Advanced Tax Planning Strategies for Every Aspect of Your Life

Announcement: Cerity Partners welcomes Fishman Block + Diamond, full-service accounting, tax, and business advisory firm based in Encino, California. Learn more about our partnership with Fishman Block + Diamond here.

The Overlooked Cornerstone of Financial Planning: Tax Strategy

Taxes are a crucial part of almost every major financial decision, from buying a home to planning your retirement. Failing to take them into account can result in overpayment of taxes and diminished investment returns. Our tax planning and financial advisors help you preserve your wealth by identifying and minimizing potential tax liabilities before you act.

Our seasoned tax planning and preparation specialists understand the relationship between taxes, financial planning, and investment management.

Our tax capabilities include:

  • Tax planning and projections
  • Tax optimization strategies
  • Tax compliance
      • Personal and income tax returns
      • Business income tax returns
      • Estate, gift, and trust returns
  • Specialty Tax Planning
      • Real estate planning and structuring
      • Multi-generational wealth transfers
      • Mergers and acquisitions
      • Entity planning
      • Succession planning
      • Business management
      • Family Office
Steven J. Fishman

Partner / Steven J. Fishman

Cerity Partners recognizes that every financial planning decision has potential tax consequences. Our tax practice is fully integrated with our other specialists to ensure connectivity and a coordinated, team approach to optimizing their wealth.”

Reduce Your Taxes. Preserve Your Assets. Grow Your Wealth.

When tax and financial planning occur in silos, you’re less likely to realize your wealth’s full potential. By contrast, an integrated tax and financial planning team can implement strategies tailored to your goals and circumstances.

01

Income tax planning

01

Income tax planning

  • Business entity planning
  • Estate and wealth transfer planning
  • Real estate tax planning
  • Research and development
  • Mergers and acquisitions planning
  • Succession planning
  • Retirement plan design
  • Multistate and local tax planning
01

Income tax planning

  • Business entity planning
  • Estate and wealth transfer planning
  • Real estate tax planning
  • Research and development
  • Mergers and acquisitions planning
  • Succession planning
  • Retirement plan design
  • Multistate and local tax planning
02

Real estate planning and structuring

02

Real estate planning and structuring

  • Choice of entity
  • Form and structure of operating agreement
  • Structuring splits with investors and determining market fees
  • Content and preparation of PPMs
  • Tax provisions in the operating agreement
  • Planning for foreign investors, including withholding issues and use of U.S. Blocker Corporations
  • Maximizing deferral strategies by waiving acquisition, management, and disposition fees and converting to contingent profits interest
  • Multigenerational wealth transfer planning, including structuring the operating agreement to provide protection for future generations and maintain operating control as well as creating irrevocable trusts
02

Real estate planning and structuring

  • Choice of entity
  • Form and structure of operating agreement
  • Structuring splits with investors and determining market fees
  • Content and preparation of PPMs
  • Tax provisions in the operating agreement
  • Planning for foreign investors, including withholding issues and use of U.S. Blocker Corporations
  • Maximizing deferral strategies by waiving acquisition, management, and disposition fees and converting to contingent profits interest
  • Multigenerational wealth transfer planning, including structuring the operating agreement to provide protection for future generations and maintain operating control as well as creating irrevocable trusts
03

Business management and family office services

03

Business management and family office services

  • Detailed weekly cash flow reports and cash management services
  • Bill payment and banking services
  • Bookkeeping services and customized monthly financial statements
  • Obtaining and monitoring personal and business insurance, including evaluating proper coverage levels
  • Long-term financial planning, including referral to internal institutional investment managers and independent evaluation of investment opportunities
  • Preparation of budgets, forecasts, and projections
  • Custom business management software with flexibility for reporting detailed financial results and weekly cash balance
03

Business management and family office services

  • Detailed weekly cash flow reports and cash management services
  • Bill payment and banking services
  • Bookkeeping services and customized monthly financial statements
  • Obtaining and monitoring personal and business insurance, including evaluating proper coverage levels
  • Long-term financial planning, including referral to internal institutional investment managers and independent evaluation of investment opportunities
  • Preparation of budgets, forecasts, and projections
  • Custom business management software with flexibility for reporting detailed financial results and weekly cash balance
04

Tax compliance services

04

Tax compliance services

  • Individual tax returns
  • Business tax returns
  • Estate and trust income tax returns
  • Gift tax returns
  • Estate tax returns (Form 706)
  • Private and public charitable foundation returns
  • Foreign tax considerations
04

Tax compliance services

  • Individual tax returns
  • Business tax returns
  • Estate and trust income tax returns
  • Gift tax returns
  • Estate tax returns (Form 706)
  • Private and public charitable foundation returns
  • Foreign tax considerations
05

Multigenerational wealth transfer planning

05

Multigenerational wealth transfer planning

  • Estate tax and generation-skipping transfer tax minimization strategies
  • Trust structuring with appropriate confidentiality provisions for beneficiaries
  • Holistic estate planning coordinated with trust and estate attorneys
05

Multigenerational wealth transfer planning

  • Estate tax and generation-skipping transfer tax minimization strategies
  • Trust structuring with appropriate confidentiality provisions for beneficiaries
  • Holistic estate planning coordinated with trust and estate attorneys
06

Business advisory and consulting

06

Business advisory and consulting

  • Assistance with negotiations of agreements, including business acquisition or sale, business structure, settlement of obligations, or restructuring debt
  • Strategic planning and consulting, including profit planning and analysis
  • Design of customized financial reporting
  • Due diligence for mergers and acquisitions
  • Entity structure and planning
  • Litigation support, forensic accounting, and expert witness testimony
  • Internal accounting controls and analysis
  • Installation of computerized accounting systems including Quicken and QuickBooks
  • Information technology and security design and review
  • Compensation and employee benefit design, including retirement plans, deferred compensation, stock option plans, and cafeteria plans
  • Business valuations for buy/sell agreements or the purchase of a business, including referral to appraisers and valuation experts
  • Financial analysis of operation results and cost analysis
06

Business advisory and consulting

  • Assistance with negotiations of agreements, including business acquisition or sale, business structure, settlement of obligations, or restructuring debt
  • Strategic planning and consulting, including profit planning and analysis
  • Design of customized financial reporting
  • Due diligence for mergers and acquisitions
  • Entity structure and planning
  • Litigation support, forensic accounting, and expert witness testimony
  • Internal accounting controls and analysis
  • Installation of computerized accounting systems including Quicken and QuickBooks
  • Information technology and security design and review
  • Compensation and employee benefit design, including retirement plans, deferred compensation, stock option plans, and cafeteria plans
  • Business valuations for buy/sell agreements or the purchase of a business, including referral to appraisers and valuation experts
  • Financial analysis of operation results and cost analysis
Steve Walker

Partner / Steve Walker

Comprehensive Tax Planning
Services that Help Reduce
Liability Year-Round

Many financial decisions have tax implications that you may not be aware of—but we are. The most effective financial plans are the ones that include tax-planning strategies custom-made for high-net-worth individuals. Working together, we help you:

  • Proactively identify ways to reduce your taxes based on your goals and circumstances
  • Make sound decisions based on quarterly and annual tax projections
  • React in real-time to new tax regulations
  • Incorporate dynamic planning that evolves with your personal and professional life

We believe in people, encourage diverse perspectives, and foster a culture of excellence.

Explore Our Offerings for Individuals and Families

Joseph Matus

Principal

Economic and Market Outlooks

What’s on Our Minds

Through the first half of 2026 the S&P 500 rose another 10%, extending a gain of over 100% since late 2022 that has been driven primarily by strong earnings growth rather than valuation expansion—a trend analysts expect to continue and one that suggests the bull market still has momentum.

Individuals and Families

Trump Accounts: What Every Parent Needs to Know

A Trump Account is a new type of tax-advantaged savings account created under the federal tax code meant to give every American child a long-term financial foundation. If you have a minor child, it’s worth taking a few minutes to learn how a Trump Account works and decide whether opening one fits your family’s plan.

Estate Planning

Integrating Opportunity Zone Investments and Estate Planning

As part of the Opportunity Zone program, Qualified Opportunity Funds can provide significant financial and tax benefits. At the same time, owners of these funds must be knowledgeable about the estate-planning aspects of their investment.

Darrick Priester

Partner & Director of Risk Management

Individuals and Families

The Tax Drag Hiding in Your Long-Term Financial Plan

You’ve saved diligently. You have an IRA, a 401(k), and maybe an annuity. But there are decisions embedded in common retirement account structures that many people don’t realize until it’s too late.

Adam Sandler

Senior Principal

Individuals and Families

Private Placement Life Insurance

The concept behind PPLI is simple: by investing inside a life insurance policy, you take advantage of the favorable tax treatment granted to life insurance. Learn more.

Darrick Priester

Partner & Director of Risk Management

Individuals and Families

The Tax Drag Hiding in Your Long-Term Financial Plan

You’ve saved diligently. You have an IRA, a 401(k), and maybe an annuity. But there are decisions embedded in common retirement account structures that many people don’t realize until it’s too late.

Family Office

Webinar Recording: Tax Optimization and Thoughtful Wealth Planning for Liquidity Events

A liquidity event—whether from a business sale, IPO, merger, or other transaction—creates a unique opportunity to design plans that minimize tax exposure and shape a lasting legacy. Watch our webinar to learn more.

Ty Parrish

Partner

Corporations

Process Over Outcomes: What Plan Fiduciaries Need to Watch in the Second Half of 2026

Plan sponsors are simultaneously confronting heightened cybersecurity and distribution-fraud risk, SECURE 2.0’s Roth catch-up requirements, and an ERISA litigation environment increasingly focused on process and meaningful benchmarking.

Mariella Foley

Partner

Individuals and Families

Splitting Retirement Accounts in Divorce

When going through a divorce, the process of dividing assets can be a frustrating and confusing one. Retirement assets are an important issue in any divorce proceeding, since, after the marital home, they often represent the largest category of marital assets to be divided in a divorce settlement.

Elizabeth Dawson

Partner

Cross-Border Planning

A Personal Finance Guide for US Expats Living in Canada

Canada is an appealing destination for successful Americans: It has a high quality of life, stunning scenery, and a culture that feels familiar yet refreshingly different. But the financial picture that comes with a move to Canada is genuinely complex in ways that catch even sophisticated people off guard.

Select your specialty

Our weekly “What's on Our Minds” provides a comprehensive overview of key market developments, economic data, and the Investment Office’s perspective.

Investing is a long-term commitment to your financial well-being. It’s about growing and safeguarding your wealth. Our disciplined, goal-oriented approach ensures your portfolio remains resilient in the face of market and economic fluctuations.

Our sophisticated estate and wealth transfer strategies help you preserve your legacy while minimizing tax burdens. Every recommendation is tailored to your specific needs, leveraging our extensive knowledge of estate, trust, gift, and tax regulations.

Successfully navigating the financial challenges that come with wealth necessitates planning, relevant advice, and a financial advisor who’s always in your corner. Cerity Partners provides all three.

Safeguard the financial security you and your loved ones have built. We assess your current risk exposure and develop customized strategies designed to protect the most vulnerable areas of your financial life.

We design and implement tax optimization strategies, including the creation of detailed tax projections and the preparation of personal, trust, and business tax returns.

Our family office services free you to focus on what matters most, providing a coordinated team of specialists dedicated to preserving, growing, and protecting your family's prosperity.

Our integrated retirement plan solutions effectively balance the unique perspectives of your HR and benefits teams, plan fiduciaries, senior leaders, and employees, helping all of them achieve their objectives.

Divorce marks the end of marriage but also the start of your new life. We can help you navigate the financial challenges of divorce and embrace the opportunities for building a thriving, secure future.

Just because your professional life is international doesn’t mean your financial life has to be complicated. Cerity Partners has extensive knowledge of U.S. and global tax laws and regulations, and we will work with you to preserve and grow your wealth here and abroad.

To improve your level of financial clarity, take the next step and download our financial worksheets by submitting your name and email address below.

Once you have completed the worksheets or if you have any questions, please call (212) 202-1810 to take the next steps in finding your clarity with one of our advisors.

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