Wealth and Law

Brent chats with Jenny Rozelle about what opportunities await law students interested in estate planning. They talk about their law school journeys, Jenny’s non-traditional entry into estate planning, the market and financial opportunities, and practicing in large or small communities. As one of the Owners of Indiana Estate & Elder Law, Jennifer (Jenny) Rozelle serves in a leadership rol...

Brent chats with Anna N’Jie Konte about what financial planning moves people should consider before the end of 2025. They talk about contributing to retirement plans and determining whether to make Roth conversions. They also discuss tax loss harvesting, charitable giving, and other tax sensitive options for planning. Anna N’Jie-Konte is a Certified Financial Planner and the founder of Poder...

Brent chats with T.J. Ryan about important terms to make your trusts better. In this second part of that conversation, they discuss the importance of crafting the distribution provisions of a trust. They get into powers of appointment, spendthrift clauses, and what to do to anticipate incapacitated beneficiaries. T.J. is a Senior Partner at the Phoenix law firm of Frazer Ryan Goldberg & Arnold...

Brent chats with Eric Freeman about the real estate provisions in OBBBA. They talk about the importance of bonus depreciation, Opportunity Zone 2.0, New Market Tax Credits, and analyze what the industry could look like under this new tax regime. Eric Freeman is a Principal for BeachFleischman, where he leads the Real Estate Practice and serves as a member of the Tax Department. Eric has spent most...

Brent and John Strohmeyer chat about sham trust schemes. They explain what the structures and hoped for results are and then break down why they do not work. They also speculate about why people buy these schemes. John Strohmeyer is the owner of Strohmeyer Law PLLC, in Houston, Texas. After earning his B.S. in Zoology from the University of Texas at Austin, John spent four years working for the Fo...

Brent chats with Naomita Yadav about the tax and planning challenges of high-net-worth individuals migrating to the United States. They talk about global mobility, how tax can cause unexpected issues, and how one might plan for that transition effectively. Naomita Yadav is a partner in the private client and tax team of Withersworldwide. She has a diverse and well-rounded tax background, incl...

Brent chats with Michael Preis, Chief Investment Officer at TCI Wealth Advisors, about how federal policy in the United States can affect investment strategies. They talk about the importance of planning and how a client focused approach is different from just pure asset allocation. Finally, they talk about crypto and where it fits into the current investment landscape. Michael Preis is the Chief...

Brent chats with Tony Yu about the important differences between China, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam from a cultural, monetary, and planning perspective. They discuss how to adjust to those differences, understand where they may be coming from, and enjoy the rich tapestry of those nations. Tony is the owner of DSG Wealth and Trust Law. He graduated cum laude from UCLA with degrees in Business–Eco...

Brent chats about the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and its impact on estate planning for ultra-high net worth families. He gets into the increased estate tax exemption, tactics for using and managing high exemptions, opportunity zones, and the increases to qualified small business stock exemption, and the SALT cap, among other things. This material is for informational purposes only. The vie...

Brent chats with Wallis Tsai about how to avoid the many bad life insurance policies with objective analysis. They discuss how to avoid those bad life insurance policies, war stories of nightmare scenarios, and good use cases for the right insurance. Wallis Tsai is the founder and CEO of AboveBoard Financial. Wallis developed a passion for quantitative analysis (and let’s be honest, Excel spreadsh...

Brent chats with Evan Unzelman about the many creative uses of charitable remainder trusts. They talk about modifying the trust, selling the income interests, contributing the income interests to new trusts, and using CRTs as IRA beneficiaries. With 20 years of specialized experience with charitable remainder trusts (CRTs), Evan Unzelman is largely regarded as one of the nation’s foremost experts...

Brent chats with Sasha Young da Silva about estate and tax planning for Americans who have relocated to beautiful Portugal. They talk about the tax challenges of cross an international border, surprises Americans find in the Portuguese system, and how to make the transition. Sasha Young da Silva is a U.S. attorney with a practice focused exclusively on tax and estate planning for American private...

Brent chats with Nicole Davis, CPA, MBA — founder of Butler-Davis Tax & Accounting and a Forbes Top 200 CPA — about why today’s accountants can (and should) treat traditional compliance work as a choice , not a requirement. Nicole explains how technology, distributed workforces, great processes, and training clients can help accountants (and any other professional) find more time for high-valu...

Brent chats with Joel Revill about Private Trust Companies (PTCs). They explain the basics of PTCs and their structures. They explain what families would want to use a PTC and how the structure can solve issues of governance and management of family wealth. Finally, they discuss the unique position of PTCs with crypto assets. Joel serves as CEO of Two Ocean Trust. Prior to co-founding the firm, he...

Brent talks about what tax planning can happen AFTER the client has already signed the deal to sell a large asset. He talks about the difference between income and estate tax planning. He then discusses terms of the deal, installment method, QSBS, charitable giving, and charitable lead annuity trusts. He closes it out with a discussion of how discounts may still be available on gifts, even after t...

Brent chats about five key questions relating to tariffs and planning in difficult market conditions. He gives answers to the following questions: 1. What’s the real strategy behind these tariffs—and what is the administration hoping to achieve by imposing them now? 2. How might these tariffs and the market’s reaction affect U.S. consumers and investors in the short term? 3. How do currency exchan...

Brent chats with T.J. Ryan about important terms to make your trusts better. In this first part of that conversation, they discuss the importance of settlor intent, HIPAA releases and incapacity determinations, determining the character of property of the trust as community property or separate property, holding property in lifetime spendthrift trusts with careful distribution provisions, and usin...

Brent chats with Steven Zeiger about why life insurance products are so complex. Steven explains the mechanics of the products and how data can reveal which are best for our clients. Steven also shares his methodology and best practices for comparing life insurance options. Steven Zeiger is a Managing Director of Wealth Management at KB Financial and is a recognized professional in applying pruden...

Brent chats about how AI can be used in estate planning now. He discusses its current limitations and dangers associated with AI-Emboldened Advisers. He also discusses the future outlook of AI and how advisers can remain relevant. This material is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the speaker as of the date noted and not necessarily of the speaker’s firm or its affi...

In this Live recording, Brent chats about the state of the tax bills in Washington, DC, an interesting fiduciary liability case involving foreign accounts, how to plan for an uncertain future, and what gifts volatile markets bring for private wealth transfers. This material is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the speaker as of the date noted and not necessarily of...

This is an episode from March 2022, where Brent talks about his history with Ukraine and Russia’s invasion. Although we are now almost three years removed, the content seems as relevant today as it was then. This material is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the speaker as of the date noted and not necessarily of the speaker’s firm or its affiliates. If you ar...

Brent chats about how adding leverage (or debt) to estate planning vehicles can increase the wealth transfer potential. He talks specifically about adding debt in irrevocable grantor trusts, GRATs, and family limited partnerships. This material is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the speaker as of the date noted and not necessarily of the speaker’s firm or its affi...

Brent chats about how to move a trust’s income tax residence to a State with no income tax. He talks about what trusts can do this and when and why it might make sense. He also explains when the math does not favor that kind of move. This material is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the speaker as of the date noted and not necessarily of the speaker’s firm or...

Brent chats about the new administration, and news of tax proposals from Republican tax negotiators. He shares his thoughts on tariffs, lower C corporation tax rates, the SALT deduction, the 199A deduction, opportunity zone funds, and estate tax. He also discusses what some of these changes could mean for taxpayers trying to plan. This material is for informational purposes only. The views express...

Brent chats about how he’s thinking about using the 2025 Estate Tax exemption of $13.99 million. He discusses getting ulta-high net worth clients to act, the basic planning frameworks and numbers, and benefits of the full picture. This material is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the speaker as of the date noted and not necessarily of the speaker’s firm or it...