The Smart Way to Pay Taxes on Retirement Savings

Don’t pay all at once— and use these tips to increase your nest egg BY KATHY KRISTOF

- Kathy Kristof

TAX SEASON IS COMPLICATED enough without your having to worry about retirement planning. But if you want to maximize your future spending money, this is exactly the right time to review the taxes you’re paying— or not paying—on what you’re saving.

Just ask Phil Holthouse, co-founder of Los Angeles accounting firm Holthouse Carlin & Van Trigt. You should never “let the tax tail wag the investment dog,” he says, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore the issue, either. “No one wants to pay more than the law requires, but a lot of people do,” he says.

Structuring your retirement accounts with taxes in mind can land you hundreds of thousands of dollars more in spending power. And it can ensure that you have the right amount of money at the right point in your retirement.