Taxes & Expenses
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New member. I appreciate the discussions and info as I have been lurking for a week or so.
I am in preliminary talks with a wirehouse on a career change. I am doing my research.
One topic I have not found discussed on the forum is taxes and expenses and how these are handled. Several posts mention golf outings, marketing materials, lead lists, plane tickets for seminar presenters, etc. etc.
What is covered by the company?
What is written off?
I am assuming I won't be using TurboTax anymore. I am not a tax expert so forgive me if these questions are elementary.
All expenses will be out of your pocket. Talk to a CPA about what you can write off. You're salary will be $40k on the high end (ML) don't know about the other wires. You can try to negotiate a higher salary at Merrill but your POA program is shortened to 18mos (gather 15MM in 18 mos).
As soon as you begin training, meet all the fund wholesalers that you can so you can get them to help pay for outings. Client lunches, dinners (one on one) are on your dime.
And when you talk to your tax professional, be sure to understand that "writing off" an expense doesn't mean it is free to you -- it just means Uncle Sam will reduce your taxable income by a fraction of those expenses. These expenses will be primarily out of your pocket.
These costs can also include marketing mailing expenses, personalized newsletters, seminars & on and on.