Kelley Long began her career in big 4 accounting like so many other CPAs. However, she had to quickly shift her path with the fallout that happened after September 11, 2001. Her roles as a bank trust officer and as a workplace financial wellness provider led her to her passion for coaching on the everyday money issues that clients have. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Lyle Benson interviews Kelley to share more of her story with our community. The conversation includes the following ...
Mar 22, 2024•35 min
In part 2 of this PFP Section podcast series, experts Lee Slavutin, MD, CLU, and Marty Shenkman, CPA/PFS, JD, LLM share planning details to help you guide your clients in the following areas: The different perspectives on long term care (LTC) insurance that goes beyond the numbers to the psychological benefits. Why it makes sense to have every client go through the process of evaluating LTC insurance, whether they buy it or not. The importance of understanding the nuances of SLATs and SLANTs in ...
Mar 08, 2024•38 min
Qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) trusts were created so that spouses could receive the benefit of the marital deduction while also setting aside resources for a surviving spouse and retaining control over what happens to the funds when the surviving spouse passes away. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Bob Keebler, CPA/PFS, and Paul Hood, JD, LLM, discuss the nuances of QTIPs, including: The confusion is caused by the separate Internal Revenue Code provisions on the estate...
Feb 23, 2024•15 min
Do you want to be the trusted advisor who makes a meaningful difference in your client’s life? One of the ways to do this is to get in touch with the qualities of being that you want to demonstrate consistently with your clients. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Steve Atkinson, Managing Director with Admired Leadership, shares the behaviors that admired advisors have that separate them from the pack. Steve answers the following questions: Tell us about your prior experiences that gave...
Feb 09, 2024•34 min
The tables are turned on Lyle Benson, CPA/PFS, in this episode of the PFP Section’s Deeper CPA Financial Planner Connections series. Dr. Haesun Moon, communication scientist, educator, and author, interviews Lyle to pull out the gold threads of his professional story. They discuss: Lyle’s story of beginning in tax and his why behind diving into financial planning at age 29 and starting his own firm at the age of 36. How leaders in the profession became mentors early in Lyle’s career and how this...
Jan 26, 2024•39 min
CPA financial planners help clients live meaningful lives and pass on their legacy. Often, estate planning is heavy on the practical and complex elements that can be seen as the housekeeping of who gets what and when. What we don’t always explore is the deeper why behind the estate planning. The good news is that you can coach clients to discover their legacy so that it can be communicated and so that your client can see the meaning of their life story and what they want to leave behind. Jean-Lu...
Jan 19, 2024•31 min
Proper insurance planning is one of the most overlooked areas of personal financial planning. In part 1 of this PFP Section podcast series, experts Lee Slavutin, MD, CLU, and Marty Shenkman, CPA/PFS, JD, LLM share planning details you will want to know, including: Buying the adequate amount of life insurance Using whole life insurance as a way to save, to diversify client portfolios, and to protect assets How to protect against a fraudulent conveyance Buying insurance from highly rated companies...
Jan 12, 2024•32 min
PFP Executive Committee (PFP EC) chair, Brooke Salvini, CPA/PFS, and PFS Credential Committee (PFS CC) chair, Oscar Vives, kick off the New Year in this episode of the PFP Section podcast. They answer the following questions: What did you learn in 2023 that was meaningful to you personally and professionally? What were the PFS CC and PFP EC milestones in 2023? What is the PFP Division celebrating in 2024? What are the focus areas for the committees in 2024? What is your favorite PFP Section reso...
Jan 05, 2024•28 min
Jim Shambo is one of the pioneers of the CPA financial planning profession, the PFP Section, and the PFS Credential. He has a lot of insight to offer on many topics that can be useful takeaways for listeners. In this episode of the Deeper CPA financial planner connections PFP podcast, Lyle Benson facilitates a discussion with Jim to share the highlights of his story. The conversation includes the following topics: How Jim decided to focus on personal financial planning after beginning his career...
Dec 29, 2023•40 min
Ed Slott, CPA, and Bob Keebler, CPA/PFS, discuss the complicated inherited IRA RMD rules and what is required in 2023 and 2024 in this episode of the PFP Section podcast. Ed and Bob provide clarity in the following areas: An easy formula to use to get clear on all of the elements that need to be considered The only scenario in which penalty relief is available when the RMD is not taken Who must take RMDs in years 1 through 9 under the 10-year rule and who can wait until year 10 When does the 5-y...
Dec 22, 2023•19 min
150 million Americans live with chronic illness. And yet, disability and long-term care (LTC) insurance are often overlooked in planning with clients. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, experts Lee Slavutin, MD, CLU and Marty Shenkman, CPA/PFS, JD, LLM share the most important considerations for client planning, including: What three riders are important to have on a disability insurance policy Why the exercise of determining the impact of disability on a family’s finances is critical W...
Dec 15, 2023•33 min
You can give your clients tremendous value by guiding them with their life insurance planning, even if you’re not an insurance expert. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Ed Mendlowitz, CPA/PFS, interviews expert Lee Slavutin, MD, CLU to share strategies for businesses. Ed poses the following questions to Lee: What are the advantages of having life insurance in a qualified plan for a business owner? What specific rules do CPAs need to watch out for with key person insurance? Share more a...
Dec 08, 2023•27 min
This is part 2 of the PFP Section podcast that marks our CPA financial planning history and celebrates the journey of where we’ve been to take us into the future. We once again invited other AICPA volunteer leaders into the discussion to help us share our story. In this episode, Lyle Benson, CPA/PFS, Andrea Millar, CPA/PFS, and other CPA financial planners discuss: What are the investment adviser regulatory issues that CPAs need to understand? Why should we all consider embracing calling these s...
Dec 01, 2023•29 min
As with any profession, it’s important to understand how we got to where we are today to take us into a successful future. In this 25th episode of the Deeper CPA Financial Planner Connections podcast series, Lyle Benson, CPA/PFS, and Andrea Millar, CPA/PFS discuss how the CPA financial profession got started and led to building a thriving community and resources from there. They also invited other AICPA volunteer leaders to this episode to share their perspectives. The conversation includes: How...
Nov 27, 2023•39 min
In July, California Governor Newsome signed legislation that disallows the incomplete gift non-grantor trusts (INGs) as a way to avoid CA state tax income. The law is retroactive to January 1, 2023. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Bob Keebler, CPA/PFS, interviews CA attorney, Kirsten Wolff, to guide CPAs on how to proactively plan with this new legislation. Bob poses the following questions to Kirsten: Do all ING trusts now trigger CA tax? Say more about the exception for charitable ...
Nov 17, 2023•12 min
You can give your clients tremendous value by guiding them with their life insurance planning, even if you’re not an insurance expert. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Ed Mendlowitz, CPA/PFS, interviews expert Lee Slavutin, MD, CLU to share strategies to consider for your individual clients. Ed poses the following questions to Lee: What strategies would you recommend to make use of the lifetime exemption before the sunset at the end of 2025? Why is doing an insurance audit a great ser...
Nov 10, 2023•34 min
IRC Sections 1202 and 1045 are becoming more popular in recent years due to the tax favorability and private investing being more attractive overall. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Bob Keebler, CPA/PFS, interviews experts Caleb Powers and William Beckett to refresh us on what this is all about. They discuss: What are the criteria to qualify? How do you receive IRC Section 1202 treatment? What happens if you don’t hold the QSBS for 5 years? How does IRC Section 1045 come into play? W...
Nov 03, 2023•11 min
Sarah Bradley, CPA/PFS, took a leap from being an employee to being a first-time business owner practicing in tax compliance and personal financial planning. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Lyle Benson, CPA/PFS, facilitates Sarah to share her story so that you can benefit from her experiences. They discuss: How Sarah made her way to her current role as partner in a CPA financial planning firm How she decided to go from employee to business owner and to a very different role in her wo...
Oct 27, 2023•32 min
We often hear about the soft side of planning. As Lisa Featherngill, CPA/PFS, shares in this episode of the PFP Section podcast, this is really the hard side of planning. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Bob Keebler, CPA/PFS, interviews Lisa to get her thoughts on how to have important conversations that lead to whether the quantitative side of planning will be successful or not. The stakes are high and it’s important to guide clients to communicate in a way that gets underneath the n...
Oct 20, 2023•12 min
Investors have regained interest in investing in bonds in this higher interest rate environment. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Bob Keebler, CPA/PFS, interviews expert Mark Fichtenbaum, JD, LLM, to guide CPA financial planners on how to give rise to interest like income while paying long term capital gain rates. They discuss: · How to create the economic equivalent of interest income using option strategies · The after-tax benefits of using option strategies versus investing in asse...
Oct 06, 2023•19 min
Lisa Featherngill, CPA/PFS, is on a mission to make sure the qualitative side of planning gets as much emphasis as the quantitative aspects. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Lyle Benson, CPA/PFS, facilitates Lisa to share her wisdom so that you can benefit from her experiences. They discuss: How Lisa took the leap from providing tax and financial planning services in a CPA firm environment to joining a large bank What her mom shared with her that helped her make a hard career decision...
Sep 29, 2023•36 min
Women control 1/3rd of the total US household financial assets of 11 trillion dollars and they make up 47% of the workforce. And yet many don’t seek the financial advice they need to gain peace of mind for their financial futures. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Debbie Taylor, CPA/PFS, shares her experience working with women clients and what she has learned about their needs to best serve them. Debbie discusses the following topics: What are the financial challenges that women face?...
Sep 22, 2023•26 min
Effective for 2023, Massachusetts taxpayers are now subject to a new surcharge of 4% of income over one million dollars. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Bob Keebler, CPA/PFS, interviews expert Jonathan Blattmachr JD to guide CPA financial planners on the new surcharge. Who is impacted by the new surcharge? How is the new surcharge calculated? Considerations of changing domicile to avoid the new surcharge. How residents can file and structure income to reduce surcharge. How using some...
Sep 15, 2023•17 min
CA recently passed legislation disallowing ING trusts by treating them as grantor trusts for state purposes retroactive to January 1, 2023. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Bob Keebler, CPA/PFS, interviews expert Steve Oshins, JD, LLM, to guide CPA financial planners on how to rectify this situation. They discuss: What are ING trusts and why are they used in planning for clients? What does the CA legislation allow and not allow going forward? How to pivot to a different technique that...
Sep 08, 2023•14 min
There are many professionals involved with clients and their tax, retirement, estate, insurance, and investment planning. In the case of life insurance, it’s important to be on the lookout for tax traps before it’s too late. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, David Kushner, CPA, interviews expert Lee Slavutin, MD, CLU to inform us of the issues we need to know. They discuss: The 3 situations in which life insurance premiums are tax deductible and have little risks of being challenged. W...
Sep 01, 2023•29 min
Tom Trainor is a CPA financial planner in Canada who has given a lot of volunteer time to the AICPA PFP Division. Tom talks about how collaborating with his peers in this community has kept his practice on the cutting edge. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Lyle Benson, CPA/PFS, facilitates Tom to share his wisdom so that you can benefit from his experiences. They discuss: The different on ramps that Tom has taken to land with his own family office How Tom uses technology to keep his f...
Aug 25, 2023•36 min
On July 14, 2023, the IRS released notice 2023-54 which provides for relief for RMDs in two circumstances. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Bob Keebler, CPA/PFS, shares what you need to know, including: If your client mistakenly took a required minimum distribution in 2023 based on SECURE but they could have waited until 2024 based on SECURE 2.0, they have until September 30th to repatriate the RMD without penalty. Relief via IRS notice 2022-53 has been extended into 2023. Beneficiari...
Aug 18, 2023•6 min
If you believe it is a good idea to hold even a small amount of Bitcoin, the next step is to educate your clients and decide on the strategy that will have the best chance for success. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, David Oransky, CPA/PFS, shares how he approaches this with his clients. Mark Astrinos, CPA/PFS, poses the following questions to David: How to you respond to criticism of Bitcoin from other advisors? What is your approach with clients to include Bitcoin in their portfoli...
Aug 11, 2023•31 min
If you have clients who are contemplating Roth conversions who may also want to take advantage of clean vehicle credits and ACA premium credits, make sure to run the numbers so that you minimize their tax bill. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Bob Keebler, CPA/PFS, interviews Martin James, CPA/PFS, so that you can learn more about these scenarios. They discuss: · How the clean vehicle energy and ACA premium credits work · How you can save your clients from missing out on thousands of ...
Aug 04, 2023•11 min
Ellen Bruno is a CPA/PFS who has taken a career path that puts her in the seat of serving financial planners who are registered investment advisers. Her experience has always tied closely to money management beginning with her first role out of university with PwC. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Lyle Benson, CPA/PFS, guides Ellen to share how she created her remote firm with 11 employees and words of wisdom about compliance in the RIA world. Ellen answers the following questions: Wh...
Jul 28, 2023•25 min
