Wealth and Law

Brent and Rachel chat with Shauna A. Wekherlien, CPA, MTax, CTC, CTS (aka the Tax Goddess) about some of our favorite tax planning tips to SAVE TAXES before the end of the year. We discuss simple steps (like funding retirement accounts), expensing purchases, and more complex steps that take time to structure but can lead to significant savings. Shauna is the owner of Tax Goddess Business Services, PC. She is a Certified Public Accountant (AZ), has her Master’s Degree in Taxation from Arizona State University, and is one of the elite Certified Tax Coaches in the USA (1 of just 5 in Arizona). As a Certified Tax Coach, Shauna is trained to lower your taxes to the bare legal minimum  and is in the top 1% of Tax Strategists in the country. Shauna can be found at https://taxgoddess.com/

Here we go again–another round of new tax proposals! The House recently released the newest version of the Reconciliation Bill (AKA the Build Back Better Act), which is quite a bit different from the original proposals released back in September. So this week on the Wealth & Law Podcast, Rachel Sass and Deborah Plum discuss how this version of the Bill is different from its previous version, what changes are still in and what’s out, and what we’re doing for clients in spite of these changes. If you are enjoying the podcast, please SUBSCRIBE and leave a REVIEW, and if you want to learn more about our team go to https://wealthandlaw.com/team/.

This week Brent and Rachel chat with the incredible Carolyn McClanahan, M.D., CFP, about how to protect our loved ones and clients from Elder Abuse. We focus on the financial side of things. The conversation gets into discussing the issue, its prevalence, and practical ways it can be addressed. Carolyn focuses on financial planning. She completed her undergraduate degree at Mississippi University for Women, medical school at the University of Mississippi, and residency in Family Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University. In 1998, she was recruited to teach on faculty at the University of Florida, Shands, Jacksonville.  Carolyn is a member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), the Financial Planning Association, and the American Academy of Family Physicians. She volunteers as a physician with Volunteers in Medicine Jacksonville, providing health care for the working uninsured. Carolyn speaks nationally to financial planners and physicians on the interplay between health and financial issues. She serves on the CNBC Financial Advisor Council and has been quoted in numerous publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and New York Times. She has appeared on CNBC, Hardball, and NPR. You can find Carolyn at http://www.lifeplanningpartners.com, her speaking website is http://www.carolynmcclanahan.com, and she is on Twitter @CarolynMcC.

Brent and Rachel discuss several themes circulating in the media (conventional and social). First, they discuss the proposed Billionaire Tax and how it appears to look a lot like the existing PFIC rules. Second, they discuss the review of GRATs, IDGTs, valuation discounts, and CLATs used by Phil Knight, as discussed in Businessweek https://www.bloomberg.com/features/how-billionaires-pass-wealth-to-heirs-tax-free-2021/. After recording, the Senate Finance Committee released the text of the billionaire tax, which can be found here: Click to access Billionaires%20Income%20Tax.pdf

This week, Brent and Rachel chat with Doug Nelson on the status of the investment markets over the last quarter. Doug explains the nature of risk in investing, changes in perceptions of risk, the use of commodities to manage risk, and cryptocurrencies as a portion of a diversified portfolio. They also discuss how diversification can expose an investor to new technologies. Doug is an advisor and shareholder at TCI Wealth Advisors. Doug has received numerous national recognitions based upon his belief that investment success involves integrating clients’ lifestyle goals with their investment plans. During the last decade, Worth, Barron’s, and Bloomberg Magazine regularly recognized Doug’s work as one of the top independent financial advisors in the nation. You can find Doug at https://tciwealth.com/employee-directory/doug-nelson/, and you can contact him at Doug.Nelson@tciwealth.com, 520-733-1477. If you are enjoying the podcast please SUBSCRIBE and leave a REVIEW, and if you want to learn more about Brent and Rachel go to https://wealthandlaw.com/team/.

This week Brent catches you up on what is happening in the news relating to the Reconciliation Bill, Democrat negotiations, planning for the year end, and the Pandora Papers. If you are enjoying the podcast, please SUBSCRIBE and leave a REVIEW, and if you want to learn more about Brent and Rachel go to https://wealthandlaw.com/team/.

While Congress negotiates the terms of the Reconciliation Bill and what tax changes may be made this year, we (along with many other estate planning attorneys) have been burning the midnight oil and implementing plans for clients. On this week’s episode of the Wealth & Law Podcast, Brent and Rachel discuss what they are doing during these unique times. They get into what types of trusts and planning techniques they are utilizing ahead of the proposed tax changes, potential issues with funding trusts after the enactment date, timing issues, and more. If you are enjoying the podcast, please SUBSCRIBE and leave a REVIEW, and if you want to learn more about Brent and Rachel go to https://wealthandlaw.com/team/.

Jenna Rubin joins the podcast again to discuss Florida’s new directed trustee statute. She, Brent, and Rachel dig into the new law and talk about using trust protectors, structuring trusts to be effective, issues that can arise with directed trustees or trust protectors, and what the future holds for Florida trust planning. You can catch Jenna’s prior episode here: https://wealthandlaw.com/2020/05/06/episode-8-electronic-wills/ Jenna is a partner at the law firm Gutter, Chaves, Josepher, Rubin, Forman, Fleisher, Miller P.A. in Boca Raton, Florida. She is a Harvard Law graduate, and a graduate of Northwestern University. She can be found at https://floridatax.com/lawyers/jennarubin/, and she blogs at http://home.rubinonprobatelit.com/.

This week Brent joins John Strohmeyer on John’s show, Tax Talk, to discuss the House Ways & Means Committee tax proposals, changes to estate planning, and what to expect in the future. They cover the proposals on the estate tax exemption, changes to the treatment of grantor trusts, what they are advising their clients to do now, and much more. John Strohmeyer is the owner of Strohmeyer Law PLLC, in Houston, Texas. After earning his B.S. in Zoology from the University of Texas at Austin, John spent four years working for the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin, primarily as the Night Manager, before beginning his legal education. He earned my J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law in 2009, then earned a Masters of Law (also known as an “LL.M.”) in Taxation in 2010 from the New York University School of Law. While John’s time at NYU was the end of his formal education (at least for now), he has gone on to become Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in both Tax Law and Estate Planning & Probate Law. John has been recognized by his peers as a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, named a Texas Super Lawyer by Texas Super Lawyers by Thompson Reuters in 2019, 2020, and 2021, a Rising Star by Texas Super Lawyers by Thompson Reuters in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019; “Rookie of the Year” in 2016 and Outstanding Substantive Committee Chair in 2017 by the State Bar of Texas Tax Section; a 2015-2017 Fellow of the Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law of the American Bar Association; and a Young Leader of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. John can be reached at john@strohmeyerlaw.com, (713) 714-1249. His show is available on You Tube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDaKULB-A6Ru4tKfpZl8ozg and on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/strohmeyerlaw.

It’s the moment we’ve been waiting for all year! On Monday, September 13, 2021, the House Ways and Means Committee released their proposed tax changes. It’s a lengthy proposal–881 pages long to be exact–and it still has a way to go before Congress votes on it, but this is the first real insight we are getting into what tax changes may be implemented this year. On this week’s episode of the Wealth & Law Podcast, Brent and Rachel highlight some of the key proposed changes to the estate planning rules. They get into changes to the federal estate and gift tax exemptions, grantor trust rules, and valuations of family businesses. They explain what the current law is, how the proposal would change the law, and what this could mean for end-of-year planning. While many of the proposed changes would not take effect until next year, there are quite a few that would be effective on the enactment date–which could possibly be in the next couple of weeks. If you are enjoying the podcast, please SUBSCRIBE and leave a REVIEW, and if you want to learn more about Brent and Rachel go to https://wealthandlaw.com/team/.