Today, my guest is none other than my accountant, Clayton!

Clayton and I have talked about doing this podcast for a while. I pay him thousands of dollars each year to help with tax planning, structuring our investments and businesses and other strategic decisions that ultimately help me reach FIRE sooner.

I thought it would be interesting to chat to him about what role an accountant can play when someone is trying to reach FIRE, and explore why certain decisions were recommended for our family in terms of tax advice and planning.

Some of the topics we cover in today’s episode are:

• The difference between an accountant, a tax advisor and a financial planner (00:05:36)
• The role an account can play in someone’s journey to financial independence? (00:09:08)
• Common financial structures for people wanting to improve their situation (00:11:56)
• Some of the advantages of a financial trust structure (00:14:13)
• The difference between tax minimisation and tax evasion (00:16:52)
• How can people get the most out of their accountant? (00:22:30)
• Easy things you can do to help you at tax time (00:26:58)
• How do you find a good accountant who'll work with you to build wealth? (00:34:33)
• What are the main things to consider when starting a sole trader/freelancer business? (00:36:54)
• How often does the ATO actually audit people? (00:49:10)

• Website - McMillans

www.aussiefirebug.com/podcast