Wealth and Law

Brent chats with Wallis Tsai about how to avoid the many bad life insurance policies with objective analysis. They discuss how to avoid those bad life insurance policies, war stories of nightmare scenarios, and good use cases for the right insurance. Wallis Tsai is the founder and CEO of AboveBoard Financial. Wallis developed a passion for quantitative analysis (and let’s be honest, Excel spreadsheets) during her 10 year career at Goldman Sachs, first as an investment banker and then as an investor for an elite hedge fund group. At Goldman Sachs, Wallis was a member of a four-person team managing the multi-billion dollar Americas and European financials portfolio. She developed the fund’s perspective on financial regulation, US housing market, banking and capital markets. As an expert in the insurance industry’s inner workings, Wallis often found herself advising friends and colleagues on personal finance matters. She was repeatedly appalled by how often they got terrible advice from the industries that she knew so well and decided to follow her dream to offer financial services the right way. Wallis delights in making wonky financial topics engaging and accessible (like our “truth vs. BS” scale to rate insurance sales lines) and has taught classes on how to avoid insurance rip-offs at Harvard Business School. Wallis enjoys taking in the wonders of New York City with her husband, two kids, and rescue dog. Wallis can be found here: About Us | AboveBoard Financial This material is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the speaker as of the date noted and not necessarily of the speaker’s firm or its affiliates. If you are enjoying the podcast please SUBSCRIBE and leave a REVIEW, and if you want to learn more about Brent go to https://wealthandlaw.com/team/. Legal Disclaimer: https://wealthandlaw.com/legal-disclaimer/

Brent chats with Evan Unzelman about the many creative uses of charitable remainder trusts. They talk about modifying the trust, selling the income interests, contributing the income interests to new trusts, and using CRTs as IRA beneficiaries. With 20 years of specialized experience with charitable remainder trusts (CRTs), Evan Unzelman is largely regarded as one of the nation’s foremost experts on CRTs. Over the last two decades, he has reviewed thousands of CRTs and worked with tens of thousands of CRT beneficiaries, their families and their advisors on all facets of CRT planning. From up-front design and CRT structure (Standard CRUT, NIMCRUT, CRAT) to complex CRT administration to CRT secondary planning, Evan provides unmatched insight at every stage of the CRT lifecycle. Evan’s experience with CRT secondary planning – sales, gifts, and rollovers of CRT income interests – is particularly deep. Prior to forming CRT Experts, he was President of a charitable planning firm where he helped develop the secondary market for CRT income interests and personally oversaw the successful completion of sale transactions for thousands of CRT beneficiaries across the U.S. Evan is a trusted resource for trust and estate attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors on all aspects of CRT planning (sales and exchanges of CRT income interests in particular) and structured CRT Experts’ service offering to be complementary to those of most tax, legal and financial advisors. CRT Experts does not manage or custody assets and does not provide tax, legal, financial or insurance advice. Evan is a sought-after speaker (partial list of speaking engagements below) and writes frequently on CRTs for a variety of audiences. His articles have appeared in publications such as Estate Planning, the National Association of Estate Planners & Council’s Journal of Tax & Estate Planning, Taxation of Exempts, Atlanta Bar Association’s The Mortmain, Wealth Strategies Journal and Atlantic Trust’s Trusted Advisor. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Evan graduated from Pacific Lutheran University (summa cum laude) in Tacoma, WA, where he earned degrees in Finance and Economics. Evan can be found here: About | CRT Experts This material is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the speaker as of the date noted and not necessarily of the speaker’s firm or its affiliates. If you are enjoying the podcast please SUBSCRIBE and leave a REVIEW, and if you want to learn more about Brent go to https://wealthandlaw.com/team/. Legal Disclaimer: https://wealthandlaw.com/legal-disclaimer/

Brent chats with Sasha Young da Silva about estate and tax planning for Americans who have relocated to beautiful Portugal. They talk about the tax challenges of cross an international border, surprises Americans find in the Portuguese system, and how to make the transition. Sasha Young da Silva is a U.S. attorney with a practice focused exclusively on tax and estate planning for American private clients living in Portugal. Born in New Orleans and raised between Aruba and Atlanta, Sasha’s global perspective is shaped by a lifetime of international living, including time in Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Mexico City, Bogota, Cartagena, Puerto la Cruz, Alexandria, and now Lisbon. She began her legal career at White & Case and McGuireWoods, where she advised on complex project and asset finance transactions, including aircraft leasing, energy sector financing, and major infrastructure projects. She later transitioned to an in-house role at Amazon Prime Video, supporting production and licensing transactions across Latin America and advising on international tax, currency, and regulatory matters. Sasha’s diverse background gives her a unique understanding of the challenges facing globally mobile families. She offers bespoke U.S. tax and estate planning solutions that account for the cross-border realities of American expats, with an emphasis on clarity, compliance, and long-term family security. She holds a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Political Science from California State University, Northridge. She is licensed to practice law in Florida and Washington. She speaks English, Papiamento, Spanish, and Portuguese and takes her coffee cheio com açúcar. Sasha and her firm can be found here Tax & Estate Planning for Americans in Portugal | Areia Global This material is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the speaker as of the date noted and not necessarily of the speaker’s firm or its affiliates. If you are enjoying the podcast please SUBSCRIBE and leave a REVIEW, and if you want to learn more about Brent go to https://wealthandlaw.com/team/. Legal Disclaimer: https://wealthandlaw.com/legal-disclaimer/

Brent chats with Nicole Davis, CPA, MBA — founder of Butler-Davis Tax & Accounting and a Forbes Top 200 CPA — about why today’s accountants can (and should) treat traditional compliance work as a choice, not a requirement. Nicole explains how technology, distributed workforces, great processes, and training clients can help accountants (and any other professional) find more time for high-value advisory work. Nicole Davis, CPA, MBA, is the founder/CEO of Butler-Davis Tax & Accounting, BD Payroll, and Groundworx Contractors. A sought-after speaker and creator of “Tax Return Pizza Tracker,” she coaches accountants through The Modern Bookkeeper accelerator and keynotes national conferences on client experience, pricing, and firm culture. Nicole can be found here Nicole Davis, Cpa, Mba And here Nicole Davis, CPA This material is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the speaker as of the date noted and not necessarily of the speaker’s firm or its affiliates. If you are enjoying the podcast please SUBSCRIBE and leave a REVIEW, and if you want to learn more about Brent go to https://wealthandlaw.com/team/. Legal Disclaimer: https://wealthandlaw.com/legal-disclaimer/

Brent chats with Joel Revill about Private Trust Companies (PTCs). They explain the basics of PTCs and their structures. They explain what families would want to use a PTC and how the structure can solve issues of governance and management of family wealth. Finally, they discuss the unique position of PTCs with crypto assets. Joel serves as CEO of Two Ocean Trust. Prior to co-founding the firm, he was a Portfolio Manager at Citadel, a $63 billion alternative investment manager. Joel began his career in the investment banking group at J.P. Morgan.  Joel chairs the Selection Panel for Wyoming’s Investment Funds Committee, overseeing the state’s $30 billion sovereign funds. Appointed by Governor Mark Gordon, he also serves on the Wyoming Blockchain Select Committee, which has pioneered over 30 laws on blockchain and emerging technologies. Additionally, he is on the Wyoming Stable Token Commission, managing the first state-issued stable token. Joel’s leadership extends to numerous boards for private trust companies and non-profits organizations, including his current role as Investment Committee Chair for the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole. ​He holds bachelor’s degrees in Finance and Japanese Language and Literature from the University of Oregon and studied at Obirin University in Japan. Joel also pursued graduate studies in the Master of Liberal Arts program at Stanford University. This material is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the speaker as of the date noted and not necessarily of the speaker’s firm or its affiliates. If you are enjoying the podcast please SUBSCRIBE and leave a REVIEW, and if you want to learn more about Brent go to https://wealthandlaw.com/team/. Legal Disclaimer: https://wealthandlaw.com/legal-disclaimer/

Brent talks about what tax planning can happen AFTER the client has already signed the deal to sell a large asset. He talks about the difference between income and estate tax planning. He then discusses terms of the deal, installment method, QSBS, charitable giving, and charitable lead annuity trusts. He closes it out with a discussion of how discounts may still be available on gifts, even after the ink is dry. This material is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the speaker as of the date noted and not necessarily of the speaker’s firm or its affiliates. If you are enjoying the podcast please SUBSCRIBE and leave a REVIEW, and if you want to learn more about Brent go to https://wealthandlaw.com/team/. Legal Disclaimer: https://wealthandlaw.com/legal-disclaimer/

Brent chats about five key questions relating to tariffs and planning in difficult market conditions. He gives answers to the following questions: 1. What’s the real strategy behind these tariffs—and what is the administration hoping to achieve by imposing them now? 2. How might these tariffs and the market’s reaction affect U.S. consumers and investors in the short term? 3. How do currency exchange rates fit into this picture—and why does it matter if the U.S. dollar strengthens or weakens? 4. How can volatile markets actually create opportunity for strategic estate planning? 5. In times like this, what are the biggest estate planning mistakes people make—and how can they be avoided? His answers cover what the stated motivations for the US tariffs are, how they might effect the markets, currency exchanges, and planning, and how to find silver linings from a planning perspective. This material is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the speaker as of the date noted and not necessarily of the speaker’s firm or its affiliates. If you are enjoying the podcast please SUBSCRIBE and leave a REVIEW, and if you want to learn more about Brent go to https://wealthandlaw.com/team/. Legal Disclaimer: https://wealthandlaw.com/legal-disclaimer/

Brent chats with T.J. Ryan, a Senior Partner at Frazer Ryan Goldberg & Arnold LLP, specializing in family estates and trust administration. They delve into crucial trust components like settlor intent, the role of HIPAA releases, and property characterization as community or separate. T.J. highlights the importance of strategic co-trustees and proper distribution provisions, discussing unique scenarios like drug testing beneficiaries. This conversation emphasizes the need for clear communication and thorough planning in trust management.

Brent chats with Steven Zeiger about why life insurance products are so complex. Steven explains the mechanics of the products and how data can reveal which are best for our clients. Steven also shares his methodology and best practices for comparing life insurance options. Steven Zeiger is a Managing Director of Wealth Management at KB Financial and is a recognized professional in applying prudent investor guidelines to life insurance product selection and portfolio management according to established and proven asset management doctrine. Prior to joining KB Financial, Steven worked for an Austin, Texas firm specializing in Private Placement Life Insurance for ultra high net worth families where he oversaw marketing efforts for the Northeast. After graduating from the State University of New York at Albany School of Business with a BS in Business Administration and concentration in Finance, Steven received his advanced Insurance degree from the Wharton School of Business. His California Insurance License is #0C33107. Steven lives in Chappaqua, NY along with his wife and sons and enjoys travel, tennis, skiing, and ping pong with his family. He is on the Board of the Kidney Cancer Coalition and participates in the MSK Cycle for Survival. He is currently training for next year’s 192-mile Pan Mass Challenge where he will be riding alongside his sister on her 15th annual ride. Steven can be found at Steven.Zeiger@onedigital.com| onedigital.com & kbfcllc.com This material is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the speaker as of the date noted and not necessarily of the speaker’s firm or its affiliates. If you are enjoying the podcast please SUBSCRIBE and leave a REVIEW, and if you want to learn more about Brent go to https://wealthandlaw.com/team/. Legal Disclaimer: https://wealthandlaw.com/legal-disclaimer/

Brent chats about how AI can be used in estate planning now. He discusses its current limitations and dangers associated with AI-Emboldened Advisers. He also discusses the future outlook of AI and how advisers can remain relevant. This material is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the speaker as of the date noted and not necessarily of the speaker’s firm or its affiliates. If you are enjoying the podcast please SUBSCRIBE and leave a REVIEW, and if you want to learn more about Brent go to https://wealthandlaw.com/team/. Legal Disclaimer: https://wealthandlaw.com/legal-disclaimer/