No. Can’t find any clients that are interested.
Now I’m stuck doing bank reconciliations and payroll tax quarterly reports.
That’s surprising. Give any thought to joining an established RIA ?
Based on conversations I had with some other CPA Financial Advisors around the area, HD Vest seemed like the best option. (I could have joined a firm that partners with Cambridge, but Vest was running a good deal on the licensing fees at the time.)
Joining an RIA didn’t seem like what I really wanted. I like the idea of being able to sell annuities and life insurance, when appropriate. Plus, there are some times when people just want A-share business.
I’m marching forward with the wealth management business, but it’s just going a little slow. You can’t just walk up to your tax clients and say “Hey, move all your money over here to a firm you’ve never heard of.” You have to give them some kind of value proposition, and sometimes it’s hard to find one.
^ I would think your tax experience would be the value-add no? Kind of a 2-for-1 deal, along with increased portfolio tax efficiency as a selling point.
Ok I couldn’t remember the name of the firm you are with on the WM side.
Have you defined your value proposition, what type of services you want to provide and what type of clients you want to work with? (Not just in your head, but in client facing slides you can walk a prospect through)?
(edit - this was directed at IsThereAny) Yeah, but there are a lot of people who still feel like you go to the tax guy for tax stuff, and you go to the investment guy for investment stuff.
Just saying, “I have to do your tax return and I know how your investments impact your tax return” isn’t enough for most people. If they say, “Well, what would you do differently?”, you have to be able to give them some kind of real answer. If you say, “Well, I wouldn’t do anything different.”, then they’ll ask, “Then what’s the point?”
I’m starting to see a lot of real changes that need to be made. EG - a client made a $25k SEP contribution last year. However, due to income limitations, he was only allowed to make a $6k contribution. We told him that he would need to withdraw the extra $19k, but somehow the ball got dropped between us and the broker.
So I said, “Hey–let me do your SEP. That way there’s no communication errors and you don’t run the risk of over-contributing.” And he said “I’ll think about it.” Hopefully I’ll get his SEP and all his other assets, too.
I may not get this one, but eventually I’ll gather enough assets to make it worth my while. Then, hopefully, over the next several years, we can get rid of the non-investment clients, and the expectation for all clients will be “we do your investments and your tax work, or we do neither. If you just want somebody to do tax stuff, then I can recommend some other people to you.”
Unfortunately no. We got several new, big clients on the tax side that are taking a lot of time. Plus, we acquired another practice from a guy that moved away since the oil bust. Needless to say, there’s a lot of clean-up work that we’re having to do.
Since January, we have been busier than a one-legged man in an ass kicking contest. So I haven’t been able to spend as much time developing the business as I had hoped. Sure, I’ve thought it through in my head, but haven’t actually pitched it to many people yet.
Any advice or suggestions?
@ IsThereAny…it definately could be. If he is working with a business owner he could analyze the business to help them identify opportunities to increase revenues, manage or reduce expenses to improve profit along with the regular tax filing requirements.
For individual tax clients, helping them tax optimize their overall investment strategy, max deductions and coordinating their tax planning with their investment strategy, estate planning and risk mgt would also be value added.
^EG - Had a personal complaining about their capital gains distributions and the taxes associated with them. They had apparently asked their broker, and they broker said, “Well, if you’re paying taxes, you’re making money! Good for you!!!” True, but wrong and naive.
I told the client, “Let’s talk about other investments that don’t have capital gains distributions.” I was thinking mainly about ETF’s. We can keep the same asset allocation (and presumably, the same returns) while simultaneously lowering his tax bill. So the client wins, simply because he pays less tax. It’s a very simple solution.
The broker’s not worried about the client’s tax bill, because it’s not his responsibility. And because he never sees the tax return, he doesn’t care about it. But it’s my responsibility, and I have give answers for why a client is paying so much in taxes.
Just one example of many.
I got ETF with capital gain distributions
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Unfortunately no. We got several new, big clients on the tax side that are taking a lot of time. Plus, we acquired another practice from a guy that moved away since the oil bust. Needless to say, there’s a lot of clean-up work that we’re having to do.
Since January, we have been busier than a one-legged man in an ass kicking contest. So I haven’t been able to spend as much time developing the business as I had hoped. Sure, I’ve thought it through in my head, but haven’t actually pitched it to many people yet.
Any advice or suggestions?
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Ya I get it. Your super busy during tax season, family commitments, and there doesn’t seem to be enough time to actually sit down and just work on the business (Accounting and WM).
Advice or Suggestions - let me think about this. While I’m not comfortable posting some info on the public forum I may consider PM you some suggestions you may find to be helpful.
It happens, but it’s rare. Certainly an indexed ETF will be more tax-efficient than its actively-managed brethren. Motley fool says the average turnover for a mutual fund is 85%, while the average for the Russell 1000 is less than 4%.
Plus, you have more control over your capital gains in an ETF.
^cant disagree. that sounds like a good pitch to clients just no short sleeve shirts