On this week's episode: how a D in religion, a Corvette on a first-job salary and getting fired from audit led one CPA to tax strategy.

You'll hear why Kevin Schneider took a significant pay cut to join Revo, why no client ever thanked him for an audit but every client remembers a strategy that saves them money, and the client he sent to Mike Pine before he'd even signed on. Kevin also opens up about the diagnosis that finally explained how his brain works, and why Mike calls it his superpower.

From Ticking Boxes to Finding Money:

1. Nobody thanks you for an audit. Audit keeps the bank and the investors safe, and in audit, thinking outside the box gets you in trouble. Kevin could tick and tie every workpaper and the client didn't care. Bring that same client a tax strategy that saves them hundreds of thousands of dollars, and you're their favorite person.
2. The standard playbook saves money. It rarely moves the needle. As an assistant tax manager, Kevin's go-to moves were the Augusta rule and paying your kids. Then, before he'd signed with Revo, he sent a well-known client to Mike instead of his own firm. Mike's question, "What if we did a defined benefit cash balance plan?", led to hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax savings Kevin says he wouldn't have thought of.
3. Knowing the rules isn't the same as using them. Kevin's first job paid about $48,000 to $50,000. He rented a $1,500-a-month high-rise across the street from the Dallas aquarium's penguin tank, bought a Corvette and lived paycheck to paycheck, without even maxing out his 401(k) match. If a CPA can leave free money on the table, anyone can.
4. The tax strategist's tax strategist. Mike Pine runs a tax strategy firm, and he still hands his own tax planning to Kevin. Mike calls him the best tax CPA he's ever worked with ("next to myself") and says Kevin sees the bigger picture in ways Mike often doesn't.

Get in touch: https://www.revotaxpayer.com/?utm_source=revo-taxpayer&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ep-35-get-to-know-kevin&utm_content=show-notes#contact-1

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Chapters
[00:00] Cold open, then two weeks off tax and why tax is your biggest expense
[03:02] The LinkedIn message and the pay cut that brought Kevin to Revo
[08:02] Baseball, a D in religion and the roommate who picked Kevin’s major
[14:42] First job in audit, a Dallas high-rise and a Corvette
[18:37] Fired from audit, and the moment tax started clicking
[22:27] 75-hour weeks, and why Revo caps tax season at 50
[23:38] Thinking outside the box: the client Kevin sent to Mike
[25:47] What makes Kevin different, and why Mike calls it a superpower
[32:53] Why Kevin got fired (coming on Unleashed), and who does Mike’s taxes