Retirement Tax Services Podcast

Steven is joined by Gideon Drucker, a financial advisor who has gone all in on being at the center of his clients' financial lives, even when that means bringing in outside resources. Every advisor talks about "being the quarterback" of their client's financial life, but Gideon has taken it to another level by actively managing and building relationships with key service providers instead of taking the industry approach of making a brief introduction and hoping for the best. Gideon shares his experience with how challenging but rewarding it can be to invest the time and energy to build productive relationships and the strategic additions he's made to his team to make sure his clients ultimately win. Gideon also shares his experience with transitioning to an independent model for running his firm and how he manages to not drive his team crazy with the high volume of ideas and projects he's excited to implement. https://zurl.co/Hx4l7

It's easy to think that we are all expert communicators...but is it true? This week, Steven is joined by Matt Halloran, author, podcast host, keynote speaker, and an all-around incredible resource when it comes to the way advisors communicate, to share insight and personal experiences when it comes to how a person goes about communicating more effectively. Steven and Matt share personal stories of their own journeys to become better communicators and pull out the tips and best practices that have helped them excel along the way. Naturally, Steven weaves in the tax piece of this conversation, which becomes all the tax knowledge in the world that counts for squat if you can't communicate it in a way that inspires action. https://zurl.co/ixltx

This week Steven is joined by Amy Kizer from TalentLink Solutions to talk recruiting, hiring, delegating, and so much more related to having a team. Amy focuses exclusively on the financial services industry, so she brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that will resonate with financial advisors nationwide. Amy thoughtfully shares actionable ideas on how you can support your team, identify your next hire, and navigate the recruiting and hiring process. Steven and Amy share personal experiences and questions you should be asking yourself to help identify what your next best step is. Listen to the end as Amy shares a great resource every listener can use the next time they are adding to their team. https://zurl.co/DdQZk

In this episode, Steven is rejoined by Ted Jenkin of JPTD Partners to talk all things tax planning related to enterprise value and business sales. Ted shares from his own experience of growing and selling a firm himself, along with the numerous times he's helped other people do the same thing. Taxes are a top expense and concern for most everyone, including you. Being proactive and understanding the choices you can make WILL make all the difference. Listen to the end as Ted offers listeners an opportunity to learn more about the value of their own practices. https://zurl.co/QhcNq

Jerome Myers, founder of Exit to Excellence, joins Steven this week to talk about all the "other" things that a business owner should think about when it comes time to sell (yes, they talk about taxes, too). Tax planning is important for so many things in life, but as Steven is fond of saying, "There is more to live than taxes". Jerome spends his time helping business owners look past the numbers so they don't get to the other side of a major transaction only to find that money didn't magically solve all of their problems. Steven and Jerome get tactical on some aspects of running and selling a business, including tax planning, but overall, they provide a guide for advisors themselves (or as they help their clients) to navigate a business sale. https://zurl.co/auHN1

This week, Steven is joined by Brian Smith from Foundational Income Associates to dive into the (unnecessarily) divisive topic of annuities. Brian and the team at Foundational Income Associates are so committed to helping as many advisors as possible on the topic of annuities that they have partnered with us on our annual Summit to make sure advisors know what resources are out there. Whatever your opinion of annuities, they are out there, and you need to understand how to help your clients navigate existing products or understand what options might be best suited for them. Brian pulls from years of experience to share the approaches to annuities that create the best outcomes for clients, which should be the goal of every financial advisor. https://zurl.co/rBOIK

Steven is once again joined by Libby Greiwe to talk all things process and client experience. Libby shares her first-hand experiences with building an incredibly successful and efficient practice that emphasized creating remarkable client experiences, even on topics like tax planning. Steven and Libby discuss the importance of continually leveling up and specifically talk through how an advisor should think about getting a new client through their first tax season together. This episode is filled with actionable recommendations that any listener can apply, and Libby shares the details of her upcoming book. https://zurl.co/5BE3y

This week, Steven dives into international waters with special guest Renato Baccaro. Renato has spent years dedicated to creating a tool to help people navigate the rules and regulations of tax jurisdictions the world over. While it's not a simple question and one that might feel best left to the experts, where are you going to find those experts? More and more people see international travel, extended stays, and even relocation as a viable option and the tax laws just keep getting more complicated. Renato breaks his mission down very simply: you can get online and compare flight options and prices at the click of a button, he wants to create the tax equivalent for deciding where to live https://zurl.co/VwEuS

This week, Steven is joined by Belay's Head of Marketing (and a client of a Financial Advisor), Ryan Fitzgerald. Ryan's background and expertise is in marketing, but as the client of a financial advisor, he also is uniquely positioned to share how marketing effected who he ultimately chose as his advisor and what that means in the relationship. Steven and Ryan discuss a variety of topics, including the reality that everyone is already involved in marketing, some are just a bit more intentional about it. At the end of the day, you can be the best tax planner in the world, but you won't help a single person if they don't have a way to hear your message. https://zurl.co/KeIy3

In this episode, Steven is joined by a fellow tax pro to talk about turning down financial advisors. Chad Huebsch is a tax firm owner specializing in working with business owners and shares his experience with financial advisors proposing in-house and white-label partnerships, that he ultimately turned down. It's nothing against financial advisors and had everything to do with Chad getting really clear on who he wanted to serve and how he wanted to run his firm. He shares great insight on the tax professional side of the relationship when it comes to the intersection of tax planning and financial planning. With Chad's focus on business owners, Steven also gets his insight on tax planning every business owner should consider. https://zurl.co/aZxoC

In this episode, Steven is joined by Julia Carlson, an entrepreneur herself and a financial advisor focused on helping other entrepreneurs learn from her early "bumps". Steven and Julia talk through tax planning for beginners (new business owners just starting out) as well as tax planning that should be considered no matter how long you have been in business. Listen in as they talk through non-tax reasons for treating your business as a business and how to navigate leveling up as you get further in your journeying. Julia also shares how she managed to write her book in just 5 days! https://zurl.co/tBjHm

In this episode Steven is joined by a financial advisor who has been all about Crypto for over a decade, Tyrone Ross. Tyrone joins the join to talk about the tax implications of clients owning crypto and why all financial advisors need to be on top of this topic. Regardless of your opinions on the future of crypto, the reality is that more and more people are at least dabbling if not going all in, and right no,w the default tax reporting is not great. Steven and Tyrone give listeners actionable steps they can take to add value on this potentially painful topic https://zurl.co/BDFL5  

This week, Steven is joined by a legend of tax planning and fellow CPA Robert Keebler. Bob has decades of experience helping create valuable client outcomes by understanding and navigating the opportunities the tax code presents. Drawing on that experience, Bob shares the importance of advisors taking a proactive role, the state of the current CPA industry, and the opportunity it creates, along with valuable insight on the line between tax planning and tax advice. This is a must listen. https://zurl.co/nTfOk

To kick off February, Steven is joined by one of the top voices in marketing in the industry: Samantha Russell. Samantha shares from years of experience as a marketer how advisors can lean into tax planning to attract new clients without having to become a tax expert or get in trouble with compliance. Steven and Samantha both share stories of the impact that content creation can have and some of the best practices they've learned along the way. Samantha generously shares some tips that listeners can take action on right away and turn this interesting conversation into real value.

Taking a step outside the norm, Steven's guest this week is NOT a financial advisor or CPA; Tyler Smith just happens to be a taxpayer wishing he could get better help with tax planning. Tyler is a successful business owner and coach and has great insight to share about how to build trusted relationships and what would get him excited to pay for financial advice. Tyler was also generous enough to share experiences he's had and what he's learned from them along the way. Listen in as Steven and Tyler talk about ways financial advisors can deliver massive value and set themselves apart. https://zurl.co/76odg

In this episode, Steven is joined by Andre Nader, a semi-retired big-tech employee who spends his time helping educate other high earners on how to navigate unexpectedly making a lot of money and the tax implications that go with it. Andre shares from his personal experience and the questions and stories he hears from people in his audience (nearly 30,000 on LinkedIn). Andre dove deep into these topics out of personal necessity and now spends his time learning and sharing as much as possible. Listen in as Steven and Andre give practical tips based on real-world experience on how you can help clients not be constantly shocked at tax time without giving tax advice. https://zurl.co/IOdOl

Steven is joined this week by Ryan Metzler, the co-founder of Finlocity, a company dedicated to helping RIAs find the right resources to enhance their practices. Ryan works as a matchmaker of sorts for both Advisors and service providers to help everyone navigate what can feel like an endless array of shiny objects that can be more a distraction than a benefit. Steven and Ryan discuss opportunities and pitfalls of technology and the approach you can take to evaluate if new software makes sense and then how to get it implemented effectively when it does. https://zurl.co/4nxlC

To kick off the new year, Steven is joined by a fellow podcaster and financial advisor, Kevin Thompson. Kevin shares his experience with becoming an Enrolled Agent to just skip the conversation about "is it tax planning or is it tax advice" and jump straight to helping his clients the best way he can. Steven and Kevin share examples of how Advisors can be proactive on tax planning and Kevin's experience with incorporating the topic into his client service model. https://zurl.co/Koiyv

In this episode, Steven is joined by John Pastore, Executive Vice President of Integrated Partners. John has been on the Integrated team for 25 years, basically since day 1, and has seen the incredible progress over time that Integrated has achieved. Their approach is to match CPAs with financial advisors through formal partnerships that help the advisor and the CPA grow their businesses. And, of course, it allows everyone to provide an elevated experience to their clients. Listen in as John and Steven share their experience with what makes great professional relationships and partnerships.  https://zurl.co/8aKV0

This is a throwback to one of our most popular episodes from last year—because who doesn't love a good discussion about Roth conversions? In this episode, Financial Advisor and podcast host Larry Sprung of Mitlin Financial joined Steven on the show to talk about what tax planning looks like in his practice. Larry shared how he gets his team involved, the things he is on the lookout for to identify tax planning opportunities, and why he feels taxes are so important. Steven and Larry also discuss using tax planning to help build relationships with CPAs and deliver value to clients. https://zurl.co/QZOtB

Joining the show this week is perhaps one of the forefathers of financial advisor podcasts, Benjamin Brandt. Ben shares his podcast and tax planning origin story (both predate being involved with RTS) and how his approach to these key areas of growth have changed over time. You don't have to be a tax expert to deliver massive value to clients, you do need to be consistent and committed and Ben gives great insight on both. https://zurl.co/pviIu

Fan favorite Micah Shilanski is back on the Retirement Tax Services podcast to answer advisor questions on Roth conversions. Steven and Micah take it in turns to give insight and expertise and a whole list of questions that came from a recent RTS webinar all about the practicalities of getting Roth conversions done. Over 1,000 advisors registered for the event so I'm sure you can imagine just how many questions there were. Listen in as Micah and Steven get in the trenches of what advisors just like you want to know about Roth conversions https://zurl.co/pH62

Welcome to a throwback edition of the Retirement Tax Services Podcast! Today, we're rewinding to where it all began—Episode 1! Over 3.5 years ago, Steven launched the podcast to bridge the gap between financial advisors and tax professionals, starting with a topic that remains just as relevant today: the best (and worst) ways for financial advisors to seek professional CPA referrals. Joining Steven for this very first episode is none other than Matthew Jarvis, sharing his insights and experiences. Both financial advisors and CPAs aim to grow their practices, and referrals from a trusted professional source are invaluable in that process. However, for many advisors, finding a CPA willing to reciprocate referrals can feel like an uphill battle. Looking back, it's clear that this episode set the foundation for what RTS is all about: empowering advisors to deliver massive value to their clients through better tax planning. https://zurl.co/xb7R

In this episode, Steven welcomes back none other than Matthew Jarvis, co-founder of The Perfect RIA and a longtime friend of the show. The tax-savvy brothers address the tax elephant in the room: the election and what it means for your tax planning in 2024 and beyond. As always, their conversation centers around how to help your clients NOT get killed on taxes, which means they are all about taking action, not theoretical pontification on unknowns and what-ifs. Stay tuned throughout the episode as they share resources that they've collaborated to create to help Advisors make the complex actionable for their clients. https://zurl.co/Jola

This week, Steven is joined by James Comblo to get deep in the trenches of what guiding a client through a tax planning journey looks like in the real world. James is a self-proclaimed tax nerd who has always seen the value in focusing on taxes and has built a process over the years to make sure that his clients consistently get value on the topic. Steven and James talk specifics, including how to include the team in the process and how James practically gets through reviewing every tax return every year. https://zurl.co/K9eU

This week, Steven is joined by industry and fellow CPA Ed Slott to talk all things IRA. Ed and Steven talk about Secure 2.0, why IRA contributions shouldn't be thought of as tax "deductions” and share their thoughts on how to best serve clients when it comes to managing tax-qualified accounts. This episode is a must-list as two of the top voices on tax planning in the industry go back and forth, sharing insights and expertise. https://zurl.co/tRPA

Join Steven this week (on his birthday, no less!) as he shares his recent experience going through an IRS audit. With any luck, you'll never have to experience one yourself, but there is always a chance your (or your client's) return could get picked for scrutiny, and it's good to know what to expect. Steven shares how the process worked, what went well in this audit, and important reminders about tax planning and taxes generally. Listen through to the end for an opportunity to get access to even more insight on tax planning from the RTS community. https://zurl.co/dJe0

In this special episode, listen in as Steven is a guest on a client webinar for Financial Advisor and RTS Member Joshua Horton. Steven loves opportunities to educate taxpayers on tax planning, especially when he gets to share the great things advisors are doing with the rest of his audience. Steven and Josh go through common tax questions, Steven's tax crystal ball, how to navigate CPA/CFP dynamics, and more. If you communicate with your clients on taxes (and we know you do), this episode is a great opportunity to hear firsthand how another advisor is approaching it with his clients. https://zurl.co/VkXG

Join Steven Jarvis, CPA, as he shares highlights from the recent RTS Tax Planning Summit and covers upcoming opportunities to expand your tax knowledge live. Steven provides the details for getting the 2025 tax planning Summit on your calendar, along with the chance to dive in virtually a lot sooner (as in next week). Tax knowledge only counts if the work is getting done and reported correctly, so make sure you listen in and get these incredible events on your calendar to go deeper. https://zurl.co/sEuV

This week, it's time for a throwback to one of the most famous episodes of this year. Fresh off of the spring surge and the tax filing deadline, Steven Jarvis, CPA, is joined once again by Micah Shilanski, CPF®, to talk about tax planning in the real world. Micah and Steven both share recent experiences with clients and best practices for communicating the complexities of tax planning in a way that clients will remember and take action on. They, of course, nerd out on all things Roth and share opportunities for advisors to get more involved, so be sure to listen through to the end. https://zurl.co/Xtxo

This week on the RTS podcast, Steven is joined by Matt Porter, a financial advisor who has been through 2 CPA practice acquisitions and is happy to share his experience. Matt very openly shares the challenges that acquiring a business can pose and what he's learned along the way. Steven and Matt discuss what should go into the evaluation of whether it makes more sense to find someone to partner with on taxes (like RTS) or to go all in on integrating taxes within a financial planning practice. Whatever route an advisor chooses what's critical is being intentional about being part of taxes being addressed for the clients they serve. https://zurl.co/9Wtu

In this episode, Steven is joined by Ted Jenkin, President at Exist Stage Left Advisors and a former financial advisor who grew and sold his practice before helping countless other business owners do the same. Ted and Steven discuss several aspects of business sales, including why a business owner (financial advisor or otherwise) should be thinking about and preparing for a sale YEARS before it ever happens. Ted also shares insight on business valuations, and why so many of them are useless, and steps that every business owner can take to improve their business no matter how far a sale they are. https://zurl.co/8VuX

In this episode Steven is joined by Emily Millsap from Avantax Wealth Management for a great conversation around the value (and best practices) on integrating tax in the client service experience for financial planners. Emily dives into the details and shares how she creates, refines and updates processes so that client positive client outcomes are all but guaranteed. Every client situation is different but by having (and constantly improving) great systems, Emily can ensure her team is understanding client goals and then recommending tax planning strategies that work for their short and long term needs. https://zurl.co/iWlV

Steven is joined this week by Bryan Eberle of Nepsis Inc. Bryan spent decades working in and around the CPA world before joining a wealth management firm to oversea the integration of tax into their client service. Bryan shares insight from working with over 250 CPA firms throughout his career about the power of making sure everyone has a seat at the table when it comes to effectively serving clients and making sure their specific goals are ultimately accomplished. https://zurl.co/SapV

In this episode Steven is joined by CPA, CFE and former IRS Special Agent Robert Nordlander to dive into the word of criminal enforcement around taxes. Robert shares from his years of experience working for the IRS and working with taxpayers since leaving the IRS and provides incredible insight and wisdom into all things taxes. Plenty of people are afraid of the IRS, but for the average tax payer that fear is likely misplaced and Steven and Robert talk about the realities of when taxes can become criminal. Robert spends a lot of time educating taxpayers including having written multiple books. https://zurl.co/db9t

In this episode, Steven is joined by Dr. Robin Henager from Whitworth University where Steven used to be an adjunct professor. Steven and Robin discuss the power of education in leveling up as a financial advisor and the overlap of theoretical and practical learning in the real world. Dr. Henager shares the approach Whitworth takes to making sure that their learning is based in reality and not just in textbooks. She also shares when it makes the most sense in a financial advisor's career to pursue higher education. https://zurl.co/dIRI

In this episode, Steven is joined by Cameron Norris from Golsun Scruggs, to talk about the realities of the liability that financial advisors face around taxes. Some advisors may be surprised to know that the liability is there, whether they proactively give tax advice or not. Steven and Cameron go through real world examples of the types of claims that get filed and the policy provisions that advisors should be paying attention to to make sure they have a great partner if something ever were to come up in their practice. https://zurl.co/Yntc

In this episode, Steven is joined by Jacob DuBose, a financial advisor who has taken the time to do hands-on tax preparation. Jacob comes on the show to share his experience being a contractor with H&R Block and getting to see firsthand what tax preparation actually looks like. Steven and Jacob discuss the value of learning through hands-on work, including tax preparation, but also through tax planning and reviewing tax returns that financial advisors can do at any point throughout their career.  https://zurl.co/5nRG

In this episode Steven is joined by Lisa Seal, Chief Revenue Officer at Belay. Steven and Lisa share their experiences using virtual assistance to elevate what they do in business and in life. Lisa shares the background of Belay, their origin story and what they have grown to today by helping tens of thousands of leaders be at their best by applying expert level skills to tasks that many would see as a nuisance. Belay was also kind enough to provide a free resource for all listeners so make sure you listen to the end.  https://zurl.co/O5v7

In this episode, Steven is joined by Brent Gargano, a RTS Premierе Member and Financial Advisor. Brent has had several unique opportunities to learn the interworkings of taxes, both as an advisor and working for large custodians. He has also spent time as an adjunct professor, helping student learn through case studies and understanding the importance of taxes in a clients financial life. https://zurl.co/6HDq

Throwback to last summer's most popular episode  ““Asking the right questions on taxes” It turns out there are scientific reasons that so many people have misguided notions about taxes and Steven is joined this week by a Financial Psychologist to explore what those reasons are. Meghaan Lurtz is a writer, researcher and educator focused on the overlap of psychology and financial planning and shared her insight on how Financial Advisors can more successfully navigate conversations around complex and emotional topics, like taxes. Much to Steven's delight Meghaan confirmed some of his beliefs on WHY taxpayers feel the way they do and make some of the choices that they do, now he has science and experience backing him up. This episode is a must listen for anyone who talks to their clients about taxes. https://zurl.co/i8Py

In this episode Steven is joined by a fellow CPA, Catherine Tindall, to talk about the Employee Retention Credit (ERC). One of the many programs created as a result of COVID the ERC is often in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Along with doing tax work for financial advisors (their personal and business returns), Catherine specializes in helping people figure out whether they made a legitimate ERC claim or were pressured into something they never qualified for by one of the numerous ERC "mills" that popped up overnight. They discuss who actually qualified and what a business owner who may not have qualified can do about it now. If you have business owner clients with employees (or you have employees) this is a crucial conversation to listen to. https://zurl.co/uS56

Taxes are just one piece of the puzzle and in this episode, Steven is joined by someone who specializes in a different piece of the puzzle: life insurance. Tony Steuer has decades of experience reviewing life insurance policies to help clients understand whether the policy really is set up to do what they think it's supposed to. Steven and Tony don't quite cover 37 points but do share some great insight into what an advisor should look for when reviewing life insurance policies and surprising no one, one of the action items is getting the actual documents! https://zurl.co/zuq4

This week Steven is joined by Brody Rosenfeld, a CFP who leads a team of professionals supporting financial advisors as they serve their clients. Steven has worked directly with Brody and knows first hand the value partnerships can provide. Brody and Steven have a great conversation about the pros and cons of outsourcing and how even if you never outsource it can be a helpful lens for improving processes within your firm. The episode also includes great tips on building strong relationships in general through effective communication and setting clear expectations. https://zurl.co/f9TC

In this week's episode Steven is joined by a financial advisor and Enrolled Agent, Josh Rosh. Josh joins the show to share his experience with delivering massive value AND growing his financial planning practice by facilitating seminars on, you guessed it, taxes. Bucking the trend to get deep into the complexities Josh shares how he has been able focus on the "simple" side of taxes that is so often neglected to help people find tax savings and peace of mind. Josh openly shares what works and how other advisors can use this great topic in their prospecting process. https://zurl.co/nQTk

Summary: Steven is once again joined by the incredible Jamie Shilanski to talk about how to level up your team when it comes to tax planning (and really any topic). Jamie shares why she has 4 people on your team currently working towards their Enrolled Agents designations, most surprising might be the fact that not all of them are financial advisors! Jamie shares fantastic insight about how to motivate and incentivize team members to constantly learn and level up, all for the benefit of the clients you serve. https://zurl.co/vhB9

This week Steven is joined by the Head of Tax at Betterment, Eric Bronnenkant, who is both a CPA and CFP. Betterment is a tech-forward investment platform setting themselves apart for going above and beyond when it comes to tax reporting. Eric shares how they have been able to incorporate feedback from clients and tax professionals to make tax time go more smoothly (which means more gets reported correctly and clients have better outcomes!). Listen to the end as Eric and Steven discuss actions that advisors can take regardless of what platform they are currently on. https://zurl.co/E1Ar

This week's episode is a great discussion between Steven and Gary Russell, a founding partner of Helium Advisors, about what it really takes to build strong relationships between CFPs and CPAs. Gary shares his first-hand experience with having tax team members in-house, buying accounting firms, and the importance of really building a team, not simply sharing a company name. Steven and Gary provide examples of what does and doesn't work in the real world and provide action items that any advisor can take to level up on tax planning. https://zurl.co/Q6fJ

In this week's episode Steven is joined by a fellow CPA who happens to also be a lawyer, Mike Payne. Mike is an incredibly forward thinking firm owner who has embraced providing comprehensive services to clients for years. And not the "comprehensive" buzzword so often used in the industry but an actual example of the word in practice. Mike's commitment to doing this has led him to explore new possibilities in legal structure and business arrangements to make sure that ultimately the client wins. And as a bonus Mike committed on the episode to joining the RTS Summit in September so you can meet him in person and ask even more detailed questions. https://zurl.co/Tt6s

Steven is joined this week by Lisa Zeeveld, CFO of Belay Solutions to talk about how Financial Advisors can do more professionally and personally by leveraging a great assistant. Lisa and Steven share their own experiences using VAs, reservations they had, surprising successes and why there is no going back once you've started using one. Listen in as Lisa and Steven explain why a VA is an investment every Financial Advisor serious about leveling up should make. And because we are all about taking action and delivering massive value Lisa has a free resource for all of our listeners to help jump start the delegation process. https://zurl.co/sDqe

This week we are taking a detour from technical tax topics and talking about how to get your tax planning message out there to prospective clients. Steven is joined by Marie Swift and Jonny Swift from Impact Communications to cover a variety of topics including how client testimonials can be compliantly used and how Advisors can effectively use AI tools to supplement their content creation without losing their voice and authenticity. https://zurl.co/fXBK