Tag Archives: Legacy Planning

Empowering Financial Advisors: Strategic Tax Planning with Catherine Tindall Ep. 72

Advisor, Education, Finance, Financial, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In this episode Duncan sits down with Catherine Tindall, CPA and founder of Dominion Enterprise Services. Catherine specializes in tax optimization strategies for financial advisors, offering insights into minimizing tax burdens, enhancing practice efficiency, and unlocking enterprise value.

Key takeaways from this conversation include:

  • Tax Efficiency as a Strategic Lever: How optimizing your tax approach can save tens of thousands annually and compound into long-term benefits.
  • Proactive vs. Reactive Tax Planning: Why a forward-thinking strategy outperforms traditional compliance-based approaches.
  • Preparing for Exit: Steps to maximize enterprise value through tidying, optimizing, and proprietary processes.
  • The Power of Niching Down: Catherine’s experience building a CPA firm exclusively for financial professionals.
  • Embracing AI: Practical applications of AI tools to enhance efficiency in financial practices.

Catherine also shares actionable advice for advisors on addressing opportunity leakages, structuring practices for growth, and collaborating with strategic partners like CPAs. This episode is packed with valuable insights for financial professionals looking to future-proof their practices.

Resources:

Connect With Duncan MacPherson:

Connect with Catherine Tindall:

About Our Guest

Catherine Tindall, CPA, is a strategic tax planner and founder at Dominion Enterprise Services, a CPA firm, specializing in optimizing tax strategies for RIAs (Registered Investment Advisors), IBDs (Independent Broker-Dealers), and 1099 financial advisors with annual revenues between $500k and $10M. Passionate about leading with proactive tax planning, Catherine focuses on collaborating with advisors to reduce their tax burden and strategically plan for growth.

Catherine also hosts the “Financial Advisors Want to Know Podcast,” (link above) where she shares insights and brings practice experts to discuss sustainably growing advisory firms.

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Bridging Wealth and Legacy: Preparing the Next Generation with Dr. Karen Weisgerber (Ep. 71)

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In this episode, Duncan MacPherson sits down with Dr. Karen Weisgerber, a seasoned expert with over 30 years of experience in wealth creation and inheritance. As a faculty member of the Institute for Preparing Heirs and a thought leader in wealth transfer and philanthropy, Dr. Weisgerber dives into the most pressing concerns facing affluent families today.

Key discussion points include:

  1. How financial professionals can integrate legacy planning into their deliverables.
  2. Strategies for effectively communicating wealth transfer processes to clients.
  3. Practical insights for advisors to apply both professionally and personally.

Dr. Weisgerber’s extensive academic background, including a PhD and a postdoctoral fellowship in neuropsychology affiliated with Harvard University, lends unique depth to the conversation. This episode is a must-listen for financial advisors aiming to address the nuanced needs of wealth creators and their heirs.

Resources:

Connect With Duncan MacPherson:

Connect with Dr. Karen Weisgerber:

About Our Guest

Karen Weisgerber completed her Ph.D. at Boston College. She furthered her education under the auspices of Harvard Medical School with both a pre- and post-doctoral clinical internship at the Beth Israel Hospital, followed by a postdoctoral internship in neuropsychology at Cambridge Hospital. Subsequent to studies in psychoanalysis at the Psychoanalytic Institute of New England, Karen rounded her educational endeavors with a certificate in Leadership and Performance coaching through Brown University’s School of Professional Studies. As a licensed psychologist, she has provided therapy and consultation through her private practice for over 30 years.

Karen enhanced her research and interview experience as a Senior Advisor at the Boston Center on Wealth and Philanthropy. She was an active participant in the Family Wealth Impact Project, which investigated the risk factors of inherited wealth. She was also the principal interviewer for a Wisdom and Wealth project researching the field of wealth advising, funded by the Templeton Foundation.

As an Integrative Family Wealth Consultant at Cambium Consulting, she engages individuals, couples, and families around the multi-faceted issues that present themselves with having significant resources, as well as concerns that arise with the distribution of wealth among siblings and across generations. She also provides her expertise to financial and legal professionals seeking to deepen the services they offer through speaking engagements, workshops, and other industry events.

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Making the American Dream a Reality: A Conversation with Sathya Chey Patterson (Ep. 70)

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In this episode of the Always On Podcast, host Duncan MacPherson engages in a profound and inspiring discussion with Sathya Chey Patterson CFP®, Esq., AIF®, Managing Partner at Arise Private Wealth. Recognized as a 2023 Forbes Top Women Wealth Advisor and a 2024 AdvisorHub Advisors to Watch, Sathya shares her incredible journey from adversity to achievement, demonstrating the power of resilience and vision.

This conversation is divided into three compelling parts:

  1. Honoring the Past – Sathya’s remarkable personal story, including her family’s survival through the Cambodian genocide, and how those experiences shaped her perspective and purpose.
  2. Thriving in the Present – Insights into the strategies and tools she uses to differentiate herself as a financial advisor, from leveraging cutting-edge technology to building authentic client relationships.
  3. Designing the Future – Sathya’s vision for scaling her impact by empowering advisors and clients alike with a structured, values-driven approach to achieving financial independence.

Whether you’re a financial professional, a leader, or simply seeking inspiration, this episode delivers invaluable lessons on purpose, perseverance, and professionalism.

Resources:

Connect With Duncan MacPherson:

Connect With Sathya Chey Patterson:

About Our Guest:

Sathya is a trailblazing leader in wealth management, co-founder of Arise Private Wealth, and a dedicated advocate for empowering others through financial clarity and purpose. With nearly two decades of experience, she is renowned as a financial architect, crafting personalized strategies that secure her clients’ futures while helping them live purpose-driven lives. Her name, meaning “truth” in Sanskrit, reflects her commitment to understanding clients’ deepest needs and aspirations, enabling them to navigate complex decisions with confidence.

Born in a Thai refugee camp after her family fled the Cambodian genocide, Sathya’s story is one of resilience and transformation. Her journey fuels her passion for mentoring women and minorities, empowering them to achieve generational success. A CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, CSRIC®, and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst®, Sathya holds an MBA from USC and was named a 2024 Forbes Top Women Wealth Advisor Best-In-State.

Beyond her practice, she serves on the Long Beach Commission for Women & Girls, the MemorialCare Governing Board, and supports critically ill children through Miracle for Kids. A wife, mother, and mindfulness advocate, Sathya is unwavering in her mission: to inspire others to create not only financial abundance but lives of profound meaning and impact.

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Balancing Riches and Relationships: Family-Centric Wealth Management with Jeff Savlov

Balancing Riches and Relationships: Family-Centric Wealth Management with Jeff Savlov (Ep. 46)

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It is very common for first-generation, self-made, affluent people to shield their children from hardships.

But that safety net can become a hammock of complacency…and entitlement!

In this episode, Duncan MacPherson joins Jeff Savlov, family business and wealth consultant, and the founder of Blum & Savlov, LLP. They discuss how to address family dynamics in wealth management — ultimately avoiding strained relationships among all future inheritors of wealth.

They discuss:

  • Why family dynamics play a crucial role in continuity and succession planning
  • Major challenges in family business succession (and how to address them)
  • Resources for financial advisors to help address family issues faced by affluent clients
  • How to engage families — including children — in the financial planning process
  • And more

Resources:

Connect With Duncan:

Connect With Jeff:

Promotions:

About Our Guest:

Jeff is the Founder of Blum & Savlov, LLP and consults with business families, legacy wealth families and the advisors who serve them. He brings more than 30 years of unique experience in sales and marketing, business ownership, entrepreneurial endeavours and family dynamics/psychological training, along with a common-sense style, to his consulting work with families. By integrating his diverse business background, extensive academic work and family dynamics/psychological training with his experience working in his family’s commercial printing business, Jeff helps enterprising families balance family and business/wealth so both will thrive for many generations.

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Entitlemania with Richard Watts (Ep. 25)

Advisor, Education, Finance, Financial, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , ,

Legacy planning is much more than transferring money from one generation to the next. It’s also about transferring values. If you simply “give” the money to your children, they might lack the wisdom, grit, and satisfaction of accomplishment that only struggle and adversity can bring.

In this episode, Duncan MacPherson joins Richard Watts, author of Entitlemania: How Not To Spoil Your Kids, And What To Do If You Have! Having been the wise counsel to many of America’s wealthiest families, Richard shares how you can help your clients prepare their children for the real world, instead of spoiling them with free money.

Richard discusses:

  • How to prompt wealth transfer conversations that your clients might not like
  • Why first-generation earners should not deprive their children of experiential learning
  • Real-life examples of families who have adopted the “tough love” approach
  • How to take your relationship management to the next level
  • And more

Resources:

Connect With Duncan:

Connect With Richard:

Promotions:

About Our Guest:

Richard Watts, lawyer, author, columnist, speaker, and problem solver, is the wise counsel to many of America’s wealthiest families. They rely on him to guide their families and journey through the rapids of life. From behind these castle walls, Richard provides the wisdom and counsel to avoid the pitfalls of excess and entitlement. The founder of Family Business Office ® (“FBO”), Richard was admitted to practice law in 1982 and is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School. He has appeared on numerous television programs and authored articles as an expert on how money often complicates the “simple life”. Author of Fables of Fortune: What Rich People Have That You Don’t Want, and Entitlemania How Not To Spoil Your Kids, And What To Do If You Have!



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How To Fulfill Your Clients’ Deepest Estate Planning Needs with Julia Norman and Tom Deans, Ph.D. (Ep. 20)

Advisor, Education, Finance, Financial, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , ,

Do you know what’s keeping your clients up at night? For a lot of them, it is this question, what happens to their hard-earned wealth when they pass away?

In other words, it’s the absence of an estate plan.

In this episode, Duncan MacPherson speaks with Julia Norman, associate lawyer at Pushor Mitchell LLP, and Tom Deans, Ph.D., intergenerational wealth expert, speaker, and best-selling author of “Every Family’s Business” and “Willing Wisdom.” Julia and Tom explain how advisors can re-imagine estate planning for their clients to ensure a stress-free wealth transfer that minimizes future family conflicts.

Julia and Tom discuss:

  • The main reasons why your clients might be delaying estate planning
  • How to make estate planning highly process-driven and collaborative
  • How family estate planning meetings can help retain your clients for multiple generations
  • Why advisors should create their wills first before helping clients
  • And more

Resources:

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Connect With Julia:

Connect With Tom:

Promotions:

About Our Guests:

Julia Norman is an associate lawyer with Pushor Mitchell practicing in the areas of civil litigation, family law, estate planning and estate administration. Prior to going to law school, Julia rode for the Canadian Equestrian Team in the sport of three-day eventing, training and competing throughout North America. Outside of the office Julia can be found spending time with her family, riding her horse, water skiing, or enjoying one of the many activities that the Okanagan has to offer.

Tom Deans, Ph.D.’s research and thought leadership on the subjects of wealth transfers, preparing heirs and family dynamics has made him an in-demand speaker and webinar presenter. Since the release of his first book in 2008, Tom has delivered more than 1000 paid speeches in 25 countries. He has also provided advanced training to advisors employed by the world’s largest financial institutions, law firms and accounting firms. Dr. Deans is also the Founder of the Willing Wisdom Index™ a new digital client engagement tool for advisors to share with prospects and clients.



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How To Become an Advisor for Life with Levi McMellian (Ep. 11)

Advisor, Education, Finance, Financial, , , , , , , , ,

Advisors often get asked by clients, “What will happen to me when you’re not around?”

If you don’t have an answer to it, it’s a sign to start your succession planning.

In this episode, Duncan joins Levi McMellian, CPA, AIF®, CEO, executive director, and founding partner at CFO4Life to uncover the secret to building a sustainable practice and scaling your business organically.

Levi discusses:

  • Why adversities are an opportunity in disguise for deeper client relationships
  • How to avoid a growth plateau through effective legacy planning
  • The importance of branding your process (instead of a single advisor)
  • The PSP mindset for identifying right-fit clients
  • And more

Resources: 

Connect With Duncan MacPherson:

Connect With Levi McMellian:

About Our Guests:

As CEO and managing director of CFO4Life, Levi McMellian oversees vital business operations and pursues new business growth. However, his primary focus remains on building personal client relationships. With a passion for listening and learning about his clients’ most important goals and dreams, Levi seeks to offer thorough and impartial individualized advice.

In addition to being a Certified Public Accountant and Accredited Investment Fiduciary®, Levi has a bachelor’s degree in business and accounting from Oklahoma State University. As a founding partner, Levi’s determination has developed CFO4LIFE from a start-up to an established and respected Texas Investment Advisory Firm. He was instrumental in sculpting its vision and the revolutionary concept of a comprehensive, team-oriented financial planning firm. Levi also pioneered the concept of financial wellness benefits for executives in large corporations and comprehensive advisory solutions for retirement plans.    

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