Retirement Tax Services Podcast

In this episode, Steven is answering advisor questions directly from the trenches. Twice a month, Steven hosts live office hours for the RTS community that are all about helping advisors cut through the noise and get to what they need to take action and serve clients. A 30-minute episode could never capture the full power of these live sessions, but this week, Steven has selected some of the more...

This week, Steven is joined by fellow CPAs Claire Gallant and Logan Holman to talk about the value of the "Simple" things in taxes. Claire and Logan are partners in a tax firm focused on what some may consider "simple" returns and share how they are still delivering massive value for the people they serve. The conversation also covers how to help clients identify when DIY is probably not going to...

Steven is joined this week by Mike Bennet, an Estate Planning attorney and the co-founder of EncorEstate Plans. Mike shares his experience working alongside financial advisors to create quality outcomes for clients and why that ultimately led him to creating a software solution specifically to help financial advisors help more of their clients. Steven and Mike discuss the challenges of any future...

Steven is joined once again this week by our good friends at Belay to share important tax information and give best practices for getting the whole team involved. Brooke Cecil, Belay's Vice President of Accounting Services, draws from her wealth of experience and knowledge to help listeners get ready for the new year without taking on more work themselves. Steven and Brooke give concrete action st...

This week, Steven is joined by a fellow CPA who specializes in tax planning for all things Real Estate, Ryan Carriere. Ryan shares his experience with going deep on the tax side when it comes to all the hype you see on social media and helps sort out what is real and what is wishful thinking. Like any other tax strategies, the taxes are just one consideration and not the driving force behind what...

In this episode, Steven is joined by author and COO of Ritholz Wealth Management, Nick Maggiulli. In addition to sharing all about his new book, the Wealth Ladder, Nick dives into the details of how Ritholz added tax preparation 4 years ago and the journey they've been on since. Listen to the end as Nick and Steven share examples of how integrating tax services is about more than simply hiring or...

Steven is joined this week by a fellow CPA, Jennifer Climo, who was an early trend setter when it came to bridging the gap between tax and financial planning. Jennifer shares her journey of seeing the value in truly comprehensive planning and the growth of her firm as their service offering has evolved.  She goes into detail on how systems have made all the difference in both their value to client...

In this episode, Steven Jarvis, CPA, recaps the highlights and key takeaways from Summit 2025, where nearly 300 financial advisors came together to elevate their tax planning, client engagement, and marketing strategies. Steven shares how the event has grown into a hub for professional development, team building, and innovative tools that help advisors deliver more value to clients. From actionabl...

In this episod,e Steven is joined by David Podell, a true specialist in the world of defined benefit plans. More traditional retirement accounts get a lot of attention, and rightfully so. Solo K's and SEP IRAs are more universally applicable, but for the right business owner, a defined benefit plan can supercharge their ability to put away qualified money. David shares from his extensive experienc...

This week, Steven is joined by Mark Cecchini, Director of Wealth Solutions at Quadrant Capital, to share his experience prepping tax returns early in his financial planning career. Mark didn't plan on tax prep, but worked for multiple firms that had taxes at their foundation and was voluntold to get his hands on the tax prep process. Mark shares the lessons he learned and insight he gained from fu...

This week, Steven is rejoined by Micah Shilanski to once again share wisdom and perspective on all things tax planning. They kick off the episode talking about whether tax rates staying the same under O3BA changes their approach to Roth conversions (it doesn't) and share best practices for how to effectively communicate the value and execution of Roth conversions. Steven and Micah also run through...

Steven is once again joined this week by Brian Smith from FIA to talk about something that will effect nearly every financial advisor at some point in their career: annuities that are no longer meeting client needs. 1 in 5 retirees have an annuity product of some kind, so it's a matter of "when", not "if," advisors will come across products that need to be evaluated to determine if they still fit...

This week, Steven is joined by a fellow CPA, Brad Wooten, to discuss what the major tax law changes mean for tax preparers for the next filing season. This is a valuable discussion for financial advisors to gain insight into what this next tax filing season will be like for their clients' tax pros and how the advisor can help create better client outcomes through proactive communication. Brad and...

Steven is joined this week by David Haughton, Senior Corporate Counsel at Wealth.com, to talk all things estate planning and, in particular, the overlap between taxes and estate planning. David and Steven discuss the changes (and lack of changes) in the Big Beautiful Bill and how advisors should think about the implications for their clients. As always, action is what counts, and Steven and David...

This week, Steven is joined on the show by TJ Bruce, an advisor who set out to grow his practice through acquisition and ended up preparing taxes. TJ shares his experience with buying a book of business that happened to be doing tax prep, and his journey learning how to prepare taxes himself, and the value that clients see in that service. There are always bumps to learning something new, but TJ's...

We make claims in life that might be more believable if there were pictures, but there typically isn't that option when it comes to tax planning and financial planning...until now. Steven is joined this week by Parker Ence, CEO and co-founder of JumpAI, to discuss how Jump is setting themselves apart by providing an AI-driven tool that is helping advisors take action. To some, Jump may seem like "...

In this episode, Steven delves once again into the frequently asked question of "what would it look like to offer tax prep in-house?" His guest this week is Knight Coleman, an advisor working in a firm offering both tax prep and financial planning, but they've integrated the two for decades and have seen the value it consistently delivers to clients. Knight shares his experience with learning how...

In this episode, Steven is joined by Tushar Kumar, a financial advisor who decided a virtual assistant was a key resource to accomplish his goal to grow his firm by 20-30% annually. Steven and Tushar share their experiences with adding VAs to their teams and how delegating has helped them elevate both personally and professionally. Tushar and Steven also discuss their experiences using BELAY as th...

In this episode, Steven is joined by fellow Spokane native and tax pro turned financial advisor, Mary McDirmid. Mary has extensive experience both doing tax preparation and in her current role as a financial advisor. Mary shares what she learned and how she is a better financial planner because of the time she spent preparing taxes early in her career. Steven and Mary both discuss some of the thin...

This week, Steven Jarvis, CPA, and Matthew Jarvis, CFP®, delve into the world of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), examining the role of audits, the intricacies of EBITDA, and the potential red flags that can emerge during the due diligence process. Steven emphasizes the importance of financial advisors maintaining clean books and being transparent about their financials, as this can significantly i...

This week, Steven is joined by Steven Lee, an educator and expert witness with an extensive background in the financial services world. They discuss why advisors need to focus on quality client outcomes instead of just clever marketing and why someone might call an expert witness when those lines get blurred. Steven and Steven share some of their favorite analogies for explaining tax concepts and...

This week, Steven is joined by Shelby Nicholl, founder of Muriel Consulting, to provide insight on how advisors can think about the firm structure they find themselves in and the key factors to consider when confronted with the question "should I stay or should I go". Like so many other areas, taxes is "a" consideration, not "the" consideration, so Shelby and Steven discuss the realities of tax pl...

This week, we take a break from technical tax and dive into a question that Steven gets all the time: "How do I use tax topics to get new clients?". Joining Steven to cover this topic is Hilary Gale, founder of Moneta Copy, a marketing agency focused on helping financial advisors. Steven and Hilary discuss how their own marketing efforts produce results and give tangible suggestions that advisors...

We are all about consistently applying the simple things over time, but that doesn't stop clients from asking, "What else"? In this episode, Steven is joined by Steve Blackwell, CEO of Invito Energy Partners, who shares his experience and expertise in the oil and gas industry and the investment and tax planning opportunities that the industry presents. This discussion is a combination of technical...

Steven is once again joined by Brian Smith, representing our partners at Foundational Income Associates. In this episode, Steven and Brian cover some of the basics on annuities because in spite of some of the headlines on social media, just in the last few years, the amount of money going into these products is at the trillion mark. Brian shares key definitions and meaningful ways to break down co...