Dr Gregg Larivee gives their insight on the cost of poor health, while Les Winston discusses the business philanthropy.

Episode Transcript

Intro:

Welcome to the Practical Tax podcast, with tax attorney Steve Moskowitz. The Practical Tax podcast is brought to you by Moskowitz, LLP, a tax law firm.

Disclaimer:

The information contained in this podcast is based upon information available as of date of recording and will not be updated for changes in law regulation. Any information is not to be considered tax advice or legal advice and does not form an attorney/client relationship. Further, this podcast may be construed as attorney advertising. You should see professional consultation for your individual tax and legal situation.

Chip Franklin:

All right, welcome to Practical Tax with tax attorney Steve Moskowitz. I'm Chip Franklin and Steve, boy, I tell you, I'm excited about today's show because we cover a wide variety of areas, all which have at some heart of it, like most things, to do with the taxes we pay and what that means about our quality of life. And I mean, obviously with the extensions and the tax, even this has been a really busy time for you, this time of year. When you see people that are filing these extensions, I mean, I'm one of them. Well, what happens to people that they would file this late in the year?

Steve Moskowitz:

Oh, that's very common. And for example, we oftentimes tell clients, we advise them to file extensions because you know how I've talked about retirement accounts and how that's such a benefit? Cash flow. So what happens is you have with a lot of the accounts, you have up to the time of filing the return plus extension to set them up and fund them. So I suppose you have this situation: you're a business person, and this is a tiny little bit technical because it gets into the accounting and the tax.

You've made a big profit on your taxes, but you don't have any cash because you spent your money on inventory, which is an asset on the balance sheet. So they say, "Well, wait a minute, I've made all this money on my tax return but I don't have any cash because I reinvest it in the business," and that's sitting there in inventory. So you say, "Well all right, that gives me an extra half a year to earn," and then the money that I earn, I can put into the pension plan on or before the due date, including extension. Again, that date varies depending on the form of entity and the plan you have. But that's a good reason to do it.

Chip Franklin:

Yeah.

Steve Moskowitz:

And then you legally greatly lower your taxes with money you've earned three quarters of the way into year two, that you're deducting from year one where most things you have to write the check in year one. This is an exception, that's one of many.

Chip Franklin:

Yeah. I think I've filed an extension for 20 straight years now. And it's not for any of the reasons you said, it's most-

Steve Moskowitz:

A lot of times you're waiting for documents from others.

Chip Franklin:

Right, and that happens too. All right. One of the biggest issues facing not just Americans but almost everybody in North America and in Europe, is healthcare and how it affects not only obviously businesses and individuals, but our society as a whole. Our first guest today is Dr. Gregg Larivee, I almost messed his name up, Dr. Gregg Larivee, and he's created the Integrated Medical Center in Florida and he's been treating NFL, MLB, PGA, and NBA athletes, plus people from all sorts of life for more than 20 years. And he is nice enough to take the time to join us here on Practical Tax. Doc, good to have you here. Thank you so much.

Dr. Gregg Larivee:

Thanks for having me.

Chip Franklin:

We had a great conversation before we came on about sports and I think sports is for many Americans, is an escape, but for many of these athletes, obviously it's something they can't escape as when they leave the sport later on and the injuries that they've had. But I think you can draw also a slight parallel for Americans too with the way we, and how we don't exercise and the things that we carry throughout our lives and in some cases, shorten our lives. I guess I want to ask a question, start out with a question for both of you. The societal costs that poor health inflicts not only on a personal level but to society as a whole, it's a problem for both individuals and of course businesses. Let me start with you Gregg, in your opinion, how serious is our national healthcare establishment and also the way that people eat and maybe don't exercise enough?

Dr. Gregg Larivee:

Yeah, I mean, I think as a society and as a workforce, we're unhealthy as a whole. We sit too much, we eat a lot of unprocessed food, we consume too much alcohol, and we don't exercise enough. The cost in terms of dollars, managing unhealthy behavior is astounding. The cost in terms of dollars, in terms of lost productivity is monumental, so all these things have an effect and a trickle down effect, which affects everybody from a personal level to different companies and organizations.

Chip Franklin:

Steve, obviously the money part, when you look at this for whether it's a large corporation or a small business, how do you treat an issue like this? If you're starting your business, you're bringing employees in and you and I had this conversation yesterday about information and the value of your health information across the board, it's a difficult balance, right?

Steve Moskowitz:

It is, and here's the way I'd resolve it. I think the employer should pay for healthcare. I pay for healthcare for my employees, I always have. But what you have to be super careful about is, in my opinion, you don't want the employer involved in the healthcare of the employee because then the employer gets too much information and then the employer says, "Well, wait a minute, now you have this condition and I don't think you're good enough to work for me," or, "I demand that you do this and stop doing that." How intrusive can that be? And then the employer says, "Well, wait a minute. Now this would really be good for your health if you did A, B, C, D, and E," and all of a sudden they're regulating your life. So the minute you say get involved, the problem is that gives them access to your, what's more personal than your health?

Chip Franklin:

Yeah, well, I mean sports franchises, they have a vested interest in what people do. In your experience Doc does for example, the Dolphins tell a player, you can't smoke cigarettes because your athleticism is a big part of your contract and we don't want you to do it. Do they have that kind of decision making abilities?

Dr. Gregg Larivee:

Yeah, I mean there's all kinds of clauses in the contracts from, for example, one of my players just didn't cut weight, so he missed one of his bonuses. So there's all kinds of clauses in contracts trying to manage players' weight and behaviors as well, I mean so a lot of guys are not allowed riding motorbikes or going skiing, it's a great way to tear up your knee. So these are organizations like any other company obviously dealing with big time dollars and they have a vested interest in the behavior of their employees.

Chip Franklin:

It's funny, I think about some of the baseball players and football players from the past, maybe before your time Doc, but I know Steve would remember. You remember a guy named Sonny Jurgensen?

Dr. Gregg Larivee:

Oh, of course.

Chip Franklin:

All right, Sonny had a pot belly, right? And Sabathia, the pitcher for the Yankees and he was way overweight, but he could perform.And I was not viewing him from the stands, I want to get that straight, but look at Babe Ruth's belly. But boy, he sure could hit home runs.

Steve Moskowitz:

And I was not viewing him from the stands, I want to get that straight, but look at Babe Ruth's belly. But boy, he sure could hit home runs.

Chip Franklin:

I wonder how heavy he really was because he was so athletic. And I think maybe that came along later on, and it's much more romantic to think of this fat guy being such a great athlete. He has World series pitching records in addition to 714 home runs, but looking at medical coverage, and I agree with you 100% Steve, that corporations should pay for it. But I also think that when they do, it says something to the employees and it's also in their best interests. Would you agree, Doc?

Dr. Gregg Larivee:

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, and the thing that is important, if you look at society right now, let me tell you this number, 42%. 42% of Americans are overweight. Wow, that is unbelievable. The top three most expensive chronic diseases to manage are heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis and the number one cause of all those three is being overweight. So I think we have to step in and encourage companies to implement not only the care, but also preventative type measures to stop these trends from moving forward. At some point, we have to step in and we have to educate. We have to educate people on how to manage their diseases, but also the lifestyle changes so the younger population that's getting into the workforce doesn't end up with all these types of chronic problems. And the other thing too is adding to that, is mental health. We keep on talking about all these physical ailments, but mental health is a big one as well.

Chip Franklin:

Steve?

Steve Moskowitz:

And I firmly believe in education is wonderful. We say, "Look, if you eat these foods, it's better for your health. And if you do this and abstain from that, that's terrific." But where it has to stop is that the employer doesn't get to mandate the well, you don't smoke. Now, again, I don't think there's anybody that doesn't know about the dangers of smoking, but if you mandate that you don't smoke,