When the Numbers Don't Add Up
AICPA Personal Financial Planning (PFP)
What does it take to uncover the financial truth behind a multibillion-dollar securities fraud case? In this episode, Cary Sinnett talks with forensic accounting expert Chris Davis about his work supporting plaintiffs’ attorneys in a multibillion-dollar securities fraud case involving Elon Musk. Chris explains how forensic accountants analyze complex financial records and SEC filings, then translate technical findings into clear evidence that attorneys and juries can understand. His role was separate from the damages expert’s analysis. The discussion also explores how forensic accounting...
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The Advisors Who Thrive With AI Will Do This Differently
AICPA Personal Financial Planning (PFP)
AI is getting faster at producing technical answers. So, what will make clients continue to choose you? In this episode, Cary Sinnett and Brianne Smith explore how AI is reshaping financial planning and why human judgment, empathy and connection matter more than ever. Learn how advisors can use technology to spend less time on manual work and more time helping clients navigate the decisions that matter most. What you’ll learn: Where advisors provide value that AI cannot replicate How AI can amplify strong or weak professional judgment Why empathy and communication are...
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Bob Keebler Explains How a Footnote Can Cost Thousands
AICPA Personal Financial Planning (PFP)
A footnote in the Joint Committee on Taxation’s Blue Book may create significant tax consequences for trusts and estates beginning in 2026. In this episode, Bob Keebler joins Cary Sinnett to explain why Footnote 102 has raised concerns about applying the new 2/37ths limitation to distributable net income, charitable deductions and other trust and estate deductions. They explore how the limitation could create phantom income and affect charitable planning, inherited IRAs, Roth conversions, fiscal-year elections and trusts with multiple levels of distribution. What you’ll learn Why...
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The Real Reason Clients Don't Follow Your Advice
AICPA Personal Financial Planning (PFP)
The real challenge for planners is not always giving better advice. It is understanding why clients do not act on the advice they already have. In this episode, Cary Sinnett talks with behavioral finance expert Carl Richards about what gets in the way of follow-through. They explore why clarity, purpose and trust often matter as much as technical precision, and how planners can help clients move from understanding a recommendation to actually acting on it. What you'll learn: Why the best financial plan is not necessarily the most technically precise plan, but the one a client will implement....
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The Secret to Getting Early-Career CPAs Excited About Financial Planning
AICPA Personal Financial Planning (PFP)
The future of personal financial planning depends in part on whether today’s professionals help the next generation see what the career can become. In this episode of the PFP Podcast, Cary Sinnett talks with Dr. Brianne Smith about how firms can expose students and early-career professionals to the human side of financial planning and give them meaningful opportunities to grow into advisory roles. Drawing on her experience as both a practitioner and accounting professor, Brianne shares practical ideas for developing future financial planners, from bringing real client stories onto college...
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What Financial Planning Research Reveals About Your Clients
AICPA Personal Financial Planning (PFP)
What can the latest research teach us about helping clients make better financial decisions? In this episode Cary Sinnett talks with Dr. Megan McCoy, who leads the personal financial planning program at Kansas State University, about bringing academic research and real-world financial planning practice closer together. They explore what emerging research in client psychology, communication and financial behavior can teach planners about helping clients navigate difficult decisions, financial anxiety and major life transitions. What you'll learn How research can add another layer of insight to...
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Are You Solving the Right Problem First? Ask Dr. Brian Portnoy
AICPA Personal Financial Planning (PFP)
Technical expertise may earn a client's confidence, but human connection earns their trust. In this episode of the PFP Podcast, Cary Sinnett continues his conversation with Dr. Brian Portnoy, author of The Geometry of Wealth, exploring how CPA financial planners can move beyond numbers and into the conversations that truly matter. Together they discuss why "funded contentment" should be at the center of financial planning, how advisors can uncover what clients truly want their wealth to accomplish, and why emotional intelligence may become one of the profession's greatest competitive...
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Why Bob Keebler Makes the Section 645 Election Almost Every Time
AICPA Personal Financial Planning (PFP)
The months immediately following a client's death create one of the most important income tax planning windows in estate administration. While many practitioners focus on basis step-ups and beneficiary distributions, one election can fundamentally change how post-death income is managed: the Section 645 election. In this episode, Cary Sinnett sits down with nationally recognized tax expert Bob Keebler to explore how electing to treat a revocable trust and estate as a single taxable entity can create valuable planning opportunities through fiscal year flexibility, income deferral, charitable...
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The IUL Experiment with Andy Panko
AICPA Personal Financial Planning (PFP)
Indexed Universal Life (IUL) insurance is often marketed as a “tax-free retirement income” solution, but how do these policies really work over time? To cut through the noise, financial planner Andy Panko, CFP®, RICP®, EA, decided to run his own real-time experiment. He bought an IUL, fully documented the structure, costs, and performance, and is openly sharing the results year after year. In this episode, Andy joins us to explain what IULs are, why he launched The IUL Experiment, and what every financial planner should know before considering them in retirement planning conversations....
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Your Clients Can Afford to Retire. Will They Enjoy It?
AICPA Personal Financial Planning (PFP)
Most retirement plans answer one question: Can I afford to retire? But far fewer answer the question that often matters just as much: What am I retiring to? In this episode, Cary Sinnett sits down with renowned researcher and Harvard Business School professor emerita Teresa Amabile to explore the hidden psychological transition that accompanies retirement. Drawing from more than a decade of research and interviews with retirees, she explains why many successful professionals fear retirement, why those fears are often misplaced, and how financial planners can help clients prepare for life...
info_outlineA recent CNBC survey of couples discovers that 64% admitted to being financially incompatible. A money date is a relaxed and open conversation about finances and goals. This is an important component to financial compatibility and avoiding potential conflict. It can benefit relationships of any length and open channels of communication with transparency and respect. Dave answers questions like:
- What is a money date and why is it important?
- How can it help understand each other’s financial habits and attitudes?
- What are the places for combined and separate money in marriage?
- Does this concept work for both newly engaged and long-term couples?
Many of the PFP Section resources provide ideas on topics that can be discussed in this manner including:
- The Life Events section of Broadridge Advisor provides conversation ideas relating to clients’ current or future situations.
- The new Health Transitions Guide help you talk clients through potentially stressful situations.
This episode is brought to you by the AICPA’s Personal Financial Planning Section, the premier provider of information, tools, advocacy, and guidance for professionals who specialize in providing tax, estate, retirement, risk management and investment planning advice. Also, by the CPA/PFS credential program, which allows CPAs to demonstrate competence and confidence in providing these services to their clients. Visit us online to join our community, gain access to valuable member-only benefits or learn about our PFP certificate program.
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