AICPA Personal Financial Planning (PFP)

If you have had clients pass away recently, you will want to talk with their surviving spouse about the option to file to receive the benefits of portability, even if the decedent doesn't have a taxable estate. Tune in to this episode of the PFP Section podcast to hear expert Steve Siegel, JD, LLM, discuss: What portability is, how it works, and how to make the election How you can fix a missed po...

The timing of this new IRS notice 2022-6 is perfect in this phase when many are reprioritizing their lives and considering retiring early.  Up until now, clients have likely been unable to make use of SEPPs because of low interest rates mandated by the IRS in prior guidance. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Bob Keebler, CPA/PFS, shares: What IRS notice 2022-6 and substantially equal per...

Sue Stevens, CPA/PFS, has forged her own unique path to create her successful financial planning firm. She shares her journey and the wisdom she learned along the way in the third episode in this new podcast series hosted by Lyle Benson, CPA/PFS.  Sue shares: What led her from being a cellist recording albums to becoming a CPA financial planner How she made the decision to merge her firm with Buck...

Make sure you are making the most of the benefits available for your clients or their family members who have disabilities by tuning in to this episode of the PFP Section podcast. ABLE account experts Anita Kelley, with the Office of Alabama State Treasurer, and Dante Allen, Executive Director of CA's ABLE Act Board, answer the following questions: What are ABLE accounts, how do they work, and who...

Emotion can trump logic at times when making decisions and guiding clients through this may be more complex when advising a couple who is contemplating retirement. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Christine Moriarty with MoneyPeace answers the following questions: What if couples have different ideas of what they want to do in retirement? How can a couple create a "Budget" for retiremen...

If you have a client who is considering surrendering a life insurance policy or allowing it to lapse, it is important to first understand the value of the policy and determine if it can be sold for more than its cash value. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Susan Bruno, CPA/PFS, and Jamie Mendelsohn, with Ashar Group, discuss: Why you can't default to the surrender value as the FMV of th...

Susan Tillery, CPA/PFS and Dave Stolz, CPA/PFS wish you a happy and prosperous New Year and share what is on their minds as they head into 2022 in this episode of the PFP Section podcast.  As they serve in the last months of their successful tenures as chairs of the PFP Executive Committee and PFS Credential Committee, they share their vision for the CPA financial planning profession and the impor...

Lyle Benson credits much of his career as a CPA financial planner to his interactions with colleagues across the country. He wanted CPAs in all stages of their career to be able to benefit from hearing how fellow CPA financial planners have gotten to where they are now, how they work with clients, and what it has meant for their lives. In episode two of this PFP Section podcast series, Lyle interv...

Life insurance can be much more than a death benefit. If properly designed, funded, and managed, it can provide an incredible opportunity to grow and distribute assets tax free. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Susan Bruno, CPA/PFS, and Michael Fontanini, with Lion Street, share: Who the ideal clients are for this strategy Why this is an excellent way to supplement retirement income Usi...

You don't have to be an expert in all of the tools and technical strategies to have meaningful philanthropic conversations with your clients. It's about knowing how to artfully communicate and bring value to your clients. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Jonathan Gassman, CPA/PFS, and Richard Peck, with the New Hampshire Community Foundation, share: How to incorporate philanthropic plan...

Getting couples to align their goals and priorities with their personal finances is often easier said than done. This is when the power skills in the non-technical side of personal financial planning become crucial to use. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Christine Moriarty, answers the following questions. How and when do you start the conversation? Does sharing life have to mean shari...

In the past, guaranteed universal life (GUL) was priced well and easy to understand. This permanent life insurance was attractive because the premiums were certain, the policy often went to age 120, and risks were low. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Marc Minker interviews experts Susan Bruno and Martin Flaxman to understand the changes he is seeing in practice. They discuss: Why carri...

In the first of this new podcast series, Lyle Benson, CPA/PFS, shares the purpose behind this series as well as his story that led him to where he is now in his tax and financial planning firm. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Lyle answers questions such as:   What is his definition of success? What types of clients does he work with and what services does he provide? What is his why fo...

In the first of this four-part life insurance series, expert Susan Bruno, CPA/PFS, gives a fantastic review of the basics. This episode of the PFP Section podcast will give you what you need to know to educate your clients and make them aware of their options.  Susan provides an overview of the following: The difference in term, whole life, and universal life insurance A tool that she uses with he...

Recorded on November 8th, 2021, Bob Keebler, CPA/PFS, reports on the latest with the Build Back Better Act. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Bob shares: What is in and what is out of the latest iteration of the House bill What must happen for the House to move forward with a vote What to expect with the Senate version of the bill and related vote Planning to consider for clients based o...

The CPA profession has been busier than ever in the past two years with serving clients through the pandemic, responding to additional client needs, juggling complex tax seasons, and keeping up with proposed law changes. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Shannon Vincent and Colin Dunn answer the question of how to find time to provide proactive financial planning and wealth management se...

Super HSAs allow families who have adult children who are no longer tax dependents to save beyond the annual family limit. This technique works for children who are covered by the family HSA eligible insurance plan. Kelley Long, CPA/PFS, covers the ins and outs of this strategy in this episode of the PFP Section podcast. She answers the following questions: What is a super HSA? How does this strat...

The good news is that the 2022 Social Security (SS) COLA adjustment is 5.9%. The bad news is that the Board of Trustees issued their annual report on August 31st and predict that SS funds alone will run out in 2033 and disability funds will run out in 2057. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Ted Sarenski, CPA/PFS, shares: The effects of the pandemic and the 2020 recession on the projectio...

If current tax reform proposals become law, there will be many issues to be mindful of with planning for trusts. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Bob Keebler, CPA/PFS, helps you get ahead of these changes so that you can plan for your clients to be ready for impending changes. Bob discusses: How the proposed higher income tax and capital gains rates will impact trusts planning The low t...

With a lot of unknowns going into the last quarter of the year, top CPA financial planners have been gathering to share conversations that they're having with clients now. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Lyle Benson, CPA/PFS, reviews a collection of ideas and thoughts that have been discussed in his Athena study group and other CPA financial planner panels. Lyle gives an overview of wh...

The House Ways & Means Committee recently released its proposed 2021 tax reform legislation. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Bob Keebler, CPA/PFS, covers the changes being considered that would impact income tax planning, including: Funding the IRS and using tax reform to improve social safety nets Additional childcare credits and other dependent care, childcare, and caregiver provisio...

If you have clients with more than 10 million in their traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, and vested defined contribution plans, they may have to take distributions to keep the aggregate plan balances below a certain threshold beginning in 2022.  In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Bob Keebler, CPA/PFS, gets you up to speed related to: The new proposed limits on MEGA IRAs and related forced with...

The latest proposals suggest that the estate tax exemption may revert back to pre-TCJA levels in January, 2022. In order not to lose the estate tax exemption that exist today, it may be necessary to make use of this exemption before year-end for your relevant clients. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Bob Keebler, CPA/PFS, fills you in on the estate related reform including: How the esta...

If you have been contemplating a Roth conversion for yourself or for your clients, you will want to tune in to this PFP Section podcast episode to hear Steve Siegel's case for doing this before the year ends.  Steve discusses his top five reasons for doing a Roth conversion in 2021, including: Potential limits on Roth conversions in the future Proposals on elimination of the backdoor Roth Likeliho...

On September 13th, the House Ways & Means Committee released long anticipated draft legislation which could lead to major tax changes effective January 1, 2022.  In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Bob Keebler, CPA/PFS, walks you through the key areas of interest so that you can plan ahead with your clients in the event these proposals become law.  Bob discusses: Increases in tax rates ove...