- Home
- Taxes
- Tax Planning
The tax landscape has stabilized, giving wealthy families an opportunity to move away from reactive decision-making and redirect attention toward strategic planning.
By
Mark R. Parthemer, JD, AEP, ACTEC Fellow
published
21 March 2026
in Features
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
- Copy link
- X
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.
Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Delivered daily
Kiplinger Today
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more delivered daily. Smart money moves start here.
Signup +
Sent five days a week
Kiplinger A Step Ahead
Get practical help to make better financial decisions in your everyday life, from spending to savings on top deals.
Signup +
Delivered daily
Kiplinger Closing Bell
Get today's biggest financial and investing headlines delivered to your inbox every day the U.S. stock market is open.
Signup +
Sent twice a week
Kiplinger Adviser Intel
Financial pros across the country share best practices and fresh tactics to preserve and grow your wealth.
Signup +
Delivered weekly
Kiplinger Tax Tips
Trim your federal and state tax bills with practical tax-planning and tax-cutting strategies.
Signup +
Sent twice a week
Kiplinger Retirement Tips
Your twice-a-week guide to planning and enjoying a financially secure and richly rewarding retirement
Signup +
Sent bimonthly.
Kiplinger Adviser Angle
Insights for advisers, wealth managers and other financial professionals.
Signup +
Sent twice a week
Kiplinger Investing Weekly
Your twice-a-week roundup of promising stocks, funds, companies and industries you should consider, ones you should avoid, and why.
Signup +
Sent weekly for six weeks
Kiplinger Invest for Retirement
Your step-by-step six-part series on how to invest for retirement, from devising a successful strategy to exactly which investments to choose.
Signup + An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter
For much of the past decade, tax planning has felt like planning in a windstorm. Advisers and families alike navigated gusts of shifting exemption amounts, threatened sunsets, temporary provisions and headline-driven anxiety about what Congress might do next.
Today, the winds have calmed and the landscape feels steadier, creating an opportunity to plan with purpose.
Greater clarity around the estate tax exemption and more predictability in core income tax rules allow families to move from reactive decision-making to deliberate strategy. Stability means the time is right to refine, optimize and refocus.
Article continues belowFrom just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance
Become a smarter, better informed investor. Subscribe from just $107.88 $24.99, plus get up to 4 Special Issues
CLICK FOR FREE ISSUE
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
Sign upHere are three ways families should respond.
1. Revisit your estate plan
For many high-net-worth families, the estate tax exemption is now both historically large and relatively stable. That is good news. But it also creates a subtle risk: The assumption that because the tax environment feels calmer, your documents must still be appropriate.
Estate plans drafted during periods of perceived legislative urgency often emphasized exemption "use it or lose it" techniques. Some included clauses tied to exemption amounts that may now produce unintended results. Others assumed liquidity events, business transitions or charitable strategies that have since evolved.
About Adviser Intel
The author of this article is a participant in Kiplinger's Adviser Intel program, a curated network of trusted financial professionals who share expert insights on wealth building and preservation. Contributors, including fiduciary financial planners, wealth managers, CEOs and attorneys, provide actionable advice about retirement planning, estate planning, tax strategies and more. Experts are invited to contribute and do not pay to be included, so you can trust their advice is honest and valuable.
Read moreRead less▼Estate planning is not only about tax exposure. It is about structure, flexibility and alignment with today's realities. Therefore, a review of the following is appropriate for proactive planning:
- Trustee selections and succession provisions
- Distribution standards and asset protection features
- Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and insurance policies
- Distribution provisions for digital assets
- How your documents coordinate with current tax law
Families should use this moment to ensure their estate plan is not merely tax-efficient, but is current, coordinated and reflects their actual intentions.
2. Develop a multiyear income tax strategy
If estate tax law is calmer, income tax law has become more interconnected and complex. Marginal rate thresholds, standard deduction limitations, diminished charitable deduction benefits, capital gains rules, net investment income tax, trust taxation brackets and retirement distribution requirements now interact in ways that reward forward planning.
Rather than viewing tax planning as an annual exercise in April, families should consider multi-year modeling and should ask themselves the following questions:
- Are there anticipated spikes in income — from a business sale, concentrated stock diversification, deferred compensation or Roth conversions?
- Should charitable contributions be "bunched" into high-income years?
- How do deduction limitations affect the timing of large gifts?
- Should family trusts revisit tax status or structural elections?
- Are there opportunities to harvest capital losses to offset future gains?
Today's income tax system is more interconnected than ever — which means a single decision can ripple across multiple tax items in the same year. A Roth conversion could influence marginal brackets, Medicare premium surcharges and capital gain stacking.
It can also reduce eligibility for certain deductions and benefits, including state and local deduction limits, the enhanced standard deduction for those 65 and older, and — importantly — the charitable contribution deduction and potentially all itemized deductions.
In this environment, tax planning is no longer about isolated moves — it is about understanding how one lever shifts the entire system in real time.
Looking for expert tips to grow and preserve your wealth? Sign up for Adviser Intel, our free, twice-weekly newsletter.
Read moreRead less▼3. Prioritize governance, learning and stewardship
Perhaps the greatest opportunity presented by a quieter tax landscape is psychological. When families are no longer consumed by legislative countdown clocks, they can redirect attention to the issues that ultimately determine whether wealth enhances or erodes family cohesion.
Three enduring priorities deserve renewed focus.
Governance. How are decisions made about the donor-advised fund, operating business or vacation property? Are there written policies? Clear communication channels? Defined roles? Good governance reduces friction and builds continuity.
Continuous learning. Next-generation family members do not need to become tax experts. But they should understand the basics of trusts, investment oversight and how to engage productively with professional advisers.
Families that invest in financial education produce capable participants rather than passive recipients.
Stewardship. Wealth rarely endures by accident. Reframing inherited assets not as entitlement, but as something entrusted for the benefit of future generations, can reshape family culture.
Stewardship encourages long-term thinking, philanthropy and disciplined decision-making.
Periods of instability demand agility. Periods of stability demand intentionality. With greater clarity in the tax landscape, families have a rare moment to act deliberately — to plan with purpose.
The author takes sole responsibility for the views expressed herein and these views do not necessarily reflect the views of the author's employer or any other organization, group or individual.
Related Content
- States That Won't Tax Your Death
- Why Wills and Trusts Aren't Enough in the Great Wealth Transfer, From an Attorney Who Knows
- The 5 W's of a Successful Estate Planning-Focused Family Meeting, From a Wealth Adviser
- Your Legacy Is More Than Your Money: How to Plan for Values, Not Just Valuables
- Smiley Faces in Serious Places: Emoji Use Pops Up in Legal Battles Over Inheritances
This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.
TOPICS Adviser Intel Get Kiplinger Today newsletter — freeContact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
Mark R. Parthemer, JD, AEP, ACTEC FellowSocial Links NavigationChief Wealth Strategist and Florida Regional Director, GlenmedeMark Parthemer, AEP®, has over three decades of experience in trust, estate and tax planning and currently serves as Glenmede’s Chief Wealth Strategist and Florida Regional Director. In this role, he is responsible for developing and communicating Glenmede’s position and strategy concerning tax, estate planning and fiduciary matters pertinent to clients and their advisers and for cultivating the growth and operations of the Florida region.