Most affluent households have at least three professionals: a financial advisor, a CPA, and an estate attorney. Each gives competent advice in their own lane. The problem is that the lanes don't merge. The client ends up as the project manager — relaying messages, translating jargon, and making decisions in the gaps no one is paid to fill.
Here's what coordinated planning actually looks like.
Where the gaps usually are
Tax decisions made without the planning context
The CPA prepares last year's return. The advisor manages this year's portfolio. No one is modeling the next five years of brackets, RMDs, and conversion windows. Roth conversions get missed. Loss harvesting is left on the table. QCDs are funded from the wrong account.
Estate documents that don't match the asset map
The attorney drafts the trust. The advisor knows where the money actually is. No one is reconciling beneficiary designations against the trust language. Trusts are funded incorrectly. Spousal protections fail at the worst moment.
Insurance coverage that doesn't reflect current planning
The advisor knows the household risk profile. The insurance broker knows the products. No one is updating coverages as net worth grows or as Roth conversions change tax exposure. Long-term care is addressed too late, or not at all. Umbrella limits lag net worth by 5–10 years.
What real coordination requires
Direct authorization
The first thing your advisor needs is your written permission to talk directly with your CPA and attorney. No going through you for routine questions. The good professionals all welcome this — it makes their job easier and the client's outcome better.
A single calendar of events
One household calendar with: tax deadlines, RMD ages, Roth conversion windows, IRMAA threshold years, Social Security claiming dates, attorney review intervals, beneficiary audit dates, and any planned cash flow events. Everyone works from the same calendar.
Joint planning meetings
At least once a year — more around major life events — your advisor, CPA, and attorney should be in the same conversation. The 30 minutes spent in joint review usually surfaces 3–5 issues that would never have surfaced through separate meetings.
Clear ownership
Each professional needs a defined lane and a clear handoff. Tax-loss harvesting decisions live with the advisor; the CPA reviews the resulting return. Trust drafting lives with the attorney; the advisor reviews account titling. Insurance reviews live with the advisor; the broker executes.
Who does this naturally
Wirehouse advisors usually don't, structurally — they're paid for the AUM relationship and have no standing reason to leave the lane. Independent fiduciary RIAs more often do, because comprehensive planning is the engagement, not a side feature.
The strategy isn't what your CPA does in March, your advisor does in October, or your attorney does in December. It's what happens between those meetings. Coordination is the meta-discipline that turns three good professionals into one effective team.
Coordination is the third of IronBridge's Four Cs. It's why our advisors carry your professionals' direct lines — and call them, not you, when a question is in their lane. Schedule a conversation to see what coordinated planning looks like in practice.