Adam Bolitho on the Joy of Tax

Part of our Joy of Tax series, where we sit down with the CPAs of Gelt to talk about what makes this work matter.

Adam Bolitho didn't start in tax. His undergraduate degree is in finance, and his early career put him in rooms full of financial advisors arguing over fifty basis points (half a percent) in a portfolio's rate of return.

"And that's a big deal. We're making clients a lot of money," he says. "But I realized with this tax thing, people are paying taxes at a 30 or 40% clip every single year. That seems like a big deal."

That realization changed his trajectory. At some point in his twenties, he went back to school for a master's in taxation and became a specialist. He's been a tax advisor and preparer ever since, convinced that tax is one of the biggest levers on long-term wealth. "With compounding growth and so forth, I know it's a huge thing."

Watch the clip below for the Joy of Tax in his own words, then read on.

The lifetime tax bill

Ask Adam what he enjoys most, and it isn't any single deduction. It's the big picture.

"There's the current year benefits where you're unleashing additional deductions, that's great. Realize some cash, fantastic," he says. "But I really enjoy bringing it all together."

He has a phrase he uses with clients: the lifetime tax bill. "We're looking at your current year over year, and that's super important. But what happens on the back end with all these retirement assets? If you're extremely high net worth, what happens with your estate planning? Take it even a step further: what happens when you're passing this on to your children? It's all a part of a big picture."

The stakes of that big picture are not small. "When you're talking about the large lifetime tax liability, that can get into the hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of dollars, to your long-term financial situation."

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When it clicks for clients

The clearest sign the approach works came in writing. A client who heard Adam lay out the lifetime tax bill thinking sent him an email saying exactly how much he appreciated it, then followed it with something better than praise: a referral.

That's the response Adam is after. Not gratitude for a single deduction, but a client who sees the whole board. "That's kind of how I approach things," he says. Retirement plans, estate planning, year-over-year strategy, all rolled into the one number that matters most: what you pay over a lifetime, and how much of it you keep.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a "lifetime tax bill"?
It's the total tax you pay across your whole financial life, not just this year's return. It spans your year-over-year income taxes, what happens to your retirement assets, estate planning if you're high net worth, and what you pass on to your children. Planning around that number, rather than a single filing, is where the largest savings tend to come from.

How much can lifetime tax planning actually save?
It depends on your situation, but the numbers are meaningful. As Adam puts it, a large lifetime tax liability "can get into the hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of dollars" over the long term, especially once compounding growth is factored in.

Want to see your whole tax picture? Talk to a Gelt strategist.