What We Do and Who We Serve Best
Sometimes I find that people have a difficult time understanding what we do here because tax planning is not a familiar concept to many. Our clients are financial planners, and their clients are the eventual beneficiaries of our work. Tax planning is not a new concept, but our approach makes the service more scalable and allows us to make the service available to a lot more people.
Planning Forward vs. Looking Back
Even though there is a night-and-day difference between tax planning and tax preparation, there are still a lot of people accustomed to the habit of talking to their CPAs only once a year (or filling out a few forms without a conversation). I quickly grew frustrated with being an “auditor” and noticing what my clients should have done after it was too late. When I started to help clients with college planning (which inevitably leads to tax planning), I began to realize the opportunity to make a much bigger difference.
The thought process shifts when you take a forward-facing approach. College planning is a perfect example: families know that a major expense is coming in a few years or more. The conversation becomes one of creating resources, and there are much better options. Tax planning can reduce a client’s tax bill by 25% to 50% per year with a compounded return. When people are exposed to our approach for the first time, they commonly think that what we’re saying is too good to be true. The most powerful strategies are well known, but CPAs and financial planners seldom recommend them, which ultimately prompted us to build the model we have today.
The Family Office Model
I recently received the Leadership in Innovation award at the Money 2.0 conference. As I shared in this short interview, we asked ourselves how we could take an “Amazon” approach to tax planning. We decided that we could help a lot more people by equipping financial advisors with the tools that we use. The arrangement is a win-win-win. We make much more efficient use of our time, our advisor partners remain in control of their client relationships, and end clients receive the same benefit as if they had come directly to us. Clients also avoid the expensive frustration of dealing with multiple siloed professionals.
We work with advisors in three specific ways. We train advisors on how to recommend and implement the most powerful tax strategies. We then continue to work behind the scenes with advisors and their clients, providing coaching and credentialed back-office support as they apply what we teach them. We also train advisors to speak the language of tax planning as they promote and market their practices. Armed with the knowledge of how to drastically mitigate tax liability and the confidence of knowing they have our experienced team to help, advisors see a complete transformation in their practices.
The Difference Tax Planning Makes
Tax planning makes the biggest impact for high-net-worth clients, but the benefits are not exclusive to the uber-wealthy. In particular, professionals working their way up the corporate ladder and beginning to earn more income than they are accustomed to earning often suddenly find themselves in a higher tax bracket. The same situation can happen with business owners. We always say that one key goal of tax planning should be to only pay taxes on the money you are spending (not investing). We show advisors how to help their clients take control of how and when their income is taxed. We also show advisors how their clients can utilize the same strategies that the wealthiest individuals use.
What We Can Do for Your Firm
Our ideal clients are established financial advisory teams with 2-10 advisors that have been in business at least five years. Advisors come to us when they reach a ceiling or plateau, where growing the business begins to require more effort. Our approach gives advisors the training and power tools they need to deliver tax planning in-house. Our advisor partners are often amazed at what can be done using legitimate, 100% legal tax strategies. If you are a financial advisor and would like to explore the possibility of partnering with us, click here to schedule a consultation.
About Heath
Heath Walters is a strategic tax planning specialist who partners with financial planners to provide behind-the-scenes tax planning expertise for the high-net-worth clients of financial planning firms. With over 20 years of experience as a CPA and Certified Tax Coach, Heath helps financial planning firms set themselves apart to ideal clients through coaching and specialized services that complement traditional wealth management solutions. Heath’s proven process for client acquisition has led to many advisors doubling their book of business in as little as 24 months. Heath has both a bachelor’s degree in accounting and Master of Science in Accounting from Appalachian State University. When he’s not helping financial planners reach their firm’s goals, you can find him spending time with his wife, Nancy, and their three children, Allie, Brianna, and Cooper, or fishing, grilling, and tackling home remodeling projects. He’s an avid Roll Tide fan as well. To learn more about Heath, connect with him on LinkedIn.