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Financial planning in New Jersey

A flat-fee financial advisor serving New Jersey.

Rates to 10.75%, a retirement income exclusion with a $150,000 cliff, and an inheritance tax on everyone but close family.

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Graduated 1.4%–10.75%: 6.37% from $75,000 single / $150,000 joint, 8.97% from $500,000, 10.75% above $1,000,000New Jersey income tax, tax year 2026.
Estate tax repealed for deaths from 2018New Jersey estate tax.
$150–$1,650/qtrFlat quarterly memberships, no AUM fee, no annual commitment.
Minnetonka-basedA Minnesota firm serving New Jersey households virtually; no New Jersey office is claimed.

Direct answer

What Is Different About Financial Planning in New Jersey?

New Jersey's income tax runs from 1.4% to 10.75%, with 6.37% reached at $75,000 of taxable income for a single filer and $150,000 on a joint return, 8.97% at $500,000 and 10.75% above $1 million; capital gains are taxed at the same rates. Social Security is not taxed, and from age 62 a household with total income of $100,000 or less can exclude up to $100,000 (joint) of pension, annuity and IRA income, shrinking to a partial exclusion up to $150,000 and nothing above. The estate tax ended for deaths from 2018, but the inheritance tax remains: nothing for spouses, children and grandchildren, 11% to 16% for siblings, 15% to 16% for everyone else. For a Princeton household the work is managing total income around the exclusion's cliffs and planning bequests outside the immediate family.

New Jersey tax treatment

How New Jersey taxes a planning household

Figures are for tax year 2026, each read from the source beside it. Thresholds and rates are revised regularly; confirm the current year before acting on any of them. What these rules change in a household’s plan, from the order accounts are drawn to the timing of Roth conversions, is set out in the retirement tax planning overview.

Income: Graduated 1.4%–10.75%: 6.37% from $75,000 single / $150,000 joint, 8.97% from $500,000, 10.75% above $1,000,000; no standard deduction

Single filers pay 1.4% on the first $20,000 of taxable income, 1.75% to $35,000, 3.5% to $40,000, 5.525% to $75,000, 6.37% to $500,000, 8.97% to $1,000,000 and 10.75% above; joint filers pay 1.4% to $20,000, 1.75% to $50,000, 2.45% to $70,000, 3.5% to $80,000, 5.525% to $150,000, 6.37% to $500,000, 8.97% to $1,000,000 and 10.75% above. There is no standard deduction and federal itemized deductions are not allowed; each filer has a $1,000 personal exemption (another $1,000 at 65), may deduct property taxes paid up to $15,000, and may deduct medical expenses above 2% of income. Capital gains are taxed as ordinary income. The schedule has been unchanged since 2020.

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Retirement income: Social Security untaxed; from 62, up to $100,000 joint / $75,000 single of pension and IRA income excluded when total income is $100,000 or less, partial to $150,000, none above

Social Security and Railroad Retirement benefits are not taxed. Taxpayers 62 or older (or disabled) with total income of $100,000 or less may exclude up to $100,000 of pension, annuity and IRA income on a joint return, $75,000 single or head of household, $50,000 married filing separately; with total income from $100,001 to $125,000 the exclusion is 50%, 37.5% or 25% of that income, from $125,001 to $150,000 it is 25%, 18.75% or 12.5%, and above $150,000 there is none. Because New Jersey never allowed a deduction for IRA contributions, the contribution portion of a withdrawal is not taxed again, and a Roth conversion is taxable only on amounts not previously taxed by New Jersey; qualified Roth distributions are excluded entirely.

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Estates: Estate tax repealed for deaths from 2018; inheritance tax remains at 0% for close family, 11%–16% for siblings, 15%–16% for others

New Jersey imposes no estate tax on deaths on or after January 1, 2018, but its inheritance tax still applies by class of beneficiary. Class A (spouse, civil-union or domestic partner, children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents) pays nothing and charities are exempt. Class C (siblings and a child's spouse) pays nothing on the first $25,000, then 11% on the next $1,075,000, 13% and 14% on the next $300,000 each and 16% above $1,700,000. Class D (everyone else, including nieces, nephews and unmarried partners who are not registered domestic partners) pays 15% on the first $700,000 and 16% above. Property transferred in the three years before death for less than its full value is taxed as part of the estate.

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Worth doing here

Planning opportunities specific to New Jersey

Things that are worth doing in New Jersey that would not be worth doing, or would work differently, somewhere else.

Manage total income around the $100,000 and $150,000 cliffs

The retirement income exclusion is worth up to $100,000 of excluded income on a joint return when total income is $100,000 or less, shrinks in two steps to $150,000, and disappears entirely one dollar above it. Holding a year's IRA withdrawals, conversions and gains under a threshold, or moving them into another year, can shelter tens of thousands of dollars from state tax; qualified Roth distributions are excluded from New Jersey income altogether, so conversions in lower-income years keep later years under the line.

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Plan bequests outside the immediate family early

A bequest to a sibling or child-in-law is taxed at 11% to 16% after $25,000, and one to a niece, nephew, friend or unregistered partner at 15% to 16%, while spouses, registered partners, children and grandchildren pay nothing. Property given away in the three years before death for less than its full value is pulled back into the taxable estate, so a giving programme to Class C and D beneficiaries has to start well ahead.

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The NJBEST deduction

Households with gross income of $200,000 or less may deduct up to $10,000 a year of contributions to an NJBEST 529 account, one of very few deductions New Jersey allows; the same law allows deductions for NJCLASS loan payments and in-state tuition within the same income limit.

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Senior Freeze on property tax

Homeowners 65 or older (or on Social Security disability) who have owned and lived in the home since December 31, 2022 and whose total income was $168,268 or less in 2024 and $172,475 or less in 2025 can have property-tax increases above their base year reimbursed. The 2025 application is due November 2, 2026, on a combined form that also covers ANCHOR and Stay NJ.

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Federal and state, together

How New Jersey Tax Interacts With Your Federal Return

New Jersey income tax plus some of the highest property taxes in the country exceed the federal deduction cap for most planning households, and above $500,000 of modified adjusted gross income the cap shrinks toward $10,000, so much of what a New Jersey household pays the state and its town is not deductible federally. In retirement the exclusion can remove the state layer entirely for a household that keeps its income under $150,000, which makes the state and federal plans pull in the same direction.

The federal deduction for state and local taxes is $40,400 for tax year 2026 and begins to shrink above $500,000 of modified adjusted gross income, down to a floor of $10,000, and is scheduled to return to $10,000 after 2029. The federal estate tax exclusion is $15,000,000 per person for deaths in 2026. IRS, Instructions for Schedule A (2025), line 5e; IRS, tax year 2026 inflation adjustments (Rev. Proc. 2025-32).

Cities

Where we work with New Jersey households

Each city page covers what is local — how households there tend to be paid, what the first meeting usually covers — and inherits this state layer.

Princeton, NJ

Princeton is paid by Princeton University, by the pharmaceutical corridor along Route 1 (Bristol Myers Squibb's Lawrenceville and Princeton campuses and Novo Nordisk's U.S.

Princeton planning

Watch and learn

Financial Planning, Explained Clearly

Start with three videos selected for this page, then use the controls to explore every published Flames FP video guide.

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Common questions

New Jersey Financial Planning Questions

Does New Jersey tax Social Security?

No. Social Security and Railroad Retirement benefits are not taxable in New Jersey.

How does the New Jersey retirement income exclusion work?

From age 62, a household with total income of $100,000 or less can exclude up to $100,000 (joint), $75,000 (single) or $50,000 (married filing separately) of pension, annuity and IRA income. Between $100,001 and $150,000 a percentage applies, and above $150,000 there is no exclusion at all.

Does New Jersey still have an inheritance tax?

Yes. The estate tax ended for deaths from 2018, but the inheritance tax applies by beneficiary class: nothing for spouses, registered partners, children, grandchildren and parents; 11% to 16% for siblings and children-in-law after a $25,000 exemption; 15% to 16% for everyone else. Charities are exempt.

Does Flames Financial Planning have an office in New Jersey?

No. Flames Financial Planning is based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and serves New Jersey households through a virtual planning relationship. This page describes the service area and does not claim a New Jersey office.

Is New Jersey tax planning part of the relationship?

Yes. State tax treatment shapes withdrawal order, Roth-conversion timing, and where investments are best held. Planning includes tax guidance and review of a completed return; Premier adds tax projections and preparation and filing through an independent tax partner.

Next step

See what a flat-fee relationship would cost a New Jersey household.

A discovery meeting covers your situation, what you pay now, and whether a fixed quarterly membership is a better fit.

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