CW 201: What Your CPA Isn't Telling You with Mark Kohler Attorney and CPA

Welcome to Creating wealth with Jason Hartman. During this program, Jason is going to tell you some really exciting things that you probably haven't thought of before. And a new slant on investing fresh new approaches to America's best investment that will enable you to create more wealth and happiness than you ever thought possible. Jason is a genuine self made multi millionaire who not only talks the talk, but walks the walk. He's been a successful investor for 20 years and currently owns properties in 11 states and 17 cities. This program will help you follow in Jason's footsteps on the road to financial freedom. You really can do it. And now here's your host, Jason Hartman with the complete solution for real estate investors.

Welcome to the Creating wealth show. This is your host, Jason Hartman and this is episode number 201 and I am talking to you today from the Belize, yes, the country of Belize in Central America and spent the day today exploring two different Mayan ruins. And that was very interesting. And also looking at a whole bunch of properties. And believe it or not, into this busy day, I also fit in a little side trip to Guatemala, my 64th country. And I'll admit that I only went over there. I walked across the border for a beer and a stamp in my passport. That was pretty much it. Guatemala has never been very attractive to me as a destination, so I didn't bother to go there. But since I'm right near the border, I figured it was worth a cerveza and a visit. So today we've got a great show for you with Mark Kohler, the CPA and tax attorney. You've heard him on the show before. And if you've been to some of our recent Masters weekend events or Meet the Masters, we changed the name of that and redid the event which is coming up in March. Mark will be speaking there again and he is also the author of the book Lawyers Are Liars. And I think you'll find this interview interesting. He's got some good tax and legal tips here. And before we get into the interview, I wanted to talk to you about a service that we can offer to you and several of our investors and investors in properties that they've purchased before they knew about us outside of our network have asked about this service and it's a pretty cool thing. Here it is. If you are interested in selling an investment property, a property that is occupied by a tenant, we may be able to offer you a fantastic solution where we can, through our network, help you sell that property without disturbing your tenant. Because we can potentially depending on where the property is located and if it meets our criteria we can put it into our network, advertise it to Platinum investors and the tenant will never even know the property is sold. So you don't need a sign, a lockbox, showings, open houses, all that type of stuff. You can seamlessly and potentially sell it to another investor through the Platinum Properties Investor Network of Investors and advertise it on our website. So if you're interested in this, listen to the future shows. We'll talk about this a little more and just express your interest in this by visiting our website@jasonhartman.com so we'll be back with the interview with Mark Kohler after this short message.

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Foreign.

It's my pleasure to welcome Mark Kohler back to the show. He is a second time guest on the show, but he is also a two time speaker at our Meet the Masters event and we've got another one of those coming up in March. We hope you'll all join us and it's just a great pleasure to have Mark back. He is a very, very innovative thinker. He is the author of a book entitled Lawyers are Liars and he happens to be a lawyer so he has the right to say and he's also cpa. So he does a great job integrating tax and legal strategies together. And today we're going to talk about seven ways that you can save on your tax bill in the new year. Mark, welcome. It's a pleasure to have you back.

Thank you so much for having me. Jason, you do such a quality job with everything you touch, whether it's a podcast, a video, live event. It's always an honor to be with you.

Well, thanks. I appreciate that. So, hey, tell everybody how they can save on life's single largest expense, and that is tax. This year, we've got a new year. And let's figure out ways that we can legally and ethically not pay Uncle Sam. And by doing the things Uncle Sam wants us to do, incentivizes us to do.

Absolutely. And I'm so excited to talk about this topic. I know some of you may have begrudgingly clicked on a link that has anything to do with taxes, but I want to let all of you know that are listening that this is such an exciting topic because it really does give financial freedom. It is the number one cost in our lives and no one wants to talk about it because it seems too boring or too complex. And Jason, I was going to tell you too, should have announced it at the beginning. You're unaware of this, but my new book, what yout CPA Isn't Telling You.

I've been waiting for this one. It's out.

It's launching March 1, and Entrepreneur magazine is my publisher. They are totally behind it with their marketing budget, which I'm so excited about. And we actually are deciding on the book cover this week and it goes into print next week and it's going to be on the shelves. Well, at least Amazon, Barnes and Noble and itunes and all that. March 1st.

Fantastic. Congratulations. I have been waiting for that one. And I knew it was coming out. So glad to see it's right around the corner. So in talking about CPAs, that's not the legal subject, but they always integrate with taxation. We've got, what, 72,000 pages of our ridiculous tax code. Now, no single person could possibly master the tax code. It is so big and complex. It's outrageous. It's ridiculous. But simply talking here with the listeners and me, what can people do to save money? I mean, you've kind of distilled down seven things that you think are some top priorities this year, right?

Absolutely. And I really want to emphasize this as seven steps. These are six steps that I want to recommend that you follow in succession. And I've got more. We literally have a 25 point checklist. We go through with clients when we do their tax return. But let me jump into these seven. And number one is really where you separate the wheat from the tares. This is the first step towards saving taxes. There's not much I can do for you. If you just want me to plug in your W2, your mortgage interest and your kids, that's it. There's not much I can do. Go buy TurboTax if you want. But here is step one. If you really want to save taxes and build financial wealth to boot, number one is I need my clients to have a small business. That's it.

A lot of people listening are thinking, well I have a job, a career, I'm satisfied with my corporate job. I don't want to go into business. That sounds complicated. It's just not what I want to do. Some people are thinking that, but it's not what you think. Right. I mean it doesn't have to be some big commitment, what businesses. It can be a really little thing that just saves you money on tax. Right?

It can. I want to say that I think it's a commitment. It's a big commitment, but doesn't have to be a big time commitment. It doesn't have to be a big project. But I do want people to. And thank you for letting me play on that word because I do want people committed to this. But definitely, like you said, it does not have to be overwhelming. And what I talk about having a small business, we're going to talk about real estate here, a little out of my seven here. We're going to come to that. But it can be real estate. It could be anything. It could be a home based business, consulting services. Maybe you're selling something on ebay, you're developing a project that you're going to manufacture in your garage, you're selling something on the Internet. Or again, it could be simply a rental property which I'm going to separate as another strategy that we need to implement. But it could easily be just that. Getting some sort of small business operation going is so important.

And Mark. So that's the distinction I just wanted to make. I know we'll dive into this deeply here, but having a small business doesn't mean you have to have employees and complexity and office space or storefront or anything like that. It can be relatively simple in that sense.

Exactly. It can. And step one is just finding something. In my new book I talk a lot about developing an idea, bringing it to bear, something that can be a hobby of sense as something that you enjoy doing. I don't want you to start doing something that is essentially miserable. Let's find something you love doing. If you love sports and athletics, let's design a business around that project. If there's something that you really enjoy, that's the business I want you to create. And that's step one. And I'm not saying set up an entity and I'm not saying quit your job, just start something. And the reason why here, Jason, is that I need people to convert after tax expenses to before tax expenses. The concept being that so many people pay for things after taxes. Cell phones, travel, dining, home office, entertainment. A lot of things that W2 wage earners just pay for out of their own pocket and they don't get any write off for it. Once you have a small business, there are so many expenses that now become a part of your business purpose.

Absolutely. And you want to pay expenses after they've been filtered by the business or have, I should say, maybe have the business filter them before the tax man gets to them. Yes.

I thought you were going to use the word launder.

And I usually do money laundering. No, that's illegal.

Awesome. Very good point. We want to filter our expenses through our business. Now that's step one. And folks, I know that can be a little overwhelming. Something I wanted to say this too, Jason. Please forgive me for this shameless plug, but I do want to say it is that when I refer to my book, I want to throw this out. This new book titled what yout CPA Isn't Telling youg is a fictional story. It's a fictional story of a family that goes through this very transformation of finding tax freedom and the rediscovering the American dream through a story. And I have death and marriage and divorce and a sex scene. I work that into my tax.

What are you making a movie here?

Yeah, it's PG, though. It's pg.

Okay.

But this is. It's just so fun. And when people read the book, they're like, I can't believe this is a textbook. And they're learning while they do it. So as a resource to you later as people think, oh, what kind of business can I start? Please make sure in the next few weeks you'll be able to get an advance copy or get a copy of my book. And I'll help give you some ideas, things you can be doing. Okay, so that's step one. Now step two, I need folks to track their expenses better once you start your Small business. I need you. I know this sounds dumb and you think, mark, come on, you got something better than this? This is so important. Many, many people forget that once they start a small business, it requires some bookkeeping. Now, I'm not saying you have to go get your accounting degree or you even have to go out and buy QuickBooks, which is a fantastic and simple to use accounting software program, but just simply having a pad of paper in the drawer, a file where you throw your receipts, a spreadsheet on Excel, something, once you come up with your idea, and I like to use the idea of a lemonade stand, Jason, is that if you have an idea to build a lemonade stand when you're out buying sugar and mix and ice and building your sign, you're not in business yet, you're in startup mode. But those expenses you're incurring are a write off. And me as your accountant, I need to know those expenses. And then once you sell that first cup of lemonade, you're now in business. Bookkeeping, Bookkeeping. And I know as a business owner, you've been committed to that for years, Jason, but putting on that entrepreneur hat, this is a new feeling for a lot of people. And they're like, I hate keeping track of receipts or this and that. Don't get overwhelmed with receipts. Dedicate a separate business credit card to your business. Or again, maybe set up a little DBA bank account that's doing business as a little small bank account that you use for your business. Try to just keep some records somewhere. It doesn't have to be overwhelming. But I want you to track your expenses. Step number two, very important. Now. Number three. Now I'm hoping I'm not putting you to sleep, Jason.

No, no, no, no. Three is a charm, Mark. So three is a charm.

Go with three is a charm. Three will keep you.

Now, three.

Now, we have to address the issue of. And this is, as you can see, folks, this is steps of succession here. Step three, I want you to consider what type of entity you might need. Now, when I say entity, at this point, you've started your small business, you're tracking your expenses. Well, do I have to incorporate? Do I need an llc? Do I need a limited partnership? Can I just operate as a sole proprietorship? Which entity is best for me? I like people to think of this as step three because I don't want you to go out and set up an entity. And Jason, you've been such an advocate to warn your clients about the scams out there. So many people get Sold Nevada corporations or entities before they need them. Of course, that's a theme in my lawyers or liars books. Folks. Take your time, get your business started. Then let's decide if it needs an entity and what type.

A lot of these entities, they're just oversold and that's what I'm always warning the clients about. They're just, you don't have to buy a bunch of entities. I mean people are just putting the cart before the horse all the time and it's kind of crazy. It really is.

It really is. And now with that said, an entity can be hugely important and save you a lot of money. For example, if you're creating an operational business. And when we're at Masters weekend, I always. Jason gives me the time to break down the different types of income and which income goes best through an S corporation and what type of income goes best through an llc. Now in general, what I'd like to see is operational businesses go through an S corp where we can set up a salary and a dividend and save on self employment tax. It's a wonderful strategy when it comes to rental property or asset purchases. We're going to use typically an LLC or limited liability company and then it depends on the state you're operating within. If you're here in California, I'm going to be a little more cautious because we don't want to spend that $800 minimum filing fee here. That is just so onerous here in California. And if you are buying rentals in another state, that is where we are going to set up our entity. So you can see a little bit of tailoring here is so important. Please don't rush out and go to LegalZoom as you are getting set up. Spend an hour or so with an attorney. It can save you thousands. We are extremely affordable. Brittany over at Jason's office really directs people on the cost to expect, sends them our directions from time to time. Please know that your attorney doesn't have to soak you on this either. It can be very affordable. But take the time. That's step number three to choose the right entity. And Jason, gosh, you've been down this path for years and just know how important choosing the right entity can be.

Should it be an S Corp, a C corp, an llc? There's just a lot of choices. What state should it be in? And in some states they offer the. Gosh, the name just escapes me. I know the name, the Series LLCs. Thank you. Having a senior moment here. The fact that I'm Getting senior moments really concerns me. First of all, the series LLCs where they allow you to have protection within the entity from one sort of firewall to the next, right?

Well, absolutely. And that's not senior moment. I mean, you're throwing down some very complex points and I think it's excellent. You're such a smart person, Jason. Most people haven't even heard of series LLCs. Texas just this year passed a series LLC law. More states are picking up on them. We give regular updates to our clients on those types of things. And the series is another. Yeah, just another choice out there. And so that's step three is choosing that right entity. Get a consultation is your brand new business owner. That's not the time to run out and save 300 or 400 bucks. Spend the extra money to get the consultation and choose wisely. So that's step three. Now step four. Now this is where it gets fun. Once you've got your business up, you're tracking your expenses, you've chose the right entity and maybe you don't need an entity. Again, a sole proprietorship may be the way to go for now. But number four, I want you to involve family members. This is such an important step for multiple reasons. Number one, to save taxes. Now, it doesn't mean you have to be married or have kids. It just means who do you hang out with? Is it a brother, a sister, a friend, a parent, an aunt, an uncle? Maybe you are married and have children. Whoever is your close associates in your life and maybe people that you may be supporting financially. Maybe you're in a big brother's club and you help support some families or people. The point is I want you to involve the closest people to you on your board of directors, maybe even as employees on your board of managers, people. You need a support system in your business. Having your family know what you're trying to accomplish and having them involved gives you some, it gives you confidence and it gives you a great tax write off. Because I want to start taking a tax deduction for the money you're going to give to people anyway. Let's take a tax write off for it. The list goes on and on, but those are the first two. Jason.

Mark, I just want to tell you, I know that I think there's a the gift rule, this may have been updated. So please correct me, is that a parent or any person, I guess can give $11,000 per year tax free. So for example, my mother could give me $11,000 and deduct it on her side and then it wouldn't need to be in the inheritance pool because who knows what's going to happen with estate tax by that time. Is that true? I mean, I know you can pay them and that's sort of a different issue, but I just wanted to ask you that one.

Well, I'm glad you bring this up because this is one area where actually I think you're going to appreciate this comment and learn something here too. Couple points. First, this year it's 13,000.

Inflation. Inflation. They're adjusting Good. Yeah.

But here's the little trick that may surprise you. You, your mom does not get a tax deduction when she gives you money. She pays tax on that and then gives it to you so you don't pay taxes when you receive it. That's because mom already paid tax on it. So what I like to see, and this is very important for your listeners to soak in here, is that especially with kids, grandkids or people that you might be giving money to for college or Even they're under 18 and you're supporting them, quit paying taxes and then paying for your kids stuff, whether it's school supplies, music lessons, sporting, clothing, food, dining, entertainment, cell phones, iPads, computers, whatever it is, we pay taxes and then give money to our kids or pay for their stuff. Let's get our kids on the payroll. Now we get a tax write off and the kids, none of us pay taxes on the first $5,700 this year. That's our standard deduction.

And you had one of your kids stand up at our last Masters weekend. And he's on the payroll. Remember he was at the back of the room, he's playing with his iPad. And I guess he.

Right, I was trying to get him to work. No, it's true. In fact, wherever I go, I try to take a child with me to catch the vision of this. And I'll. Yeah. And I'll highlight that again in a moment. But yes, my kids, Dylan, 16 year old, he helps with my web development and my video production. These kids know it and computers better than we do. Let's get them involved. My girls, Sydney and Allie are 14. They help with my bookkeeping and my receipts and my QuickBooks. And then my little Molly, that's seven, helps with paper shredding and office cleaning.

Paper shredding and office cleaning. I love that one.

It's awesome.

How old is she?

She's seven. She got employee of the month last month. She's very excited about that.

This is great. I love it. I had my former CPA write a letter, an opinion letter to my mom on that 11,000 now $13,000. And mom didn't go for it. I was kind of bummed out.

That's right. And it's true. And a lot of people confuse the gifting with putting family actually on payroll. And this is great for grandparents. If you're going to give your grandkids $1,000 at Christmas or you might be helping them out with college, put them on the payroll. They don't pay taxes on the first $5,700. Now if they're making more than that, they may pay taxes, but they could be in a lower tax bracket than you too. Just very strategic. And so this is one as strategy number four, a lot of people overlook. And let me tell just from the bottom of my heart, I almost get choked up when I talk about this. When you get your loved ones involved in your life, in your vision, in your business, you're really passing on that American dream. You're letting people catch the vision of self reliance and taking something they love doing and turning it into their own business. This is a total opportunity to pass it forward. And I just don't.

I love that philosophy. That's fantastic. That really is excellent. Excellent point.

See, isn't this funny how a tax advisor can actually change your life and choke you out?

Yeah. Yep. Really? Okay. Okay, so tell us about the rest of the points.

Okay. All right, number five. Now this is where it gets fun. These I call the hot deductions. The hot tax deductions get a lot of people overlooked. Now this is where it gets nitty gritty, where we don't want to overlook certain write offs. Now this is one of the big ones I just want to highlight. It's interesting. After you pay employees and rent, there are about, oh, five or six deductions that literally make up 80% of everything else you write off. Let me highlight some of these. These are very oftentimes overlooked. Number one is travel. Travel is such a great write off, folks. Think about again where you're buying your rental property. What is your small business about? Everywhere you go, I want you write in off mileage on your auto and then also travel such as airfare, hotels, taxis, rental cars, wherever you're going. That should be a write off. I buy rental property in Idaho because that's where my wife's family is at Thanksgiving is a tax write off for me. Everything about that trip is a write off because I'm going to check on my rental property. Oh, and have Thanksgiving dinner. So many Many small business owners forget that. Again, that should not be an after tax expense. Travel should be before tax.

Let me take a brief pause. We'll be back in just a minute.

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Let me ask you a question about travel, Mark. Isn't there some requirement? I mean, the IRS doesn't just totally allow you to call this whole trip a business trip, right? Do you have to designate business days? Is there something about four hours and one minute or more per day? I've heard things like this.

Yes, it is true. We need to make sure that if you're going to go check on your rentals and you just drive by and then go play with family for four days, or if you go to the Caribbean and have a family meeting for 20 minutes and then play the rest of the time, you're right, the IRS is definitely going to have a problem with that. So there's some balance. And when I do my interviews with my clients for the tax season, we'll say, hey, okay, so you took a trip to where? Oh, I went to Colorado. Okay, you have a rental there. Great. Now, was the whole purpose of the trip to check on your rental and work on it? Yes, I worked on it the whole time. I met with my realtor. There was no personal time. Okay, we check off 100% for the trip. Now if you say, oh, well, I went to go see my sister and then we went to do some this, that or another, okay, well, maybe we write off 80% of the trip. But then I always ask, well, what's your sister doing? Is she on your board of advisors? Is she on your board of directors? Well, no. Does she ever look at your rental for you? No. Why not get your sister involved a little bit, have her check on your rental once in a while, talk to her about what you're doing. Now when you go out to dine with your sister and go out to the spa or go golfing now, it's a tax write off. Oh, I get it now, Mark. Oh, wow. And again, this is where we have to expand our thinking here and get these family members. Because when Go visit my family in Idaho. My father in law is my property manager. Every time I go out to eat with him, it's a write off.

Thinking outside of the box, it just really can change your life.

Excellent. Yeah, very good point.

Okay, a few others. Let me rattle these off. Advertising. Advertising is one of the big write offs a lot of people miss out on. A lot of things you spend for are related to promoting your business. Let's talk about them. Entertainment oftentimes is overlooked. Ladies, whenever you're going to the spa or to get your nails done or go out to eat or dining and entertainment go together because we limit them 50%, I want you to write down all of your dining and entertainment. But then as a tax planner, how.

Do you write off going to the spa though? Can I go get a massage and write that off?

Absolutely. Here's how you need to go with someone. You need to go with a business associate or a client or a partner or an employee. And you're going to talk business while you're there. I went fly fishing with my partner three months ago. We talked business the entire time I rode off the trip. You may go to a baseball game, a basketball game, you might go golfing, go to the spa, go wherever. But make sure you go with someone. And it's a business purpose. And you're going to talk about business, you're going to schmooze them, you're going to talk the structure of the business and where you're headed, those sorts of things.

And is that like a meal where it's only 50% deductible?

Yes, that's right. Dining and entertainment. So any of that entertainment stuff is Limited by 50%. So at the end of the year when you give me all that entertainment, all would have lost 50. You always put down 100% and then at the very end I'll pull off 50. It's just one of those tax rules.

Right? Right. But I hear there actually is a bit of a way around that in that if it's a presentation expense, I've been told you can write off 100% of it. For example, if you conduct seminar, you can write everything off. Even though there are meals served at the seminar and there might only be three people attending. Right. Or something. It's a presentation versus a business and entertainment. Is that, is that acceptable?

Yes. Now yes and no. Certainly there's a lot more that would be 100% deductible with a presentation. But here's the golden rule. Meals and food is always 50%. No matter what scenario it is.

Oh, so. So even. But that can't be true though. If you have a seminar and you host 200 people for lunch, you can deduct everybody, right? Because that's only meant to be. Like when there's two people sitting at the table, you can't deduct your own. Right.

If you've got a. We'll talk about your own dining here too in a moment. But if you've got a rule there that you're aware of, I'd like to see it. I might.

Hey, I'm not the expert. That's just what I heard.

You know what, Jason? This is a good one to follow up on. Maybe if I'll be a third time return guest to your show.

Sounds good. Well, let's have you back.

Email me, you know, if you have more questions about that one and you're like, oh yeah, I really want to know the answer to that. We could throw it on your blog or something. But we'll get my email out folks at the end of this so you can email me about that one. That's a good one, Jason. I don't want to say I'm 100% sure. I'm pretty sure that again, food is always limited by 50%. If you think of Rick Morales in Ghostbusters when he was down in the hall and he was trying to get Sigourney Weaver to come into his party, if some of you remember that. And he's like, yeah, I'm having my, he's an accountant, you know, and he's like, I'm having a party here and come on in and you know, da, da, da. And it's just such a funny show. And of course meals at your home. You can write off groceries if you're entertaining or doing a presentation home. But again, they're limited by 50% unless your accountant tells you otherwise. Another thought is a dining by yourself. You can write off dining by yourself if you are more than an average commute away from your office. So if you go out of the office to grab a burger, not a write off, but if you're 30 miles away or more, that would be considered travel. And now you can write off dining even by yourself, which is a nice write off. So anyway, I want to summarize travel, dining, entertainment, advertising and home office, another big one. Whenever you go to Staples, Home Depot, pick up any supplies, equipment, computer supplies, all of that stuff. Always take a tax write off for that in your small business. Because folks, if you're going to have a Small business. You need a cell phone, you need an iPad, you need a laptop. We're going to write about.

Absolutely. Good points. So are we at one more left?

Yes. Well, we got two more left. So that was number five. Was hot. Deductions. Number six, want to bring up health care. I know we're nearing our 30 minutes and everybody, I know it's such a huge time commitment to take time out of your valuable schedule to listen to these. And Jason, thank you for the time to be here. So I'll move quickly through this. But number six is health care. Health care is a very important one. As many of you know, health care can oftentimes even exceed taxes being the number one expense for folks. Taxes on average are number one. Health care is a close number two. And so with all the health care changes going on in the country, it's important that you address this. And as a small business owner, you get more options. Here again, it's not just getting a job and getting on their health care plan. When you have a small business, you can use a health reimbursement arrangement. You can use health savings account strategy to build your own health care bucket that can grow tax free. And you can get tax write offs for health care expenses, expenses for your deductible eyes, dental, chiropractic, massage therapy, acupuncture, prescription drugs, things that your employer may not be covering. We might want to set up some sort of healthcare strategy in your small business. And guys, this is another, another powerful way to Save Taxes in 2011 is tackling your health care strategy.

Excellent point, excellent point.

Now, some of you may be thinking, mark, okay, give me something really that I could use as meat and take away from this because we're going to talk about my next upcoming event, my new book and all that. And so, folks, you're going to be able to get more information about this in detail. But let me just say with health care, if I could leave you with one tip there, Health savings Account. Go Google it, learn about it. You can set up a free health savings account at most banks, even online. Wells Fargo has an online health savings account. All you need is a high deductible insurance plan, which we love because you have a high deductible, you have lower premiums, and then you can take a tax write off for money you put in a health savings account account. It is one of the most tax preferred vehicles. It's better than an IRA, it's better than a Roth, it's better than a 401K. And I tell My clients, I want them to fund their HSA before their retirement. Because you know what, Jason, you're going to need health care before you need retirement.

Now what does high deductible mean though? Can you give us a number on that? Is it $5,000 or is it higher or lower?

You bet. For a single individual this year it's $1,150.

Well, that's not that bad. A lot of people carry around thousand dollar deductibles. Any.

Exactly. And so for a single individual, I usually tell you to go with about a $1,500 deductible. For families, it's $3,000. But the beauty of this is I see clients with two or three hundred dollars a month in savings on their premiums. Well, if you add that up, that's your deductible. So now you're getting a write off to put money in your health savings account with the savings on your premium. And then if you're healthy throughout the year and that money grows tax free for future health. And it's just so, so powerful. And when you start seeing that equation come together, and I elaborate on this in detail on my website and my live events, which I've talked about this at your event, Masters weekend, we took a lot of time on this. So folks, you can get more of this, but look into that health savings account. Very, very powerful.

Excellent. Very good point. Okay, last but not least.

Last but not least. And Jason, I saved the best for last. I'm not kidding. I love it. And that is, folks, I need you to buy a rental property. And I'm not. Just because Jason is a real estate guru, I'm not bringing this up on his show. I'm not lying to you. I gave a presentation to some morticians the other day. I give presentations to plastic surgeons and dentists and chiropractors. And when I talk to them, I tell them all they've got to buy one rental property a year. That's my goal for you in 2011. I want all of you listening to Buy One Rental Property. It's a wonderful way to build tax deferred wealth. Great tax deductions, travel, dining, entertainment. If some of you are thinking of a way to start a small business, that rental property could be just the key. If you already have a small business, don't think you get out of this. I have every one of my clients buy one rental a year. I follow my same rule. I buy one rental a year myself. And guess what, folks, 10 years from now, 15 years from now you're going to have your retirement set up with rental income and it will change your life. In 15 years from now you're going to go, oh my word, I am so grateful I met Jason Hartman and Mark Kohler. They are the reason why I have a retirement income.

Property is the most tax favored asset class in America. There's just no two ways about it. And besides being tax favored, it's of course a fantastic investment class as well. So very good point. Well, Mark, is there something particular you wanted to mention relating to the rental property or is it that the rental property becomes the small business? Fill us in a little bit more on that before we go.

Well you can and I'm not opposed to that. If I have clients that come to me that are now. Well, okay, let me give you the reality. Very good question, Jason. So I'm going to be specific here. Let's say I have a client come to me that works at Cisco Systems. They have a W2, their spouse works in the school district, for the city, for the state. It could be husband, wife, one, works one where, I don't care. But let's just say you've got a W2 single individual or W2 husband and wife. And they go, Mark, we want to save taxes. If you just go out and buy a rental property, which is my number seven strategy and I want you to buy a rental that's in the plan. But are you going to see impact on your personal tax return this year? The chances are maybe not. Because you may make too much money, you may not be classified as a real estate professional. So those write offs with the real estate, you're going to get them and they'll carry forward and that real estate is going to pay off in that income producing property. But you may not see an impact on your tax return this year. And so that's why, Jason, I'd like people to I make a distinction. I want you to have a small business and buy a rental property. Now if you are in the business of real estate then fine, we can stick with rentals all day long because you could qualify yourself as a real estate professional. And again, that's another topic that we hit at Masters weekend and just again changes the lives of people.

Excellent. Well, very good points, Mark. So first of all, I want everybody to know that Mark has a fantastic event coming up in Anaheim, California. You can learn more about that. You can register for it@jasonhartman.com offers. That's jasonhartman.com offers. There's some good Free stuff there for you too, Mark, what else would you like people to know in closing?

You know what, and I know this sounds kind of cheesy coming from a cpa, but it's really the reality and why I wrote the book. What your CPA isn't telling you is I want people to know the American dream is still alive and this is what is going to help our economy and this country continue to be a world lead and to help change your life at a very individual level. Don't give up. Think about entrepreneurism, make it a part of your life, get excited about it and it's a great way to create some extra income, do something you love, something to fall back on, something to teach your family some way to save taxes. I mean, the list goes on and on and on. And real estate is a key, integral part of that because real estate can be that small business. Start that little fix and flip property you've been wanting to do, get that rental property going. Folks don't feel like you have to do it all at once. Just take it in baby steps and you'll find out five years from now you're going to be very, very grateful that you started the whole ride.

I couldn't agree more. The cumulative effect, Mark, of just taking small actions every single day, you add that all up in a year or two or five years and wow, what a difference it has made, hasn't it? Yeah. Great advice. Well, Mark Kohler, thank you so much for joining us today. I will look forward to seeing you soon and being a guest at your upcoming event in Anaheim. Hope people listening will join us for that and we hope to have you back at a future Meet the Masters event too.

Oh my gosh, I'd love it. And I hope you folks can make it. It's January 29th. Just so you can look when you get at Jason's calendar there and get on his website. And we give him a special rate for Jason's clients too. So come out and it includes a personal consultation with me to dial in your new year. You'll love it. So Jason, thanks so much for having me.

Excellent. Thanks for joining us today, Mark.

Every month Platinum Properties Investor Network Incorporated conducts a conference to educate its inner circle members on a relevant real estate investing topic in order to get you one step closer to the American dream of financial freedom.

Jason's forecasting ability is legendary and he will offer jaw dropping predictions of what is to come in 2011. He will share with you the studies, analysis and predictions based on true economic reality, rather than mainstream media hype. Jason offers the world's only income property forecast that accounts for the true multi dimensional nature of income property investments. No other source offers this. It's totally unique and amazingly innovative.

Jason will discuss where the value of the dollar is headed, inflation predictions, stock market and commodity trends, unemployment and interest rate predictions, and a multi dimensional estate market outlook.

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This show is produced by the Hartman Media Company. All rights reserved. For distribution or publication rights and media interviews, please visit www.hartmanmedia.com or email mediaartmanmedia.com Nothing on this show should be considered specific personal or professional advice. Please consult an appropriate tax, legal, real estate or business professional for individualized advice. Opinions of guests are their own and the host is acting on behalf of Platinum Properties Investor Network, Inc. Exclusively.