Real Life Planning Podcast Episode 23: Your Tax Return Tells a Story with Ian Scott

In Episode 23, I have a conversation with tax professional, Ian Scott, CPA. We talk about tax planning for small business owners, including real estate business owners. Listen to learn valuable tips to prepare for tax season and how to avoid costly mistakes. Later in the episode, Ian underscores the untapped potential of growing wealth in the gig economy.

“Depending on how you are operating determines your taxability.” - Ian Scott

This week on Real Life Planning Podcast, Cynthia will cover:

Takeaway Quotes:

“Better niched someone is, the more qualified they'll be able to help.” - Ian Scott

“You need a tax advisor to have your back.” - Cynthia Meyer

“If you're not comfortable with [taxes], you want someone who's going to help you stay ahead of it and push you to get you to the results that you want..” - Ian Scott

Connect with Ian Scott:

• https://www.berktax.com
• Ian on Facebook
• Ian on Instagram
• Email: ian@berktax.com

Connect with Cynthia Meyer:

• Cynthia Meyer on Facebook
• Cynthia Meyer on LinkedIn
• Cynthia Meyer on Twitter
• Cynthia Meyer on Instagram
• Cynthia Meyer on Pinterest
• Duolingo: CynthiaCafe
• Email: cynthia@reallifeplanning.com  

About the Real Life Planning Podcast

Host Cynthia Meyer welcomes fascinating guests to share real life stories of how they are realizing their financial potential. Each episode explores practical, realistic steps to create results.

Transcript - Real Life Planning Podcast - Episode 23

[00:00:06] Cynthia Meyer: Does your tax return tell a story? So our guest today on the Real Life Planning Podcast is Ian Scott, CPA and he's got a great perspective on that question. We're going to dive into that today and talk about tax planning for small business owners, in particular, small real estate business owners, and I'm really looking forward to this conversation. Ian and I have done some webinars together; done some coaching and training together and I think you're going to enjoy it. So welcome, Ian Scott, tell us what's important to know about you? 

[00:00:38] Ian Scott: Let me see. I have always enjoyed helping individuals.

[00:00:42] I started with the big firms. It's always been the fun part, which was always the unreachable part, early on, is talking to the individual; even if the individual represented the large company. Just being able over time, realizing that's where my passion was; that's where my heart was. That's where I had to go. That's where I had to be. So I ended up leaving my big corporate job, fancy job, and going into business for myself. Eventually going back to the tax firm that I interned with; a small local tax firm. At that time, the owners there were looking to start transitioning out.

[00:01:15] So it was actually a good time to come in because now I'm gaining equity and becoming a more equity partner. When they're ready to really like, hang it up, I can take over. So it's just an awesome opportunity to have that relationship early on. Plant those seeds to keep them watered throughout my relationship and my history with the firm.

[00:01:35] Just a casual conversation turns into something bigger. It was cool. It was cool. 

[00:01:39] Cynthia Meyer: So that is really interesting. Before we even get started on any of these tax stuff, we should probably say what we are talking about today is completely educational.

[00:01:47] We are not going to give you any tax advice. If you need tax advice to your specific situation, then you have to talk to a tax advisor directly about it, right? So this is educational conversation. We hope for it to be thought provoking and for you to think about some great questions for you to ask your own tax advisor.

[00:02:02] Ian, if you had to describe what you do for your clients in one word or a short phrase, what would that be? 

[00:02:10] Ian Scott: I would say peace of mind. When you think about small businesses, a lot of people are transitioning out of being a employee where the taxes are largely being taken care of behind the scenes; out of their control.

[00:02:23] They're just reporting what's already been taken from their paycheck. But when you become a business owner, a real estate investor, now the onus is on you. So for a lot of people, they jump in feet first and they take off running and some of them do really well. Most of the time, they may engage their accountant or engage an accountant when everything is said and done, right?

[00:02:41] They may walk up to me during tax time where I'm doing the work and I'm presenting them a 5, 4, 5, 6 figure tax bill. So, it's normally when that shock and awe, and that's when they realize, what they're really involved in. My aim, or what I like to engage with individuals early on is to help them to avoid that.

[00:03:01] I think the relationship between with the tax professional and the small business owner, it is like just at the end of the year for most people. 

[00:03:08] Cynthia Meyer: But we want to change that, right? We want people...

[00:03:09] Ian Scott: We want to change that. 

[00:03:10] Cynthia Meyer: ...talking to you all year long. 

[00:03:11] Ian Scott: Yes, it should be an all year thing. (How often should you talk to your CPA?) Just like you have your doctor, your lawyer, any professional that you're working with. It should be at least a quarterly thing where you're checking in. It doesn't have to be something- an expensive endeavor. It doesn't have to be a time consuming endeavor.

[00:03:24] But if we're able to talk and you're able to let me know, What's on your mind? What does the immediate future look like? What does long term look like? We can talk how that impacts your tax bill, your tax return before it gets to a point where you're locked in and you have to suffer the consequences.

[00:03:40] If we talk about early enough there, there may be things that you can do about it that you can change, that you can alter to have a better outcome, or at least prepare for you know, that eventual outcome. 

[00:03:50] Cynthia Meyer: Thinking in particular about the kinds of folks that both you and I work with like the small business owner who has maybe a small store and a couple employees, that sort of thing, and also the real estate business owner that just is generating income in an LLC from rental properties, right?

[00:04:07] What are some of the things that both of those folks should be thinking about throughout the year? Questions that they want to discuss with their CPA, and then anything that's particular to each type of client. 

[00:04:19] Ian Scott: Small business with employees. Just making sure that you have some type of good record keeping. You're dealing with so much that it's impossible for you to understand every single transaction that happens every single day, right?

[00:04:32] If you have good record keeping, it eliminates the need to have to hold onto all those things in your memory. You can review the reports. Anything that kind of falls out, any big items, unusual items that falls out, it's memorialized and you can go back and refer to it which necessitates the need to talk- especially if you have employees. A monthly basis is even better. Just to talk about again any changes and it's fresh on the mind. If it's something that's going to be a recurring thing, it's something, again, we can get in front of quarterly with the taxes.

[00:05:01] One of the principles of taxes is all income earned is taxable. So just putting something to the side; making sure that you're paying your quarterly taxes if you have to. 

[00:05:10] Cynthia Meyer: But a lot of people don't know that when they first get started. They might have, maybe they lost a job or they got laid off or something and they decide, Oh, I'm going to start doing some consulting and they have no idea. I know when I did my first self-employed gig, like I didn't know how much money to put aside for taxes or that I was paying both sides of FICA. I mean, I was very surprised with that first tax bill that I got in my mid thirties. 

[00:05:31] Ian Scott: Yes. Yeah. And that's the thing when you don't realize, when you look at your w2, there's boxes you just see that there is money taken out, right? When you are the employer, you're responsible for making sure that money is pulled out and paid to the government. If you are self-employed, it's all on you. In a sense, look at self-employment as you're creating a job. 

[00:05:51] Cynthia Meyer: You're the employer and the employee. 

[00:05:53] Ian Scott: The employer and the employee. Having that in mind, you want to make sure you plan ahead again before all of that hits you at the end of the year. (What are the differences between passive and active real estate investors?) For a real estate owner, real estate is considered an investment for the most part, depending on the number of hours that you're putting into the practice.

[00:06:08] Either you're considered a real estate professional or you're just an investor, right? So in that sort of formula there's guidelines. 

[00:06:15] Cynthia Meyer: Really strict guidelines. 

[00:06:16] Ian Scott: Really strict guidelines. But of course, being a real estate investor, professional real estate investor gives you more tax benefits.

[00:06:23] But like you said, there's strict guidelines. But depending on where you fall within that realm, will determine what your tax bill looks like is. It is something where you're an investor- an investor for tax purposes is passive which means the income is taxed as if it's like a dividend or stock interest income, things like that.

[00:06:40] If you're an investor, it's active. This is more like again, your job.

[00:06:44] Cynthia Meyer: Right. Because of the income. Yeah.

[00:06:45] Ian Scott: Depending on how you are operating determines the taxability. 

[00:06:50] Cynthia Meyer: Can I jump in on here for a second and say that I often see people who've made mistakes with this.

[00:06:55] Maybe they're DIYing their own taxes, like in TurboTax or something like that. And not that, if you have a simple situation, that may be a perfectly reasonable way to do it if you're mathy.

[00:07:05] But that is definitely not something you want to DIY. If you're deciding whether you're a real estate professional or not, you should be discussing this with a tax advisor, in my opinion. 

[00:07:13] Ian Scott: Yeah. Turbo Tax. If they click that box, they should just stop it. They should stop the procedure of the tax return and just say, see a tax professional.

[00:07:20] (does it make sense for real estate investors to prepare their own taxes?) When someone finally comes to look for a professional like me, and I look at the tax returns they've done and some of the things they've written off and proceeded to do, there's some egregious errors. If the IRS- if you're selected for auditing, it can be a random thing. But if they just happen to look at your return manually they could see some potentially large errors that could come back to haunt you, especially if you've been doing a year over year with no seeming consequence.

[00:07:43] So it is a very dangerous thing to play with. The information's out there and a lot of that information is accurate, but the application of it and the..

[00:07:51] Cynthia Meyer: Is more nuanced. 

[00:07:52] Ian Scott: Yes. That's not DIY. That's not DIY. 

[00:07:54] Cynthia Meyer: Interestingly, we were doing a webinar the other day with our friend and colleague, Veronica Woods. We were talking about how to build a team of professionals around you and having tax planning and tax advice is an important part of that team; whatever kind of business you have. 

[00:08:10] How should somebody look for a tax advisor? Like, how do you find somebody that's going to be a good fit for your situation?

[00:08:17] Ian Scott: Just like with any relationship, you pick someone who fits your needs; makes you feel comfortable, makes you feel heard. Especially with a business, you want someone who matches your needs or even pushes you in a sense.  If you're not, if taxes aren't- you're not comfortable with it, you want someone who's going to help you stay ahead of it and push you to get you to the results that you want.

[00:08:36] That may take cycling through a few. If you get in early, you can get a feel for what you're going to expect. You're going to try. You're going to meet people. You are going to interview them. You may give them a little piece of work. You just want to try it until you find someone that really fits your needs. 

[00:08:51] There's a lot of CPAs. We all do different things. Some are very much into the bookkeeping space and it may do taxes on the side. Some people are big into the tax fees and may do bookkeeping on the side. Some do only one and not the other. 

[00:09:03] It's really to understand what your needs are going to be and find the individual that fits that piece because there's a wide array of tax services out there. 

[00:09:11] Cynthia Meyer: Yes, that's right. And especially, in this broad definition of the small business space which can include people that have real estate businesses, rental property business, for example.

[00:09:20] The difference between somebody, for example, who like my grandfather, owned a gas station right? Where he fixed cars. He would have had particular things that he should be keeping track of- cost of goods sold and certain ways that he needs to do things is very different for example, than from somebody who's a professional financial planner. 

[00:09:39] Having somebody that knows a little bit about your space can be helpful. 

[00:09:43] Ian Scott: I had a client referral call two days ago, and the guy works in the NASA space area; that's what he's producing. So I'm like, Okay, let me give you a call on somebody who can help you because that definitely not my space.

[00:09:56] Having someone who knows their niche, right? Better niched someone is, the more qualified they'll be able to help. They just take whatever comes in that may be a flag. That's probably not the person for you.

[00:10:06] Cynthia Meyer: Yeah. Yeah. I heard a really great quote from Michael Kitces the, who's one of the co-founders of my financial planner network, the XY Planning Network, and he said, "A niche is a need." I thought that was a really cool. 

[00:10:16] So I'm wondering, this is interesting because not everybody may know this, especially if you're an early filer, right? But the actual, like the drop dead filing deadline, for people that extended was October 15th. So we've just finished this period. And as a financial planner, like I have seen- there are some folks who are, they are ready on February 1st. Their records are great. They've got everything in order. They're ready. They want to file early. 

[00:10:40] Ian Scott: Yeah. They're the rare person.

[00:10:41] Cynthia Meyer: What's that? I'm sorry. 

[00:10:42] Ian Scott: They are the rare person. 

[00:10:43] Cynthia Meyer: They are the rare person. And sometimes you just don't- like the more assets you have, like you aren't getting all this information that you need from your brokerage firm and from, if you've been a syndication investor , you're not getting your K1s till the summer or something like that. So then there are people that are, they're generally ready by the middle of April, right? To file. There are people that extend and then there are people who wait until the week before October 15th.

[00:11:06] Sometimes, I see that the reason that people are waiting is because they're not keeping good records. So, in the real estate investing space, for example, maybe they're just keeping their income and expenses in Excel, or maybe they're just keeping receipts in a shoebox or something like that.

[00:11:22] (What should RE investors do to keep good records?) What can people do to get on top of that good record keeping so that they're prepared for quarterly or semi-annual tax planning conversations and they're prepared for tax time with less stress? 

[00:11:35] Ian Scott: The easiest thing to do- you can be a do it yourselfer as well as set it and forget it in a sense- is QuickBooks and then there's a software called, Stessa, that I know of that does accounting specifically for real estate investors and then Buildium. So there are three softwares that you can use that are low cost; in some cases, free. 

[00:11:54] Stessa, right now, the clients I'm working with, they don't even pay. You can set it in a sense, set it and forget it if you're working with an accountant who can come in and look at it at the end of the month. But you want to try to be very efficient. Try to keep everything- all your transactions within like one bank account, one credit card that way at the end of the month, you're not pulling from various sources, you're just, you're using that one source and then you're able to put everything together. 

[00:12:16] So what was the question again? I just want to make sure I'm answering it. 

[00:12:18] Cynthia Meyer: Oh yeah. So how could people be more prepared, right? So that tax time, either quarterly tax time or annual tax time is a lot less stressful, right? 

[00:12:25] Ian Scott: So to the extent, you have everything organized by a one flow of information. One thing you mentioned that I was thinking about was, yes, during the pandemic, so many people began investing in like crypto. They began day trading. Everyone became like... 

[00:12:39] Cynthia Meyer: I can give you like a huge pile of reports. 

[00:12:42] Ian Scott: So you're in partnerships. If you're used to filing early on, you may have to wait. You may have to extend your return because so that investment gets their information out , you have to wait, right? Just understanding where your money, where your investments are, where everything is, so that way you don't file and then you get this big K1 or this big broker statement. Now all of a sudden you went from getting money back or refund or that small balance or big balance.

[00:13:06] Communication. Really working with your accountant to let them know what you have gotten involved in. I have one client- sold a commercial property and just didn't tell me. I just happened to call him. He's, " Oh yeah, I sold such and such building." And I'm like, What? That's not something you just wake up and pull the trigger on. This is something- that's months of negotiation. 

[00:13:24] Cynthia Meyer: So of course you can't release personal details, but did they do 1031 exchange? 

[00:13:29] Ian Scott: No. No, they had entered into it and it wasn't going the way that they wanted to and they just got out of it. So again, and that's something that could have been discussed. What other ways... 

[00:13:40] Cynthia Meyer: That's a good thing to discuss with your tax advisor. Yeah. 

[00:13:42] Ian Scott: Yeah, just understanding your whole financial situation. Healthcare. You have healthcare on the exchange. 

[00:13:48] Cynthia Meyer: On the exchange, yeah. 

[00:13:49] Ian Scott: So many people I know have- because they're self-employed, they may use the marketplace and they don't say anything and then they may not know. But again just waiting and being patient and understanding how things work.

[00:14:00] If you send out a tax return that comes back; that gets rejected back- that you have marketplace insurance. So it's a lot of things that you have to keep track of. That's why communication is crucial. But if you can find a system, electronically, if you're a record keeper, just taking the time to do it will save you... 

[00:14:17] Cynthia Meyer: Yeah. Really saves you hassle on the back end. Yeah. So, I see many clients, they maybe, they didn't get ahead of a transaction, right? So they aren't talking to their tax advisor before they make a decision about something to understand the tax implications of that particular decision. So I'm thinking about a situation where a client had been gifted a property by a parent, right? And then they sold the property and didn't realize that they still had the parents' basis in the property. Meaning that their gain was going to be pretty large.

[00:14:48] And thinking about situations like exercising incentive stock options, right? And not understanding the alternative minimum tax and that you might have an AMT bill that you know, or an AMT credit and you're going to have to pay this tax possibly. So there's just so many things.

[00:15:03] We're not CPAs. Like, we don't know! As a financial planner, there's obviously a lot of it that I do know what to prompt clients to discuss with our tax advisors. But I think people are busy. They're busy running the business that they're running, right?

[00:15:15] They're not tax professionals and knowing that somebody's got your back throughout the year, I think if anybody takes one thing away from that conversation, I would love them to take that. You need a tax advisor to have your back. 

[00:15:27] Ian Scott: You raised a good point with like the incentive stock options. But then with the gig economy and technology, things have become more accessible to a lot more people. So some of these problems, you only think of someone who has a lot of money.

[00:15:40] But everything, especially within the tax law, is scalable. You can have those same issues, you can have those same benefits. So a lot of times, we're just not aware until it becomes- until it's too late.

[00:15:50] So, the need for a good CPA has become very clear. So many people getting into things where they just- they weren't used to before. And the tax law just it comes down to them. They're not above or exempt. It just underlines the need to have someone that you can talk to or you should talk to and check in so you know how to handle them. That's a good point. 

[00:16:10] Cynthia Meyer: I've heard you say so many times, Ian, you know how a tax return tells a story. What kind of story do we want it to tell? 

[00:16:17] Ian Scott: (What story does the tax return tell?) Let's just take real estate advice, right? Real estate investors. There's a lot of benefits, a lot of tax advantages that they have. But it's almost like too much of a good thing. It can hurt you sometimes. When you think of a lot of investors, they may be struggling to go get financing in a tighter market. Their tax returns make them look like they're broke. 

[00:16:32] Cynthia Meyer: Their real estate income is sheltered through depreciation expense. 

[00:16:35] Ian Scott: Sometimes people, they may not be- they either are too aggressive with deductions and write offs, or in some cases they're just not reporting income which is never an advisable thing.

[00:16:45] Cynthia Meyer: That's not a good thing. 

[00:16:46] Ian Scott: It's not a good thing. And I think what we saw during the pandemic with the PPP loans , there were so many people who could have qualified had they been honest and upfront on their tax returns. Not reporting the income or just being again, too aggressive with the write offs deductions where your bottom line is so tiny that you only qualify for so much.

[00:17:07] So it's a thing of, what do I want to say with my tax return? And a lot of times that comes with thinking a few years into the future. So a real estate investor, if they are starting off and they know that they want to finance, they want to leverage other resources in order to grow their portfolio; they want to look attractive to an investor, right?

[00:17:25] If you are a real estate professional and all you have is your real estate portfolio and the work you're performing for it, a prospective funder is going to want to look at your tax return. That's going to tell the story of who you are financially.

[00:17:37] They're going to look at how much money you made, how much money is left over. Because what's left over is essentially what you're living off of and if that looks like you really have no money, you're struggling, they may not see you as a good candidate, 

[00:17:50] Cynthia Meyer: A good lending risk. Yeah. 

[00:17:51] Ian Scott: You're a risk to them. So, if you know that this is what's going to the horizon in the like the two to three years, then it's a good time to talk about maybe setting up your expenses; maybe that's something you defer, right? If you were going to look to invest into something big, that may be a good idea to defer that so that your income- your net income looks good.

[00:18:12] Always report your income. Always report your income. Even if it's something that the IRS will never ever find. You just want to paint that story. You want to show that. 

[00:18:20] Even if you're looking to buy a house, I tell people if they're a W2 employee you want you want to know what neighborhood you're going to live in. How much you're going to spend? What the requirements are? So talk to a couple of lenders. Find out what the requirements are and see if you meet those requirements. If not, what can you do to meet those requirements. That may even mean Okay, if you have to get like a side gig or something to build your income up, right? 

[00:18:38] If you can show that you're able to make the money, it's not necessarily how you got it? Can you make the money? Do you have the money to be able to sustain yourself? And by having that conversation as early as possible, you can take legal reasonable measures to fit that.

[00:18:53] So when they look at your tax return, okay, you look, you're a quality candidate, I want to work with you. 

[00:18:57] Cynthia Meyer: So tell me a little bit about what's next for your business.

[00:19:01] Ian Scott: As things become easier to access in terms of, you think about the gig economy, you think about do it yourself businesses, real estate investing, there's a lot more people just seeing the benefits of it, and there's a lot of real estate popping up- just becoming a more full service firm.

[00:19:15] Mm-hmm. Right now I have a retail shop and there's a lot of people walking in and it's, again, it's transactional. It's the end of the year, they get their taxes done. But just looking to work with longer term individuals from the birth of their business to the extent where I can't serve as them no more because they're too big.

[00:19:31] They're moving on to a bigger firm. So me being able to give them a firm foundation on taxes and finance. To be able to grow their business to where they scale up and they're so large that, they need to move on because it's just out of my realm that is what I'm looking towards.

[00:19:46] Someone were to pick up the phone, there's a problem that they have and they could have a bookkeeper. They can have other services, but they just need a second set of eyes to look at something. They need my advice. They want to look at a transaction, they want to review some sort. So becoming more consultative in that giving people a perspective that again, that they're going to be able to use and to move forward. That's what the new season looks like for me. Yeah. 

[00:20:08] Cynthia Meyer: Oh, that's exciting. Yeah. So what would you say is the best piece of advice you have ever received? 

[00:20:12] Ian Scott: There was a quote that I read. It wasn't something that I received, but it's from Ralph Waldo Emerson. He says, Always do what you're afraid to do.

[00:20:19] Cynthia Meyer: Oh, that's a good, That's powerful. 

[00:20:21] Ian Scott: Yeah, it is. If you're afraid of something, if you feel a sense of fear, you want to examine that and where it's coming from. Sometimes it's warranted; so stay away. But sometimes it just might be a challenge for you or a chance for you to grow.

[00:20:34] So in those instances where you see that may just be something in your head that's making you afraid, you want to look for ways to be able to work through that because there just may be opportunity or growth on the other side of it. That might be a difficult conversation to have. You're not sure how the person's going to respond to it. But what I found in business, for the most part, most people are reasonable. Most people are okay. They understand. It's not the end of the world. There may be like taking a risk; me leaving my corporate job because I wasn't happy.

[00:20:59] I wasn't satisfied to jumping into being self-employed was scary. But it was like I was being pulled that way. I was already disengaged from the job. I was already not happy. Eventually, I was going to get fired because my whole body, my whole self was like, was not there anymore.

[00:21:14] So it was scary, but you just learn. And one of the things that I was very thankful for was having that tribe, having those resources, building relationships so that once I was on my own, I turned to my tribe and they were offering me resources, offering me things I can do to get me started.

[00:21:31] So, if you feel a sense of fear, you want to make big changes. If you feel a sense of fear is worth looking inside and seeing where is this coming from and how can I use this feeling to fuel me on. 

[00:21:44] Cynthia Meyer: Oh, I think that's a really powerful piece of advice, Ian. 

[00:21:48] I think it's interesting that you felt this pull to be an entrepreneur, to be self-employed, to do your own thing, if you will. And I always think and I'm curious if you agree with this or not, if it's in your heart or your head, that you already have 60% of what it takes to start and be effective in your own business, right?

[00:22:05] Because it's not in a lot of people's heads. So, the fact that you feel pulled towards it or drawn to it, means that you may be meant to give it a try. Now, it might not be the good season in life to give it a try because when you start a business, there's usually a period of time where you're not making that much money.

[00:22:21] So it has to be right for yourself and your family, obviously. But the fact that it's in your heart means that maybe you're meant to give it a try, even if you're afraid of it. 

[00:22:29] Ian Scott: Yeah. And then you may see this on the planning side, the investing side. A lot of the past people are on is based off of what they learn as a child; school. But when you look ahead, you think of saving for college. What colleges will look like in the next 10 years is going to be very different than what we experience as children.

[00:22:48] The need for college is vastly different because with technology, with the way businesses have become commoditized, it's just a lot of those positions we went to college for, students, children can learn on their own. So, should they invest their money in a 529; in something that's so rigid or can that money be put somewhere where it's has a multifaceted purpose. If college ends up not being the way or they get a scholarship or something, that money can be then utilized or repurposed for something else. 

[00:23:15] Cynthia Meyer: I think that's a really interesting conversation. Maybe we could dig into that in a future podcast. My two younger kids- we made lump sum contributions to their 529 plans when they were born and now, because it's been beautiful two decades in the stock market, right?

[00:23:28] Now we have enough for if they conserve their resources and they don't go to super expensive schools, like they've got enough for undergraduate and graduate school. But I don't know that 20 years from now that situation is going to be exactly the same. I'm having this conversation with clients a lot that have younger children about like how much goes in the 529 and then how much is invested elsewhere in more flexible resources. So, I think that's a really interesting topic. Yeah.

[00:23:51] Just to finish up here, what are you curious about right now?

[00:23:54] Ian Scott: This is going almost into the political space, but just looking at the changes with the technology, with people as a whole. It seems like there's this coming together of people, of resources where bureaucracy and big business; it seems to kind of losing its power. One of the beautiful things about the gig economy and technology is that everyone has a chance to amass some of the wealth of these big companies have achieved. So if, there's a trillion dollar company or a billion dollar company, if everyone can get a small slice of that's enough to live off of and sustain yourself.

[00:24:27] So just seeing how everything develops politically and economically wise, I'm just curious to see that; to stay on top of it. 

[00:24:35] I encourage people to pay attention to those things. Again, not be afraid to take a risk; to start small. Doesn't have to be something where you know, you leave your job and now you...

[00:24:43] Cynthia Meyer: It could be a side hustles 

[00:24:45] Ian Scott: ... where you know, you put some time into and work from. So just keeping my eye on- you look at what's happening with blockchain technology; with crypto. What does this all mean and how do me or how does someone like me take advantage of it to be able to achieve their goals?

[00:25:00] That's where I'm most curious; utilizing what's coming down the pike just to make my life better; to make my clients' lives better. 

[00:25:06] Cynthia Meyer: I'm glad you're curious about that because I think that makes you the really thoughtful counselor that you are and a partner with your clients in helping them build and scale their businesses.

[00:25:16] So Ian, where can we find you online? 

[00:25:18] Ian Scott: We have a Facebook profile. My profile on Instagram is @ITScottCPA. I'm also on LinkedIn under my name Ian Scott. And yeah, so those are the places you find me.

[00:25:29] Cynthia Meyer: Okay. Wonderful. We'll put those in the show notes and thank you very much for this conversation today.

[00:25:35] I look forward to continue in the future. I always enjoy talking to you. And any words of wisdom for us as we finish up? 

[00:25:44] Ian Scott: Yes. Taxes, they don't have to be hard. Few simple principles and thoughts. You can take advantage of what's out there for you. You don't have to run away from them. Just find yourself a good professional that speaks your language, works well with you and you'll be fine.

[00:25:56] Cynthia Meyer: Thank you very much, Ian Scott, CPA. And to everybody listening, if you have a topic or a suggested speaker, please email us at podcast@reallifeplanning.com. 

[00:26:06] 

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