $1M.

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