A Shurek Accounting & Tax company  ·  Wealth Protection DivisionContact
Who We Serve

Wealth built any way.
Planned the right way.

The common thread among our clients is not the industry or the job title. It is that they have built significant wealth through whatever path — and they have outgrown the advice they are currently getting. Below are some examples of the clients we work with most often.

Client Profile

Business Owners
Closely held companies with appreciating value, complex structures, and the succession question looming.

You have built something valuable. The business generates significant income, it is appreciating in value, and at some point — whether that is five years from now or twenty — there will be a transition. The question is whether the people who get the benefit of that value are your family or the IRS.

Business income generates significant annual tax liability with limited offset strategies currently in place
The business represents the majority of net worth — creating concentration risk and estate exposure simultaneously
Succession is on the horizon but has not been formally planned
Entity structure may not be optimized for the current phase of the business
Prior planning may have been done years ago and never updated

The right planning for this client profile combines immediate income tax reduction, long-term estate protection, and a compliance infrastructure that keeps every filing coordinated with the strategy.

Income Tax
Defined Benefit Plan
Contributions of $200K–$300K+ annually based on owner's age — deducted against business income immediately.
Estate
Pre-Sale Trust Funding
Transfer business interests to irrevocable trusts before a sale to move the proceeds outside the taxable estate.
Exit
QSBS Section 1202 Analysis
Determine whether the business qualifies for up to 100% capital gains exclusion — up to $15M — before the sale process begins.
Real Estate
Cost Segregation
If the business owns real property, in-house cost segregation generates large first-year deductions against business income.
Client Profile

Attorneys & Law Partners
High-earning partners with complex compensation, partnership interests, and estate exposure that standard advisors are not equipped to address.

Law firm partnership income is among the most complex compensation structures in any profession. K-1 income, guaranteed payments, capital account distributions, and the potential future value of a partnership interest all require coordinated planning that most CPA firms never deliver.

Annual income of $500K to $5M+ from partnership distributions and guaranteed payments
Partnership interest represents significant but illiquid estate value
Multiple entities, multiple states, and limited time to manage planning decisions
Estate growing toward or beyond $15M combined exemption with no coordinated strategy
Referral relationships with other attorneys and physicians who share similar needs

The right planning for this client profile combines immediate income tax reduction, long-term estate protection, and a compliance infrastructure that keeps every filing coordinated with the strategy.

Income Tax
QBI Optimization + Defined Benefit
20% QBI deduction on qualifying pass-through income paired with maximum defined benefit contributions.
Estate
SLAT Structure
Both spouses fund SLATs for each other — removing assets from both estates while preserving indirect access.
Liquidity
Securities-Backed Lending
Borrow against the investment portfolio for tax-free liquidity rather than triggering capital gains on appreciated positions.
Compliance
Form 709 + 1041 Coordination
Annual gift tax return filing for gifting programs paired with trust income tax returns for all active trusts.
Client Profile

Physicians & Specialists
Surgeons, anesthesiologists, radiologists, and other specialists with significant income, limited planning time, and advisors who treat them like high-income employees.

Physicians are among the highest-income earners in the country and among the most underserved by their advisors. The complexity of their compensation — W-2 income, practice distributions, professional corporation structures — combined with their limited time creates exactly the situation where coordinated advisory delivers the most value.

W-2 income or professional corporation distributions generating $500K–$2M+ annually
Paying large amounts in income tax with no coordinated strategy to reduce it
Malpractice exposure creates asset protection needs that planning should address
Retirement planning has not kept pace with income growth
Referral network of other physicians with identical planning needs

The right planning for this client profile combines immediate income tax reduction, long-term estate protection, and a compliance infrastructure that keeps every filing coordinated with the strategy.

Income Tax
Real Estate + DB Plan Combination
Real estate investment generating cost segregation deductions paired with a cash balance plan for $200K+ annual deduction.
Estate
IDGT Installment Sale
Transfer appreciated investment assets to a grantor trust via installment note — moving future appreciation outside the estate without income tax.
Real Estate
Real Estate Professional Election
If spouse can qualify, real estate losses become non-passive — offsetting physician W-2 income directly.
Charitable
Donor-Advised Fund
Front-load charitable deductions in high-income years using appreciated securities — avoiding capital gains and generating the full fair market value deduction.
Client Profile

Real Estate Investors
Portfolio holders with concentrated assets, accumulated depreciation, and the basis step-up vs. estate tax tradeoff that demands integrated analysis.

Real estate investors accumulate wealth in a unique way — through appreciation that is deferred, depreciation that creates paper losses, and equity that grows inside assets that are hard to divide and difficult to transfer. The planning questions are different from other client profiles, and they require an advisor who understands both the income tax side and the estate planning side simultaneously.

Portfolio of appreciated properties with low adjusted basis from accumulated depreciation
Significant recapture exposure on any sale — reducing the net benefit of dispositions
Estate planning has not addressed the basis step-up vs. transfer tax tradeoff for each property
Multiple LLCs with annual K-1 complexity and inter-entity transactions
1031 exchange activity that has created deferral chains requiring careful ongoing tracking

The right planning for this client profile combines immediate income tax reduction, long-term estate protection, and a compliance infrastructure that keeps every filing coordinated with the strategy.

Income Tax
Passive Activity Management
Optimize real estate professional status, passive loss carryforward utilization, and grouping elections to maximize current deductibility.
Estate
FLP with Valuation Discounts
Consolidate portfolio holdings in an FLP to enable transfers at discounted minority interest values — extending the reach of the $15M exemption.
Tax-Free Liquidity
Cash-Out Refinancing Strategy
Refinance appreciated properties to generate tax-free proceeds redeployed into new acquisitions without triggering gain recognition.
Compliance
Multi-Entity K-1 Coordination
Every partnership return — Form 1065 and K-1 preparation — for all entities in the portfolio, coordinated with the individual return.
Client Profile

High-Net-Worth Individuals & Families
Executives with equity compensation, investors with concentrated positions, high-earning couples, and individuals with significant wealth who need integrated planning.

This category encompasses every client who does not fit cleanly into a single professional category but whose financial situation demands the same level of integrated planning. Significant wealth, multiple advisors working in silos, and no single person coordinating the full picture.

Significant wealth accumulated through a combination of income, investment, and appreciation
Multiple advisors — estate attorney, investment advisor, CPA — who do not coordinate with each other
Equity compensation, concentrated stock positions, or large unrealized gain exposure
Estate approaching or exceeding the $15M per-person exemption
Annual tax bill that feels disproportionate to the planning effort being applied

The right planning for this client profile combines immediate income tax reduction, long-term estate protection, and a compliance infrastructure that keeps every filing coordinated with the strategy.

Income Tax
Tax-Loss Harvesting + QSBS
Coordinate realized gains with harvested losses and evaluate QSBS eligibility for any qualifying equity positions.
Estate
Dynasty Trust + Annual Gifting
Fund dynasty trusts with GST exemption allocation and implement systematic annual exclusion gifting to remove appreciating assets from the estate.
Liquidity
SBLOC + Art Finance
Securities-backed line of credit against the investment portfolio combined with art-secured lending where applicable.
Compliance
Full Integrated Return Package
Form 1040, all trust 1041s, all entity 1065s, annual 709 for gifting activity — one coordinated picture across the entire structure.
Emerging Wealth Profiles

New wealth.
Same need for serious planning.

The way wealth is built has changed significantly in the past decade. The tax and planning implications have not. Crypto investors, tech founders, and executives with equity compensation face some of the most complex planning situations in the code — and most advisors are not equipped to handle them.

Client Profile

Crypto & Digital Asset Investors
The planning most advisors have never done.

The crypto investor who bought Bitcoin in 2018 and held through multiple cycles now has a cost basis problem, a capital gains problem, and an estate problem that most CPA firms have never encountered. The planning tools exist. The advisors who understand them are rare.

Significant unrealized gains in appreciated crypto positions with very low cost basis
No wash sale rules apply — aggressive tax-loss harvesting is available year-round
Charitable donation of appreciated crypto to a donor-advised fund avoids capital gains entirely and generates a full fair market value deduction
Estate planning for digital asset wallets requires specific trust drafting and key management provisions most estate attorneys have never written
Crypto held as business income vs. investment income creates different tax treatment that needs to be structured correctly
QSBS analysis for founders of qualifying blockchain and crypto companies who may have excludable gain on exit

"This is a newer category of wealth but the planning tools are the same — and some of the best opportunities in the code are specifically advantageous for crypto holders. The charitable strategy alone can eliminate millions of dollars of capital gains for the right client."

Income Tax
Tax-Loss Harvesting — Year-Round
No wash sale rules on crypto. Losses can be harvested and positions immediately repurchased — offsetting gains from other sources throughout the year.
Charitable
DAF Contribution of Appreciated Crypto
Donate appreciated crypto directly to a donor-advised fund — avoid the capital gain entirely and deduct the full fair market value up to 30% of AGI.
Estate
Digital Asset Trust Drafting
Estate documents must specifically address digital wallet access, key management, and transfer — most standard trust documents do not. We coordinate with estate counsel on this.
Basis Step-Up
Hold-Until-Death Strategy for Low-Basis Positions
For highly appreciated positions held long-term, the step-up in basis at death under IRC Section 1014 can eliminate gain — making the hold-vs-sell analysis critical for large positions.
Client Profile

Tech Founders & Executives
Equity compensation done right.

A tech founder approaching a liquidity event, an executive with a concentrated RSU position, or a startup employee with ISOs vesting before an IPO — each situation has specific tax implications that require proactive planning, not reactive filing.

ISO exercise timing needs to be modeled against AMT exposure before any exercise decision is made
RSU income is ordinary income in the year of vesting — withholding is often inadequate and estimated payments are required
QSBS Section 1202 analysis is critical before any sale — up to $15M of gain can be excluded for qualifying C corporation stock
Concentrated single-stock positions post-IPO create capital gains risk that needs charitable or lending strategies
Estate exposure often not addressed until after a liquidity event when the most effective transfer strategies require action beforehand

"The founder who plans 12 months before their exit has a completely different outcome than the one who calls their CPA the week after closing. QSBS alone can be worth $3.5 million in tax savings on a $15 million exit. That number requires the right structure to be in place before the deal."

Exit Tax
QSBS Section 1202 — Up to $15M Exclusion
For qualifying C corporation shareholders, up to 100% of capital gains — up to $15 million — can be excluded from federal income tax on exit.
Equity Comp
ISO Exercise Timing & AMT Modeling
Annual ISO exercise planning modeled against AMT exposure, capital gains holding periods, and estate transfer opportunities.
Concentration
Charitable Remainder Trust for RSU Concentration
Fund a CRT with concentrated post-IPO stock — diversify tax-free, generate an income stream, and produce an immediate charitable deduction.
Estate
Pre-Liquidity Trust Funding
Transfer company equity to irrevocable trusts before a sale at pre-transaction values — moving the appreciation outside the estate before the gain is crystallized.

Don't see yourself here?

These profiles are examples — not a complete list. If you have built significant wealth through any path and feel your current planning is not keeping up with your situation, that is the conversation worth having.

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