The 2017 Tax Cuts & Jobs Act introduced a $10,000 limit on the State And Local Tax (SALT) deduction that was previously available for taxpayers who itemized their deductions. In response to the new deduction limit, many states enacted laws creating a new Pass-Through Entity Tax (PTET) designed to help owners of pass-through businesses (partnerships, LLCs, and S corporations) avoid the limitation and preserve the deductibility of their state tax payments. With IRS giving its blessing to this approach through Notice 2020-75, 33 states now have some sort of PTET available and, as a result, ow ..read more

Welcome back to the 335th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast! My guest on today's podcast is Tim Wyman. Tim is a Managing Partner for the Center for Financial Planning, a hybrid advisory firm based in Southfield, Michigan, that oversees $1.5 billion in assets under management for 1,000 client households. What's unique about Tim, though, is how, as a second-generation partner, he helped redesign the firm’s organizational structure from siloed advisors to an ensemble practice, both restructuring the firm’s compensation, and in the process systematizing future partnership opportunit ..read more

When a financial advisor starts their own firm, they face many important choices. One of the key decisions is determining the type of clients they want to serve. Some advisors may choose to take a generalist approach that leaves the door open to working with the broadest possible pool of prospective clients. But with hundreds of thousands of financial advisors competing for the same prospects, it can be challenging to build a generalist advisory business from scratch. Alternatively, many advisors select a client niche to serve and specialize in these individuals’ specific needs, which not only ..read more

Enjoy the current installment of “Weekend Reading For Financial Planners” - this week’s edition kicks off with the news that while banks have been able to attract a younger and more diverse set of financial advisors compared to the rest of the industry, thanks in part to their built-in referral stream, a relative lack of independence and dated technology could lead some of their advisors to explore options with independent RIAs. Also in industry news this week: How consumer concerns about the stability of the banking industry could present independent advisors with an opportunity to add value ..read more

Screening calls are a common part of the prospecting process for financial advisory firms, particularly those that receive a large number of inquiries, and can help determine whether a prospective client might be a good fit. At the same time, these calls can be awkward for both the prospect and the advisor, as the prospect might be asked to discuss personal information about their finances with someone they have never met before, and the advisor has to ask potentially thorny questions, such as whether the prospect meets the firm’s minimum asset requirements. And so, given the high stakes of sc ..read more

Welcome back to the 334th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast! My guest on today's podcast is Meg Bartelt. Meg is the Founder and Lead Financial Planner for Flow Financial Planning, a virtual RIA serving mid-career women in tech that oversees almost $60 million in assets under management for 60 client households. What's unique about Meg, though, is how, over the span of 7 years since launching her firm, she has evolved the business by repeatedly adapting her niche focus, iterating on different fee models, experimenting with various client meeting cadences, and both increasing and ..read more