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These Money Moves Feel Like Financial Cheat Codes

0h 34m video Published Jul 24, 2026 Transcribed Aug 4, 2026 T The Money Guy Show
Intermediate 10 min read For: Individuals interested in personal finance and wealth building, especially those with some familiarity with retirement accounts and investing.
AI Trust Score 75/100
⚠️ Average / Some Fluff

"Delivers on the promise of 'cheat codes' with concrete, actionable strategies, though some segments feel like extended infomercials."

AI Summary

In this video, Brian and Bo from The Money Guy Show share seven financial strategies they describe as 'cheat codes' for building wealth. These include maximizing employer matches, automating investments, following a financial order of operations, optimizing health savings accounts (HSAs), using backdoor Roth IRAs, tax-loss harvesting, and working with a financial advisor. The hosts emphasize the importance of discipline, consistency, and taking advantage of tax-advantaged accounts.

[00:34]
Employer Match is Free Money

Getting your employer match is a guaranteed 50% to 100% return, yet 34% of employees don't contribute enough to get the full match. It's essential to know your employer's matching formula and contribute at least enough to get the full match.

[03:43]
Automate Your Investing

Automating investments makes discipline the default, removing emotion from the process. Dollar-cost averaging, even during market downturns, can lead to significant returns over time. For example, investing consistently through the Great Depression (25 years) yielded an annualized return of almost 12% despite the market being flat.

[08:34]
Follow the Financial Order of Operations

This nine-step system tells you exactly what to do with your next dollar, preventing costly mistakes and prioritizing competing financial goals. It covers steps like covering deductibles, getting employer match, building emergency reserves, and maxing out retirement accounts.

[11:32]
Optimize Your HSA

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are triple tax-advantaged: tax-deductible contributions, tax-deferred growth, and tax-free distributions for qualified medical expenses. Only 10% of Americans use HSAs, and of those, 85% don't invest the funds. To optimize, contribute up to the limit ($4,400 self-only, $8,750 family in 2026), invest the money, and pay medical expenses out of pocket while saving receipts for future reimbursement.

[21:15]
Use Backdoor Roth IRAs

Backdoor Roth IRAs allow high-income earners to contribute to a Roth IRA despite income limits. This involves making non-deductible contributions to a traditional IRA and then converting to a Roth. It's crucial to file Form 8606 correctly to avoid taxes on the conversion.

[26:19]
Tax-Loss Harvesting

Tax-loss harvesting involves selling investments at a loss in a taxable account to offset capital gains and up to $3,000 of ordinary income. You must buy a similar but not identical investment to avoid the wash-sale rule. This turns market volatility into a tax advantage.

[30:00]
Work with a Financial Advisor

A good financial advisor can add significant value, with Russell Investments estimating a 4.9% annualized value add. Vanguard research shows 86% of clients report more peace of mind. Advisors help with estate planning, taxes, portfolio allocation, and cash flow management.

The video presents seven actionable financial strategies that can significantly boost wealth accumulation. By leveraging employer matches, automating investments, following a systematic order, and optimizing tax-advantaged accounts, viewers can 'beat every level of wealth' and achieve financial success.

Mentioned in this Video

Tutorial Checklist

1 00:34 Check your employer's 401(k) matching formula and contribute at least enough to get the full match.
2 03:43 Set up automatic contributions to retirement accounts (e.g., Roth IRA, 401(k)) and taxable brokerage accounts.
3 08:34 Download the Financial Order of Operations and identify your current step to prioritize your next dollar.
4 11:32 If eligible, open an HSA, contribute up to the annual limit, and invest the funds in low-cost index funds.
5 21:15 For high earners, execute a backdoor Roth IRA: make non-deductible traditional IRA contributions and convert to Roth, ensuring Form 8606 is filed correctly.
6 26:19 In taxable accounts, sell investments at a loss and buy similar (not identical) investments to harvest tax losses, offsetting gains and up to $3,000 of income.
7 30:00 Consider hiring a financial advisor to optimize your financial plan and provide peace of mind.

Study Flashcards (10)

What percentage of employees do not contribute enough to get their full employer match?

easy Click to reveal answer

34%

02:03

What is the annualized return of investing consistently through the Great Depression (25 years)?

medium Click to reveal answer

Almost 12%

05:47

What are the three ingredients to wealth creation mentioned in the video?

easy Click to reveal answer

Discipline, margin, and time.

04:08

What is the HSA contribution limit for self-only coverage in 2026?

medium Click to reveal answer

$4,400

15:22

What is the HSA contribution limit for family coverage in 2026?

medium Click to reveal answer

$8,750

15:22

What percentage of Americans use a health savings account?

easy Click to reveal answer

Only 10%

13:26

What is the income limit for single filers to contribute directly to a Roth IRA?

medium Click to reveal answer

Under $153,000 of modified adjusted gross income.

22:29

What form must be filed correctly to report non-deductible IRA contributions and conversions?

medium Click to reveal answer

Form 8606

24:56

What is the maximum amount of ordinary income you can offset with capital losses in a year?

easy Click to reveal answer

$3,000

28:27

What is the estimated annualized value add of a financial advisor according to Russell Investments?

medium Click to reveal answer

4.9%

31:52

💡 Key Takeaways

📊

Guaranteed 50-100% return

Employer match is a rare guaranteed high return, yet many leave it on the table.

01:39
💡

Great Depression investing example

Shows the power of consistent investing even in terrible markets.

05:47
📊

Triple tax advantage of HSAs

HSAs offer unique tax benefits that are underutilized.

12:31
🔧

Backdoor Roth loophole

A legal way for high earners to access Roth benefits.

21:58
💡

Reset basis and charitable giving

Tax-loss harvesting can also enable charitable giving of appreciated assets.

29:47

[00:01] feel like cheat codes. They're almost too good to be true, but they are 100% real and totally legal. Yeah, Brian, I am so excited because the strategy that we're going to share today can make a big difference if you know about them.

[00:16] So, I'm Brian, he's Bo, and this is The Money Guy Show, where two financial advisors give you the money cheat codes to help you beat every level of wealth. And with that, let's press start. >> [music]

[00:34] to our content for any amount of time, this is not going to be incredibly surprising, but it really is like a cheat code, and that is getting your employer match. >> Guys, seriously, get in there and get

[00:48] that free money. Show me the money. There's a reason this is step number >> So, why is this a cheat code? What makes it so unique, so interesting, so earth-shattering? Well, on the surface, it's pretty obvious. It literally

[01:01] it's pretty obvious. It literally unlocks free money for you. It is money that all you have to do is show up, and your employer says, "Come take this, and that easy." >> Well, I mean, your employer is already

[01:13] this as part of their calculation whether or not when they hire you and put together your compensation package. They are expecting you to take advantage of this. So, get in there and do that. This is legitimately free money, or even

[01:26] prepaid money if you want to be kind of trollish about it. It's taken into account, but here's the reality of it. This could truthfully set you up for a This could truthfully set you up for a 50% to 100%

[01:39] guaranteed rate of return, and that's just unheard of in the financial world to get a dollar-for-dollar or a 50 cents on the dollar match, you got to take >> Even as as amazing as this is, cuz if we were to set up a table and we were to

[01:51] say, "Hey, all you got to do is swing by our table after the show. We have bags of money with your name on it." No one would not swing by the table and grab would not swing by the table and grab that. Yet, the truth is 34% of employees

[02:03] do not contribute enough to their 401k to actually get their full employer match. That means that one out of three employees says, "Hey, no thank you, employees says, "Hey, no thank you, boss. No thank you, employer. I don't

[02:15] want free money." Do not let yourself fall into that camp. So, I've asked you right now, what is your funding formula at your >> If you don't know the answer, I want you right don't go don't go past go. Go

[02:28] ahead and reach out to your HR department. Reach out to your boss. Find incentives are built into your retirement? "Okay, if you put in a dollar, we'll put in a dollar. Or you put in $1, we'll put

[02:41] in 50 cents. Or for every $2 you put in, we'll put in $1." However, it is structured, figure out what the formula is, and then make sure that you're putting in enough to get that full match. If you have to put in a full 5%

[02:53] to get a 4% match, then start putting in that 5%. Do not leave free money on the fund your retirement. Now, a lot of times you make the election. Not only

[03:05] are you going to save this much out of your paycheck, but you're going to elect there's roll-in options and other things. I'm always shocked at how many people their 401k defaults to like cash or stable reserve funds. Ensure that

[03:19] your money is actually being invested. That's the key part to actually put your >> And then we want to make sure that you're revisiting this at least annually. Or every time you get a pay raise. Or every time your compensation

[03:31] changes, make sure you revisit how much you're putting into your employer sponsored plan. For many folks, this is the very first account that actually gets them into the two comma club. But you have to start participating, take

[03:43] get better at it through time. >> All right, Bo. Let's hit them with cheat >> All right, Bo. Let's hit them with cheat code number two. Automate the investing. >> This is what I love about this one. This

[03:55] is why it's actually a cheat code is because it makes discipline the default time about there are really three ingredients to wealth creation. You need discipline, you need margin, and you need time. Well, if you can automate

[04:08] your investing, you automatically insert discipline into the equation, and it's the default, not something you have to actively do every pay period, every pay >> What I like is this will literally make you a financial mutant because it's a

[04:22] people are worried about, well, I'm buying at all-time highs, or hey, the stock market looks pretty scary because it lost 20% over the last 2 or 3 months. Should I even do this? Guys, if you're automating the process, you've created a

[04:36] system. It's not tied to your emotions or other things. It's happening, and getting so excited if the market is getting is beaten up, you're going to be super excited that you know you have a monthly contribution or a funding going

[04:50] in even while the market's down. If it's all-time highs, you're holding your nose, and you're buying anyway because you're making it automatic and creating the good behavior and discipline that Bo just talked about. This is a volatility

[05:03] >> Yeah, the technical term for automatically buying is dollar cost amount at regular intervals, either weekly or monthly, without thinking just how powerful can it be? Let's look at a very extreme real-world example. We

[05:20] think about the Great Depression. It was a 25-year period where the Dow Jones Industrial Industrial Average on September 3rd of 1929 closed at $381.

[05:32] 25 years in the future, it closed at $383. Only a $2 increase in the overall price of the Dow Jones over a 25-year period. But, had you been investing every single year through that 25-year period where

[05:47] really the market did not make any money from starting point to end point, you would have had an annualized rate of return of almost 12% just by being consistent, just by setting on autopilot, just by

[06:01] >> mean, a lot of people you talk about the lost decade. This is a lost 2 and 1/2 decades. But yet, you see that on the brochure and you see what the news media would have probably been scaring you. But the reality is if you had just taken

[06:14] care of control the behavior, you could and create a system of always be buying, you would be okay. So, that's why ABB, always be buying, baby, will get you get you through all these problems. Dollar cost averaging is your friend.

[06:29] >> reason it's a rule for us is because it takes out the guesswork. It takes out Great, I'm going to buy. Is the market going down? Great, I'm going to buy. I don't have to make it any more complicated than that. So, how do you do

[06:42] it? What do you need to set up? Well, a real easy place to do this is just to set up recurring Roth IRA or HSA contributions. Maybe you can't max them month. That's great. Set up your account and have a $100 a month automatically go

[06:56] in, buy a low-cost index fund every single month, and you are on the >> are big places and the first accounts that typically cross into seven-figure status, your employer retirement plans. You can set up automatic contributions.

[07:10] have money coming into these plans. Every time you get a pay raise, let's go into these accounts. They can create a lot of systematic behaviors that will >> And then, a lot of people don't realize this isn't just for retirement type

[07:25] accounts, like Roth IRAs and 401(k)s. You can actually set up recurring taxable account contributions where in your after-tax brokerage account, you can have money going every single month, every single pay period. And what's

[07:37] wonderful is, as you do that, it's easier to access those dollars. And going to be able to unlock that we'll talk about in a bit. >> And as I've covered, pay raises count, too. Do the 60/40 rule. You know, a lot

[07:50] should I increase my lifestyle? How much should I put for savings?" If you're not saving and investing 25%, there's nothing wrong with you allocating 60% of your new pay raise to going towards additional automatic savings. Let 40% go

[08:05] towards lifestyle so you are getting some dividends from your success. But a more than this." And that's all right, we got you covered. If you go to moneyguy.com/resources, we actually have a great resource called

[08:18] how much should you save. You can take the guesswork out of this altogether. two two cheat codes so far. Now, let's talk about the third one. And you know codes, but this one is one of my favorite cuz it really is a cheat code

[08:34] for you financial mutants out there. And it is following the financial order of though. I think the reason it's your favorite is because it's almost like it's the umbrella that sits on top of everything. If you're ever in doubt and

[08:48] don't know what to do with your next dollar, we've got you covered with the >> So, why is it a cheat code? What makes it a cheat code? Well, it actually tells you exactly what to do with your next dollar. No more guessing, no more I

[09:02] don't knows, no more uh-oh, am I making the right decisions? If you follow the financial order of operation, you're going to begin stacking your dollars in the order that they ought to be stacked to be as efficient as an and as

[09:14] effective for you as possible and you don't have to recreate the wheel to do >> Yeah, and that also keeps you from making costly mistakes. You know, it's a create those early financial foundations, it's getting just enough

[09:29] stuff right and also avoiding making the costly mistakes, whether it's the expensive cars, whether it's, you know, running up credit card debt. I think if operations, you're going to find that you really are not only maximizing the

[09:44] >> So, how do you do it? What do you need to do? Well, first, you can go to moneyguy.com/resources and download your free copy of the financial order of operations. And then secondly, we want you to identify where

[09:56] me. Are you in step one, deductibles covered? Are you at employer match? Are emergency reserves? Are you putting money in your Roth IRA? Are you maxing out your employer-sponsored plan? So on and so forth. Identify where you are in

[10:10] sure that you've not actually gotten out of whack or gone out of order in the >> then you know exactly where to direct that next dollar. You can just like we've shared, you get to keep pushing towards until you complete

[10:24] through all nine steps, not only are you going to have your financial foundation have the kids' college funded, you're going to have your mortgage paid off. This thing is an all-terrain, all-season system to help you create success.

[10:39] financial order of operations is that often times we find ourselves in the reality that we have competing financial priorities. Do I want to do this thing or do I want to do this thing? Do I want to save for retirement or do I want to

[10:52] save for my kids' college education? If you let the financial order of operations be your backstop, it's going to allow you to reference, okay, where am I? Where should I be? How do I prioritize those competing goals? And it

[11:04] will again make sure that you're prioritizing in the most effective and efficient manner possible. >> Oh, I love that you left me with cheat code number four. Now, look, a lot of you, you're watching personal finance

[11:16] money. But let me tell you, this next cheat code we're going to share, if you do this, it will put you in the top 2% of the entire American population. So, you can without a doubt do this, you are a

[11:32] financial mutant. >> Yeah, cheat code number four is HSA health savings account optimizing. Now, notice we didn't say using an HSA. There are a number of people out there that use HSAs, but there's a very small

[11:46] segment of the population that actually optimize them to the maximum extent extent. So, why is this a cheat code? What is special about it? Well, it turns familiar with that we can to use for medical expenses into a powerful extra

[12:04] tax-free retirement account. >> Well, guys, you you understand. We just operations. Step number five is powerful cuz that is all your tax-free growth opportunities. We all love Roth IRAs because Now, the catch with Roth IRAs is

[12:18] yes, whatever you put in, it gets to grow tax-free, and then if and even pull it out tax-free on all the growth, but you have to fund it with after-tax money, meaning money that you pay tax on. Here's where HSAs, health savings

[12:31] accounts, are so unique. They're what we call triple tax advantage. And in some cases, they can even be quattro if your employer offers these. And what we mean by that when we say triple tax advantage is that unlike the Roth IRA that is made

[12:47] with after-tax dollars, the health savings account, you get a savings account, you get a tax-deductible contribution. And then after you put that money in there, if you choose, my financial mutants, to put

[12:59] this money to work, it grows tax-deferred, meaning you're not having to pay taxes on any of the income or growth. And then if you use it for qualified medical expenses, you get to make tax-free distributions. And then

[13:13] very savvy, call them even financial mutants and set this up as a payroll deduction, it's quattro in the fact that you save Medicare, you save Social Security. This

[13:26] thing is powerful. So, if you're someone who is HSA optimizing, you get to take advantage of all three, if not four of these, and yet and yet only 10% of Americans actually use a health savings account. Only 10% one or

[13:43] 10 out of actually gets a little bit worse. invested assets. So, only one out of 10 people actually use them, and then of

[13:57] that 85% of those people that are using them don't actually take advantage of the second and third tax opportunities with these accounts. >> I'm going to take full credit for this cuz I feel like we are the people that

[14:09] it. But, I mean, this is the greatest opportunity cuz when we started covering opportunity cuz when we started covering this, only 4% of you who even had health investing. Everybody else was using this as a clearing account. We have been

[14:23] ringing the bell, letting everybody know >> No, you need to be investing those health savings accounts and building these assets up. And I'm so happy to report the number has grown to now 15%. Not four, 15% of of you financial

[14:37] mutants. So, we are on the good side of history of growing this opportunity, but to use this as a clearing account. We want you to maximize the power of the >> So, how do you do it? What needs to be true? Well, first, you have to be

[14:52] eligible. What what makes you eligible to be able to open a health savings account? You have to be participating in a high deductible health insurance plan. you can ask the insurance company, "Hey, with the health plan that I'm on, am I

[15:07] HSA eligible?" If you are indeed eligible, make sure that you go open a >> I want you to contribute to the health savings account. Take a part of that what everybody's good at this. I'm going to let Bo do where it gets complicated,

[15:22] maximize this first year a lot you know how much is it to maximize in 2026 that's $4,400 for self only and if you're doing family coverage it's right under $9,000 at $8,750. Bo

[15:37] account they get that part >> They get that part right. >> thing you have to do is once you actually get those dollars in the account then you have to invest them. You don't want to be one of the 85% of

[15:50] people that's not investing those assets cuz the big benefit to HSAs is not the front end tax deduction it's the tax-free growth. Well, in order for the dollars to grow you have to get them invested. You have to get them growing.

[16:03] So you can use a low-cost provider if if your employer has an HSA plan that they sponsor find the low-cost index type investment options in there and let those dollars continue to grow. So then

[16:18] as you incur medical expenses rather than using your HSA as this slush fund where you put money in pull money out you pay for all of your medical expenses out of pocket you save the receipts you take a picture of them you scan them

[16:31] into some sort of electronic repository you keep a running spreadsheet and then you can actually reimburse yourself at any point in the future for those past medical expenses. So if you incurred a $1,000 medical expense today that you

[16:45] pay for out of pocket you can reimburse yourself five years from now for that medical expense that you incurred today from the growth inside of your HSA. the way we've done all the research for you. You know, there's no length of time

[17:01] out in a certain amount of time there's even rules written into it where if your estate is make sure you don't keep this a secret but if you pass away even the person running your estate could still qualify to take advantage of then

[17:14] cashing the money out completely tax-free. You're asking why would I why would I even do this? Guys, the power of this compounding growth, you're just unleashing that, can be so powerful in the fact that when

[17:26] especially when you hit retirement, how do I get access to money and not pay taxes and to manipulate the tax code legally, the health savings account is ways. Not only can you reimburse yourself for medical expenses, but it

[17:41] also offers the cheat code is that even if it's not for medical purposes, you can get access to these accounts and pay income taxes on it, but still it's not figure out where do I get into liquidity, where do I get into assets.

[17:56] answer a lot of those questions. >> And now, a brief pause here, Brian, because we've sold HSAs pretty hard, and they are incredible vehicles. But, just growing up, just because you have the cheat code doesn't mean that it always

[18:12] cheat code. There might be some reason for you not to do that. And HSAs are advantage of if the high deductible plan is what makes sense for you. But, there might be times, seasons, or periods of your life

[18:26] where the high deductible plan doesn't make sense. Maybe it makes sense to opt into your Cadillac coverage through your employer, your highly subsidized, non-highly deductible, uh high deductible health plan. That's okay.

[18:39] mean that you have to take advantage of it. Every single year at open enrollment, you want to choose first which plan makes the most sense for my family. And if it happens to be the high deductible plan, then you want to take

[18:51] >> Yeah, putting some meat on the bones in this. Think about the years that you plan on having a baby, you might want the Cadillac plan more than you want the high deductible. Last year, I crossed into, you know, the last

[19:03] few years I crossed into 50 decade, and you start getting a few more medical procedures, you know, to make sure you're healthy. My wife qualified going to be expensive procedures to go, you know, do some of those those tune-up

[19:16] you're healthy. Um so, I didn't use that high deductible those years, but guess what? Now that I've made it through those those tests that you have to do that are uncomfortable and kind of gross, but I

[19:29] made it through, now I'm back on the sauce with the high deductible. So, use your open enrollment. There is nothing wrong with you being proactive and being benefits. >> All right, before we move on, let's talk

[19:41] financial journey. >> Yeah, Brian, when I think about my own money story, early on in my financial life, it was really easy to know where every single dollar was going. But now, as life has gotten more complicated, as

[19:54] the messy middle has gotten messier, as subscriptions seem to show up from nowhere, it's gotten much more difficult to keep track of where all those dollars started using Monarch. >> Monarch is the personal finance app that

[20:07] tracks everything. It gives you one place to see your accounts, your investments, savings goals, and even your spending, so you can get a complete >> And once you can see everything in one place, it becomes so much easier to spot

[20:22] where the money leaks are, to recognize when your lifestyle is starting to creep, and make intentional decisions with every single dollar. proactive. There's an AI weekly recap

[20:35] upcoming expenses, [music] and the AI assistant can answer questions about your finances before those little issues turn into [music] expensive mistakes. >> Yeah, at the end of the day, it's all

[20:47] about having information that you need so that you can make better financial >> Write your own money story with Monarch. Use code moneyguy at monarch.com to get your first year of Monarch Core half off at just $50.

[21:01] >> That's 50% off your first year at monarch.com with code moneyguy. All these cheat codes that are available. We just talked about one that's in step me? We talked about one that's in step five of the financial order of

[21:15] operations, health savings accounts. So, now, let's talk about the other thing that is in step five, and it's actually a cheat code, and it's not Roth IRAs, it's actually backdoor Roth IRAs. >> Yeah, and then look, just to kind of

[21:29] graduate you from step five, this is probably going to be somewhere between five and six, and the fact that cuz you know what? You know when you use a >> That's right. >> Because this is going to be a way for

[21:41] you to be able to make IRA contributions when your income is too high to make them directly. But, don't worry, the IRS has left a little loophole out there. the rules where there's actually no income limit on doing Roth conversions,

[21:58] hence what created the perfect recipe for backdoor Roth contributions. >> And this is also super valuable because Roth IRAs don't have RMDs, they have low expenses and fees, you can have tax-free growth and distributions, and if you

[22:14] get to pick the investments in there. So, if you want low-cost index funds or target retirement index funds, you get to do that. But, Roth's are so valuable, and they're so exciting, and they're so attractive that the government said,

[22:29] "Hey, we only want certain people to be able to use this. If you make too much certain threshold, you can't contribute. So, if you're a single person, you make under 153,000 of modified adjusted gross income, you can do Roth. For a married

[22:43] person, if you make under 242, you can do Roth. But, as soon as you cross over those thresholds from 153 to 168 for a single person, you get phased out. And for married folks, for between 242 and 252, you get phased out. And then, over

[22:58] those income thresholds, you can't actually contribute to Roth IRAs advantage of this amazing thing, and that's where the backdoor Roth enters. >> Now, look, I I do need to give a little disclosure.

[23:12] If you have a rollover IRA, if you have a SEP IRA, a simple IRA, I want you to might not have the perfect account structure because backdoor

[23:24] >> That's right. is make sure your account structure is right. You can do that by actually rolling over old IRA assets or old

[23:36] employer plans up into your 401k at your current employer. Now that money's cleared out, but if you have these type because you'll create a huge tax headache. But assuming you have the

[23:49] right account structure, you can start funding a non-deductible you can start funding a non-deductible IRA, a traditional IRA, maximize that have the right account structure,

[24:02] convert those dollars into Roth IRAs, and it's completely tax-free if you made non-deductible IRA contributions, then made the tax conversion. Both the key part, and I'll let you kind of explain this is making sure, if you go through

[24:17] this transaction, that you actually disclose and file this appropriately on >> Yeah, so often people go, "Okay, Brian, I I heard you. I'm I moved all my IRAs over. I did that. I funded my non-deductible traditional. I did that.

[24:29] I converted my Roth and I must be done." And then all of the sudden, tax time rolls around. And what you notice is now, when tax time rolls around, you have all these 1099s that you receive from all these rollovers you did out of

[24:42] traditional IRAs, out of IRA rollovers into your 401k. So you have a bunch of complicated transaction where you made a deductible, a non-deductible traditional IRA contribution that you have to somehow make sure on your tax return is

[24:56] that you do that the place you do that is on form 8606. We have the privilege we get to review their tax returns. I would argue this is one of the most common mistakes we see on tax returns is form 8606 not being filled out correctly

[25:12] because if it's not filled out correctly and if all you do is just drop your 1099 the tax software or just hand it to your CPA with no context it's likely that they are going to mark that as a taxable conversion. Well, if it's a taxable

[25:27] thing. You've not actually taken advantage of the backdoor. So you want to make sure that you file form 8606 correctly and that you report it accurately on your tax return so you aren't paying taxes that aren't actually

[25:40] >> This would fall under that category as you start having more success to the point that you can do backdoor contributions other things your simple life is going to get really complex and that's where we love helping our clients

[25:52] kind of navigate these things because you don't want to get IRS notices. That's why I felt like I've written so many tax letters to the IRS explaining what was not disclosed appropriately. So that's why make sure not only do you get

[26:05] the 8606 all right, but keep up with your 5498's and all the other tax forms that are coming cuz you might need that stuff just in case the IRS is confused >> Brian, you know what I love about cheat codes? Often times when playing games a

[26:19] cheat code is supposed to help you do something good better. It's supposed to excited >> give you a lot of extra lives. >> Give you a lot extra that that's where I was going. But some cheat codes actually

[26:32] allow you to take a bad thing and make it better and that's exactly what cheat code number six is and that cheat code is loss harvesting. >> Yeah, this is one guys every time I have a big transaction somebody calls me up

[26:45] upgrading my house. I'm thinking about investing in this endeavor going into this real estate venture. Can you get me some money? And like, "Ooh, man, do they not realize their account is up well into the six figures on capital gains?"

[27:00] got going on with the tax attorney?" Go see if we have some capital loss carry been with us long enough, we're going to be through periods of not only good, cuz the bad, but when those bad years

[27:15] happen, this is like a silver lining in that dark cloud because it lets you really turn a lot of the volatility of the markets into loss harvesting gains forwards. >> Yeah, it lets you actually turn a loss,

[27:30] a negative thing, into an advantage. It makes something bad actually turn out to be something good for you. So, how do you do it? Well, step one, you have to actually have investments inside of your taxable brokerage account. This does not

[27:44] matter in an IRA, it does not matter in a Roth IRA, or an HSA. It has to be in a taxable account. You have to actually have an investment that's at a loss. And you would then sell that investment at a loss. You would take the proceeds from

[27:58] buy something similar, but not identical. You so you can't buy the exact same thing. I can't sell stock X today and go buy stock X tomorrow, or else it will disallow that loss. Or, I can wait 30 days to go rebuy the same

[28:12] investment or the same fund. Well, once I've done that, and I've transacted on that holding, I can then use the loss that I took, and I can go use that to offset any capital gains I generate through the year. And even if I use it

[28:27] to offset all of my capital gains for the year, I can actually even use it to offset $3,000 of ordinary income. Anything I don't years. >> Yeah, I know a lot of you are like,

[28:39] "Well, guys, is this even neces- Guys, it I'm telling you, this will be a huge benefit for you. I am so thankful that we get to use this powerful tool. It's completely legal. It does allow you to turn a negative event

[28:53] like market volatility in this a superpower for future opportunities not only to create paper losses to benefit your taxes this year, but also help you get access to liquidity in the future. This is a powerful cheat code.

[29:07] no, no, but I don't like I don't like selling my I have an investment allocation for a reason. If I'm selling these losses, aren't I changing my investment allocation? Aren't I selling at the

[29:19] world's worst time?" If you do it right, that's not what you're doing. You're gone down, and you're going to buy something similar that's also gone down. So, your actual investment allocation has remained the same. So, when the

[29:33] market recovers, when it comes back, you still get to participate in that upside, in that growth. All you've done is clipped that tax loss that you get to >> And bonus points on this is you think about yes, you've reset the basis when

[29:47] than likely you look back in the future, highly appreciated assets. You've also opened up another tax hack with charitable giving of this appreciated. There is so this is the gift that keeps

[30:00] >> All right, Brian, we're going through cheat codes and things that can really help you master your finances, and cheat code number seven is one that you guys have heard about, but we will explain to you why it's a cheat code, and that's

[30:13] actually taking the relationship to the next level. kind of alluded to it. I mean, even eight form 8606, you're like, "What?" 5498, so what is all that stuff? What are these guys talking about? Does this

[30:27] are the things we deal with on a day-to-day basis, having to do things. You've created success in your life, and you've always probably had this goal of keeping things simple, but this thing of success creates this level of complexity

[30:42] that you just had never imagined. You just don't know what you don't know. And somebody if this is your first time, find somebody who's done this for find somebody who's done this for thousands of times because we all know

[30:55] experience is you just it becomes commonplace and you have knowledge, you have wisdom and experience. This is what we do for our clients. you have a really good advisor, it actually unlocks a number of different

[31:10] benefits. I mean, obviously people think about the investment part of that and certainly if you're looking for a money manager, that's one piece of it. But a to speak into all the different areas and facets of your life. They'll help

[31:23] your estate plan be more efficient. They'll help your tax situation. They'll help you with your portfolio allocation. They'll help you with cash flow management, with risk. And what you hope and what we would encourage you to

[31:36] verify is that okay, the value that I am receiving from this advisor far exceeds There's actually a study done by Russell Investments. This was in 2026 that found that the potential advisor in the US on

[31:52] an annualized basis, if you were to try to arrive at a numerical concept, actually came out to about 4.9% in real value. Now, that might not be a 4.9% additional rate of return over some stated index, but in terms of portfolio

[32:06] stated index, but in terms of portfolio value add that an advisor adds to your financial life, almost 5% on an annualized basis. that Vanguard came out with the research that shows that 86% of clients who had a

[32:21] financial advisor reported having more peace of mind. Money is nothing more And I want you, you know, the big thing I've always tried to make sure people doing is in the beginning of your financial journey, you're having to

[32:34] trade your time to build wages and other things to kind of start creating how you you you navigate this world that we live in. But, if you do this right, you'll eventually be able to use your resources to buy time. Because you realize, I

[32:49] leave this planet at some point, and you're going to find out that, man, I have more money than I have time. Let's see if we can get really smart with maximizing both my time, but also how we optimize the situation we have going on

[33:03] financially. And that's why peace of mind is worth something. I pay for peace of mind for my health. That's why I deal with concierge doctors. We are on that same branch of the tree, even for people who have the knowledge and the

[33:15] experience to do this. I find that some of my clients are the most educated, are the most gifted clients financially. They still like us because it's affirming, and it also helps their spouse who might not be as

[33:27] financially minded as they are to know that they have a bridge just in case. >> So, how do you actually take advantage unlock this cheat code? Go to aboundwealth.com and click on the orange work with us

[33:40] button. Once you click on that button, there'll be a form that you can fill out about what you have going on, so that in our first conversation, our first interaction, we can tailor it to be as valuable for you as possible. So, fill

[33:54] out to be in touch with you. >> Now, and it's even better to become If you go to our website, you know, we have a great little video. I know as a kid, before the internet was as valuable as it is now. You had to go subscribe to

[34:09] your favorite game like Contra, you had to go up, down, up, down, left, right, left, right, B, A. Guys, we just give you a web link. It's that. Just click,

[34:21] we'll hook you up. We'll leave the porch light. We work with clients all across the country. There is a better way to do money. Come see. You've heard us give all the details. We love helping people all across. I'm your host Brian. He's

[34:35] all across. I'm your host Brian. He's Bo. Money got team out.

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