When I first entered the workforce as a CPA, I thought it would be my career until the day I retired. It didn’t take me long to realize that I despised being an auditor. I am a problem-solver and a helper by nature. I wanted to bring solutions to the table for my clients and auditing does not provide this. Initially choosing the wrong career led me to the path where I find myself today.
Here’s how I discovered the method I have used to help financial advisors grow their businesses by embracing a dynamically different approach that incorporates tax planning with investing. If you’re serious about growing your practice and you follow the principles I’ve taught other advisors, you’ll see a night-and-day difference in the way clients and professional peers respond to you.
First Career Steps
After about a year in my career as a CPA for a large accounting firm, I made the switch to retail, working as a store manager for the next 10 years. Then a financial advisor showed me how life insurance could be used as a tax-efficient vehicle. Believing this information to be the best thing since sliced bread, I was excited to share it with others. It was then that I decided to take my experience and branch out on my own.
I tried selling life insurance but was stood up three to four times in a row. I didn’t understand why people couldn’t see the same potential I saw in life insurance, utilizing it as a vehicle to support a tax strategy. So, I pivoted my business strategy toward college planning, which turned out to be tax planning and I was REALLY good at it. I became a Certified Tax Coach (CTC) in 2014 and began working as a part-time instructor for the American Institute of Certified Tax Planners.
Branching Out
I much prefer tax
planning
over tax
preparation,
which is a distinction not many people realize. Tax preparation is the annual process most are familiar with: gathering up documentation and trying to maximize your tax deductions. Tax planning, on the other hand, involves looking ahead to the future and combining multiple strategies to reduce tax liability.
I met my business partner in 2017, and together we refocused our business efforts on tax planning. In my time as a CTC, I noticed that many CPAs and financial planners fell short when it came to proactively planning for taxes. Instead, their strategies felt more reactive, or a “What’s done is done, now let’s pay taxes” mentality as opposed to “What can we do to minimize taxes in an IRS-approved way?”
We developed The Walters Way®, helping financial advisors learn the tax language and truly understand how it can be used to save their clients thousands of dollars. By serving as tax-planning specialists in a behind-the-scenes capacity, we can elevate the positioning of a financial planning firm and quickly set our clients apart from other advisors. Our business model is based on the principle of educating advisors and their clients on underutilized strategies for mitigating tax liability.
The Best Part
The best part of my job is being able to see financial advisors achieve incredible results in their practices —elevating not only their business but also their knowledge and passion for tax planning. The Walters Way® process positively works. Our team is highly effective in what we do, and our ability to truly change lives inspires me to keep coming to work every day. We’ve helped financial advisors save their clients an average of 48% on their annual taxes through education on proactive tax-planning strategies.
Tax planning doesn’t have to be shrouded in mystery. Together, we can position tax planning to your clients to make you more valuable to them. We have consistently helped advisors show their clients how to pay little or nothing in taxes, or reduce their tax liability to a fraction of what they expected to pay. To learn more about our process, click below to schedule a complimentary appointment.
Who Am I?
I’m Heath Walters, CPA, a strategic tax planning specialist who partners with financial planners to provide behind-the-scenes tax planning expertise for the high-net-worth clients of financial planning firms. With over 20 years of experience. I help financial planning firms set themselves apart to their ideal clients through training in specialized services that complement traditional wealth management solutions. If you have the desire and drive to expand your knowledge and want to reach unprecedented pinnacles, then it’s time we talked. To learn more, connect with me on LinkedIn.
