Plan With The Tax Man Tony Mauro

Very often, we see people who know that the financial decisions that they’re making aren’t the best decisions, but they try to create excuses or explanations for why they’re doing what they’re doing. Let’s talk about why these excuses usually don’t hold water.
 
Important Links: Website: http://www.yourplanningpros.com
Call: 844-707-7381
 
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Transcript: 
 
Marc Killian  00:00
Very often we see people who know that the financial decisions that they're making aren't the best decisions, but they try to create excuses to explain why they do what they do. So let's talk about that this week. You're on playing with the tax man. Look up in the sky. It's a bird.
 
Announcer 2  00:17
It's a plane. No, it's the tax man. He may not be a superhero. But Tony Morrow has saved many retirement plans with his extreme knowledge of tax planning strategies. It's time for a plan with the tax man.
 
Marc Killian  00:31
Hey, everybody, welcome into the podcast, Tony myself here to talk investing finance and retirement, Tony and myself and on the Why can't talk this week, to have a conversation about popular excuses for poor financial decision making. And really, Tony, I think I've just got like five basic questions here. Look, we are all really good at saying well, I did this because of that, right. And sometimes we know, it's a bunch of BS that we're just, we're just throwing some junk out there. Because we didn't think it through or we rush to a decision. And certainly that's part of life, it's part of being human. But when it comes to the financial stuff, especially as we're getting closer to retirement, you know, we really don't want to be making excuses for bad decisions, because we don't really have the time to fix these bad decisions. So let's maybe try to get it right the first time. Right. Okay. Yeah, no, I agree with that. It makes sense, right? I mean, it makes your job easier to write when we can get it right the first time because it makes it easier for you to build that plan for us, right.
 
Tony Mauro  01:27
So let's talk about a few places where we might get this wrong and make an excuse. And obviously, we're going to start with Social Security. Clearly, the whole turning and on at 62 thing, the excuse being, I want to get it back before it's gone, or whatever thing you want to grab on to, other than just saying, I truly need the money. That's why I'm turning it on. Okay, that's a valid reason, right? But just saying they owe me it's mind, whatever I'm turning it on, well, fine. But you could be costing yourself a ton of money if you do that. A ton of money. The other the other excuse it goes along with that, as you know, they're going broke. Right, right and apply. And, and I just had an email this morning from a tax client asking this very question. And his email went, you know, I, my wife is 67 or thinking about wait until 70. I've asked different people, they'll give me different answers. Of course they do. And they want to know about when they should take it. Now, most people at the younger ages, you know, they may want the money, that's a valid reason. And there's all kinds of things that go into it. But what I can say from a financial planning standpoint is, and we have this and we utilize this for our clients and your visor should have this is there's some sophisticated software that we can run and punch numbers in to show you basically, you know, here's what you're gonna get over your lifetime. If you take it at 60, to full retirement age 70, whatever you want, and show you how long it takes to break even because that's most of the time, what you're asking is, how long do I have to live, but to break even actually come out? Ahead? And there's a lot of factors and there's no wrong answer. But don't just rush to take it at 62. Because you think that, you know, you're gonna get the government, you know, you're gonna show them and listen
 
Marc Killian  03:14
to them, ya know, and you're t

Uncover the critical mistakes many make when choosing a financial advisor. We're cutting through the noise to highlight what often goes wrong—from misplaced trust in big names to overlooking the fine print. This episode is your essential guide to avoiding those pitfalls and making informed decisions that align with your financial goals
 
Important Links: Website: http://www.yourplanningpros.com
Call: 844-707-7381
 
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Transcript: 
Marc Killian  00:01
On this edition of the podcast, we're going to uncover some critical mistakes many make when choosing a financial advisor, we'll try to cut through the noise and figure out where we go wrong when it comes to finding the right financial advisor here on plan with the tax man. Look up in the sky. It's a bird.
 
Announcer 2  00:18
It's a plane. No, it's the tax man. He may not be a superhero, but Tony Morrow has saved many retirement plans with his extreme knowledge of tax planning strategies. It's time for a plan with the tax man.
 
Marc Killian  00:33
Hey, everybody, welcome to the podcast, Tony and myself here to talk investing financial retirement, and mistakes made when choosing a financial advisor is the topic of conversation. See if we can go through a couple of things here I got a I got a pretty long list. But we'll do at least a few of these, Tony and see how we can highlight some stuff for folks, how you doing?
 
Tony Mauro  00:51
And well, how
 
Marc Killian  00:52
about you hanging in there looking forward to a good conversation with you, as always, in getting ourselves into the groove with our podcast here, everything's going well for you.
 
Tony Mauro  01:03
It's going good, you know, tax season is as we're recording this now behind us, we have a few clients that we still they still owe us some information to get those done. But everybody is kind of taken care of and course around here now that the sun is shining a little bit everybody's getting outside more so like everybody's always a little happier. You don't want to come around. I'll
 
Marc Killian  01:26
tell you what, my neck of the woods, it's rained for like six days straight and about over it. Yeah, ready for some sunshine, we had a lot of sunshine for it. So I guess can't complain too much. But let's get into our topic today. Here. I've got a bunch of these, like I said, I don't know, we could easily turn this into a two parter. We'll see how it goes. But let's let's get started. See if we can run through some mistakes that people make when choosing a financial advisor. First and foremost, not understanding how the advisor gets paid. Look, this doesn't have to be a taboo thing, right? I mean, you guys don't work for free. But certainly as the client or potential client, it's okay for us to ask and understand how do you get paid? That's
 
Tony Mauro  02:01
right. And I think you do have to ask that to, you know, have your advisor. And you know, when you're choosing advisors, they should be able to tell you exactly how they're how they're doing that right. commission based fee based what right? Yeah, and you know, it's a little it's in yet you, what you need to do is maybe take a step further and ask for an explanation, if you don't understand most advisors today are either that they're either commission fee based or asset based, you know, and what we try to do is stay away from the commission based, you know, if at all possible, and what we do is we go kind of go over it and writing with our clients, you know, here's the way we get paid. And they have a choice, basically, at least with us, is they can just pay us a financial planning fee, just like they would if I put on my accountant hat and pay for that. Or they can and then go take and then invest and manage the assets themselves. Or like a lot of advisors, they call it an asset based fee, it's usually between a half and 1%. And what that is, is, you know, based on the amount you have invested, say it's $10,000, the advisor

Just like an annual checkup is important for maintaining good health, performing regular financial checkups is an essential part of planning for a healthy and successful retirement. By regularly assessing your budget, goals, and progress, you can make informed decisions to keep your finances on track. Although financial wellness is going to look different for everyone, we’ll share some areas you should be paying attention to in today’s episode.
 
Important Links: Website: http://www.yourplanningpros.com
Call: 844-707-7381
 
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Transcript: 
Marc Killian:
Just like an annual checkup is important for maintaining good health, performing regular financial checkups is essential part of the planning process for successful retirement health. So on this podcast of Plan With the Tax Man, Tony and I are going to talk about your financial wellness checkup.
Hey everybody, welcome into the podcast this week as Tony Mauro and myself talk about getting our finances, getting a little checkup, getting a little tuneup if you will, some things to think about to make sure that stuff is working the way it should because financial wellness is going to look different for everybody. We want to highlight a few areas where maybe we all should pay attention to various things on this week's episode.
So what's going on, Tony? How you doing, my friend?
Tony Mauro:
I'm doing well. Spring is here, and so I can't wait to talk about this because everybody wants to be outside here pretty quick. And I think besides having physical checkups, depending on where you're at, I think the financial checkup is always well in order.
Marc Killian:
Oh, yeah.
Tony Mauro:
So it's a good topic.
Marc Killian:
Definitely. I mean, you think about reviews that you do with your advisors or you do with your clients, it's kind of the same kind of thing. But we'll kind of tie it into the medical analogy just for fun as well.
But first and foremost, let's say you're trying to lose weight or you're trying to get healthy. So many of us are. You want to review your goals, so you want to discuss the importance of whatever your retirement goals are with your financial professional so that you guys can be on the same page.
Tony Mauro:
Exactly. And really every piece of this whole presentation we're going to talk about today is in essence, when we dig deep into it, it's the financial plan itself. We're only going to touch on a few topics and lightly, but one of the things we do with every client that wants to be a client of ours is we go through a plan with them.
Now a lot of them say, "Well, I don't really want that. I just need this." And I tell them, "You don't go to your doctor and just say, 'Well, I just need this, or this ailment.' I mean, they check you out. They ask you questions. They want to know what's wrong with you before they can diagnose something." And that's exactly what we're trying to do.
But the very first thing is trying to figure out what do you want? What are your goals? Because that's where we have to start and then see where everything else fits. Because without that, the whole thing really is useless.
So we start there in our plan, and we're going to go through some other steps here too, but it's so important because we go back to that at every meeting and visit that because goals change. And so we have to adjust our plan.
Marc Killian:
Yeah. So I mean, you got the outline if you will, which is the retirement goals and what you want to do and so on and so forth. But then you kind of dive into a little bit like you're going to check those vital signs, if you will, which typically is going to be the income and the outgoing, what's coming in, what's going out.
Tony Mauro:
Right. So once you know the goals, then we have to start working on the how do we get there? And much of it is dependent upon how much you're bringing in, how much you're spending. Maybe you have trouble spending maybe a little too much. We have to rein that in a little bit. Other

Psychologists have determined that retirement is one of the most stressful events that some people will experience in life. In this episode, we’ll look at the ways to proactively deal with the stress surrounding the retirement process.
 
Important Links: Website: http://www.yourplanningpros.com
Call: 844-707-7381
 
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Transcript: 
Marc Killian:
Psychologists have determined that retirement is one of the most stressful events that some people will experience in life. On this episode, we'll look at the ways to proactively deal with the stress surrounding the retirement process here on Plan With The Tax Man.
Hey everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. Tony Mauro and myself here to talk about steering clear of retirement stress here on this episode with Tony. We're going to see if we can help you guys figure out a couple of key places hopefully to help reduce some of that stress.
Tony, what's going on my friend? How are you?
Tony Mauro:
Yeah, I'm doing good. We were just talking before we came on, it's actually cold and snowy here today. Of course, we're still in the tax season, so bad weather has not quite left us.
Marc Killian:
Yeah. It's trying. Spring is trying to completely pop up.
Tony Mauro:
Trying, yeah. We've had good weather, so I can't complain.
Marc Killian:
You guys were just warm not too long ago at the time we're taping this too.
Tony Mauro:
We were, yeah.
Marc Killian:
It's been all around the map. Yeah, for sure.
Well, but you know what? It can be a little stressful though, if we want to tie that into our conversation, Tony, right? So it's like, "Oh, good days, good days. Oh, bad days." And then it's like, "Man, I just really want some good days." You get a little stressed kind of waiting for it hopefully to show up and stay around.
So let's kind of transition that into some of this retirement stress that we were talking about and that I was teeing up, and kick it off with just understanding the fact that this is a significant gear change. I mean, often we get so focused on the X's and O's of, is my money good, Tony, for retirement, that we kind of forget about some of the little things like, "Oh yeah, my whole life is about to change."
Tony Mauro:
It is. And we've been conditioned to work our whole lives. And at least the people I see are not used to it and sometimes have a trouble adjusting outside of all the money stuff. I mean, that's part of it that causes them stress.
But we're so used to, at least in America I think, compared to other countries, we're always stressed. We're always running to the next thing and work life, personal life. I mean, you name it. You talk to people and they're stressed out.
Retirement's supposed to be, let's move away from that a little bit. So these are just going to be some good topics to talk about today.
Marc Killian:
Yeah. And so if you're thinking about that gear change, I mean, first and foremost, yeah, it's great because you're no longer on the clock, but there's still some stress that comes with it.
Tony Mauro:
There is. I mean, even though for most of the retirees, you're not working, there still is... I think the first thing that hits my clients is, "Now I have no purpose." And they get stressed out about that right off the bat.
And then little things start creeping in, such as anything from grandkids and things like that, to if they pick up a part-time job, being able to make sure they make that. Just to the normal everyday life things. What I think we need to do really is sit down and plan our days a little bit, just like we were when we were working, to alleviate some of that stress, and make sure that you understand that you still do have a purpose and you are still going out and doing things, even if you're not working,
Marc Killian:
Right. Because I mean, on the one hand you go, "Yeah, no clock, no meetings, no annoying coworkers, this all sounds fantastic." But sometimes humans don't do that great with change. And then you start kind of stre

Unpack the toolbox of technology that's promising to redefine retirement planning, but does it deliver? This episode takes a critical look at the wave of innovations, from personal finance management software to online calculators, and questions whether they truly simplify the planning process or introduce new complexities
 
Important Links: Website: http://www.yourplanningpros.com
Call: 844-707-7381
 
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Transcript: 
 
Marc Killian  00:01
Let's unpack the tool box of technology that's promising to redefine retirement planning. But does it actually deliver? So on this episode of playing with the tax man will take a critical look at the wave of innovations, from personal finance management software, to online calculators and more. Stick around for this episode playing with a text.
 
00:22
Look up in the sky. It's a bird.
 
Announcer 2  00:24
It's a plane. No, it's the tax man. He may not be a superhero. But Tony Morrow has saved many retirement plans with his extreme knowledge of tax planning strategies. It's time for a plan with the tax man.
 
Marc Killian  00:38
Hey, gang, what's going on this week here, Tony Morrow and I back once again to talk investing finance and retirement. And Tony is going to help us talk about you know, technology, is it and how is it redefining retirement planning? What are some pros and cons of various different things we'll run through and how does he feel about it as a seasoned professional, a CPA, a CFP and an EA of 30 plus years? What does he think of all this tech and the things that he's seen through his many years of helping folks to and through retirement? So that's on the docket? We're gonna get into it with Tony this week. What's going on? Brother? How are you?
 
Tony Mauro  01:10
I'm fantastic. Looking forward to talking tech. I love tech.
 
Marc Killian  01:14
Yeah. Big tech guy.
 
Tony Mauro  01:16
I'm a big tech guy. Okay, sometimes to my own detriment.
 
Marc Killian  01:19
Aren't we all?
 
Tony Mauro  01:20
Yeah,
 
Marc Killian  01:21
that is certainly the case. Well, you know, like I said, You've been doing this a long time, Tony. So you've certainly we've seen this tech boom. And I'm not trying to make you sound old, by the way. Because I know you're not, but you just been doing this a long time. And there's been a obviously a huge boom, in various different things in the last 20 years, from a tech standpoint. So it should be an interesting conversation to have, because many of your clients and the folks that check out our podcasts and things, they are 50 over, I'm 52, right, we're starting to get older, and I'm pretty tech savvy as well. But you know, you have friends that are the same age or maybe a few years older, and you can see that some people just aren't as up with it or something, you're think you're tech savvy, then something even newer comes out. And you're like, Man, I'm I'm so tired of this stuff. I don't want to learn one more new thing, right? So it can be daunting. So let's, let's talk about a few here. Let's start with the simple big elephant, 800 pound, gorilla, whatever you want to call it. In the room, which is Google, everybody, Google something at some point, and it has certainly altered how we look up information, what's your take on it from the financial standpoint, or
 
Tony Mauro  02:27
from the financial standpoint, I think it can be good, you know, and I'll try to do goods and Bad's of of each of these that we hit. But you know, obviously, the ease of it is you can get a lot of financial questions possibly answered. Very quickly, you have many, many choices. Many people obviously, don't scroll down very far. They take about the first two or three and take that as gospel. And I think that's where sometimes it could get you into trouble a little bit on the financial side is is what you're reading from somebody what I would consider authoritative. In other words, somebody that you know, really knows what they're talkin

As much as any other threat, recognizing and avoiding scams has become a necessary skill for today’s retirees to develop. Join us as we explore crucial steps you can take to safeguard your financial well-being against the growing tide of scams and identity theft. Learn from real-life stories and gain practical advice to keep your finances secure in this digital era, all from the perspective of a seasoned financial professional.
 
Important Links: Website: http://www.yourplanningpros.com
Call: 844-707-7381
 
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Transcript: 
Marc Killian  00:01
As much as any other threat recognizing and avoiding scams has become a necessary skill for today's retirees to develop. Join us this week on plan with the tax man as we explore some crucial steps to hopefully safeguard your financial well being against the growing tide of scams and identity theft. Look up in the sky. It's a bird.
 
Announcer 2  00:21
It's a plane. No, it's the tax man. He may not be a superhero, but Tony Morrow has saved many retirement plans with his extreme knowledge of tax planning strategies. It's time for a plan with the tax man.
 
Marc Killian  00:36
Hey, everybody, welcome into the podcast. It's playing with a tax man with Tony Morrow and myself here to talk about your financial fortress, practical strategies for retirees against scams and fraud. And for this month of March, I think Tony and I are going to kind of stay with tech as our theme. We're going to talk about some scams and stuff. This week, we're going to talk about some other technological, you know, retirement planning things on our next episode. So we're gonna kind of use that as our theme this month in March. What's going on my friend, how are you?
 
Tony Mauro  01:03
I'm doing well. How
 
Marc Killian  01:04
about you hanging in there? You and I were talking offline, as we got started that it's just you know, it's March already. And
 
Tony Mauro  01:10
we're busy, busy, busy, busy. And I thought these two topics that we're going to talk about in these next couple episodes be? Yeah, like I said, very, very timely, it's tax season. There's
 
Marc Killian  01:19
all kinds of things going on. Yes, sir. You're hear a lot from clients. So yeah, looking forward to sending information back and forth doing this, you know, the scammers they love to come out in force at different times of the year, certainly around Christmas, right. That's a good one springtime tax time, right? They tend to kind of come out there, oh, you, you know you, your tax bill is this or, you know, you owe this and use your tax, you know, return to pay for it, all these kinds of things. Right? always something going on. So let's jump in and talk about a few things. And, you know, I got this first a little news example here, Tony, that I wanted you to kind of listen to this and check this out. And then tell me things that you've seen similarly or heard, you know, within your own practice, right. So there was this news example, little synopsis here is the lady named Marjorie 77 years old, lost $660,000 to a Tech Support Scam, where the fraudsters posed as bank officials and somehow convinced her to wire her funds into crypto to protect her money from suppose a theft. Well, of course, they stole their money. Americans over 60 lost $3 billion last year in cyber fraud crazy, absolutely
 
Tony Mauro  02:30
crazy. It really is. And I think to elaborate on it, you know, most of the time the seniors tend to be the bigger targets but it can happen to anybody. And with all this tech going on and really sitting behind computers and phones all day it comes at us and you know we were just talking about how busy we are and sometimes you you're busy and you're not paying attention and you just go with it and then some potentially could happen the worst case I've seen in our own practice is we had a an elderly lady several years back just that she just uh you know, annual tax climb but she came in and she had said that