Owners' Equity

Real estate is one of the most popular investment strategies for building wealth, preserving it and creating enduring financial freedom. Investing in real estate opens a treasure trove of tax advantages that the traditional investment strategies sold on Wall Street do not fully provide. In fact, the tax code can become your investment strategy ally when you have the right mindset in place due to the multitude of real estate investing tax benefits available. The key however, is understanding what’s available and how to capitalize on it. On today's episode of the "Sharing the Illumination" wealth podcast, we discuss 12 major tax benefits that real estate investing provides. Listen in to find out how you can incorporate them in to your financial life design. 

Do your eyes gloss over when you look at your tax return? Do you even truly know if your returns are prepared accurately? Are you aware of of any last minute tax saving opportunities? We have found that most people answer yes, no and no to those questions about taxes and it is costing them.

Each year we review many tax returns that have been prepared for our clients and this year we get to welcome a new tax code and layout of the tax returns.  One this episode, we discuss the most common mistakes we have seen while reviewing tax returns, what you can do to prevent them and  address several last minute tax saving opportunities for those armed with financial intelligence. 

Wouldn't it be nice if all of our lifestyle spending was tax deductible? Well, there are ways to coordinate personal lifestyle planning strategies with solid tax planning to save you thousands of dollars per year in taxes. 

There is however one vital requirement to even make this possible - you have to own your own business and be self-employed. Even if you don't have a business today, it still pays to be aware of these difference making opportunities. 

On today's episode of the "Sharing the Illumination Wealth" podcast, we discuss three strategies that can have major tax saving and wealth building opportunities...and the best part about it, you don't even need to change your lifestyle. Listen in to find out how to make your personal lifestyle as legally tax deductible as possible. 

Building wealth isn't about how much money you make, it's about how much money you keep. One of the biggest factors in how much you get to keep is directly related to how much of your income goes to taxes. On this episode of the "Sharing the Illumination Wealth" podcast, we discuss 5 types of income that are available to you and the different ways in which they are taxed.  

Warren Buffett has famously said that he pays less tax this his secretary and shared in a New York Times op-ed how his tax rate was significantly lower than 20 of his employees who make far less money than himself as the 3rd richest man in the world. 

The tax code favors certain types of income and it's your responsibility to learn how to build those into your wealth plan in a strategic manner. At the end of the episode we share one action you should take after your taxes are prepared so you can get to the reality of your tax situation and make improvements from there.

You may not realize this but taxes are likely your single biggest expense when you add them all up - Federal Income Tax, State Income Tax, Payroll Tax, Corporate Tax, Sales Tax, Property Tax, and the list goes on. But what's even worse than the tax itself is the approach people take when it comes to their taxes. They view taxes as nuisance, confusing and an after-thought - relinquishing their tax management to a once a year exercise in gathering information and sending it to their tax preparer to file a tax return. 

For those of you that want to build wealth, you must change your mindset around Taxes. Without the proper mindset, you won’t be able to take the necessary steps to grow your intelligence around taxes and implement viable tax strategies customized for you on an ongoing basis. 

To build wealth and financial freedom, learning how to legally control this expense is essential to keeping more of what you make. This requires you moving from viewing taxes as a once a year burden to an ongoing wealth planning opportunity. 

Financial Independence Planning is comprised of many financial details and assumptions about the future. Many financial advisers seek to add unnecessary granularity in hopes of delivering their clients a magic retirement number. On this episode, we discuss the two essential numbers that you must  get right in your financial independence planning. 

What are these vital numbers? 

Listen in as we explain:

1. what these numbers are 

2. how you can determine and improve yours, and 

3. explain 3 step process that will allow you to achieve financial freedom with having to use any detailed calculations or assumptions. 

Over the past few episodes we have been addressing some of the most critical questions that you need to answer in order to create financial freedom. On today's episode we address the question of "How Much Money Do I Need for Financial Freedom?" We walk thru a step-by-step process to help you answer the "How Much" question yourself. The answer is essential as it will tell you how close you really are to financial freedom. From there, you can craft a realistic strategy to reach your financial independence goals. 

On this episode, we address the next most important question on the journey to financial independence - "When"?. This is the date where you actually turn your financial independence dream to reality. You have to know "When" in order to actually do the math behind financial independence planning.  "When" dictates who much you need to save, how long your investments will grow and compound, how long you need your money to last and all the other financial life strategies to impart to make it actually happen. As you listen to the episode, you will find there can be several phases of "When" and how to realistically timeline it out to eliminate the "if" and create certainty in your "When".  

This month, we are dedicating the "Sharing the Illumination Wealth" podcast to Financial Independence. On todays episode, we address two of the most important questions on your journey to financial independence. Unfortunately most financial advisors  "poo-poo" these two questions yet they are essential to actually creating a real plan for financial independence and an early retirement on your own terms.  At the end of the episode we share an exercise that you can do on your own time to help you answer these two vital questions.

This past weekend my daughter got sick so we took her to our local urgent care.  She was quickly seen and dismissed with her actual ailment being misdiagnosed.  She didn't receive the treatment she needed and her illness got worse (104 fever). Fortunately, we saw her pediatrician thereafter who properly diagnosed her with bronchitis and ensured she got the medicine she needed.

If you want financial independence and a healthy financial life, a financial advisor focused solely on your investment portfolio or insurance will not cut it and can actually be detrimental to your wealth.  On today’s episode, I’m going to address a vital planning framework that your financial advisor must have in place to ensure your financial health and well-being. 

The wisdom of a competent and caring financial planner can make the difference between financial success and failure for so many people...just like a competent doctor was able to treat my daughter back to health.