Vital Wealth Strategies

Is your business exit on the horizon, and have you already decided that some of your wealth will one day go to causes you care about? On this episode of the Vital Wealth Strategies Podcast, host Patrick Lonergan, founder of Vital Wealth and advisor to high-level entrepreneurs, sits down with Phoenix Hafen, Director of Advisor Solutions at UI Charitable. UI Charitable manages more than $550 million in donor-advised funds for high-net-worth individuals and families. Together they break down why cash is the least tax-efficient asset you can give, and how entrepreneurs can donate appreciated stock, private business interests, real estate, and even venture fund stakes to a donor-advised fund to avoid capital gains tax and capture a charitable deduction.

Pat and Phoenix walk through the real mechanics of charitable planning before a liquidity event. They cover why the IRS wants the deal “still at risk” when you give, how qualified appraisals work, the AGI deduction limits that can catch donors off guard, and when a private foundation makes more sense than a donor-advised fund. Phoenix also shares a creative example of a venture investor who turned illiquid LP interests into a charitable deduction, and he explains how families use donor-advised funds to bring the next generation into philanthropy. If you’re charitably minded and expecting a significant sale in the next few years, this episode shows you how to give more intentionally and more tax-efficiently. For more on tax strategy and wealth building, visit vitalwealth.com/resources, and send your own questions for future episodes to vitalwealth.com/questions.

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Why do 75% of business owners who successfully sell their company feel profound regret within the first year? In this episode of the Vital Wealth Strategies Podcast, host Patrick Lonergan sits down with Sarah Friedell O'Connell, founder and president of ChangePoint Advisors, to unpack the side of exit planning most entrepreneurs never prepare for: life after the sale. Sarah is a certified retirement coach and executive transition coach, a former Fidelity Investments executive, and a former spokeswoman for the president of Harvard University. She has guided hundreds of business owners and senior executives through one of life's most stressful transitions. Together, Patrick and Sarah explore why selling a business or retiring can leave even financially secure entrepreneurs without identity, purpose, and connection, and what to do about it before the deal closes.

Whether you're five years from exiting your business or just starting to think about succession planning, this conversation offers a practical roadmap for a fulfilling next chapter. Sarah walks through the four phases of retirement and how to skip the painful one. She explains why your spouse needs to be part of your exit strategy from day one, and why turning a hobby into a business often backfires. Patrick shares Vital Wealth's REACH framework for building wealth around what matters most, and Sarah closes with a simple self-reflection exercise any entrepreneur can start today. If you're building wealth with an eventual exit in mind, this episode will help you make sure your life is as ready as your balance sheet.

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Should entrepreneurs trust AI with their tax strategy, or is that a risk too big to take? On this episode of the Vital Wealth Strategies Podcast, host Patrick Lonergan sits down with Ricky Lavina, a CPA and the founder of TaxFyle, to separate the hype from the reality of AI in tax filing. Lavina started his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers before founding TaxFyle in 2015, and today serves on the IRS's Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee (ETAC), giving him a rare, inside perspective on how both the private sector and the federal government are approaching the future of tax technology.

Throughout the conversation, Lonergan and Lavina dig into what AI can realistically do for tax preparation today, why human accountability remains essential even as accuracy improves, and how the IRS itself is deploying AI to close a tax gap worth tens of billions of dollars. The episode also tackles the difference between legitimate tax strategy and the kind of aggressive tax gimmicks that can land entrepreneurs in serious trouble, along with a practical framework for thinking through which tax moves require IRS guidance versus real investment versus sophisticated entity structuring. Entrepreneurs and financial advisors alike will walk away with a sharper understanding of where AI genuinely adds value in tax planning, and where it falls dangerously short.

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What if the very thing you've spent your career trying to eliminate, discomfort, is actually the thing driving your growth? On this episode of the Vital Wealth Strategies Podcast, host Patrick Lonergan sits down with Darshan "Dave" Patel, co-founder of BuildRite, a healthcare billing company he has run alongside his business partner Soren for nearly three decades. Dave's story starts in a lower middle class household in India, where he repeated two grades in school before finding his footing not in a classroom, but with his hands, fixing broken equipment in his father's small service business. That early spark set off a winding path through Canada, several failed and successful ventures in Florida, and eventually a company built on client trust that grew into an international, India-based team.

Throughout the conversation, Dave and Patrick unpack what it really takes to build a business that lasts two decades and beyond. They dig into how Dave and Soren figured out scaling without a playbook, why they brought in outside consultants even when results were strong, and the real distinction between outsourcing work overseas versus building a genuinely owned and operated team abroad. Dave also opens up about raising financially secure kids without raising entitled ones, why he intentionally spent a month living without air conditioning in India with his entire family, and what he believes AI means for the next generation of entrepreneurs and their sense of purpose. Entrepreneurs looking to scale past themselves, build international teams the right way, or simply rethink their relationship with comfort will find plenty to take away from this episode.

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What if the same Airbnb everyone scrolls past on vacation could be the reason your next tax bill drops by six figures? On this episode of the Vital Wealth Strategies Podcast, host Patrick Lonergan sits down with Nick Korom, CEO of MyBnBAccelerator.com, to break down exactly how entrepreneurs are using short-term rentals to legally slash their tax liability without becoming a full-time real estate professional. Nick has helped close over 500 short-term rental properties for more than 300 clients, and in this conversation he pulls back the curtain on the strategy, the numbers, and the mistakes that turn a promising deal into a costly one.

Patrick and Nick walk through the mechanics of the short-term rental loophole, how a cost segregation study can accelerate hundreds of thousands of dollars in depreciation into year one, and the three non-negotiables - market, property type, and design, that separate a cash-flowing investment from a regretted purchase. Listeners will also hear real underwriting numbers, which markets are quietly heating back up, and the red flags that should make any investor walk away from a deal. Whether you're actively building a real estate portfolio or just tired of watching your tax bill climb every year, this episode lays out a clear, actionable framework for turning real estate into one of the most powerful wealth-building and tax-saving tools available to entrepreneurs.

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What if the best real estate deal in Europe cost a fraction of what the same property would run in Sedona or Santa Barbara? On this episode of the Vital Wealth Strategies Podcast, host Patrick Lonergan sits down with Mike Stohler of Gateway Private Equity to unpack why he's moving beyond the traditional US real estate playbook and into international hotel investing, specifically historic boutique properties in Spain. Stohler shares his journey from financing his first units on a credit card in the pre-Google era to building a portfolio that spans multifamily, senior housing, and hotels across the US and Europe.

Throughout the conversation, Stohler breaks down exactly what separates a hotel from a typical real estate investment, why it functions as both a business and an asset, and what that means for financing, tax treatment, and long-term returns. He and Lonergan dig into the due diligence mistakes that sink deals, the surprising economics behind buying a centuries-old Spanish property for a fraction of its US equivalent, and how currency diversification, favorable interest rates, and cross-border tax treaties are reshaping how entrepreneurs think about protecting and growing their wealth outside the United States. For entrepreneurs sitting on free cash flow and looking for a way to diversify beyond the usual multifamily deal or stock portfolio, this episode offers a rare look at an opportunity most investors have never considered.

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What happens when a "genius" tax write-off you saw on TikTok turns out to be the same strategy that landed two professionals in federal prison for over 20 years each? In this episode of the Vital Wealth Strategies Podcast, host Patrick Lonergan sits down with colleague Michael to unpack the difference between smart, compliant tax strategy and the sham strategies that can trigger IRS penalties, audits, or worse. From viral myths about writing off G-Wagons and vacation homes to real-world fraud cases involving KPMG, syndicated conservation easements, and abusive trust structures, this conversation separates the tax moves that build real wealth from the ones that build a case file.

Pat and Michael break down five of the most common tax "myths" circulating online today, explain what actually makes a deduction legitimate under the IRS's own rules, and walk through several high-profile case studies where aggressive tax planning crossed the line into fraud. Entrepreneurs making seven figures or more will walk away with a practical framework for evaluating any tax strategy before they implement it, including the exact questions to ask an advisor and the red flags that separate a smart move from a dangerous one. Whether you're considering a cost segregation study, putting your kids on payroll, or wondering if an S-election makes sense for your business, this episode gives you the guardrails to pursue aggressive tax savings without putting your business, or your freedom, at risk.

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What if the single most important financial decision of your life happened before you ever built a business, bought a house, or started a family? On this episode of the Vital Wealth Strategies Podcast, host Patrick Lonergan sits down with Dale Alexander, a CFP, national speaker, and author of The Talk About Money, to unpack the framework Dale calls Make 70 Your 100: live on 70% of your income, invest 20%, and give 10%, starting with your very first paycheck. It's a conversation built for entrepreneurs, parents, and anyone who's ever wondered why more income never seems to solve a spending problem.

Together, Patrick and Dale dig into why financial "drift" quietly derails even high-earning households, how social media has rewired the comparison trap for an entire generation, and why 90% of family wealth disappears by the third generation and what entrepreneurs can do to break that cycle with their own kids. Whether you're building generational wealth, coordinating your tax and financial strategy through the Entrepreneur Private Office model, or simply trying to raise financially literate kids in a world of one-click spending, this episode delivers practical, immediately actionable frameworks for making money decisions that compound for decades.

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Why do some ideas spread like wildfire while others die the moment they leave a boardroom? In this episode of the Vital Wealth Strategies Podcast, host Patrick Lonergan sits down with Neal Foard, a 25-year advertising veteran to unpack the real reason facts, data, and bullet points fail to persuade and what actually does. Neal has spent his career teaching some of the biggest brands in the world how to turn ideas into stories that stick, and in this conversation he brings that same expertise directly to entrepreneurs, business owners, and leaders who want their vision, their pitch, and their values to actually land with the people who matter most.

Throughout the episode, Neal and Patrick dig into why the human brain is naturally resistant to logic-based persuasion, how to reframe every story so the listener, not the storyteller, becomes the hero, and why capturing everyday moments in a simple notebook can become one of the most valuable habits an entrepreneur can build. They also cover how to turn even the worst days into powerful material, why rehearsing a story is the secret behind every effortless-sounding presentation, and how a single mindset shift, discovered by accident at a state fair, can transform the way any entrepreneur approaches sales, leadership, and client relationships. Whether you're trying to align your team, close more deals, or simply be remembered for the right reasons, this episode offers a practical framework for making your ideas impossible to ignore.

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Why is it that entrepreneurs who've hit every financial goal they set still feel like something's missing? On this episode of the Vital Wealth Strategies Podcast, host Patrick Lonergan sits down with Ryan Johns, one of our lead advisor at Vital Wealth, attorney, and Certified Kingdom Advisor, to unpack why financial success so often fails to deliver the peace and contentment entrepreneurs expect it to bring. Drawing on real client stories, behavioral patterns around wealth and comparison, and timeless biblical wisdom from King Solomon's own pursuit of "everything," Lonergan and Johns explore why the goalposts keep moving even after the money game has been won.

This conversation goes beyond tax strategy and portfolio performance to ask a more fundamental question: what was money actually designed to do? Listeners will hear why business exits often trigger unexpected identity loss, how rising net worth can quietly increase anxiety rather than reduce it, and what scripture does and doesn't, say about wealth, success, and contentment. Entrepreneurs walk away with practical reflection questions to apply directly to their own financial decisions, along with a clearer framework for building wealth without losing sight of what it's actually for.

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