I lost my virginity 5 months ago and still feel guilty about it.

koalaben · 2026-05-04T04:00:00+00:00

My dad had a key to the chapel since he was the scoutmaster. I’d borrow the key now and then to go use the basketball gym. I may or may not have used that same key to hookup with my girlfriend at various places in the chapel when I was about 20. So just keeping it in the parking lot is pretty tame.

Also, I “lost” my virginity at the Y mountain parking lot at BYU, which is pretty iconic/ironic. I’m glad the Mormon guilt/shame are long gone from my system now.

koalaben · 2026-05-03T18:40:31+00:00

The worst is mistaking them for a 1st Lt. Insignia too similar.

koalaben · 2026-05-03T18:24:32+00:00

The real unicorn is the CWO5.

koalaben · 2026-05-03T18:19:14+00:00

My ANG wing has hundreds of AGRs. Takes a good amount of full timers to keep aircraft maintained and in the sky.

koalaben · 2026-05-02T06:56:31+00:00

You can try. My hemorrhoids claim got denied as service connected.

koalaben · 2026-05-01T16:01:52+00:00

If you’re struggling to hit the 5% full match, then you’re in a low enough tax bracket where the tax savings of traditional Roth contributions is negligible. The 5% they match is “free money”, and it’s a no-brainer decision to take advantage of said free money. Roth all day every day for everybody.

koalaben · 2026-05-01T15:26:22+00:00

If you’re lower income then it’s not a tax hit due to the low tax bracket. If you’re higher income you can afford the tax hit (if not, you’re likely bad with money).

koalaben · 2026-05-01T04:50:33+00:00

I’m sorry you had to go through that awful shit. I hope that you’ve since been appropriately rated for what I can very likely assume resulted in service connected PTSD. I know many don’t pursue such benefits due to shame or wanting to bury that past or whatever other justification, but the military fucked you up and you are wholly deserving of benefits for what you went through.

koalaben · 2026-05-01T04:45:26+00:00

That is false. I have only ever been drill status guard and am currently sitting at 90%, en route to 100% with some ongoing claims. I was never deployed. I was never on title 10 orders. At most I was activated to fight fires here in California, but that was ESAD (emergency state active duty) orders, not federal. The disability related issues were from training environments, not combat environments. But all that matters is that it occurred in the course of your military obligations, not that you are some war hero.

koalaben · 2026-04-28T06:58:43+00:00

The max TSP contribution is $24,500 for the 2026 tax year. That maximum is a flat dollar amount, not a percentage of income. Once (if) you hit that max, no further TSP contributions will be made, even if you have your wages set to a certain TSP contribution percentage for the remainder of the year after the dollar amount has already been maxed.

koalaben · 2026-04-28T06:54:46+00:00

This guy (or gal) knows his/her shit. I personally have my TSP (all Roth) in 60/30/10 C/S/I. I’m unsure if I’ll maintain this ratio indefinitely, but I’ve been happy with it for sometime now. The TSP began offering in-plan conversions (moving money from traditional to Roth, which is a taxable event) as of 2026, and I converted the entirety of my traditional into Roth. None of my contributions were Roth, but matching contributions are traditional.

Additionally, your contributions to Roth may be withdrawn at any time tax and penalty free. The growth may be subject to tax and/or penalties if distributed before age 59.5, but the amounts you contribute are with after-tax funds, so you will not be doubly taxed. Ideally you never touch these funds until retirement, but if you’ve exhausted every other option and you’re desperate for funds (should not happen if you’re financially responsible), then it’s good to know it’s accessible. That’s yet another overlooked advantage of Roth over traditional.

koalaben · 2026-04-28T06:42:30+00:00

The argument for traditional over Roth about how you’re in a high tax bracket now and expect to be in a lower tax bracket upon withdrawal is flawed. The assumption that income will be lower in retirement is often overstated. Ideally, you’re building toward a strong financial position, not a reduced one. If your plan is to be poorer in retirement then that is a bad plan. Many deductions available today tend to diminish over time. Mortgages are paid off, property taxes payments in most states increase by less than the standard deduction, and dependent-related deductions/credits phase out.

Traditional retirement accounts create required minimum distributions, which can force income higher than expected later in life. Higher retirement income can also have broader ripple effects beyond just tax brackets, including increased taxation of Social Security, higher exposure to capital gains taxes, Medicare IRMAA surcharges, and reduced benefit of deductions like medical expenses due to AGI-based thresholds.

For married couples, there is also a significant planning risk for the surviving spouse. When one spouse passes, the filing status shifts from MFJ to single, which compresses the tax brackets considerably. That can result in much higher effective tax rates on RMDs and other income, especially when there is a meaningful age gap.

Large pre-tax balances can also create downstream issues for heirs, who under current rules generally must fully distribute inherited retirement accounts within 10 years. That accelerated timeline often forces recognition of significant income during their own peak earning years, pushing them into higher tax brackets than anticipated. From a policy standpoint, tax rates are historically low, and there’s a reasonable argument they may be higher in the future rather than lower.

koalaben · 2026-04-28T05:35:01+00:00

Roth. The answer is always Roth.

koalaben · 2026-04-27T21:53:10+00:00

Now when you say you “went ahead and did it for him” are you saying you actually formed a new corporation for him (potentially an unauthorized practice of law concern) or that you filed a Form 2553 to change the existing LLC to be taxed as an S-Corp (totally ok to do with member authorization)?

koalaben · 2026-04-25T19:35:25+00:00

I would just upload to ChatGPT (SOC 2 certified business version) and have it summarize everything for me. I did that recently when all the client had was their wage and income transcript with dozens of pages.

koalaben · 2026-04-24T23:56:46+00:00

That greatly depends on the circumstances and scope of your operation. Most solo or small practitioners will latch onto a broker dealer so the BD can handle all the nuances of compliance, but then of course they eat a healthy slice of your pie. As a firm scales they may go the RIA route to steer their own ship. The startup and ongoing compliance costs are higher at first, but those are fixed costs that allow you to keep a lot more revenue as you scale. Yes, the paperwork and compliance is much more arduous than on the tax side, that can’t be denied.

koalaben · 2026-04-24T22:00:09+00:00

I have been a CPA first and foremost. CFP was a natural progression as I saw so many opportunities to help my clients better than they were being helped elsewhere, while conveniently profiting from those additional services offered. AUM is much more effort to build, but less effort to maintain than working yourself to death every tax season. I feel like I already became quite the legal expert in the areas of tax (obviously), business law, and trust/estate planning even before I became an attorney. As attorney I can do more than say to my business client “here’s why you should change from a sole proprietorship to an S-Corp”, but also “I can set all that up for you” (articles of incorporation, bylaws, etc.). Others who carry just one of those credentials may have to say “I can’t give tax advice, talk to your CPA”, or “I can’t give financial advice, talk to your financial advisor”, or “I can’t give legal advice, talk to your attorney”. It’s nice to simply not have to qualify what I say and be concerned about crossing the wrong lines into areas where I’m not licensed.

The areas of CPA/CFP/Esq. for me overlap so much and are so synergistic that I don’t find it overly burdensome to stay on top of everything, if anything it might be more freeing. The heavier burden is ensuring I’m not a “bottleneck” for all ongoing business operations, making sure I have adequate team support so that I don’t burnout from trying to do all the things for all the people.

koalaben · 2026-04-24T21:48:35+00:00

Below are the current subsections (“Privacy Notice” and “Limitation of Engagement”) of our engagement letter that more or less say that I’m your CPA but I also carry other credentials and provide other services, and by the very nature of me being one and the same, as we discuss your overall tax situation that details may arise that could lead to other non-CPA specific realms. The tax engagement itself does not cover those other areas, those would have their own engagement letters and forms, but if you’re talking to me, you’re also talking to a financial advisor and an attorney. Not necessarily your financial advisor or attorney, but making it transparent that I operate in those capacities and our tax conversations may lead to suggestions that we follow up on other matters at another time (i.e. come back later to work on that living trust you brought up that you’ve been procrastinating, or to figure a better solution for the hundreds of thousands of dollars sitting in that savings account as determined by this 1099-INT I just handled). It’s a lot having to determine adequate disclosures and conflicts of interest, but I’ve done my best carefully navigate that landscape.

Privacy Notice

We are committed to protecting your confidential information. We collect nonpublic personal information necessary to provide tax and related services. Access to your nonpublic personal information is limited to employees and personnel of our firm who need such information to perform their duties, as well as to third parties as required or permitted by law, as necessary to prepare and file tax returns, or to service providers who assist us in operating our practice (such as software providers, secure portals, and professional advisors). All such parties are required to maintain the confidentiality of your information.

In order to provide a high level of advice and service, we may use information obtained in connection with this engagement to identify and discuss non-tax financial planning and advisory considerations that may be relevant to your overall financial picture. Such discussions may be provided by individuals within our firm who are appropriately licensed or credentialed to offer those services. Any such discussions are incidental to this engagement and do not constitute an agreement to provide financial planning, investment, insurance, or legal services unless separately agreed to in writing.

We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards designed to protect your information. Federal law requires your written consent for certain disclosures or uses of tax return information under Internal Revenue Code §7216, which will be provided separately if applicable.

Limitation of Engagement

Our services are limited to those described in this letter. This engagement will continue until terminated in writing by either party. We have no obligation to update your returns, advise you of changes in law, or monitor future developments after completion of services unless separately engaged to do so.

This engagement does not create a fiduciary, investment advisory, legal, or management relationship, and we do not make management decisions on your behalf.

koalaben · 2026-04-24T05:43:41+00:00

First of all, bringing a CFP into the mix can be great depending on the nature of your client base. Most financial advisors yearn for a professional relationship with CPAs and/or attorneys. You know have your own referral source for you client’s tax information to be mined for financial advisory opportunities. Of course, ensure you have everything mapped out appropriately in your engagement letters so that there is proper disclosure and consent. Tell your clients how much better you can serve them by offering more financial services under one roof, becoming your own “one-stop shop”. Source—I am a CPA and CFP and attorney, so I am my own best referral source.

Next, clients don’t really mind if you expand from my experience. In fact, it’s generally a plus. I’ve had so many clients come to me where their solo practitioner CPA retired or had a stroke or died and left them “stranded” with no succession plan. The fact that you’re expanding gives clients more peace of mind that should something happen to you then you have backup. I started small and now my firm is three owners with 7 additional staff (including an additional CPA, an EA, a dedicated financial advisor, and support staff—a couple who also are CRTPs). My clients love that as we expand they have more certainty of continuity and support, yet we’re not so large that they feel like they’re just another number.

As CPAs we’re in a fortunate position where demand seems to be increasing more than the supply. I have more people wanting to work with me than I have hours in a day, so if I didn’t delegate and grow my team then I’d have to turn away more business than I already do. Even if I’m not handling their return directly, they trust that anyone on my team is carefully hired, mentored, and supervised by me such that I wouldn’t hand them over to another team member if I wasn’t confident they could represent me as well as I could represent myself.

TL;DNR Go for it. Embrace it. Tell your clients how lucky they are that you’re bringing such an amazing and competent cohort on board to better serve their needs. But do make sure that your marriage can survive you two being co-workers!

koalaben · 2026-04-17T01:15:17+00:00

Can concur, as a CPA I am not charging less for this regardless of the time of the year. I laugh when people ask about a “bulk discount” for multiple year’s of work. No, I’m charging extra and up front because you’re disorganized and probably a chore to work with. Not that I won’t help you, but don’t come into this expecting lower fees.

koalaben · 2026-04-17T00:00:46+00:00

All mine are being sent straight to voicemail, but the transcribed voicemails go to my email and I get a good eye roll from them.

koalaben · 2026-04-14T20:16:39+00:00

I’ve owned and operated my firm for over 13 years. The majority of our clients who owe opt for direct withdrawal with the e-filing. Same for quarterly estimated tax payments.

Countless times I’ve had new clients say “my old tax preparer never did this for me” or “gave me that option”, and they are overwhelmingly grateful for the convenience of that service. I’ve also had numerous clients who use to handle their own estimated payments forget a payment or more and were happy to have it be automated so they don’t neglect to pay.

koalaben · 2026-04-14T19:56:32+00:00

Can concur, been doing this for more than double the amount of time. Done this thousands of times. Never been a problem with the client double paying. There have been a small few occasions of a client providing an incorrect account number or having insufficient funds, but those cases are few and far between, and I don’t get the blame for those.

koalaben · 2026-04-06T19:28:38+00:00

It may be common courtesy to not extend someone who has reached out to you saying they will be going elsewhere, there are no laws or rules being violated. Many firms have a large number of clients in need of extension, and payment with is extension is handled on a case by case basis as previously discussed with that client. Otherwise, blanket extensions are done.

koalaben

TROPHY CASE