Planning done once a year in December tends to be rushed. This calendar splits the questions an entrepreneur near the top 1% should ask into four quarters, using current IRS figures and the guidance of a New Orleans tax attorney, so that nothing important waits for the last week of the year.
By Dr. Tamara Patzer
Most entrepreneurs think about taxes in two bursts: when the return is due and when December arrives. Both are late. Todd M. Villarrubia, a New Orleans attorney who focuses on tax and estate planning and wrote Entrepreneurial B.E.A.S.T. Mode™, argues that planning is a calendar habit, not an event. His book makes the point about advisers: “Additionally, you want an attorney who understands that estate planning isn’t a one-time transaction.” Here is how an entrepreneur might spread the work over four quarters.
How close is an entrepreneur to the top 1%?
Closer than the popular picture suggests. For tax year 2023, a filer needed about $676,000 of adjusted gross income to reach the top 1%, according to the Tax Foundation’s analysis of IRS data1. A year with a sale, a large distribution or a strong bonus can take an owner past that mark. The calendar below assumes the owner might.
What belongs in the first quarter?
The first quarter is for taking stock. After the prior year’s numbers are known, the owner sits with advisers and asks what changed. Did income cross any threshold? Did new entities appear? Were there events, such as a birth, a death or a move, that affect the plan?
This is also the time to update the one-page list of entities, owners and tax classifications. The book’s rule on structure is simple: “The principle is simple: separate entities for separate risks.” A list kept current in the first quarter makes every later question easier.
What belongs in the second quarter?
The second quarter is for modeling. The owner and advisers estimate the year’s income and test it against the figures that matter. The 3.8 percent Net Investment Income Tax starts at modified adjusted gross income of $200,000 for a single filer and $250,000 for a joint return2. The IRS taxes long-term gains at 0, 15 or 20 percent, reserving the long-term label for assets held longer than a year3.
If a sale, a large property transaction or a restructuring is expected, this is the time to model it, while there is still room to change course. Waiting for the fourth quarter limits the choices.
What belongs in the third quarter?
The third quarter is for the estate and the family. The federal basic exclusion amount for 2026 deaths is $15,000,000 per person, as the IRS lists it4. An owner can compare a realistic estimate of the estate with that figure and ask whether the documents still do what the owner intends.
Family conversations also fit here. The book keeps returning to the point that documents are not enough. In its words, “But estate documents don’t prevent family disputes; they merely provide something to fight over.” A summer or early-fall conversation about purpose and responsibilities costs little and can change how the documents are read.
What belongs in the fourth quarter?
The fourth quarter is for action, and by then the thinking should be done. The owner and advisers carry out the decisions made earlier in the year: closing the transactions that should close, making the elections that need making and documenting the reasons. Because the earlier quarters did the work, the fourth can be calm.
An owner who starts here, without the earlier steps, is making decisions in a hurry. That is when mistakes happen. The book warns of what a mistake can cost: “The wrong structure or a missed exemption can turn a lifetime of compounding into a government windfall instead of a family legacy.”
What if the year is unusual?
Some years break the pattern: a sale, an illness, a birth, a move. In those years the calendar compresses. The first and second quarters merge into an urgent meeting, and the rest follow as events require. The value of having a calendar is that the owner knows which questions to ask when the plan is disrupted.
A second benefit is a written record. If an adviser leaves or a new one arrives, the summary from past meetings tells the newcomer what has been decided and why. Owners who skip this step often find themselves re-explaining decisions to each new professional, and sometimes reversing them by accident.
Even a rough calendar beats none, and a simple one is likelier to survive a busy year. The goal is not perfection but rhythm: a recurring moment when the owner and the advisers look at the same facts at the same time.
How does an owner keep the calendar going?
A few habits keep it from lapsing:
- Put the four meetings on the calendar at the start of the year, with all advisers invited.
- Keep a short running list of questions as they arise during the year.
- Assign one person to coordinate follow-up after each meeting.
- Write a one-paragraph summary of what was decided and why.
Villarrubia’s book treats coordination as the point of the exercise. It describes a team of specialists in taxes, law, investments, insurance and business strategy who work as a unit. The calendar is a way to make that happen in an ordinary year.
What if the owner cannot attend every meeting?
Send a delegate with authority to gather information, and ask for a written summary. The point of the calendar is that the advisers look at the same facts on a regular schedule. An owner who misses one meeting but reads the summary stays informed. An owner who skips the whole routine because it feels like too much should start with one quarter and add the rest as habit builds. Some owners pair the calendar with a standing hour on their own schedule, the same day each month, to read the notes and answer questions. It keeps small items from piling up.
Common questions
Do I need four meetings every year? Not necessarily. The calendar is a template. Some owners combine quarters, and some add meetings in busy years.
What if I have never done this? Start with the first quarter’s task. A current list of entities and owners is useful by itself.
Does this replace my accountant? No. It gives the accountant, the lawyer and the other advisers a shared agenda.
Sources
- Tax Foundation, Who Pays Federal Income Taxes? Tax Year 2023
- Internal Revenue Service, Topic no. 559, Net Investment Income Tax
- Internal Revenue Service, Topic no. 409, Capital Gains and Losses
- Internal Revenue Service, What’s New: Estate and Gift Tax
About the author. Dr. Tamara Patzer is a publisher and former newspaper editor. She was on the staff of The Charlotte Sun when it was named a 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist for its Hurricane Charley coverage.
About the source. Todd M. Villarrubia is an attorney with an LL.M. in Taxation and a Juris Doctorate. He is an Accredited Estate Planner, a Board Certified Expert in Estate Planning and Administration, and a Fiduciary Investment Advisor Representative. He is the author of Entrepreneurial B.E.A.S.T. Mode™. Wealth Planning Law Group, 101 W. Robert E. Lee Blvd., Ste 404, New Orleans, LA 70124. Phone: 504-982-8207; email: todd@lawealthplan.com; website: https://lawealthplan.com/?utm_source=newsanchored&utm_medium=e-monthly-news&utm_campaign=top-1pct
Attorney advertising. Sponsored feature written on behalf of Todd M. Villarrubia. This article is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Results vary.
