Tau Balance

Plan the long road, and keep more along the way.

Tax-smart retirement planning that puts the right assets in the right accounts over decades, not just this year.

See how it works

Research-backed tax and retirement insights

Findings from academic research and leading investment institutions.

Taxes on investment returns

About one-third

For taxable investors, federal taxes can consume about one-third of investment returns—highlighting the potential value of tax-aware investing.

Source: “Uncle Sam’s Cut” (working paper)

Taxes in municipal bonds

≈25 bps higher yields

Municipal bonds carrying income-tax liabilities trade at yields about 25 basis points higher than otherwise comparable, fully tax-exempt municipal bonds.

Source: Ang, Bhansali & Xing, “Taxes on Tax-Exempt Bonds,” Journal of Finance (2010)

Social Security timing

Up to 124% of PIA

For people born in 1960 or later, claiming at age 70 provides 124% of the full-retirement-age benefit, versus 70% at age 62. Most individuals who can afford it should delay.

Source: Diamond, Boyd, Greenberg, Kochenderfer & Ang, “Optimal Claiming of Social Security Benefits,” Journal of Retirement (2023)

Tax-loss harvesting at scale

Hundreds of times faster

A convex optimization method produced near-identical trade lists to a mixed-integer approach while tracking the S&P 500 and harvesting losses.

Source: Moehle, Kochenderfer, Boyd & Ang, “Tax-Aware Portfolio Construction via Convex Optimization,” Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications (2021)

The optimal asset mix matters

Example

Different account types and asset classes give the optimizer levers for taxes, growth, and withdrawals.

Taxable Brokerage

20% 30% 50%

Tax-deferred 401(k) · IRA

60% 40%

Tax-free Roth

75% 25%

Total portfolio

50% 35% 15%

Equities
Bonds
Municipals

Tax-aware planning widens outcomes

Example

A coordinated plan can beat a simple baseline, especially over long horizons. See the research-backed figures above for what independent studies actually find.

Simple baseline Tax-aware plan

Four planning objectives

Choose the objective right for you

Legacy

Maximize after-tax wealth to leave to beneficiaries
Retirement Paycheck

Maximize retirement income
Minimize Taxes

Lower taxes and increase after-tax wealth
Build After-Tax Wealth

Maximize long-term net wealth, after taxes

Ready to try?

Educational information only: hypothetical models, not investment, tax, or legal advice.

Tau Balance

Research-backed tax and retirement insights

Learn the basics

The optimal asset mix matters

Tax-aware planning widens outcomes

Four planning objectives

Legacy

Retirement Paycheck

Minimize Taxes

Build After-Tax Wealth