Steven is once again joined this week by Brian Smith from FIA to talk about something that will effect nearly every financial advisor at some point in their career: annuities that are no longer meeting client needs. 1 in 5 retirees have an annuity product of some kind, so it's a matter of "when", not "if," advisors will come across products that need to be evaluated to determine if they still fit in a client's plan appropriately. Brian provides a real-life example of how FIA recently helped an advisor navigate this challenge and ultimate help the client win.

https://zurl.co/Uhf0Y

This week, Steven is joined by a fellow CPA, Brad Wooten, to discuss what the major tax law changes mean for tax preparers for the next filing season. This is a valuable discussion for financial advisors to gain insight into what this next tax filing season will be like for their clients' tax pros and how the advisor can help create better client outcomes through proactive communication. Brad and Steven share a perspective on the logistics of going from Congress passing a bill to tax returns actually getting filed, and what it means for the pressure and timing clients will experience this year. Steven and Brad also walk through why the big beautiful bill might not feel all that big on a client's tax return because a lot of the hype was around planned rate increases not taking effect.

https://zurl.co/u11dy

Steven is joined this week by David Haughton, Senior Corporate Counsel at Wealth.com, to talk all things estate planning and, in particular, the overlap between taxes and estate planning. David and Steven discuss the changes (and lack of changes) in the Big Beautiful Bill and how advisors should think about the implications for their clients. As always, action is what counts, and Steven and David both share the dangers of simply letting the default happen instead of putting the time needed into intentional planning. Listen to the end as David highlights the resources that Wealth.com brings to the table for advisors who want to do more for their clients while staying in the line with compliance.

https://zurl.co/c1Ruc

This week, Steven is joined on the show by TJ Bruce, an advisor who set out to grow his practice through acquisition and ended up preparing taxes. TJ shares his experience with buying a book of business that happened to be doing tax prep, and his journey learning how to prepare taxes himself, and the value that clients see in that service. There are always bumps to learning something new, but TJ's clients are so thrilled with having their taxes prepared in-house that he is pursuing his EA designation and is committed to tax prep being a big part of the firms future.

https://zurl.co/rRRp4

We make claims in life that might be more believable if there were pictures, but there typically isn't that option when it comes to tax planning and financial planning...until now. Steven is joined this week by Parker Ence, CEO and co-founder of JumpAI, to discuss how Jump is setting themselves apart by providing an AI-driven tool that is helping advisors take action. To some, Jump may seem like "just" a meeting notetaker, but it goes so far beyond that, allowing advisors to get real insights on how they can level up their client and prospect meetings to deliver more powerful outcomes. Parker shares the origin story of Jump, their rapid growth, and where they see the biggest impact for advisors on their platform, including improving outcomes and execution around tax planning. Jump allows advisors to have the "pictures" to know what they are really doing, saying, and accomplishing in their client meetings.

https://zurl.co/s3dbv

In this episode, Steven delves once again into the frequently asked question of "what would it look like to offer tax prep in-house?" His guest this week is Knight Coleman, an advisor working in a firm offering both tax prep and financial planning, but they've integrated the two for decades and have seen the value it consistently delivers to clients. Knight shares his experience with learning how to prep taxes and get comfortable with the quality of the work that is getting done, as well as the glowing feedback they get from clients and prospects because of their all-in-one approach.

https://zurl.co/AUIm3

In this episode, Steven is joined by Tushar Kumar, a financial advisor who decided a virtual assistant was a key resource to accomplish his goal to grow his firm by 20-30% annually. Steven and Tushar share their experiences with adding VAs to their teams and how delegating has helped them elevate both personally and professionally. Tushar and Steven also discuss their experiences using BELAY as their partner to find, train, and optimize their VAs. There are of course, logistics to be figured ou,t including how to find top talent and ensure client confidentiality, but BELAY makes all of that seamless. Listen to the end as Steven and Tushar share why they would happily recommend BELAY to any advisor looking to expand their team and reclaim their time

In this episode, Steven is joined by fellow Spokane native and tax pro turned financial advisor, Mary McDirmid. Mary has extensive experience both doing tax preparation and in her current role as a financial advisor. Mary shares what she learned and how she is a better financial planner because of the time she spent preparing taxes early in her career. Steven and Mary both discuss some of the things that can only be learned from getting your hands "dirty" and doing the hard work of preparing tax returns and how that knowledge can help all financial advisors. Mary's area of focus now is on helping families who are supporting loved ones with rare diseases and disabilities navigate the financial and emotional challenges that can bring (this is also a service she provides to other financial advisors).

https://zurl.co/5HmUJ