From The Founder: Congratulations Matthew and David!

So many months out of the year can remind us of one big idea: December’s focus around Christmas. Much of October is leading toward Halloween; and January reminds of new beginnings as we start a new year.

And then there’s April. Ah, poor April. This unlucky month is forever tied to the stress of tax season. No matter how you approach your taxes – whether you file them yourself, wait anxiously for your tax preparer’s update, or keep putting them off – April likely brings some tax-related stress your way.

We felt like April was the obvious time to announce great news about our team: our advisors Matthew Terry and David Elliott have both recently obtained their Enrolled Agent designation from the IRS! The Enrolled Agent designation is one that has grown from being little-known to increasing dramatically in popularity.

An Enrolled Agent (EA) is a tax professional authorized by the U.S. Department

of the Treasury, and it is the highest credential the IRS awards.

When Matthew and David expressed interest in this designation, I asked them to help me better understand the potential benefits. At the most basic level, EAs have in-depth knowledge of tax laws and regulations, staying updated on changes and nuances that affect individuals and families.

If you’re like me, that sounds a lot like what a CPA does or can help with. What I’ve learned is that CPAs have a broader scope of expertise that extends beyond tax preparation such as auditing, financial reporting, and business consulting as well as issuing financial statements. So, while a CPA has a tremendous amount and diversity of knowledge, the Enrolled Agent focuses primarily on the financial planning area of tax.

At its most basic level, I think of Matthew and David as being able to help us even more in working to protect you from that villain in my first book: Evil Uncle Sam. Evil Uncle Sam represents all the excessive and layered taxes that hit you in retirement and steal away too much of your hard-earned money. I like to think of this as potentially helping you in three ways:

• Now

Year-by-year, your income taxes can change a lot in retirement. I’ll go as far to say that it may seem like there are two completely different tax codes: pre-retirement and post-retirement. For example, Social Security benefits are taxed differently than any other income in the United States. The other reason is because most retirees are piecing together their income from more than one source: Social Security, pension [if you’re lucky enough to have one], retirement accounts, and investments and savings. Potential current benefits of tax planning include keeping you in a lower tax bracket and reducing how much of your Social Security is taxed.

(2) Going Forward

Over the last five years, we’ve had best-selling author David McKnight and former U.S. comptroller David Walker in to speak to our clients. Both speak about the mounting national debt that we have and the need to protect yourself from higher tax rates in the future. This is an area in which we spend more and more time in every year. We believe by being more proactive and building a tax plan, we can help you take much better control over the taxes you will be paying and potentially save a tremendous amount over the course of your lifetime.

(3) Down the Road

This isn’t top-of-mind for most of my clients, but this is where we address the taxes that will be owed by your beneficiaries. Even if we do a great job of planning in the first two areas, what if we leave a huge pile of taxes due to your heirs? You might respond “that’s not my problem!” And that is certainly a fair response! But if we can reduce the amount of taxes owed here as well, that could mean more of your hard-earned money going to your family or the church or charity that means the most to you as opposed to going to the IRS.

I am thankful to have Matthew and David on our team, and I’m excited to see how much we can help all our clients save on income taxes, now, going forward, as well as down the road.