Your tax return can feel like a verdict, but it doesn’t have to be. I sit down with Bruce Willey, a rare combo of CPA and attorney, to talk about what most high-earning business owners never get from “normal” tax prep: an actual tax plan. We start with Bruce’s Tactical Games journey, where accuracy matters even when your heart rate is spiking, and how rebuilding his health after a 2018 stroke sharpened his focus on recovery, discipline, and long-term performance.

Then we get into the money. Bruce lays out the difference between tax compliance and tax strategy, why many CPAs are trained to look backward, and why planning is still possible for entrepreneurs and closely held businesses. We talk about building a blended approach instead of chasing one-off deductions, and a simple rule that saves people from bad decisions: don’t buy something you don’t need just to “save taxes.”

You’ll hear practical, code-based ideas like paying family members for real work, hiring your kids at fair market value, and using Roth IRA planning in a way many families overlook. We also cover the Augusta Rule and what the IRS expects when you use it, plus audit reality: documentation wins, credit card statements are not receipts, and material participation records can make or break certain deductions. We close with estate planning considerations around today’s elevated estate tax exemption, and where to follow Bruce’s work on Real Clear Markets.

If you found this helpful, subscribe, share the episode with a business owner who needs a better plan, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

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How to connect with Bruce:

Founder & Owner
American Tax & Business Planning
3519 Center Point Road NE
Cedar Rapids, IA, 52402

Website: https://www.americantbp.com/
Phone: (319) 200-6716
Email: bwilley@americantbp.com
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@brucewilley3956
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bruce-willey-b574b14/
Twitter: https://x.com/BWcatalyst
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Americantaxandbusinessplanning

Hear Past episodes of the Way2Wealth Podcast!
https://theway2wealth.com

Learn more about our Host, Scott Ford, Managing Director, Partner & Wealth Advisor
https://www.carsonwealth.com/team-members/scott-ford/

Investment advisory services offered through CWM LLC, an SEC-registered investment advisor. Carson Partners, a division of CWM LLC, is a nationwide partnership of advisors. The opinions voiced in the Way to Wealth with Scott Ford are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for an individual. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. All indices are unmanaged and may not be invested into directly. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss. To determine what may be appropriate for you, consult with your attorney, accountant, financial or tax advisor prior to investing. Guests on Way to Wealth are not affiliated with CWM, LLC. Legado Family is not affiliated with CWM LLC. Carson Wealth 19833 Leitersburg Pike, Suite 1, Hagerstown, Maryland, 21742.

What if the richest life begins when you finally listen to your feelings? We sit down with Dr. Margaret Paul—best-selling author and co-creator of Inner Bonding—to rethink wealth as well-being and put love at the center of a life that feels good. Forget the myth that a bigger balance sheet guarantees joy. Dr. Paul has coached people with yachts, acclaim, and approval who still felt empty. Her insight is simple: happiness flows from how you treat yourself, especially under stress and in close relationships.

We unpack the health, wealth, wisdom, and happiness framework and explore why control patterns—anger, blame, withdrawal, caretaking—quietly drain connection. Dr. Paul outlines the six steps of Inner Bonding: feel your feelings, choose learning over control, get curious about pain, open to guidance, take loving action, and check your feelings for feedback. It’s a practical way to build a trustworthy “loving adult” who sets boundaries, speaks up, and rests without guilt.

We also clarify the “inner child”—your soul, wise and speaking through feelings, alongside wounded parts formed over time. When you take responsibility for that inner world, stress eases, health improves, and creativity returns. Personal power shifts from “power over” to alignment between guidance, compassion, and action—changing relationships, careers, and how money supports life.

If you’re ready to trade approval-chasing for real peace, this conversation offers clear steps and hope. Subscribe for more conversations that simplify money, elevate well-being, and help you live fully. If this resonated, share it with a friend and leave a quick review—what loving action will you take this week?

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DR. MARGARET PAUL is a bestselling author, relationship expert, and co-creator of the powerful Inner Bonding® self-healing process. She has appeared on numerous radio and television shows (including Oprah). Her book titles include Do I Have to Give Up Me to Be Loved By You (over 1 million sold), Healing Your Aloneness, Inner Bonding" and the recently released Diet For Divine Connection and The Inner Bonding Workbook. Margaret has successfully worked with hundreds of thousands around the world and taught classes and seminars for over 53 years.

margaret@innerbonding.com
303-772-3508
https://www.innerbonding.com

Website | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook |

Hear Past episodes of the Way2Wealth Podcast!
https://theway2wealth.com

Learn more about our Host, Scott Ford, Managing Director, Partner & Wealth Advisor
https://www.carsonwealth.com/team-members/scott-ford/

Investment advisory services offered through CWM LLC, an SEC-registered investment advisor. Carson Partners, a division of CWM LLC, is a nationwide partnership of advisors. The opinions voiced in the Way to Wealth with Scott Ford are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for an individual. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. All indices are unmanaged and may not be invested into directly. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss. To determine what may be appropriate for you, consult with your attorney, accountant, financial or tax advisor prior to investing. Guests on Way to Wealth are not affiliated with CWM, LLC. Legado Family is not affiliated with CWM LLC. Carson Wealth 19833 Leitersburg Pike, Suite 1, Hagerstown, Maryland, 21742.

If taxes are your biggest lifetime expense, why leave them to a once-a-year scramble? We zoom out and redesign how you plan, using strategies that compound savings over decades while improving cash flow and control today. With Ashley Sowers back in the studio, we explore how a wealth team sees the full picture—your goals, assets, timelines, and family dynamics—and turns today’s tax incentives into clear, defensible moves that simplify your life.

We reframe the goal: stop chasing zero tax and start paying a fair, predictable rate when it buys freedom. Ashley explains why extended individual brackets and a high standard deduction keep “taxes on sale,” how the enhanced senior deduction affects planning after 65, and when Roth conversions act like tax insurance. We then dig into practical wins: a 75-point tax checklist, tax diversification across taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-free buckets, beneficiary design to reduce the 10-year inherited IRA squeeze, and charitable tools like donor-advised funds and charitable remainder trusts.

The throughline is simplicity with intention—gaining options for retirement, volatility, and legacy while reducing lifetime taxes.

About our guest:
Ashley Sowers, Partner & Wealth Advisor at Carson Wealth Hagerstown
19833 Leitersburg Pike Suite 1
Hagerstown MD 21742
301-739-8505
www.carsonwealth.com

Converting from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA is a taxable event.

Generally, a donor advised fund is a separately identified fund or account that is maintained and operated by a section 501(c)(3) organization, which is called a sponsoring organization. Each account is composed of contributions made by individual donors. Once the donor makes the contribution, the organization has legal control over it. However, the donor, or the donor's representative, retains advisory privileges with respect to the distribution of funds and the investment of assets in the account. Donors take a tax deduction for all contributions at the time they are made, even though the money may not be dispersed to a charity until much later.

Investment minimums and restrictions apply. The minimum investment amount for AQR Flex 145/45 is $1 million which must be in a taxable portfolio with assets that can be margined (including cash and cash equivalents, stocks, ETFs, equity mutual funds). The minimum investment amount for AQR Flex 250/150 is $3 million which must be in a taxable portfolio with assets that can be margined (including cash and cash equivalents, stocks, ETFs, equity mutual funds). A separate portfolio margin agreement is required.

Hear Past episodes of the Way2Wealth Podcast!
https://theway2wealth.com

Learn more about our Host, Scott Ford, Managing Director, Partner & Wealth Advisor
https://www.carsonwealth.com/team-members/scott-ford/

Investment advisory services offered through CWM LLC, an SEC-registered investment advisor. Carson Partners, a division of CWM LLC, is a nationwide partnership of advisors. The opinions voiced in the Way to Wealth with Scott Ford are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for an individual. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. All indices are unmanaged and may not be invested into directly. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss. To determine what may be appropriate for you, consult with your attorney, accountant, financial or tax advisor prior to investing. Guests on Way to Wealth are not affiliated with CWM, LLC. Legado Family is not affiliated with CWM LLC. Carson Wealth 19833 Leitersburg Pike, Suite 1, Hagerstown, Maryland, 21742.