Each year we devote an issue to personal financial planning. The challenges facing professionals in the field are in some sense constant—providing individuals with the necessary advice to achieve financial security for themselves and loved ones—but also varied, as the tax laws change, financial markets fluctuate, and investment products proliferate. Our featured articles this month cover these different perspectives and provide our authors' viewpoints on critical topics in the field.

One constant concern of financial planners is how to maximize not just investment returns, but also after-tax returns. Sid Kess provides a guide to retirement accounts with advice on when and how to use each for the most tax-efficient investment approach. The United States' population has been aging for some years now, and with this increase in the number of senior citizens comes a greater need to address their end-of-life care needs. Peter Strauss, Louis Pierro, and Elizabeth Forspan discuss how to plan and provide for such care in advance to maximize the financial resources available to individuals and their descendants.

Qualified Opportunity Zones represent a new tax incentive, enacted in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which can provide significant benefit for those willing to invest funds in economically distressed communities. The ability to defer capital gains and exclude certain gains from taxation entirely opens up new planning possibilities for high-net-worth taxpayers. Kevin Matz advises planners on how to seize these opportunities as part of integrated strategy that considers the dramatic changes in the estate tax landscape.