Wealth Actually

Frazer Rice
Wealth Actually

Interviews with the Next Generation of Experts, Commentators, Entrepreneurs and Creatives in and around wealth and the wealth management industry. From Frazer Rice, noted fiduciary expert, operator of frazerrice.com and author of "Wealth Actually".

  1. 3D AGO

    FAMILY OFFICE AI

    Family Office AI has become a dominant theme at the fancy dinners where families and their advisors chart a course to incorporate new technologies. As wealthy families grapple with the risks and opportunities of AI, institutional rigor and structure hasn't kept up with the often informal world of family offices. This is a mistake High end governance must play a part in the family office AI space. https://youtu.be/n_KHB_gOc9M We're going to be talking to TIM PLUNKETT, who's the founder and managing partner of Plunkett PLLC. He advise families on structure, governance and the development of procedure around these exciting, but potentially dangerous concepts. We're going to be talking about best practices for family offices as they deal with the artificial intelligence theme. Family Office AI "When looking at AI adoption in family offices it is important to remain true to the culture, operations, reputation and underlying trust among those who built the Office in the first instance. Remain true to your principles and don't get distracted by the new toys." - Tim Plunkett Family Office AI Transcript Frazer Rice (00:01)Welcome aboard, Tim. Tim Plunkett (00:03)Hey Frasier, how are you doing? Thanks for having me. Frazer Rice (00:05)doing terrific. we're in the midst of Trump tariff season, so it's a little crazy, I'm sure for everybody. yeah. so why don't we, we're going to talk a little bit about family offices and artificial intelligence, which I think is a theme. both themes are, you know, big unto themselves, but how family offices integrate with the space. I think it's something where it's a, it's an area where family offices can be very informal and. Tim Plunkett (00:11)We're blessed. Frazer Rice (00:33)Getting some institutional rigor around them is important. And so to that end, you have a lot of broad experiences advising businesses from a governance perspective. Maybe describe your firm for a few minutes and what you do. Tim Plunkett (00:47)Sure, thanks again. I have three pillars in my firm. I can only do certain things well, so I try and limit what I do. My training is as a litigator, and so I consistently think of things always as having to explain them in front of a judge, which helps with a lot of risk, which goes along hand-in-hand with AI and governance. The second part is I've done a lot of government relations work, which is working across disciplines and organizations, trying to advocate for certain outcomes and create business environments that are efficient, compliant, ethical. Again, all that ties back to the same foundations in the world of AI. And the third component of it is, is obviously the AI work I do, which came out of working in data privacy and security over the last 10 years. The natural flow was to move towards this sector. And today my practice is Mostly helping companies learn how to implement strategies that are fair, equitable, just, but also compliant with the laws and keeping in pace with the technological change, is really at breakneck speed and an incredible place to be right now in the world of opportunities in front of all of us. It's very exciting. Frazer Rice (01:57)So when you're canvassing companies and families that are invested in them, what are the use cases that you're seeing? Tim Plunkett (02:04)So use cases are, I mean, they're kind of all over the place. you look at in terms of how do you define the practices, have, there's operational use cases. so you have use cases that are like document intelligence and automation.

    28 min
  2. APR 10

    HOW NOT TO INVEST

    BARRY RITHOLTZ's new book "How Not to Invest" has received a warm reception. We talk about investing mistakes, the Trump Tariffs, and curating a good media diet. https://youtu.be/pS4f45v2iRk https://www.amazon.com/dp/1804091197/ "How Not To Invest" Transcript Frazer Rice (00:03)Welcome aboard, Barry. Barry (00:04)Well, thanks so much for having me, Frasier. Frazer Rice (00:06)Well, we are recording in the midst of chaos and disorder. We're basically in day three, trading day three of the tariffs and trying to understand all of that. But back at the matter of hand, your new book, I read it really good. I thought it did a really good job of sort of colloquially putting some process and structure around not making bad investing decisions. Tell me a little bit about the impetus for the book. Barry (00:35)Sure, so the last book, Bailout Nation, was 15 years ago when I've had a lot of friends and family say, when's the next book coming? And, you know, I had a little, like, hey, that was kind of a slog, stuff blowing up and forcing me to rewrite entire sections of the book every time some new company went belly up. And I came home from Christmas break from vacation. You have that dead zone a few days before you're back in the office January 2nd. And I just started thumbing through some old quarterly calls for clients and research notes and market commentaries. You know, I had moved the blog from GeoCities in the nineties to Typepad in the two thousands to WordPress in the 2010s. And so I was looking at some of these old things and like, God, I never revisited this. This is such a great piece of research. I love this academic take on where alpha or even beta comes from. And I'm just kind of mulling it over. I start writing down chapter ideas on three by five cards like these. And I end up using this giant bulletin board on my wall. It just basically I start putting stuff up and I start rearranging them. And pretty soon it becomes obvious. Hey, these ideas, a lot of them are don'ts. Don't do this. Don't do that. Avoid this. Try not to make this bad mistake. And ultimately, I kind of came to the conclusion that, know, we've part of the reason I held off writing a book is there have been tens of thousands of investing books telling people what to do. And we're all pretty mediocre investors still. Maybe it might be useful if we learned what not to do and thus "how not to invest" was born. Frazer Rice (02:35)We found kind of an interesting crucible to test all of this with sort of Trump's tariff initiatives and a bunch of chaos on that front. As you think about what we're living in right now with uncertainty, whether manufactured or not, what are some of the top things that you think about that you tell people, your clients and otherwise? to keep in mind as we sort of weather this storm and try to learn a little bit about what the future is going to look like. Barry (03:06)Right. I had no idea what what the sequel would be named. Maybe it could be how not to run an economy or what we'll play with that. But so so what's happening these days are kind of fascinating because the first third of the book I spent a lot of time talking about how little we really know about about what's happening right now. And we learn even less about the future. And so our Frazer Rice (03:12)Ha Barry (03:34)A hot take on these things is maybe we shouldn't build portfolios based on having to predict where the economy is going to be, what the hot sector is going to be, where the hot geography is going to be,

    31 min
  3. MAR 12

    CIVICS

    As the United States acclimates to the "flood the zone" governing style, reasoned discourse around civics has crumbled. https://youtu.be/ngx0GxJjmDM There are many causes. Polarizing media, bombastic claims, and systematized gas-lighting on both sides have created one of the most toxic political environments since the Vietnam War. However, the absence of civics and good citizenship concepts have laid the groundwork for the hysterics of today. LINDSEY CORMACK has a way forward. She is the author of the book "How to Raise a Citizen " https://www.amazon.com/How-Raise-Citizen-Why-Its-ebook/dp/B0DBWYTXJ4/ Outline: Why are Civics Important? Recent stats on the absence of civics Understanding structures Understanding the "why" of structures and civics Knowing what the Constitution says Knowing that the Constitution evolves too Understanding federalism Government funding mechanisms Communication- how to broach inflamed subjects How to raise the next generation What makes a good citizen?  Going beyond jury duty and voting Civics and Active participation Intersection with wealthy multi-generational families Joint decision-maling Believing in something greater than self Guardrails of ideals melded with open-mindedness and curiosity Right holder vs Duty bearer (Rights come with obligations) Justice vs compliance  Control vs grace Right and wrong in civics Contacting Lindsey Links: www.howtoraiseacitizen.com IG: @howtoraiseacitizen Lindsay discussing civics on Errol Louis' YOU DECIDE Podcast The Intersection of Civics, Money and Presidents Rights and Obligations with David Haass (Civics) Background LINDSEY is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Stevens Institute of Technology. She is the former Director of the Diplomacy Lab. She is the secretary of community board 8 in Manhattan and the co-chair of the Street Life Committee. Lindsey is the creator of DCInbox, a comprehensive digital archive of Congress-to-constituent e-newsletters.  Finally, she is also the author of Congress and U.S. Veterans: From the GI Bill to the VA Crisis. Frazer's interest in citizenship and civics: You may be wondering why a show about wealth management (and beyond) would be interested in citizenship and civics.   In a nutshell, I get asked three times a day what can be done to raise responsible kids.  Because families (and the answers to those questions) are different. The answers should come from within, I ask what they (the parents or grandparents what think it takes to be a "good citizen."  The answer to that question can then lead into the discussions I need to have about stewardship and a variety of other concepts. Additionally, good civics is good business. Businesses ignore the politics around them at their own peril. Board dynamics are also the intersection of civics, joint decision-making and constituent accountability for...

    28 min
  4. FEB 24

    CONGESTION PRICING

    For those of us who live in New York, mass transit is the norm and traffic is a minor form of apocalypse. In response to this persistent issue, New York City implemented a new congestion pricing plan. https://youtu.be/TeObZEnjmv4?si=fQTxzRCe6b-sGH5F Besides the increased funds for badly-needed infrastructure improvements, the plan made other promises. These also include reduced commute times, better air-quality, and improved safety for all road users. https://www.amazon.com/Movement-Yorks-Long-Take-Streets-ebook/dp/B0CV9FNFWV/ Because the sample size is small, it is an open question of whether congestion pricing has delivered? Can it deliver? And how did we get from the horse and buggy, to the street car, to the train and automobile-based system we have now? Will it apply to other cities in the U.S.? Nicole Gelinas and I took some time to trace New York's transportation history in her new book and analyze the prospects for congestion pricing's effectiveness going forward. (*UPDATE: 20 minutes after we stopped recording on 2/19/25, President Trump announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation was pulling its approval of New York City's congestion pricing plan. Governor Holchul has met, apparently unsuccessfully, with President Trump on the topic. Litigation has already started. STAY TUNED.) NICOLE GELINAS, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder, is a Manhattan Institute senior fellow and contributing editor to City Journal. She lives in New York City. She is the author of the recent book, Movement: New York's Long War to Take Back Its Streets From the Car. Outline How did you get interested in congestion pricing and the development of transportation in NYC? New York City's Transit History What are some of the "tragedies" (Cross Bronx Expressway / death of streetcar) and "near misses" (The Saving of Washington Square Park and Grand Central Terminal) that we don't know about? How much credit or blame should we give Robert Moses? Congestion pricing- what is it trying to do (and is it trying to do too much)? As a revenue raiser To reduce congestion Help environment Quality of Life What are the early returns on its effectiveness?  (Anecdotally, to me it seems like it is having a positive congestion effect in Manhattan)  Uber/Taxis?  Notwithstanding these initiatives, what about these often empty cars? E-Bikes? Now that the city has addressed cars, what about the safety concerns of motorized bikes? How is the program affecting Westchester, Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut?   As a result of these changes, has the air quality shown any improvement? Meanwhile, is London a Success?  Because of its heady reputation of being one of the most forward cities on congestion control, urban planners trot out London as an example for others. Is this warranted? (However, having been there in November, I thought the traffic was insane! ) Did they do other things to screw up a good initiative? Congestion Pricing's Future (*Before Trump's Involvement) I never met an automatic tax that a politician didn't see to expand and the tax is automatically going up by law,

    31 min
  5. FEB 22

    Podcast Trailer

    https://youtu.be/xNeFuqsU7A4 Podcast Trailer Welcome to the "Wealth Actually" podcast trailer. I'm FRAZER RICE. After 170 episodes, I thought I'd check in to make sure that everyone understood what to expect from the show going forward, especially if you're new to it. For those newcomers, it was time for a quick podcast trailer. Ultimately, I'll be talking to a lot of different experts in their various fields. By day, I'm a chief operating officer / wealth strategist for large complicated families. This involves wealth management, tax, trustee issues, family dynamics, and the odd business succession story. I'm also a lawyer which means I'm interested in legal issues that surround these concepts. Finally, I enjoy politics and public policy. I grew up in it, and so I like to think about it and its interaction with my day job. Ultimately, this show is paired with a book called Wealth Actually, and the best way to reach me is via www.wealthactually.com. I hope this podcast trailer was helpful. I'm always looking to get it better. If you have guest ideas, topics to explore or or other ways to increase its reach, I'm happy to listen. Finally, if you have other shows that I think are worth experiencing, send them along. (For those repeat listeners, you will notice I changed the theme music too. It's a little more thunder, a lot less synthesizer. Let me know what you think of it.) Enjoy the show and be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends. More Episodes Find more episodes in the podcast section HERE Book To buy a copy of the book "Wealth, Actually", see the link below. (There is a great audiobook version that I just produced and is accessible on Amazon too) https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/ Social Media Linkedin Twitter IG BlueSky (NEW!) Podcast Trailer

    1 min
  6. FEB 12

    THE IRS

    The Internal Revenue Service is a massive "Three Letter Agency." It's a bureau of the Department of the Treasury and (believe it or not) one of the world's most efficient tax administrators. In fiscal year 2020, the IRS collected almost $3.5 trillion in revenue and processed more than 240 million tax returns. It has over 90,000 employees. It is also about as popular as Communism and Dog Catchers with most people! This makes running this most public of organizations a challenge for garnering resources and maintaining safety, stability and confidence in the revenue collection that makes this country go. https://youtu.be/mXxwh0IR3Ig Charles “Chuck” Rettig is a Shareholder at Chamberlain Hrdlicka in the Firm's Tax Controversy & Litigation practice and served as Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from 2018 through 2022. He shares his experience with us and some pointers in dealing with the Service. How the IRS operates and its priorities: The volume of work and responsibility of the Internal Revenue Service The structure of the agency Data Science is the Future What it does that people may not be aware of Other parts of the Treasury opine on tax policy, but the agency provides guidance on workability Chuck as the Commissioner appeared before Congressional Committees 37 times in 4 years. Personality matters both internally and externally The Commissioner has an 11 person security detail and receives 3 credible death threats / week. What to expect in the next years: Legislative Uncertainty Administrative Challenges The Service has almost 400 Million "clients" with huge disparities in sophistication Resources are always a struggle- getting bang for the buck Personnel departures from the Service Prediction: Increased aggressiveness at the state level What best practices in front of the IRS look like. Setting up your affairs with a ling term strategy in mind Interacting with an Examiner Speed and Humanity The 3 headed approach to family office planning High end advisory work with the T&E group The overall context in working with the structure and culture of the IRS - having a backdoor channel Litigation support for those situations that need it. Links With Kelley Miller: The IRS Audits You- What's Next?" Transcript of the Show https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/ Frazer Rice (00:01)The IRS and taxation in general is in all sorts of tumult with the new administration. How to deal with the IRS, how to file your taxes, how to plan for things going forward. It's something to think about. We have Chuck Redig on and he is a terrific resource for all of our listeners. He's a shareholder at Chamberlain Herdlica. It is in the firm's tax controversy and litigation department. Frazer Rice (00:26)Most importantly, he served as commissioner of the IRS from 2018 through 2022. So we have a little inside baseball here on how the commission works and things to think about in your own practice. So Chuck, welcome aboard.

    40 min
  7. JAN 29

    PRESERVING LEGACIES

    https://youtu.be/h1yo6l7V0Yw Preserving legacies is about more than cataloging "stuff" and keeping a spreadsheet. Done well, it can provide the grounding for intergenerational communication, engagement with outside constituencies and, in certain cases, monetization. This involves a organized process: Preserving Legacies and Cataloging With the horrible recent storm damage in North Carolina and Florida and the horrible Los Angeles wildfires, the cataloging process is on the forefront of many families' minds. Storytelling Development The artifacts of a family can be the keystone of family narrative building and next-generation education. Fan/Constituency Engagement The building of physical digital museums can be the centerpiece of engagement for internal and external constituencies. From extended families, to customers and extended fan-bases, advanced legacy preservation is more than just "stuff." Monetization In certain situations, these efforts can lead to new forms of business and monetization. For artists, authors and musicians, these museum efforts can add value to IP revenue streams and transactions. Preserving Legacies We talk about case studies with stars like Def Leppard, Chris Paul and Jon Bon Jovi. However, we also go through the importance of preserving legacies with families that aren't filling 50,000 person stadiums. We distinguish "Preserving Legacies" from Estate Settlement (where many families first begin this process). That said, this show pairs well with the Estate Settlement episode with Joel Schoenmeyer. Background BRAD MINDICH is the Founder/CEO of Inveniem which is the leading archiving/fan engagement company that works directly with artists, estates, athletes, brands, and individual celebrities on finding, organizing, preserving, and monetizing their artifacts and history. INVENIUM, and its fan-facing brand Definitive Authentic’s, overarching message to its clients is Your Past Is Your Future® and this philosophy sets the tone for how the company holistically and strategically partners with its clients to both preserve and extend legacies and connect clients deeper with their fans. The company’s client list is confidential, but it includes some of the world’s most iconic creators. https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/ https://bsky.app/profile/frazerrice.bsky.social/post/3lgul3z7nrs2a https://open.spotify.com/episode/0C9Bost6uihR1Pj8MnsppE?si=cbf4a554b9f04cfa

    26 min
  8. JAN 3

    ESTATE SETTLEMENT

    Estate Settlement is one of the most feared parts of wealth transition. It is where trust and estate planning meet their first real test- usually when a will is put in front of the probate court system. JOEL SCHOENMEYER, Head of the Family Wealth Group at a Major Regional Bank joins us to discuss the ins and outs. https://youtu.be/OwepMwX0uao?si=YKevHbmDrtrRv12b What is Joel's background? I spent the first 15+ years of my career as a trusts and estates attorney. First at a few different law firms, including Sidley Austin – back when they had a T&E group. Then as a solo practitioner for more than a decade. In 2012 I made the transition to working for financial institutions, where I have held a number of roles: Legal department, in the trust counsel group Senior Trust Advisor on an ultra-high net worth team National Head of Estate Settlement Senior Wealth Strategist in a multi-family office group I’m now in charge of the Family Wealth group at Fifth Third, which is an offering for ultra-high net worth clients and families. Just broadly, can you explain what happens from a legal perspective when someone dies? Sure. First, a little terminology: “Estate settlement” is the overall process of wrapping up a deceased person’s affairs, a job that’s usually handled by an “executor”. That settlement process can include lots of different things, but it can be broken down into a few broad topics: Inventorying and collecting all assets; Identifying and then paying debts and expenses, including taxes (both final income taxes and, if the estate is large enough, estate taxes); and Distributing what remains according to the decedent’s estate plan (or if they didn’t have one, according to state law). “Probate” can be a part of estate settlement, and involves court supervision of the above process, to make sure that it is handled correctly. I spent some of my time as an attorney drafting Wills and Trusts. However, I spent even more time in court, dealing with probate issues (including litigation). We are going to be talking about messy estate settlement issues and how to avoid them. Why is this important? I will say that, throughout my career, I have met clients (or potential clients) who say, “I don’t care what happens when I die – that’s someone else’s problem.” However, most people do NOT want to cause problems for their loved ones. The death of a parent or spouse or sibling is difficult enough without having to figure out where their stuff is, or what they wanted to do with it.There’s also the positive aspect. You have family and friends – and possibly charities – that you hope will thrive after your passing. Why wouldn’t you want to set things up so that they actually get your hard- earned money? Do you want to have that money go to the IRS or some probate litigators? How should people start to think about their estate? I break the issues to consider down into four interconnected categories: Assets Debts and expenses (including taxes) Personal Relationships Estate Plan (Will, Trust, etc.) One thing you will notice is that your estate plan is only one category here. A lot of people think that having a Will and/or Trust in place means that they are “done” with planning for their death. That’s just not true.

    36 min
    4.8
    out of 5
    24 Ratings

    About

    Interviews with the Next Generation of Experts, Commentators, Entrepreneurs and Creatives in and around wealth and the wealth management industry. From Frazer Rice, noted fiduciary expert, operator of frazerrice.com and author of "Wealth Actually".

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