Cynthia de Fazio 00:00
Welcome to Retire Smart Austin. My name is Cynthia de Fazio, joined today by Phil Capriotti, Sr and Parker Capriotti of Empower Wealth and Tax to our viewers at home. Thank you for being with us today. We have a very special show, and you are going to be meeting the amazing Parker Capriotti, and I’ve had an opportunity to get to know him through the years. This is one very intelligent and very special young man with a very wonderful last name. So, Phil, how are you today?
Philip Capriotti 00:55
Oh, couldn’t be better. Thank you so much. Blessed. Very
Cynthia de Fazio 01:00
Very blessed. Yes, and another beautiful thing is Parker’s on the show. This is exciting,
Philip Capriotti 01:07
Being able to share the set with you and my son. Parker is just something that divine intervention has brought together. We’re just going to go with that. You know, I talk with you folks about how our practice is generational, and that my children will work with your children. Parker has had the benefit of really growing up one on one, most of the other kids were already grown, and he kind of was like the late comer. The last one was born in 1990, my daughter, Dana, okay? And, and so Parker came along, 2001 so, you know, over a decade later, wow. Anyway, with that being said, I mean, I believe that he came out of, he came out of his mother’s womb, a financial advisor, okay? And when I say that he was giving me financial advice at the age of…
Parker Capriotti 02:08
Believe it was 12.
Cynthia de Fazio 02:11
That’s fantastic.
Philip Capriotti 02:13
Yeah, so I got to tell you the story. So, at 12 years old, you know, we’re watching, it was either Bloomberg or Fox Business, or maybe a combination of both, because I kind of flip between both of them and he said that. He said, You really need to buy bitcoin now. We’re going back 12- so, this is over 12, 13 years ago? And I said, What? What? What’s Bitcoin? He said, dad, it’s the future. You got to trust me on this. And he’s talking to me, just like, to trust me. You got to buy bitcoin. You got to take 10,000, you got to buy bitcoin. And I’m like, Oh my gosh, that’s incredible. So, a short period of time later, a couple weeks later, he asked me, Dad, did you buy bitcoin yet? Honey? No, I’m not buying Bitcoin. No, I haven’t bought Bitcoin. So, at any rate, to humor him, I figured, okay, you know, we’ll throw, I think was four or 5000 closer to five grand into Bitcoin. I figured, what could it hurt? And how much was a coin?
Parker Capriotti 03:18
When I first told you, I believe it was around $330. $330 a coin.
Philip Capriotti 03:24
So anyway, to make a long story short, I knew right then and there that this kid was destined for good things. That’s amazing. So, so at any rate, with that being said, it continued and continued, and he showed more and more interest. You know, where the other kids wanted to turn on cartoons. He’s sitting next to me, you know, and watch Bloomberg and Fox Business and any other financial channel that’s and this is really as a young adult and a young teenager. So, when he graduated high school, you know, he had a full scholarship. Graduated all a honor roll, all through, all through elementary school, all through junior high, all through senior high. So, I said, you know, it was covid. So, they were shutting down the schools. They were shutting everything down. Yep. And I was like, I want to see if we can get you situated in our home office. Yes. So, I went and talked to Jared, my brother, Jared Florence, and I said, Jared, I’d like a little favor. Wow, what’s up, Cap? I told him, and sure enough, they gave him an entry level position. That was over three years ago.
Cynthia de Fazio 04:31
And I remember that. I remember that day. I remember meeting you, Parker for the very first time, and I was just so impressed with you, because you have such a quiet demeanor, and you’re so incredibly intelligent every time you speak, it’s something that I’m just like, wow. So, I’m so happy that you’re following in your father’s footsteps. And let me ask you, the past three years, what has that been like for you?
Parker Capriotti 04:56
It’s been a very fun experience. A lot of the time I’ve gotten to focus on trading and sitting down with Darren Levitt and just really getting a financial understanding for the stock market, what exactly we do as advisors and how we can help clients.
Cynthia de Fazio 05:13
What do you love the most? I have to ask you, because I’m sure people are wondering that, what is the best part of your job every single day?
Parker Capriotti 05:21
Oh man, probably my favorite would be our morning meeting. We’ll sit down around 6:15 and just have an hour powwow about what happened on the market overnight. And we cover US markets, foreign markets, bonds, everything.
Cynthia de Fazio 05:38
That’s incredible. So, 6:15 every morning. So, you’re an early riser, obviously, getting to the office early, that is such a blessing.
Philip Capriotti 05:47
That’s a refreshing change from when he was in senior high.
Cynthia de Fazio 05:53
Well, you know, that happens,
Philip Capriotti 05:56
You know. And it’s funny, too. Darren Levitt is our chief investment strategist. And this gentleman, he’s brilliant, a very good friend of mine. I’ve learned a lot from Darren myself over the last decade plus, that I’ve known him, and he’s taken Parker under his wing and really transferred a lot of knowledge. Parker was finished after three years, and he finished his three-year internship a couple months ago, and Darren approached me, and he said, Phil, he said, We’re unroll- we’re rolling out this new tax harvesting software. It’s really going to be game changing. Wow. Parker’s really sharp enough. I want to put him in it. And I want to see where he goes with this. I want to teach him this. I want him to take it back to Texas, Texas, specifically, Austin. So, with that being said, I was like, Great, that sounds great.
Cynthia de Fazio 06:55
Yeah, why not, that’s fantastic.
Philip Capriotti 06:57
And so why don’t you tell us a little bit about that, what you’ve learned and what you’re bringing back with that.
Parker Capriotti 07:02
It’s really awesome and very crazy. What we’re doing here, a lot of the tools we’re allowing some of our advisors to use in Empower Wealth, is tax loss harvesting software. Essentially. What we’ll do is we’ll go into a client’s account, look at all their positions in the cost basis and see where can we leverage accounts to sell off, sell off at the highs, buy at lows. And how can we really utilize this software to limit taxes for clients?
Cynthia de Fazio 07:33
That’s fantastic, and it took you how long to learn this? Probably like, what, 10 minutes, because you’re so brilliant?
Parker Capriotti 07:39
No, I’ve been working on it for about two or three months now.
Cynthia de Fazio 07:43
Wow, that’s incredible. And I’m sure your clients are seeing such amazing results, because we talked about this before, Phil, about the importance of tax loss harvesting done every two weeks via software, versus people maybe think about it once a year, twice a year, if that. So, what kind of differences are you seeing?
Parker Capriotti 08:01
Well, for now, we’re mainly sticking with every two weeks, okay, although in the near future we should be able to expand that to almost any time frame that would suit the client’s needs.
Philip Capriotti 08:11
That’s fantastic. Wow, yep. And so, it allows for a client to de risk contra concentrated positions in their portfolio, as we talked about it in last week’s show. It allows us to invest in new technologies, new investments, new companies that are not even existent in the client’s taxable portfolios. It allows these taxable portfolios to do more than the chocolate/vanilla. Just reinvest interest and dividends into the existing companies, and so I believe that it’s going to change the entire market. I’m glad that we’re on the cut it’s not only cutting-edge technology, but we are at the very beginning of this new technology, and we’re rolling it out before anyone else is involved. And through the grace of the good Lord above, I have my youngest son actually learning it from the pros who designed it.
Cynthia de Fazio 09:11
Well, Phil, we’re going to take a very short commercial break. Ann Parker, but you have a very special message to the viewers at home, please take it away.
Philip Capriotti 09:18
Folks. You’ve been watching us for over five years, I would say, pick up that phone and dial 888-818-6557, come on in. Let’s take a look at your portfolio. Let’s meet the family. Okay, I’d like to run a morning star report and a portfolio observation on your existing portfolio. Remember to utilize this tax efficient tax loss harvesting software. When we move your taxable account again, if it’s with fidelity or Schwab, it stays right where it is. It does not move. You’re just changing advisors. We move it in kind and then let the magic begin. So, give us a call. Go to empowertaxbill.com, that’s empowertaxbill.com or click the QR code or give us a call at 888-818-6557, and schedule a complimentary consultation for us to show you how we can help reduce your taxes in retirement and actually put your portfolio into the future by using this cutting edge technology.
Cynthia de Fazio 10:25
Phil, thank you so much, Parker, thank you so much to our viewers at home. As you can clearly see, this is cutting edge technology. It’s time for you to take advantage of it. Call in today, 888-818-6557, or if you’re very interested and you need to get on the fast track. You can grab your smartphone, click on that QR code at the bottom corner of your screen that takes you right to the landing page of Empower Wealth and Tax. We’re going to take a very short commercial break. Don’t go anywhere. I have so much more with Phil and Parker about tax loss harvesting and why it’s important for you to learn more. Stay tuned.
Philip Capriotti 11:00
You know, folks, planning for the future means more than just saving money. It’s about making smart investment decisions that grow without taking on excessive risk. Yes, investment planning can be confusing and risky if you don’t have the right guidance. At Empower Wealth and Tax our investment planning professionals have assisted 1000s of folks just like you. Simplify the process. We offer tailored strategies to help you make informed decisions and grow your wealth confidently. Don’t let uncertainty hold you back. Schedule a complimentary consultation with us today, and take the first step towards Smart Investing schedule today, and let’s start building your investment portfolio together.
Cynthia de Fazio 11:54
Welcome back to Retire Smart Austin. My name is Cynthia de Fazio, and I’m joined today by Phil Capriotti, Sr, as well as joined by Parker Capriotti of Empower Wealth and Tax and we’re talking all about tax loss harvesting and how having the right software in your corner can be advantageous, especially in your retirement years. What an amazing show that we’re having today. And Parker, I love to have you on the show, because you have such a fresh perspective, if you will, not that you don’t Phil, but you know what I mean, Parker’s younger. It’s like my daughter. I learned so much from her. She’s 26 and I’m not going to ask you your age, but I know you’re young, and so I love that you come with such a fresh perspective. Talk a little bit about tax efficient portfolio transitions. Please, Parker, take it away.
Parker Capriotti 12:40
Thank you. So, what we do with that is we’ll actively monitor tax loft harvesting opportunities in a client’s portfolio. This allows us to offset gains and maintain proper tax alignment within this portfolio. So, a client who’s held on to, let’s say, Apple for the last 10, 15 years, who’s a little hesitant to sell it because they’re worried about the capital gains they might incur, we can find other positions where we could take a potential loss to offset those capital gains, allowing it to transition. And another thing we do is strategic withdrawals that’s really beneficial for clients, okay, especially as you start taking RMDs, okay? It allows you to strategically sell off certain positions to satisfy those RMDs while taking a minimal tax hit.
Cynthia de Fazio 13:31
Wow. Okay, I love that. What about being also ongoing tax aware management? Because when I know I feel, we’ve talked about this obviously so much in the past. You are so passionate about making sure that people understand being tax aware is paramount to retirement success. How does that marry the software that Parker’s talking about?
Philip Capriotti 13:52
So, this software can be used with many different various functions. So, for instance, we can literally offset the taxes with respect to Roth conversions, by accumulating losses within using the software. So literally, we can accumulate losses, harvest them, continue to harvest them, say, through the first half of the year. And let’s assume we’ve now have, I’m just going to use an arbitrary number, $100,000 in losses through the course of a six month. I can now take $100,000 of that IRA, convert it over to the Roth IRA, and have zero tax consequence with respect to that Roth conversion. Wow. So, when we start to look at all that, because once Parker started talking to me about the software, and I started talking with Darren about it. My mind, my mind goes right to the balance sheet. Of course, the first thing it does, and I’m thinking, oh my goodness, wait a second. We can use this. Can you imagine doing Roth conversions and take by taking the losses from your taxable account and not. Not and not having to worry about paying 22 or 24% in actual dollars, just by applying the losses to and onto your tax return, doing the Roth conversions and applying the losses as though you’re applying tax dollars. That’s amazing. I absolutely love it. And so, we have not only just high expectations. I love the fact that this is all about new technology. It’s about AI driven type technology. It’s being used with the largest of the largest firms, not to mention any names. I’m just happy to be a part of this firm, and I’m also happy to be a part of this company, especially, I’m thrilled and blessed to be Parker’s dad.
Cynthia de Fazio 15:44
Yes, and I can see why. Yes, I am too, which I love Parker. Let me ask you, why does tax management matter?
Parker Capriotti 15:55
Well, it matters for a lot of reasons, one of them being that clients who are unaware of this could incur 1000s and 1000s of capital gains at the end of the year, completely throwing off their carefully prepped and planned retirement. So, it’s really important, especially when working with moderate accounts, you really want to fully plan ahead and make sure every step you’re taking is in the client’s benefit.
Cynthia de Fazio 16:25
I couldn’t have said that any better.
Philip Capriotti 16:28
High interest is really the definition of a true fiduciary. This just takes it to an entirely new level.
Cynthia de Fazio 16:35
It does. The care is just amazing, and I love the fact again, I’m reiterating with you coming to the office at 6:15 to regroup with everyone, just to say, Hey, what happened in the markets overnight, and how can we better serve our clients? That is the fiduciary standard, Phil.
Philip Capriotti 16:50
You know, one of the things that we provide for our clients, or anyone that’s come to either a workshop or comes into our office, we provide a newsletter, and we do it. It’s an email newsletter. But of course, as fiduciaries, we don’t sell names or information. It’s designed to be educational, so many of the meetings that Parker is in each and every morning end up being in this newsletter. It’s actually personally written by his boss, Darren Levitt, and it’s circulated to our clients. So, when we look at ABC happened in the market, and this is how we’re going to react to that with respect to making changes in the portfolio, what type, how many advisors do that for their clients? So, it’s all about the education process. It’s all about helping them understand, realizing what we’re doing, how we’re acting in their best interest, and how we are the perfect financial advisory firm
Cynthia de Fazio 17:47
You really, truly are when you think about it. How does it also benefit generational wealth planning? Is that a big one?
Parker Capriotti 17:55
Yes, it is. Generational wealth planning, when taken with proper steps and precautions, it can be accumulated over a short amount of time. To a moderate you can accumulate a good general wealth within 10 to 15 years with careful tax aware planning and special Ira attention to detail, when you do this tax loss harvesting, you’re able to retain a lot of the income from your IRA that’s generated that normally would be lost to taxes.
Cynthia de Fazio 18:27
Wow, that is so very important, especially with so many clients that are really concerned about legacy planning.
Philip Capriotti 18:34
Well, for many of our clients, they’re not going to spend all of the resources they’ve saved, especially if they save them in IRA accounts. The question remains, how much do we want to contribute to charity? How about how much? How many QCDs do we want to do? Which we want to- we want to organize that with the Roth conversion. Because what we don’t spend, what I don’t spend in a qualified account, and what my wife does not spend, it’s going to transfer to our kids, and they’re going to have to be taxed, and they have to empty the account within 10 years. And if I had to start taking my RMDs before they inherit it, they now have to take RMDs, so it can really interfere with their tax bracket. Taking these huge, you know, six digit, high five digit RMDs when they’re already making several hundred thousand a year, you know, because of their education and where they are. So by doing the Roth conversions and really putting it together in a tax efficient retirement income plan, along with gift giving, charitable gift giving, and Roth conversions, not only does it create tax free wealth for me, for my spouse, but it also allows us to transfer it to other generations, so the tax man doesn’t get a hold of it a second time.
Cynthia de Fazio 19:55
That’s perfect bill. Thank you so much. And Parker, thank you to our viewers at home. We know that we’re giving you a lot of information today about tax loss harvesting, and you’re probably wondering, well, how do I get in touch with these gentlemen what they’re saying sounds so interesting and so applicable to where I am in my life today. Well, that number to call is 888-818-6557, again, 888-818-6557, if you have more questions about the software that’s used for tax loss harvesting. Please don’t miss the opportunity to call in today. Book this complimentary consultation. And again, if you’re trying to get on the fast track, if you want information immediately, it probably would benefit you even more to grab your smartphone, click on the QR code at the bottom corner of your screen that takes you right to the landing page. Of course, of Empower Wealth and Tax you can schedule your time accordingly. We’re going to take a very short commercial break. Don’t go anywhere. I have so much more with Phil and Parker when we return.
Philip Capriotti 20:48
Hello. My name is Phil Capriotti. You know we have been helping folks like you create a tax-free retirement income plan for over two decades. I am a firm believer that if you’ve worked and paid taxes for the last 50 years, the one thing you shouldn’t be burdened with is excessive taxation and retirement at Empower Wealth and Tax we specialize in helping you reach your desired retirement lifestyle with a tax free and tax efficient retirement income plan with The probability of taxes going up significantly in the future. Let’s plan your retirement right call us today or select one of the options below and start empowering your retirement right now.
Cynthia de Fazio 21:37
Welcome back to Retire Smart Austin. My name is Cynthia de Fazio, joined today by Phil Capriotti, Sr and Parker Capriotti of Empower Wealth and Tax. And if you’re just tuning in and just joining us, we’ve been talking about the power of tax loss harvesting, and even more so, the software that’s been incorporated that actually takes a look at everything every two weeks at this current time, it’s amazing and it’s very interesting. So, thank you for being with us, Phil and Parker, I’m so thrilled and just honored to be with both of you today and to learn more about this incredible software and Parker, I know that you’re so passionate about education and sharing it with your clients. You probably have had some experiences recently with clients that have benefited from this, Phil.
Philip Capriotti 22:20
Yeah, yeah, I certainly have. In fact, it’s really, it’s put an extra spring in my step, we’ll say, with respect to getting up and not talking about the same old thing over and over again, although I can never get tired of talking about saving people money in on their tax bill. We had a client that wanted to produce tax free income, and we’re going to call it a case study. And this client wanted to take income from her taxable portfolio, which was a little bit over $5 million that was what. It was a taxable portfolio. It wasn’t a Roth. It wasn’t pretax. Was after tax, okay? And she said, how much income can you provide to me in the form of tax-free income by using this tax loss harvesting software? So, can you create a strategy using the software to provide me with tax free income? So, I’ll ask Parker, can we create a strategy to provide tax free or tax efficient income using the software?
Parker Capriotti 23:38
Absolutely. So, one of the ways we can do that using strategic withdrawals. So, when you have a large portfolio like that, we can go into your legacy positions, find where we can make gains and losses, sell them off to essentially equate 0% tax or whatever the client’s preferred tax budget is, and we can start to sell those off. And essentially, we’ll make- require distributions or any sort of wires, and we’ll be able to
Philip Capriotti 24:14
Provide them with tax free income. That’s fantastic, what we were able to do. And in this particular case, there were literally hundreds of thousands of dollars of tax loss harvesting, okay, that we could have provided to the client at a tax level of somewhere between five and 8% Wow. So as opposed to paying 20% in or 15% in long term capital gains, we literally cut that tax bill in more than half. Now imagine doing that each and every year for several decades. How much additional wealth do you get to keep and pass on to your children and grandchildren? With respect to the legacy planning piece of the estate plan.
Cynthia de Fazio 25:01
That is true. So why aren’t more advisors talking about tax loss harvesting? I know that’s a tough question, but I have to know.
Philip Capriotti 25:08
Education.
Cynthia de Fazio 25:09
Okay.
Philip Capriotti 25:09
Staying current. With- one of the benefits of working with foundations and with Magellan is they’re always on the cutting edge of the next best thing. They never stop. They never get complacent. They always want to forge forward, to implement any strategy that’s going to better our client’s position, overall position, whether it be investments, whether it be reducing risk within a portfolio, whether it be providing tax free income, whether it be doing executing Roth conversion strategies, it’s all about the common good for our client. And quite frankly, a lot of investment advisors don’t own their own firms. They work for an Eddie or a Merrill or the fisherman or whoever. They’re employees. Okay? They’re there for a paycheck. We work for our clients. Okay? We’re the employees. Yes, we are employed by our clients, so we have to stay on the cutting edge. And not only that, I gotta tell you, I get a special kick out of bringing this type of knowledge to the clients. It lets them realize exactly the type of advisory firm and the type of family that they’re working with.
Cynthia de Fazio 26:25
Sure, well, only a minute and a half left of the show today, but Phil, what does it feel like for you to be sitting on set with your son?
Philip Capriotti 26:33
I wish I would have bought more Bitcoin. It’s wonderful. It’s marvelous. I cannot wait to work with them side by side in our Horseshoe Bay and all of our other offices that are yet to come. And by the way, the Georgetown office is opening. We are now getting ready to open up Lakeway and soon to be dripping spring. So, it looks like, wow, we have two new offices over the next nine to 12 months in our future, and Parker will be a big part of their growth and development.
Cynthia de Fazio 27:09
Most definitely he will, Parker, thank you so much for being on the show today. It’s been such a pleasure to have you and Phil as always. Thank you so much to our viewers at home. The number to call in is 888-818-6557, and if you’re curious to learn more about the software that helps you understand the market and tax loss harvesting, book your consultation today. 888-818-6557, or to get on the fast track, click on the QR code at the bottom corner of your screen. Be safe. Be happy. Most of all, be blessed. We’ll see you back one week from today, on Retire Smart Austin with Phil Capriotti, Sr. take care now we will see you soon.