Have the Same Confidence As Your Millionaire Neighbor

Get to Know Vicki Bowman, Tax Manager

This month we spotlight Vicki Bowman, a Tax Manager at our West Chester office. Vicki has more than 33 years of experience in tax and accounting, providing a variety of tax services to business clients and individuals.

What do you enjoy about your role ? I love helping people and interacting with them. I like to pick up new work. I tell my kids it’s like putting a puzzle together.

Coffee or tea? Tea.

What’s your favorite food? Chicken fajitas.

How do you spend time outside of work? Being with family and volunteering at my church.

What activities are you involved with at your Church? I have worked extensively with the youth at my church for about 7 years.

Having 3 teenagers myself during those years, I loved investing in young people. I’ve been on yearly mission trips, both locally (Middletown) and abroad.

What do you enjoy doing with your family? I love to go on family vacations. We have taken many trips out west and love the outdoors.

This year we rented a houseboat for a week in Glen Canyon Reservoir.

What’s your favorite sport to watch? Definitely football! I’m a huge Ohio State fan who started watching with my dad and continue watching with the guys in my family!

Where did you get your degree? Mt. Vernon Nazarene University.

What’s something that clients might be surprised to learn about you? I have a minor in music. I was a piano major my freshman year.

What’s an ideal Friday night for you? I love to have parties, anytime of year. My ideal would be to have a full-house of family and friends.

Have the Same Confidence As Your Millionaire Neighbor

The odds are good that at least one of the 7.8 million people who are millionaires in the United States lives near you.

They may even be your neighbor!

But a millionaire that is financially savvy isn’t always as recognizable as some may think.

So what are a few of the habits and beliefs millionaires have in common? And how can you gain that same confidence and understanding of your financial future, just like them?

Let's look at 5 common behaviors of the millionaire next door:

1. He spends less than he earns.

2. He knows that patience is a virtue when it comes to diligent saving and investing over time. After all, the odds are, you won’t become a millionaire overnight.

3. He pays off his credit cards in full every month. He lives by the idea that if you can’t pay in cash, you probably can’t afford it.

4. He never forgets that financial freedom is a state of mind that results from being debt-free. (He’s known for a long time that money doesn’t buy you happiness.)

5. He knows few millionaires were lacking a roadmap to get to that milestone; in fact, like him, most of them had a long-term plan. It's not enough to simply declare you’d like financial freedom.

Make the Most of Your Money—Now And In the Future

Want to learn what you can do to plan for your financial future? Email us at [email protected] to learn more or to set up a free consultation.

Keep reading the rest of this article here.

Update: IRS Provides More Clarity On 20% Pass-Through Deduction

We now have updated guidance on the the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act from the IRS.

As many of you know, there had been questions about if and how certain taxpayers—owners, partners, and shareholders in pass-through entities—could claim the 20% deduction on income.

The recent guidance clarifies two major things, which we’ve simplified here:

1. How companies with various lines of business can claim the deduction. Instead of having to restructure their business, as many thought they may need to do, companies can aggregate pass-through income from multiple sources as single business income.

2. Who cannot use the deduction. The law says that businesses which are based on the “reputation or skill” of the employer or owner are not able to take the deduction. That definition has been clarified to include people who have endorsement deals, licensing income, or appearance fees.

Other clarifications were also included in that piece of guidance. The law states businesses in certain industries are not allowed to take the deduction, and that still stands. That includes health, law, accounting, actuarial sciences, athletics, consulting, financial and brokerage services and the performing arts.

Have more questions about how this affects you and your business? We'd love to help you plan for the future. Call us today at (513) 576-1989.

Want to read more of our latest insights and tips? Or want to read a Q&A about tax breaks for you as a small business owner? Find this month's articles here.