Steven is joined this week by Kyle Willis, VP of Growth at BELAY, as they discuss the power of delegating in their own lives and the value an EA can bring to a team. Steven, of course, draws plenty of parallels to tax planning and how delegation can help in that process, but Kyle joins in to give us yet another reminder of some of the things that are, in fact, more important than taxes. Listen in as they share best practices and pitfalls to avoid when it comes to delegation and leveling up in 2026

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Rejoining Steven on the show this week is Eric Brotman to discuss his own personal tax planning, along with best practices when it comes to talking taxes with clients. Eric is planning ahead for an eventual business exit and is already working through the math on how where he lives impacts the tax bill he'll pay. Steven and Eric share real client experiences and how they navigate keeping goals aligned with tax planning to make sure clients make great life decisions that are also tax efficient, where possible.

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This week, Steven is joined by Derrick Kinney to talk about the opportunity AI creates for advisors, and it might not be what you think. Derrick's emphasis is on communication, and Steven, as always, is the tax nerd in the room, but they both share their experiences with the importance of creating connections with clients to truly deliver value. Listen in as they share insight into what really delivers value in a client relationship and how AI might accelerate issues that have really been there all along.

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Steven is once again joined by none other than Micah Shilanski, CFP®, to share real-world examples of tax planning that matters. Steven and Micah share recent client experiences highlighting how the "simple" things on a tax return can make all the difference to a client, and the reality that most taxpayers aren't getting tax planning help unless a financial advisor is providing it. They share best practices for learning and leveling up when it comes to understanding what's on a tax return and what an advisor can do to partner with a tax preparer for the best possible outcomes.

https://zurl.co/Szvzu

The internet is all about attention; advisors who care about their clients are all about action. Steven is rejoined this week by Matthew Jarvis to talk about the power of doing "simple" things consistently over time. They use required minimum distributions as an example of what the best advisors do to create valuable experiences for their clients around a topic that will impact almost everyone at some point. It's not enough to send a white paper or mention it the year a client turns 73; to deliver massive value, you need a system that can be consistently executed over time.

Happy New Year! Steven kicks off the year by sharing his takeaways from year-end tax planning meetings and giving important reminders you need to hear as we head into another tax filing season. It may feel like the calendar just turned over, so tax planning can go on holiday, but listen in as Steven explains what you should be focused on to help your clients navigate their tax filing and beyond. You may have gotten sick of hearing about O3BA this last year, but it hasn't gone away, so Steven also recaps some critical areas you need to keep in mind, as well as reviewing a new IRS form that covers several of the new provisions that came out of the new bill last year. And of course, he had to talk about Summit 2026, including a sneak preview of some of the incredible speakers we will be adding to our lineup this year.

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One of the most common questions Steven hears from financial advisors is "What software can I use to help with that?". In this week's episode, Steven is joined by Nitrogen's Chief Product Officer, Justin Boatman, to discuss the latest entry into the tax software category: Nitrogen's AI Tax Center. Justin shares the background of why Nitrogen picked taxes as the topic for their newest tool and shares how they have designed the tool to enhance the client experience, not simply do math. Steven and Justin discuss the importance of taxes in any financial planning conversation and the overlap of needing great operators regardless of how great a tool something is.

In this episode, Steven is joined by John Poole, a partner at JPTD and a seasoned veteran when it comes to helping financial advisors get their practices ready and navigate through equity events. John and Steven talk about common misconceptions advisors have about their own numbers and what really drives value in a business. John shares from his extensive experience with real practice transactions to help listeners understand the steps they can take and the areas they need to focus on to maximize their value, whether they are 2 months or 20 years from any kind of equity event. Every business will eventually transition in some way; the key is being intentional along the way.

https://zurl.co/6eLsX

Steven is joined this week by Daniel Friedman, a financial advisor who has been leading with taxes for 3 decades. Daniel shares the origin and growth of WMGNA and how leading with taxes has made all the difference. Steven and Daniel discuss why taxes create such a powerful opportunity and why there is still so much room for advisors to get in on the action of providing tax planning for their clients. They also discuss why more and more clients are expecting taxes to be part of the conversation, whether advisors are ready for it or not.

https://zurl.co/xgY3z

In this episode, Steven is answering advisor questions directly from the trenches. Twice a month, Steven hosts live office hours for the RTS community that are all about helping advisors cut through the noise and get to what they need to take action and serve clients. A 30-minute episode could never capture the full power of these live sessions, but this week, Steven has selected some of the more common topics to help our listeners get ready for year-end and get an idea of what their peers are asking. If you'd like to get your questions answered on a future office hour, check out our memberships at retirementtaxservices.com

https://zurl.co/RTGQv