Author Linda Stern recommends mid-year as the best time to start thinking about your taxes because it gives you plenty of time to take advantage of various planning strategies and tax breaks, many of which she outlines in her article. Stern also points out that scheduling an appointment with your accountant in July—when accountants are not nearly as busy as March or April—means you’ll have more one-on-one time to strategize and discuss your financial situation.

Stern’s article is full of good advice and suggestions for saving on your taxes this year, but she forgets one important strategy: Creating your estate plan. Talking to a lawyer about your estate plan not only helps in understanding and organizing your finances, and protecting your assets for the future; but the money you spend in creating an estate plan can be tax deductable. Talk to your lawyer and accountant now about how you can protect—and save—your money in the future.