Hi! New Bigger Pockets member who is looking for *serious* financial and RE guidance. I currently have a CPA (only handles taxes and offers standard tax deductions advice) and a wealth manager at Abacus (handles retirement investments and stocks- IRA, 401K, etc). I'm paying very high monthly fees and additional management/service charges but am still not getting the help/education I would like. Moreover, neither party seems very interested in my goal to build my RE portfolio.

Currently, I have a 4-plex in Texas which I purchased in 2020 (FHA loan that is now entirely a rental property) and manage independently. I recently purchased a primary home in LA County Sept 2023 (only put 5% to do renovations and have an interest rate of 7.25%; I rent out back unit when we are out of town and intend to rent out main house eventually). I have quite a bit of cash in my high yields savings and about 300k in my 401k/IRA portfolio (how much is actually mine vs IRS after management fees I have no idea.)

I have two corps: TV/Film corp and RE corp. Up until recently I had been doing my own book keeping for both which was a terrible idea haha; I have gotten extensions on my taxes for the past 5 years because i manually itemized all expenses I did not keep up with throughout the year on EXCEL. I have since submitted my 2023 expense sheet but my CPA has not officially filed, and have hired a bookkeeper for 2024 (finally!) back in April.

The new bookkeeper was supposed to create a quick books for my accounts, which I paid an initial service for and just started paying a "managing" monthly fee this month. However, I have not received my login info and do not think she's really worked much on my accounts. I did speak to my CPA & bookkeeper this past Thursday and was told late July I should have 2024 expenses up-to-date and taxes filed for 2023. They also mentioned to realistically expect my accounts to not run smoothly and orderly until 2025, which I totally understand because of my disorganized bookkeeping the last few years. However, my TV/Film income has recently changed. I made quite a bit of money the last couple years but my contract ended in April. So, I have no idea how much money I owe for 2023&2024, how much money is actually mine, how to take advantage of tax deductions/credits/RE professional Status/ renovation costs/perform a cost segregation, if I really need a wealth manager at this point and how to take out my retirement investment and move it to a mutual fund I run independently.

My ultimate goal: create systems for my corps to run smoothly and optimize business-related expenses, keep my books up-to-date for both corps so I know my input/output, pay quarterly taxes throughout the year, give myself a modest monthly income and continue to preserve/build wealth and grow my RE PORTFOLIO!

This is A LOT of info- a very tall order- so thank you for sticking in if you've read this far! I am the first in my family to build this much wealth and own properties so I do not have any people in my network I can turn to for advice. I would love a mentor or to talk to anyone who has had a similar experience and tangible steps to get more organized. I'm currently looking into dropping my wealth management team and hiring someone (CFA/ tax lawyer who specializes in RE?) to help me with financial planning, building wealth and maximizing tax deductions/credits. Any suggestions, recommendations or comments would be greatly appreciated!

Los Angeles County, California

4 Votes