Everyone is a temporary owner of their assets

By Dan Moisand | January 13, 2023 |

Everyone is a temporary owner of their assets

We have all heard the adage, “You can’t take it with you.” At some point, everything we own will be inherited by someone. But for as long as we own our assets, we get to choose how they are used and eventually who will be the next temporary owner.

To make these transitions smooth requires planning. An interesting new survey from Wells Fargo and Ipsos recently came to our attention. More than 40% of respondents say they’d rather discuss their parents’ deaths than the state of their finances. And 19% wouldn’t mind inheriting nothing if it meant they didn’t have to talk about money with their family.

…19% wouldn’t mind inheriting nothing if it meant they didn’t have to talk about money with their family.

Though the language in those responses is quite strong, we can’t say we are shocked by this survey. We often hear potential heirs say, “They (benefactors) can leave me whatever they want.” We also often hear benefactors say, “I don’t want them to know what they will get until I am gone.” Effective estate and financial planning can be conducted without conversations between generations but in most cases, some preparation is helpful.

Even if there is no intergenerational conversation, benefactors can help their heirs by simply encouraging heirs to get and keep their personal finances in good order to help them be successful in handling an inheritance. We work with more than one generation of many client families to help them keep control of and make best use of their resources. Some of these families speak freely about finances – others are not as open with each other. No matter. We help in the form the help is desired.

Our Next Generation

In addition to helping clients prepare their next generation, we also have prepared our firm structure so it can endure beyond the careers of its founders. No one is retiring imminently, but we thought it important to plan for the ongoing care of our clients, so we continue to hire and develop our team into the group of professionals that they are. Our clients have seen this growth and will see more in the years to come.

For instance, Ryan Osborne, CFP® EA has been promoted from Senior Financial Analyst to Financial Advisor. Ryan has been with our firm for the last five years, during which he became a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and an Enrolled Agent. He has provided analysis and support work for our Senior Financial Advisors and will now also be authorized to advise clients directly, help train new analysts, represent our firm to the public, and field inquiries from the press on the firm’s behalf.

The Central Florida chapter of the Financial Planning Association (FPA) elected both Casandra Garrett, CFP® EA and Tommy Lucas, CFP® EA to its Board of Directors. Tommy will be co-leading the PR committee which heads up the Orlando Sentinel’s financial planning hotline and reviews submissions for their “Ask an Expert” column. This is a fitting role given Tommy’s extensive media experience. Casandra will serve as the chapter liaison to FPA of Florida, a consortium of the eight FPA chapters in Florida which Charlie Fitzgerald, CFP® helped found in 2004. The FPA of Florida champions the financial planning profession to legislators and regulators and promotes local chapter events.

Generations to come

We believe it is important to give back to our profession. As Casandra and Tommy are now doing, many of our team members have worked to advance the financial planning profession. Mike Salmon, CFP® EA will wrap up his service to the Central Florida chapter in 2023 as Chairman of the Board. Supporting the financial planning community has been a big part of our firm’s culture for the last 25 years.

One way we do this is by promoting financial planning as an attractive career choice. There are few fields that can have such a profoundly positive impact on families and provide a good income and flexibility to fuel a sound work-life balance. As such, you will find our team on various campuses and students visiting our offices.

In the fall, Charlie Fitzgerald, CFP® visited his alma mater, the University of Florida. He spoke to students in three different classroom settings and had ample time to talk about financial planning as a profession. Dr. Andy Naranjo, the Finance Chair, has a vision of making their wealth management program one of the top five programs in the U.S. Leading the program are two respected professors, Dr. John Banko and Dr. Max Dolinsky, who create opportunities for students to interact with the profession. In November, we hosted the professors and twenty-two of their students and had various team members present aspects of what goes on in a 100% locally owned and independent, fee-only financial planning firm. Stay tuned: one or more of these students could be back as interns or as future analysts at Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo, LLC. Charlie is honored to be one of only five advisors to the program at present.

Continuing our firm’s efforts to give back, Dan Moisand, CFP® will serve the financial planning profession as Chairman of the Board of Directors for CFP Board, the body that confers and administers the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and CFP® credentials in the U.S. Financial Planning magazine recently called it “one of the most important volunteer positions in the profession” when they named Dan on their list of “23 people who will leave a mark on wealth management in 2023.” The publication recited a few of Dan’s past contributions to the profession over his 30-year career and described him as “… a consensus builder and tireless contributor to the future of the field.”

News & Notes

Social Security scams continue to proliferate: In November, the Social Security Administration (SSA) put out yet another bulletin warning of scams. If you are unsure about any call, letter, email, or text you receive, please call us if you would like help. You don’t have to handle these kinds of situations alone – this is partly why you have hired us.

The SSA wants you to know that ALL OF THE BELOW ARE SCAMS!

Any communication that:

Threatens to freeze your Social Security payments or number, even if they have part or all of your Social Security number
Warns of arrest or legal action
Demands or requests direct deposit or banking information
Requires payment by gift card, prepaid debit card, internet currency, or by mailing cash
Pressures you for personal information
Requests secrecy
Threatens to seize your bank account
Promises to increase your Social Security benefit
Tries to gain your trust by providing fake “documentation,” false “evidence,” or the name of a real government official

If you receive any form of the above communications, try to stay calm. Government employees will not threaten you, demand immediate payment, or try to gain your trust by sending you pictures or documents. The best thing to do if you receive a suspicious call, text, or email is hang up or do not respond. Do not provide anyone with money or personal information when you feel pressured, threatened, or scared. Then, report it to the SSA Office of the Inspector General (OIG). Do not be embarrassed if you shared personal information or suffered a financial loss.

Upcoming Important Dates

February 15 –

Form W-4 filing deadline for taxpayers who claimed an exemption from income tax withholding for the prior year to continue their exemption in the current year
Q4 2022 estimated tax payment deadline (This is a one-month extension from the usual January 15 date for taxpayers in areas affected by Hurricanes Ian and Nicole.)

March 15 –

Income tax return (Form 1120S) filing and payment deadline for calendar year S-corporations
Income tax return (Form 1065 or 1065-B) filing and payment deadline for calendar year multi-member partnerships and multi-member LLCs (default)
K-1 issuance deadline
Request for automatic six-month extension (Form 7004) filing deadline to extend filing Form 1120S, 1065, and 1065-B
S-corporation election (Form 2553) filing deadline to be treated as an S-corporation in the current year

March 31 – End of Medicare General Enrollment Period

April 1 – “Required Beginning Date” which is the deadline to complete the first Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from an IRA or retirement account for anyone who turned 72 in 2022. (2023 RMD due date is December 31, 2023)

April 18 –

Income tax return (Form 1040) filing and payment deadline
Gift tax return (Form 709) filing and payment deadline
Request for automatic six-month extension (Form 4868) filing deadline to extend filing Form 1040 and 709
Q1 estimated tax payment deadline
Deadline to contribute to an IRA or HSA for prior tax year
Income tax return (Form 1040) filing and payment deadline for sole proprietorships and single-member LLCs
Income tax return (Form 1120) filing and payment deadline for calendar year C-Corporations and multi-member LLCs that elect to be classified as a corporation
Request for automatic six-month extension (Form 7004) filing deadline to extend filing Form 1120
Q1 estimated tax payment deadline for sole proprietorships, single-member LLCs, C-corporations, and multi-member LLCs that elect to be treated as a corporation

Please remember to call us: When anything significant happens in your life, including changes in your finances, family, or health that could affect your financial plan, please let us know so that we can adapt our planning and portfolio work for you accordingly. Also, if you ever fail to receive a monthly statement for one of the Schwab Institutional or TD Ameritrade Institutional accounts under our management, please let us know so we may assure the respective custodian delivers your statements promptly.

Yours truly,

The Team at Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo, LLC

Contact Us

Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo, LLC is an Orlando, Tampa and Melbourne, Florida based fee-only financial planner serving central Florida and clients across the country. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo, LLC specializes in providing objective financial planning, retirement planning, and investment management to help clients build, manage, grow, and protect their assets through all phases of one’s life and the many transitions in between. If you have any questions or would like to discuss anything further, please give us a call or send us a note. If you are not a client and wish to receive emails notifying you of new posts – no more than once per month – fill out the subscription information in the sidebar to the right. For more frequent updates, follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter.

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Posted in Estate Planning, News, Commentary & Events

About Dan Moisand

Dan Moisand is a fee-only financial advisor with Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo, LLC. He is a regular contributor for multiple outlets, including Florida Today, MarketWatch, and The Wall Street Journal. His writing and financial advice have also been featured in Financial Planning, Investment Advisor, Wealth Manager/Advising Boomers, Forbes, Smart Money, and The New York Times, among other publications. He is the only two-time winner of the Journal of Financial Planning’s “Call for Papers” competition and has been named a top financial planner and advisor by multiple publications. Investment News named Dan one of the “twenty most influential men and women” in the history of financial planning. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the CFP (Certified Financial Planner) Board.

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Everyone is a temporary owner of their assets