When to get a CPA?

[Donbecker]

Hi all...

Short of it is that I'm terrible managing money, wife has been taking care of managing the bills.

We moved a year or so ago from Ohio to Arizona which doubled my income and allowed us to get the Lotus.

However, since we make more money, taxes and investments are a lot different (or at least appear that way).

What I'm getting at is, at what point income-wise is it better to find a good CPA/tax/investment guy?

Is it possible/good to find a jack of all trades? Or should these be 3 different people?

I know that we've 'created' some debt lately and I know that we need to do better handling the money but experience is a harsh teacher and I'd rather learn from others.

BTW, I'm 26 and the wife is 28 if that should be factored in.

Thanks in advance.

-Don

[Kameron]

Dan (VetteTax) would be a great resource for this.

[Eddie44]

My theory is I have a Tax Guy / CPA and a Financial Advisor. The other thing to understand is you shouldn't develop your investing strategy from one person. Everyone is different so get advise from as many different places as you can. This would include a financial advisor, friends, family, media, etc. Formulate your own strategy.

The main thing you need to do is develop a plan and stick to it. Decide what age you'd like to retire and plan for that age. Don't strap yourself investing and not enjoy life. Too many people invest every spare dime and die before they can enjoy retirement. This logic may be predicated by the fact my Dad died at 59 yrs old.

I have three boys 21, 24 and 26. They all have invested money already and each one of them will be making more salary next year than I do at my present job. Moral of the story is start young. Don't wait until your 50 and staring retirement in the face.

[Dvl4evr]

My theory is I have a Tax Guy / CPA and a Financial Advisor. The other thing to understand is you shouldn't develop your investing strategy from one person. Everyone is different so get advise from as many different places as you can. This would include a financial advisor, friends, family, media, etc. Formulate your own strategy.

The main thing you need to do is develop a plan and stick to it. Decide what age you'd like to retire and plan for that age. Don't strap yourself investing and not enjoy life. Too many people invest every spare dime and die before they can enjoy retirement. This logic may be predicated by the fact my Dad died at 59 yrs old.

I have three boys 21, 24 and 26. They all have invested money already and each one of them will be making more salary next year than I do at my present job. Moral of the story is start young. Don't wait until your 50 and staring retirement in the face.

Very well said. One of the best places to invest in your future is Life Insurance. A variable life policy can get you great cash value, that can be pulled from the policy with no taxation & if the cash value is never pulled, you have given your spouse or children non-taxable wealth. And because it's variable YOU can determine what sub accounts you wish to invest in, or there are predetermined plans if you don't wish to get that involved.

Jim

[anmracing]

Hey Don,

I agree that you probably should keep your investment person separate from your CPA. Most cases have CPAs involved in less aggressive investments and this can give you both sides of the coin, along with the ramifications of the investments you're considering. Investing is all over the board and you will need to choose based on your level of comfort with the risk. At your age, you can go whole hog and still recover, but if that makes ya nervous, then don't let someone push you into it. Small successes can be fun, too!

Anywho-there are a couple cpa's on the board who can give you some advice. Stick to a tax guy if you want to know what the consequences will be-not all cpa's are tax experts.

Good luck!

M~

[VetteTax]

Don, feel free to give me a call. I'll chat casually with you free of charge, but to get into details or to sit down and go over actual figures, I'll need to bill you.

I'm a tax, budget, and financial advice guy. I'm not a licensed broker, so I won't/can't sell you any financial products. Can certainly provide tax advice and file your up-coming tax returns too

Daniel A Calabro

Calabro Tax & Financial Services, LLC

C: 602-908-7370

F: 480-821-4561

eMail: VetteTax@yahoo.com

[az57chevy]

Listen to 1310 AM from 1-4 pm Dave Ramsey.

He advocates no credit and live within your means - yeah it is old fashioned but .....

Ultimately YOU need to know your finances and watch and account for all your dollars that you bring home.

I've hitched my wagon mainly to the SP 500, so far so good

[Desertdawg]

Don't ask me what stocks to buy...

[Grayeagle]

401k .. compound interest .. any number of good retirement funds to get involved in.

As stated, gather info, decide level of risk, develope a plan, and stick to it.

Coupla things I have learned over the years:

2nd mortgage on a home, then bank it. It's there if you ever need it, cheapest loan you can get if you have to borrow against it.

and..

Any company matching on a 401k .. its free money and it will make even ho-hum gains more favorable (ie: My company matches even-steven for the first 5 percent of my pay I put in ..I put in 10 percent ..so even if funds break even, I make literally 150% return on it)

Compound Interest .. can *really* make savings plans grow!

-Frank and Kathy

[dss LT1]

[i'll chime in here; I am a CPA and have been involved in banking, investments, mortgages (and Corvettes) for longer than I care to admit. I do personal income tax returns normally only on a referral basis. I am a FT Contoller for a local mortgage bank. I am not affiliated with any investment company and do not sell investment products. I provide most of my tax clients with advice on retirement savings strategies, investment allocations, etc. Using an investment advisor is dicey because many of them represent specific companies and are paid to sell their products. I'd recommend finding an independent advisor who works on a fee basis and is free to recommend the best products regardless of the source. Also, in my opinion, the purpose of insurance is to transfer risk, not necessarily to provide savings/investment returns.

I'd be glad to discuss with you further at your convenience.

David S. Schaefer, CPA

Cave Creek AZ. 85331

dsscpa@cox.net

480-296-6214

[Eddie44]

[i'll chime in here; I am a CPA and have been involved in banking, investments, mortgages (and Corvettes) for longer than I care to admit. I do personal income tax returns normally only on a referral basis. I am a FT Contoller for a local mortgage bank. I am not affiliated with any investment company and do not sell investment products. I provide most of my tax clients with advice on retirement savings strategies, investment allocations, etc. Using an investment advisor is dicey because many of them represent specific companies and are paid to sell their products. I'd recommend finding an independent advisor who works on a fee basis and is free to recommend the best products regardless of the source. Also, in my opinion, the purpose of insurance is to transfer risk, not necessarily to provide savings/investment returns.

I'd be glad to discuss with you further at your convenience.

David S. Schaefer, CPA

Cave Creek AZ. 85331

dsscpa@cox.net

480-296-6214

Excellent advice! I didn't make it clear when I said Financial Advisor. I too would suggest an independant. Insurance is good in some situations however like Investment Advisors they are paid to sell Insurance. My Father-In-Law was in insurance for years and would only sell us what we need to protect my wife in the case of my death. He was very blunt when he said insure one place and invest at another. Sorry if I stepped on anyone's toes but it's just my opinion.

Ed

[Dvl4evr]

[i'll chime in here; I am a CPA and have been involved in banking, investments, mortgages (and Corvettes) for longer than I care to admit. I do personal income tax returns normally only on a referral basis. I am a FT Contoller for a local mortgage bank. I am not affiliated with any investment company and do not sell investment products. I provide most of my tax clients with advice on retirement savings strategies, investment allocations, etc. Using an investment advisor is dicey because many of them represent specific companies and are paid to sell their products. I'd recommend finding an independent advisor who works on a fee basis and is free to recommend the best products regardless of the source. Also, in my opinion, the purpose of insurance is to transfer risk, not necessarily to provide savings/investment returns.

I'd be glad to discuss with you further at your convenience.

David S. Schaefer, CPA

Cave Creek AZ. 85331

dsscpa@cox.net

480-296-6214

Excellent advice! I didn't make it clear when I said Financial Advisor. I too would suggest an independant. Insurance is good in some situations however like Investment Advisors they are paid to sell Insurance. My Father-In-Law was in insurance for years and would only sell us what we need to protect my wife in the case of my death. He was very blunt when he said insure one place and invest at another. Sorry if I stepped on anyone's toes but it's just my opinion.

Ed

You are absolutely correct, IF the insurance your father-in-law sold was Whole Life. Whole Life will guaranty the subscriber a small return. Usually around 3-4% & the insurance company will take the rest as profit. A Variable product will pay you what your sub accounts are earning. Depending upon how aggressive your sub accounts are, it could be 8-12%, minus of course standard fees for the insurance usually about 2%. Plus there is a KICKER. All gains received are COMPLETELY 100% untaxable & can be withdrawn or kept in the policy to increase a death benefit from where it began. By itself, Variable Life Insurance isn't going to 100% completely fund a retirement, but can it help & give you peace of mind that if something were to happen to you, your family would be taken care of. YES. Plus the death benefit is 100% untaxable as well. In the case of Mutual Funds or other stock portfolios, when you die those would be passed onto your family & when they are liquidated, your family will have to pay normal income tax on those monies. So if you have a portfolio of $500,000 & you pass that one to your wife or children & they liquidate it, their taxable income has just increased by $500,000. Can you say change of tax bracket!

Everyone on here has posted very good advice. Spread it around! Also, even though it goes against me, I do agree that Insurance & other Financial planners are going to try & sell their own products. However, the products that many companies have are sooo plentiful, that I'm sure you can find combinations that are suitable to anyone. For example, in my Variable Life products, you can choose from 40 different sub accounts to put money in. These 40 are made up of major companies such as Dreyfus, Fidelity, Franklin, Summit, T. Rowe Price, JP Morgan & others.

Jim