Joe Rando
Ever have a conversation with somebody and leave feeling like you just drank a cup of coffee because their high energy is just so contagious?
That recently happened to us during a conversation covering legal and tax pointers for solopreneurs. We know, not always the most upbeat topic, but let us tell you, this chat was so energizing and so informative!
We invited Mark Kohler on the show and if you aren’t familiar with Mark, it’s time to get familiar. To say he has a wealth of expertise in tax, legal, wealth management, estate planning, and asset protection, is an understatement.
He has literally impacted millions of Americans and is the professional small business owners and solopreneurs are starving for.
After speaking with him, it is no surprise that he has over 470,000 YouTube subscribers and 16 million downloads, 2 successful podcasts with 2 million downloads to date, and is a bestselling author.
We talked about a variety of things including:
-
Common tax mistakes solopreneurs and small business owners make, and how they can be avoided
-
Essential tax tactics for solopreneurs
-
How to stay up-to-date on tax laws and regulations, and how to stay compliant while optimizing your tax situation
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Tax and legal hacks for side hustle success
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The top 3 legal must-knows for solopreneurs
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Recommendations for making more money when you start as a solopreneur
Plus so much more, so be sure to tune in!
Like the show? We'd love it if you'd leave a 5-star review!
Connect with Mark Kohler
- Visit markjkohler.com
Favorite Quote About Success:
"There's no such thing as luck. It's when preparation meets opportunity."
Being a solopreneur is awesome but it’s not easy. It's hard to get noticed. Most business advice is for bigger companies, and you're all alone...until now. LifeStarr's SoloSuite Intro gives you free education, community, and tools to build a thriving one-person business.
So, if you are lacking direction, having a hard time generating leads, or are having trouble keeping up with everything you have to do, or even just lonely running a company of one, click here to check out SoloSuite Intro!
About Mark Kohler
Mark Kohler, M.PR.A., C.P.A., J.D., is a highly respected Founding and Senior Partner at KKOS Lawyers, specializing in tax, legal, wealth, estate, and asset protection planning. As a prominent YouTube personality, best-selling author, and national speaker, Kohler is dedicated to guiding clients through complex legal and financial landscapes to achieve their American Dream. Co-founder and Board Member of the Directed IRA Trust Company, he's also launched the Main Street Certified Tax Advisor Program, training CPAs and Enrolled Agents across the nation. As co-host of The Main Street Business Podcast and The Directed IRA Podcast, he simplifies complex topics such as legal and tax strategy, asset protection, retirement, investing, and wealth growth. ABOUT MARK Mark’s unwavering commitment to assisting entrepreneurs and small business owners in achieving success and financial security has established him as a trusted expert, benefiting countless individuals and businesses in navigating the financial and business world with confidence
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Transcript
Carly Ries:
Ever have a conversation with somebody and leave feeling like you just drank a cup of coffee because their high energy is just so contagious? That recently happened to us during a conversation covering legal and tax pointers for solopreneurs. I know. Not always the most upbeat topic, but let me tell you, this chat was so energizing and so informative. We invited Mark Kohler on the show.
Carly Ries:
And if you aren't familiar with Mark, it's time to get familiar. To say he has a wealth of expertise in tax, legal, wealth management, estate planning, and asset protection is an understatement. He has literally impacted 1,000,000,000 of Americans and is the professional small business owners and solopreneurs are starving for. After speaking with him, it's no surprise that he has over 470,000 YouTube subscribers and 16,000,000 downloads. He also has 2 successful podcasts with 2,000,000 downloads to date and is a best selling author.
Carly Ries:
We talked about a variety of things on this show, including common tax mistakes solopreneurs and small business owners make and how they can be avoided, essential tax tactics for solopreneurs, and how to stay compliant while optimizing your tax situation. We talk about tax and legal hacks for side hustle success, the top three legal must knows for solopreneurs. Oh, my gosh. So much. Including recommendations for making more money when you start out as a solopreneur.
Carly Ries:
There are just so so many great things from this episode, be sure to tune in. You're listening to The Aspiring Solopreneur, the podcast for those just taking the bold step or even just thinking about taking that step into the world of solo entrepreneurship. My name is Carly Ries, and my co host Joe Rando and I are your guides to navigating this crazy but awesome journey as a company of 1. We take pride in being part of LifeStarr, a digital hub dedicated to all aspects of solo preneurship that has empowered and educated countless solopreneurs looking to build a business that resonates with their life's ambitions. We help people work to live, not live to work.
Carly Ries:
And if you're looking for a get rich quick scheme, this is not the show for you. So if you're eager to gain valuable insights from industry experts on running a business the right way the first time around, or want to learn from the missteps of solopreneurs who've paved the way before you, then stick around. We've got your back because flying solo in business doesn't mean you're alone. Okay. So before we jump into this episode, I just have to share this new free offer we have called the SoloSuite Info.
Carly Ries:
Being a solopreneur is awesome, but it's not easy. It's hard to get noticed, and most business advice is for bigger companies, and you're all alone until now. LifeStarr's SoloSuite gives you free education, community, and tools to build a thriving one person business. So if you're lacking direction, having a hard time generating leads, having trouble keeping up with everything you have to do, or even if you're just lonely running a company of 1, be sure to check out SoloSuite Info at lifestarr.com and click on products and pricing at the top menu. It's the first one in the drop down.
Carly Ries:
Again, it's totally free, so check it out at lifestarr.com Click on products and pricing, and it's the first one in the menu. Hope to see you there. Mark, not to put you on the spot, but you are are kind of a big deal, and I knew that. But it's so funny because you're like a big deal is a space that's kind of intimidating to a lot of people.
Carly Ries:
Like, you hear tax, legal. It's like, the big words that a lot of solopreneurs dive into, and they're like, oh, I don't wanna have to deal with that. You have made such a name for yourself in this space, so we're just so happy to have you on this show today. Welcome.
Mark Kohler:
Well, thank you. I'm a big deal amongst nerds, and you know, I can crack that crowd and, you know, work that. I can play around with that all day long. I'd love it. And so thank you for that.
Mark Kohler:
But this you know what? Everybody's got a little nerd in them because if you're a business owner, if you're an entrepreneur, and you're trying to live the American dream, this is an area you gotta tackle, and it's hard to get a straight answer. Makes sense.
Joe Rando:
I'm sorry. We're gonna be going into capital gains tax rates today.
Mark Kohler:
Oh, fun. Okay. Alright. Woo. Boy, let's take the lid off, man.
Mark Kohler:
I mean, that's woo. You're turning me on now. Stop it. Stop it.
Carly Ries:
And here I am, like, let's talk Tennessee football.
Mark Kohler:
Yeah. Alright.
Carly Ries:
The peanut gallery. Let's just start with what people are doing wrong because I feel like if people are just tuning into the show and and they're like, okay. I know what I should be doing. People keep telling me what I should be doing. Let's start with common mistakes that you see people make whether it relates. let's go to taxes specifically.
Carly Ries:
What tax mistakes do solopreneurs make?
Mark Kohler:
Yeah, I like that. And we can get into a couple specifics because I want everyone on this of your listeners to walk away with a practical tip that might impact them.
Mark Kohler:
Not everybody has the same scenario or fact pattern, but I'll do my best on that. But here's one that I think, really is one of the biggest mistakes that impact so many people is that business owners, investors, they're looking for or think they have the accountant that takes care of everything, and they can just say, oh, it's all done, and I don't have to think about it? And they're like, oh, if I could just find that tax guy or tax gal, and they'll just take care of all of us so I don't have to worry about it, or I don't have to think about it. Or they'll just do it all, or they already have that person they think that's doing it all for them perfectly. It is such a fallacy because we have to be the captain of our own ship.
Mark Kohler:
We have got to get engaged as business owners in the conversation of what is my tax strategies. What are they? what's my plan moving forward? What's my legal structure look like? How many rental properties do I wanna buy?
Mark Kohler:
Where are my investments? What tax rate am I paying, and what bracket am I in there? Am I paying my kids properly? Am I writing off my trips? Am I doing more board meetings?
Mark Kohler:
Am I writing off my auto properly? Am I writing off my home office? These are not hard topics, believe it or not. But the mistake people make is they don't get engaged in it. They're intimidated by it.
Mark Kohler:
Like you said a little earlier, they think it's complex or boring. And so they think they can find that person that's gonna do it all for them magically, and they don't have to worry about it. And they leave money on the table, and they think someone else is thinking about their stuff, and they're not. Because unless you're paying them to think about it, they're not, and you've gotta think about it for yourself and be that captain.
Carly Ries:
So, Mark, you just said and these are not hard topics, but, those are hard topics first.
Mark Kohler:
When I'm done with them, I'll freaking break it down. You choose 1.
Joe Rando:
Fair.
Carly Ries:
And this will have links to all of your resources after this, but let's say people are getting an accountant because they don't know what they don't know. They they're just trusting that somebody's gonna take care of this. So how do they catch the errors, and how do they know that they're not doing everything that they should be if they don't know what they're looking for?
Mark Kohler:
You bet. I'm one of them looking for that tax adviser, keyword, not tax preparer, someone that's not looking in a rearview mirror, but they're actually looking forward with you on the same side of the table. I'm one of you looking for that person, but you're gonna be looking for a person to engage with. That's all I'm saying.
Mark Kohler:
So we need to find that person. And how do we know we've got the right person or we're on the right path? You're gonna have a conversation. You're gonna go, hey. I'd like to write off my home office.
Mark Kohler:
How do you feel about that? Oh, I've got kids under age 18. I'd like to integrate them into my business. Oh, I'm going on a trip this next month. I'd like to have my annual board meeting for my LLC or my corporation.
Mark Kohler:
What do you think about that? Oh, I have an s corp. What should my payroll be? Those are just 4 questions right there, just off the top of my head. And when you ask your adviser and accountant those questions, if they look like a deer in headlights or they don't have a rational answer, you have the wrong person.
Mark Kohler:
You have the wrong person. And you should know just enough to be dangerous that, yes, every business owner should be riding off home office. Every business owner should have their kids on payroll. Every business owner that's making more than $50 a year should have an s corporation. These are basics that we don't have to know where they go on the return, and we don't have to have be able to go on a whiteboard and explain them.
Mark Kohler:
But we it's amazing how many people interview their account, and they know more than their accountant knows.
Joe Rando:
Alright. Can I give an example of of this? Because the other aspect of this is when it's your business, you're thinking in a way that maybe even a really good tax advisor isn't. And I'm gonna give you an example. So years ago, I was in the real estate development business.
Joe Rando:
I did shopping centers, and I had an option on a large piece of property. And I was buying it in pieces and selling it off to major retailers, building a shopping center with what they call Shadow Acres. So I was gonna carve off this piece and sell it to Target. And the structure of that deal that was being put together by the attorneys and the tax advisors was I was going to basically buy the property from the landowner and immediately, immediately sell it to
Mark Kohler:
You're wholesaling.
Joe Rando:
And immediately sell it to Target. But guess what? I own the property for, you know, a minute. So short term capital gains tax rate. I'm going, Wait, wait. You know, because I'm looking at the tax bill.
Joe Rando:
I'm calculating the tax bill going, Woof. So I said, Well, why can't I sell Target the option? I've had that for more than a year.
Joe Rando:
Then let them execute it and buy the property. Then I'll be selling something I held for more than a year. And they went, Woah, interesting. And we did that.
Mark Kohler:
Okay. Well, I love it. But, I wouldn't have done that. Let me give you another strategy. No offense.
Mark Kohler:
I don't care. I love your thinking. You're thinking out of the box. I love your story. But I wouldn't have you wanted to even do the deal.
Mark Kohler:
I would have held that option in your IRA, your Roth IRA.
Joe Rando:
So I had other owners.
Mark Kohler:
Oh, okay. That's cool. Your portion. So this is what Mitt Romney did with now over a $100,000,000 Roth IRA.
Mark Kohler:
Peter Thiel with a $6,000,000,000 Roth. We have one client with a $400,000,000 Roth IRA that started with 5 grand, and it's interesting you bring out the story. It was in commercial real estate. So when that option was available and the $5,000, $10,000 option or partners that you joined with in an LLC, you don't do the deal. Your Roth is the member of that LLC with your portion of the option agreement.
Mark Kohler:
And then when that transaction occurs to Target in a blink of an eye, all that money goes tax free into your Roth. Zero tax forever. And so many of our clients who are doing deals were saying, hey. Just once in a while, peel one off. This is a big mistake on this note, Carly.
Mark Kohler:
People are doing deals in their own name. Stop it. Start making more money in your Roth IRA tax free and that you can have a tax free ATM for the rest of your life at 59. So, anyway, I appreciate you bringing that up,
Joe Rando:
I'm glad that it led us there because that's a really interesting thinking. I'm gonna have to ponder whether it would have worked in this particular situation. But I like the thinking, and I never would have thought of it. So great stuff.
Mark Kohler:
And I love it. And I love your creativity. And, Carly, that's part of the problem, is that people are not engaged in the conversation, and Joe was like, hey. I wanna talk about it. I got some ideas. Heaven forbid but accountants are egotistical.
Mark Kohler:
They're demeaning. And if you come with an idea and they didn't bring it, they're not gonna jump behind you and cheerlead. They're gonna be like, well, it wasn't my idea, I gotta find out why that's a bad idea. Right?
Joe Rando:
I gotta stick up for my accountants. They didn't do that. They went Okay. What?
Joe Rando:
I Didn't think of that.
Carly Ries:
Wait a minute. I wanna circle back to the previous question that led us to these discussions about the mistakes because we're talking about accountants specifically. Is a big mistake not hiring 1? Like, can specifically solopreneurs since they some of them are small, some of them are big. At what point do you need to bring somebody on, and what mistakes are people making when they don't have an accountant?
Mark Kohler:
I was just going to say if they're an entrepreneur, a solopreneur, they need an accountant. Period. Now if you're just a W2, wait I don't wanna say just a W2 wage owner, but I've got a friend that he's a mid level exec at Verizon and big fat w two, has a home, does this, does that. I can't move the needle. There's nothing I can do.
Mark Kohler:
That's it. He could do it on TurboTax and get the same result, for crying out loud, even if he's making a million a year. But once you have a side hustle, once you've got a side gig and you're a solopreneur in any way, shape, or form, and you've got a schedule c, schedule c and Charlie, And a good tax adviser should be able to drum up, what, 3, 5 grand in write offs? Just the easy. Easy stuff.
Mark Kohler:
Well, if you're in a 20, 30% bracket, I just saved you a grand. Because did that thousand pay for that advisory relationship with an accountant moving forward? Just on one freaking write off or a conversation about the Roth IRA on a real estate deal or whatever. And so yes. every entrepreneur should have a tax adviser relationship where they meet quarterly, and it may cost them 3, 5 grand a year or 2 grand a year.
Mark Kohler:
But it's gonna save you 3 times that in tax, and it's gonna make you 10 times that in wealth.
Carly Ries:
Yeah. Such a good point. I also wanna just circle back up to the else you had said, and we're teeing up the the real estate development. And you were saying if you're making over 50 grand, you should have an s corp. And I think a lot of things that solopreneurs get hung up on is they're like, okay.
Carly Ries:
I'm starting my own business. They immediately go to LLC. Like, that's what I've been told, LLC. Why s corp? I wanna know, just when people are setting up their business structure, what do they need to be thinking about?
Mark Kohler:
You bet. This was going to be one of those technical mistakes, millions of small business owners make beyond not captaining their ship. So let's get into it. The s corporation, s as in small, is a status that allows you to split the net profit in your business between a w two and pay your fair share of Social Security and Medicare and la la la and profit or just plain old goodwill pass through income. An LLC does not allow you to do that.
Mark Kohler:
Now you can take an LLC and make an s election. So if you go, well, I have an LLC. I'm screwed. No. No. You can make an s election. Now it's really expensive. We charge about $250, to convert an LLC to an s corp.
Mark Kohler:
That was a joke. So the point is,
Mark Kohler:
let's start from the top now. If I have an operational business and I am netting, meaning making profit, not gross income, but after all my expenses, making profit of more than $50,000 a year, If I have to have just a plain LLC or no entity at all, I'm gonna pay self employment tax at 15% on that net profit. Let's say it's $50 grand or more.
Mark Kohler:
That's $7500 in extra FICA, I'm gonna pay right off the top. If I convert to an s corporation, take my LLC and make an s election or start with an inc or PC or PLLC to begin with, now I'm gonna split that profit. I might go 50.50. So I'll take $25 in a w two, $25 in a pass through. And now I just take that 7500 and split it in 2.
Mark Kohler:
I just saved 3200 plus dollars. Now the accountants listening right now are freaking out, and they're probably down in the description with their fingers on the keys, ready to type that Mark is speaking heresy. You cannot do reasonable comp on a 50.50 split on 50 grand. I just wanna tell you accountants out there that are about ready to throw something out the window. Pause and hear me out.
Mark Kohler:
I teach classes on reasonable comp. I write books on reasonable comp and small business strategies and s corporations. I have matrixes to help you get there. I do not sell software to do it. It is not that hard.
Mark Kohler:
Way too many accounts are conservative on this strategy. You as business owners, if you're making more than 50 grand or already have an s corp, chances are you're paying way too much in FICA. I go to every CE course that I can on reasonable comp. I have read every court case on reasonable comp. And in 20 plus years, I have never ever, ever had a client audited for taking too low of reasonable comp.
Mark Kohler:
So accountants, maybe you're a little too conservative. Maybe you could be saving your client more money on FICA. And that's just a and we could dive into that. We could talk about it for an hour here, but that's one of the mistakes too many business owners make is they don't understand the s corp or consider it.
Joe Rando:
Quick dumb question. So you've got 50,000 profit. You take 25 as a w two and 25 as basically, you know, just profit. Why wouldn't you do 50? Wouldn't you be better off to win the whole 50?
Mark Kohler:
K. Now that's a great question, Joe. At the end of the day, you still took 50. when you make money on your small business people, you take it. I don't want you to get a paycheck.
Mark Kohler:
I know you. I know you. I'm a small business owner. Your profit is like this throughout the year. It's up and down.
Mark Kohler:
You don't know when you could take a paycheck or not. Don't. Don't take a paycheck. What we're gonna do is a quarterly report, and in the rearview mirror, choose how much of that should have been payroll. You're still gonna take 50 grand at the end of the day.
Mark Kohler:
We're just gonna call on paper w two and on paper pass through of whatever ratio, 25, 25. And so you take home the same amount. You're just gonna have them on different lines on your return. Joe, this is how you launder money. Have you not done this?
Joe Rando:
Occasionally, I leave some in my pocket in my jeans, but so I've laundered a little bit of money.
Mark Kohler:
No. But that's it. So on paper, you don't wanna take it all in payroll where you pay $7500. You don't wanna take it all in pass through because you have to take reasonable comp.
Mark Kohler:
So that's where the IRS is all over.
Joe Rando:
Oh, okay. Okay. Then now I'm seeing the model.
Mark Kohler:
I may have a dentist come in, and he's, like, making $200 grand. I'm gonna take salary of $10,000. No. You're gonna get audited.
Mark Kohler:
I have a matrix. We're gonna take reasonable comp, but, again, accountants are far too conservative.
Carly Ries:
Okay. So Mark, you just have all these little such good pieces of information. what other hacks do you have for people? let's do a side hustle specifically because a lot of our listeners are just starting their solopreneurship. They might still have one foot at the door in a company that they've been working for. What are some of your hacks, like tax and legal hacks for them to focus on?
Mark Kohler:
Well, first of all, don't quit your day job. I am not the type that says when I have a client walk in and they're like, hey. I quit my job. I'm starting my business. I'm like, no.
Mark Kohler:
Don't don't do that. No. Let's start that side hustle, side gig, freelance, see how it goes. Start building it, developing it, nurturing it. It's a child.
Mark Kohler:
You may not be ready to take profit out of it. A lot of people are like, well, my business failed. I'm like, really? You took every freaking dollar out of it you could to survive. It was premature.
Mark Kohler:
You killed your own business. You gotta let it matriculate and grow. Let it go through this adolescent stage and teenage age and become a young adult, and then I can support you. Maybe it's 3 months from now. Maybe it's 3 years from now.
Mark Kohler:
But don't, suffocate your business sucking out the profit too soon. So my first point is please start the side hustle. Please catch the vision of the American dream. Keep the day job. Now if you're married, one spouse might have the day job, the other one starts the small business.
Mark Kohler:
Very synergistic, and we could be working together synergistic. We wanna work together to bring the side hustle and day job, and the benefits of both of those together. But learn about it. Grow it. Get familiar with it.
Mark Kohler:
Get familiar with QuickBooks. Learn the strategies. Catch out my podcast and my books and articles to just kinda start learning. We don't learn this in school. Our parents didn't teach us around the table.
Mark Kohler:
It's the school of hard knocks, and Main Street America is alive and well. So don't beat yourself up. Don't be intimidated with what you've gotta learn. Just start. Just start on the path.
Carly Ries:
Yeah. so okay. So don't leave the the day job. But, let's say their business is growing.
Carly Ries:
do you have any other legal or tax like, what should you be doing tax wise?
Mark Kohler:
Okay. So I'll give more tips. I'm not trying to be cagey. I do love starting with the LLC, limited liability company. It's not limited liability corporation.
Mark Kohler:
Every small business owner that's got a vision, and they're gonna hit it, and they're gonna go, start with the LLC. Let's start getting the EIN, the banking, establishing the credit. Let's get, the QuickBooks going. Let's start learning about bookkeeping because you're now the steward of an idea. And so let's start to respect it from a legal standpoint.
Mark Kohler:
Let's do our minutes every year, get our board of advisers set up. Boom. Now on the tax end of things, we wanna start taking advantage of every tax write off we can. We wanna dedicate a credit card, start building points maybe. We wanna dedicate a credit card to the business.
Mark Kohler:
We're gonna use the debit card from the banking for that business. We're gonna start getting used to that. We wanna write off dining, electronics, equipment, travel, auto, supplies, home office, get the kids on payroll, maybe put my spouse on payroll. We blah blah blah blah. And we're gonna start learning those little techniques.
Mark Kohler:
I have podcast after podcast from every one of those techniques. After 1 podcast, you're like, oh my gosh. I understand it now. My accountant's been making it sound like, you know, the wizard of Oz, and they're behind there pulling levers. And they do that for some, not all.
Mark Kohler:
You had some good accountants in the past, as you said, Joe. But others' accountants, they kinda keep that close to their chest, and they wanna keep us confused and in the darkness, and we have to pay them and and lean on them. People, you can know this and very easily command and lead your professionals without a lot of headache and a lot of confusion. So all of those little tax strategies to bring it together, Carly, is you're gonna start practicing them, and you're gonna start learning what's a write off and what's not. If I go into Best Buy, I'm gonna use my business card.
Mark Kohler:
If I go into Nordstrom to buy new underwear, I'm gonna use my personal card. If I'm gonna go to the I store to buy a new laptop, I'm gonna put it on my business card. If I go here and you know? So you're gonna learn what's personal, what's business, and you're gonna learn all the kickass write offs.
Carly Ries:
Yeah. No. Those are great. And I love, like we've been talking about places you can save and everything. For solopreneurs that are just starting, you have any tips on how they can make more money at the beginning?
Mark Kohler:
Oh my gosh. I love it. So I have a workbook I created about 5, 6 years ago. I'm working on a refresh right now. 8 steps to start and grow your business.
Mark Kohler:
And if I'm not passionate about tax and legal, my next love is marketing. I love trying to build a business, trying to create, more revenue streams and and that sort of thing. So what I would say is this. This is a great question. For the small business owner that's just starting, get good at that one thing.
Mark Kohler:
Start making money at it and really fine tune it. Understand it. Understand your avatar, your target market. Get good at producing it as efficiently as possible at the lowest possible cost with the highest value to your your customer. Practice that. start building your brand. Start really making your presentation of that product or service even if it's you only have 2 or 3 customers. Maybe you have a 2 or 300 customers. Whatever it is, get good at it and really understand it. Get that humming.
Mark Kohler:
It's kinda like a little car. Before we go to 2nd gear or 3rd gear or 4th gear, let's make sure it's running well. We're changing the oil. We're on top of it. We understand what we're driving.
Mark Kohler:
We're learning the rules of the road. Then I can start scaling. Scaling is a wonderful way to work. I'm gonna hire my first assistant. I'm gonna hire my first employee.
Mark Kohler:
I might start expanding with other service lines or product lines. I'm gonna expand my website. I wanna make money while I'm sleeping. What could I be doing on my website to make money in packaged education, packaged products or services, starting to use third party vendors and third parties, employees or virtual assistants, la la la la la. So scaling is a process of these break points of how do I get to the next $100?
Mark Kohler:
How do I get to the next million? And once you can at least keep the car on the road and be profitable, all those other avenues open up. And don't beat yourself up. It's not a race. it's a journey.
Mark Kohler:
So don't compare yourself to others. Just start doing what you know, do it well, and enjoy it. It's your business. You get to love it. You get to bring it the way you want up through its stages.
Carly Ries:
I love how you kick that off with if I'm not passionate about tax and legal because I love your enthusiasm.
Carly Ries:
you've been
Carly Ries:
the one thing that I meant to ask earlier that I forgot when we were talking about, like, tax and and legal setup and everything is you were saying that, you stay up to date with, continuing education, and you do a great job with that. but for people that are running their business and it's not their livelihood to do all this, how can they stay up to date with changing tax laws and and stay current? because what if they're like, oh, I figured it out, then something changes. And, again, you can say that that's the accountant's job.
Carly Ries:
But they don't always catch it.
Mark Kohler:
Yeah. Very good question because as I said a moment ago, hey. Learn it. You know?
Mark Kohler:
Take captain your ship. The second mistake they make is, okay. I learned it. I'm done.
Mark Kohler:
Woah. Woah. Did you know that there's gonna be another tax code no matter what president is gonna be elected this fall? Did you know that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the last pieces of it expire the end of this year? Did you know that there's a new court case last week somewhere that changed the whole dynamic with this type of write off?
Mark Kohler:
So the point is we have to stay abreast. We have to continue to learn. So what I would tell people is find that voice that resonates with you, that you enjoy listening to. Some of you listening today are like, that Mark Kohler is crazy. He's got ADD.
Mark Kohler:
I cannot listen to that guy. Take away that rock star he's holding. it's not healthy. He's gonna you know? Others of you are like, oh my gosh.
Mark Kohler:
I can understand this guy. Freaking hey. So I've got a podcast. I've got a YouTube channel. There's other tax professionals out there that have, some great voices on strategy in different, I guess, groups or industries even.
Mark Kohler:
Find those voices and just subscribe. Listen to a podcast once a week about tax and legal. I do every year in the fall. Oh, it is busy. Our busiest time is November December.
Mark Kohler:
A real accountant, that's their busy time because everybody's trying to get their write offs in before year end, their strategies, pull the trigger, get ready for the new year. April 15th, freaking out. I can punt. That's Q1. I don't care about April 15th.
Mark Kohler:
I don't care about the deadline. That's reporting from last year. Strategy is looking forward. And so I'm holding podcasts on year end strategies all through November December. I've got a workshop this December for 3 days on 25 different topics, 15 different speakers.
Mark Kohler:
You can come in virtually or personally. It sells out every time. This year is gonna be in Phoenix, December 6, 7, 8, I think. And it's called tax and legal 360 where business owners and professionals are interacting and working together. Come to a tax conference.
Mark Kohler:
Look how cool and nerdy that would be. But, anyway so find someone that's an influencer or a thinker that is out there on this topic and start following them and just know it's an
Mark Kohler:
ongoing topic that you have to continue to learn in, and it's okay. It can be fun and exciting.
Carly Ries:
And, Mark, you just mentioned so many good resources, your podcast, your event, everything. just while we're on the topic, where can people find all of those?
Mark Kohler:
one of the best place to go is just markjkohler.com. Markjkohler.com. There's a link to our law firm. You can get a consult for under $1600 where you can build a plan with a real tax lawyer on Zoom, a comprehensive consult. We go through 35 different strategies and review your past and look at the future, build a trifecta.
Mark Kohler:
It's a picture of what your future might look like. I've trademarked that, the trifecta. You can get to the trust company where you can self direct your IRAs and 401 k's and health savings accounts. You can, get to a tax adviser network where you can interview and find a tax adviser that's been trained by me. They have to do 80 classes and, over a 1000 test questions and meet with me weekly to be on my network.
Mark Kohler:
I make no money on them. You hire them. that's cool. That's on you. but they get trained by me.
Mark Kohler:
That's the Main Street Tax Pro Network. You can find an accountant in there. Sign up for the podcast, the newsletters, and all that, and just enjoy it. Just enjoy the ride and know that this part of your business can be now managed. The number one cost in your life, the number one cost throughout your entire life is gonna be taxes.
Mark Kohler:
Are you talking about it? Do you have a plan? Who's your adviser? Do you meet regularly about it? Because it's the number one cost.
Mark Kohler:
We ought to. Let's find that person, that tribe, that community.
Carly Ries:
Ugh. I wanna go, like, run a marathon after talking to you.
Carly Ries:
Well, Mark, we ask all of our guests this question. you help so many people find success and figure out ways to save so what is your favorite quote about success? Do you have one?
Mark Kohler:
Oh, it's fine. Okay. I got one. I didn't expect you to ask that. I'll say this.
Mark Kohler:
There's no such thing as luck. It's when preparation meets opportunity.
Carly Ries:
Love it.
Joe Rando:
Good one.
Carly Ries:
One of my favorite quotes? Well, you are just a breath of fresh air and a topic that is usually so intimidating to so many people, myself included, and we cannot thank you enough for coming on the show today.
Mark Kohler:
Thanks for having me. I love what you're doing and spreading the good word, American dream and entrepreneurship. And it's just it's so liberating, so exciting. Over 50% of Americans are working at a job they hate.
Mark Kohler:
They literally hate, not just dislike. The Department of Labor Statistics are staggeringly sad and depressing. And so, let's find that passion inside of us and just freaking go for it. You know? So thanks for having me.
Carly Ries:
Could not have finished the episode better myself. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Listeners, we're sure you loved this just as much as we did.
Carly Ries:
Your energy is just contagious. Enjoy, and don't forget to leave that 5 star review. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. Subscribe to our podcast at any of your platforms, and we will see you next week on The Aspiring Solopreneur. Take care.
Speaker 4:
You may be going solo in business, but that doesn't mean you're alone. In fact, 1000000 of people are in your shoes, running a one person business and figuring it out as they go. So why not connect with them and learn from each other's successes and failures? At LifeStarr, we're creating a one person business community where you can go to meet and get advice from other solopreneurs.
Carly Ries:
Be sure to join in on the conversations at community.lifestarr.com. That's community.lifestarr.com
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