CNBC has named Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo, LLC (MFT) to its 2025 Financial Advisor 100 list of the top 100 financial advisors in America. According to CNBC, “We created CNBC’s Financial Advisor 100 in 2019 to recognize the country’s best financial advisors and top financial advisory firms. CNBC accepts no payment for placement…Our team uses data analysis, with data partner AccuPoint Solutions, and editorial review to compile CNBC’s Financial Advisor 100 list. For 2025, the process began with 40,563 registered investment advisor firms, or RIAs, and that list was reduced to 1,015 that met CNBC’s requirements. CNBC surveyed the finalists for more details about their practice and verified responses against publicly available resources. Then AccuPoint used CNBC’s weighted criteria to rank the firms.”
Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo, LLC named to list of America’s top 250 independent financial planning and wealth management firms by Forbes for the third consecutive year: The Forbes list was compiled by SHOOK research which said, “SHOOK is completely independent and objective and does not receive compensation from the advisors, firms, the media, or any other source in exchange for placement on a ranking…SHOOK Research creates rankings of role models—firms that are leading the way in offering best practices and providing a high-quality experience for clients. A focus on both quantitative and qualitative factors, including telephone and in-person meetings, is imperative…SHOOK Research is the only ranking firm that interviews firms and advisors via telephone and in person at the firm’s location…When we meet with a firm or an advisor for a due diligence meeting, we are always thinking to ourselves, ‘Would we recommend this firm (or individual) to a friend or family member?’ Quality is always first; if we’re going to include a firm (or advisor) on our rankings, we have to make sure everyone is of the highest quality.”
Welcome two new shareholders
One of the things that makes our firm special is that we are truly independent, working only for clients. We are committed to remaining 100% local-employee owned and have a solid internal succession plan in place. Part of that plan is to expand the number of our team members who become shareholders.
This year we are welcoming Tommy Lucas and Kevin McDermott to the ownership group. This brings us to 9 total shareholders and helps ensure the firm stays independent for generations to come. As we have in the past with new shareholders, we asked for some thoughts from Tommy and Kevin.
Tommy Lucas, CFP® EA
Working with successful mid-career families, particularly civil engineers, Tommy’s main areas of expertise are allocating savings in a tax-optimal way to retirement and non-retirement accounts, guiding clients through the often-complex landscape of employer benefits to make the most of the options available, and creating tax projections to find opportunities such as Roth conversions or capital gain and loss harvesting.
Tommy is a regular expert source on tax issues for CNBC and other outlets. Tommy is leading our internship and analyst training programs.
Tommy, what drew you to MFT?
It was the culture of caring and serving one another. I was brought in 10 years ago for an internship, and I got to see firsthand how the leadership of the firm treated everyone else like gold. Hearing how my friends and family talked about their work cultures, I knew that I had joined somewhere special. Now stepping into this new role, I hope to continue to demonstrate this so that our team and our clients will have the best care possible.
What will be the biggest challenge facing clients going forward?
I believe the biggest challenge has always been and will continue to be sticking to a disciplined, long-term plan while there is noise all around that says otherwise. I recently finished a book that looked at the history of U.S. investing going all the way back to 1790, and there is a consistent theme throughout of people wanting to invest in a speculative asset. Most of the individuals that participated in the speculation were left significantly worse off, which reaffirmed for me that our methodical approach gives clients the best odds for success.
What can you share about yourself that might surprise those who know you?
Those who know me know that I currently have five boys. What may come as a surprise is that my wife and I do not come from large families. My wife is an only child, and I have one younger brother. I can’t prove it, but usually I hear from other large families that they were part of one growing up.
What do you do for fun outside the office?
I love coming home and spending time with my beautiful wife and boys and seeing the personalities of our children blossom. Our new family activity that the boys and I do together is a martial art called Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, which is similar to wrestling. It is keeping my mind sharp and physically in shape, and our goal is to stick with it and hopefully become a family of black belts one day!
Kevin McDermott, CPA
Kevin is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) by the State of Florida and joined the firm in 2021 as Tax Manager. Kevin has over a decade of experience in comprehensive tax consulting, planning, and compliance services for a variety of industries and families. He manages our in-house Tax Department providing tax return preparation, projections, and planning strategies to our wealth management clients for personal, trust, gift, estate, and closely-held business tax returns. Kevin is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants (FICPA).
Kevin, what drew you to MFT? MFT is full of people who truly care about doing right by our clients and each other. There’s a strong commitment to being excellent advisors, but also a real respect for our colleagues’ time, families, and priorities. It’s a rare thing to find a company that can do great work, and at the same time, be a great place to work.
What will be the biggest challenge facing clients going forward? Everything in financial planning, especially in my world of taxes, just keeps getting more complicated. Congress recently passed yet another new tax bill, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The OBBBA is loaded with new rules, new reporting requirements, and new planning opportunities. It’s a lot to keep up with. Our clients will need help navigating those changes now and in the future.
What can you share about yourself that might surprise those who know you? Over the past year my wife, father-in-law, brother-in-law, and I built a 1,000 square foot deck in my backyard, ourselves! It was a massive project, but I learned a ton.
What do you do for fun outside the office? Outside the office, I love to travel, read, and go to the movie theater. I watch a lot of baseball and enjoy playing golf when I can. Most of all, I love spending time with my wife, Stephanie, and our dog, Maggie.
Plan now to avoid the year end crush
Many tax-related transactions must occur by year-end. While the IRS has a deadline of December 31, due to the sheer volume of requests, most financial institutions will not guarantee a transaction will be completed unless initiated a couple of weeks earlier than that.
Transactions often requested in December include:
- Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from retirement accounts and IRAs
- Qualified Charitable Distributions (Only permitted for persons over age 70 ½ and only from IRAs.
- Transfers or donations of securities
- Sales of securities for “loss harvesting”
- Sales of appreciated securities for “gain harvesting”
- Roth conversions
Waiting until the last minute is not likely to make a significant difference in your tax bill versus the result achieved by executing these transactions earlier. By planning ahead, you can avoid the year end crush. Once you and our advisory team have determined what needs to be done, please proceed with the necessary transactions as soon as possible. If you must wait, Schwab will not guarantee execution before year end if the request is not properly made before December 12, 2025.
News & Notes
Updates to client portals: Beginning in November, all portal users will be required to use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) codes to their cell phone or email address in order to log into their client portals. Tamarac, the company that provides our client portals, will phase out the option for security questions. These changes are being made to provide greater security for your information. A new look and feel for the portals should be live in December.
Good news on QCD: Beginning with 2025, Form 1099-R, the form used to report distributions from retirement accounts will now include a tax reporting code for Qualified Charitable Distributions (Code Y within Box 7). This allows custodians to designate whether a distribution was a QCD. It will remain up to the taxpayer to ensure that the recipient is a qualifying organization for QCD treatment, and all other requirements are met but this change will reduce the considerable number of errors on tax returns we have seen others prepare for clients.
Social Security payments and retirement plan contributions are expected to rise: The Social Security Administration has yet to finalize the 2025 cost of living adjustment, but most estimates are between 2.6% and 2.7%. Contribution limits to retirement plans should also rise. We will have exact figures for you in our January newsletter.
Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo is again a “Golden 100” and a “Fast 50” company: The Orlando Business Journal recognized MFT by including the firm on their 2025 list of the top 100 privately held Central Florida businesses based on the prior year’s annual revenues, the Golden 100. The firm also made the publication’s list of the 50 fastest growing Central Florida businesses based on growth from 2022-2024.
Dan Moisand interviewed on podcast and speaks at conference: Host Marie Swift interviewed Dan Moisand, CFP® on NAPFA Nation, the podcast of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, the nation’s largest association of fee-only financial advisors. Moisand reflects on his 30 years of advocating for the advancement of the financial planning profession.
Dan also spoke at the CFP Board Connections conference in Chicago. Dan was a panelist covering some of the ins and outs of leadership development and succession planning. As the news above about Tommy Lucas and Kevin McDermott illustrate, Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo, LLC has an active and robust plan to assure it can serve clients and their families for generations.
Important Dates:
November 1: Start of open enrollment for existing Health Insurance Marketplace enrollees
December 7: End of open enrollment for existing Medicare enrollees
December 15:
- End of open enrollment for existing Health Insurance Marketplace enrollees
- Q4 estimated tax payment deadline for C-corporation and multi-member LLCs that elect to be treated as a corporation
Wednesday, December 24, 2025 – Sunday, January 4, 2026: The offices of Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo are closed. As has been our custom for many years, all staff have this time off so they can spend it with their families. Offices will reopen on Monday, January 5, 2026.
January 1:
- Start of General Enrollment Period for Medicare Part A and B
- Start of Open Enrollment Period for Medicare Advantage
January 15:
- Q4 estimated payment deadline for 2025 tax year.
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 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
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