Hi,

My husband and I are in Houston and looking for someone to do our taxes. We usually do them ourselves but we had a lot happen this year; bought a house, I lost a job and gained a job etc...

On top of this we're looking for a Financial Adviser to put our savings into some mutual funds and begin investing.

Any recommendations would help!

Thanks!

h_elise23 said:

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Hi,

My husband and I are in Houston and looking for someone to do our taxes. We usually do them ourselves but we had a lot happen this year; bought a house, I lost a job and gained a job etc...

On top of this we're looking for a Financial Adviser to put our savings into some mutual funds and begin investing.

Any recommendations would help!

Thanks!

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I would suggest a CFP, and avoid someone that pushes insurance products (other than term if you don't get coverage from work) unless you are going to be saving more than can be put into tax-advantaged retirement accounts.

I use a CFP at fidelity and they have offices all over. The guy I use is in clear lake if you want a referral.

Hi h_elise 23,

I'm a CPA in the Galleria area that specializes in tax preparation. I'd be happy to help with your issue and could help point you in the right direction for a Financial Advisor. Feel free to find my contact information on my website: henrykcpa.com

11taxman11 said:

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Hi h_elise 23,

I'm a CPA in the Galleria area that specializes in tax preparation. I'd be happy to help with your issue and could help point you in the right direction for a Financial Advisor. Feel free to find my contact information on my website: henrykcpa.com

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I've used 11taxman11 for several years personal and S corp taxes. Highly recommend him.

Chris Nardiello helps us. He is a founder at IMG Financial (http://www.imgfinancialgroup.com/team-member/chris-nardiello)

He's an Aggie, an awesome financial planner, and a great guy.

I actually would refer to one of the IMG associates. Nick Baker. Also an Aggie and great guy.

You need a CPA for taxes. For investing, just set up an account online and do that yourself. Much cheaper than paying someone else to park your nest egg in mutual funds.

Why not get turbo tax? Much cheaper than paying someone to input your information into turbo tax for you...

N/m

schmendeler said:

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Why not get turbo tax? Much cheaper than paying someone to input your information into turbo tax for you...

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I've always done my own taxes using TurboTax. My wife and I have not had to pay anything back for the last 10 year or so. For some reason, I owe a little over $2k this year, when I got back a little over $4k last year. I don't know if it's a part of the new tax plan or I missed something. Whatever the case, I sure would like a trained eye to look over my return this year. We consider ourselves middle class w/3 young kids...so things apparently have not moved in our direction.

labayouboy said:

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schmendeler said:

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Why not get turbo tax? Much cheaper than paying someone to input your information into turbo tax for you...

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I've always done my own taxes using TurboTax. My wife and I have not had to pay anything back for the last 10 year or so. For some reason, I owe a little over $2k this year, when I got back a little over $4k last year. I don't know if it's a part of the new tax plan or I missed something. Whatever the case, I sure would like a trained eye to look over my return this year. We consider ourselves middle class w/3 young kids...so things apparently have not moved in our direction.

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that was kind of my point. it was in reply to the person saying that all you need to do is "park your stuff in mutual funds". the truth is that that's not always the right answer.

Yeah, I see that now. Apparently, my wife and I didn't withhold enough money from our paychecks in 2017.

Loaded question, I know, but how much do CPA's normally charge for taxes?

W2's, relatively straightforward K1 from MLP, 1099B, itemized deductions, Roth conversions, interested in discussing tax planning

In short it varies.

Some places charge flat fees, some charge per forms, some bill per hour.

The firm I am with bills per hour. I'll also say I'm not really going to compete on price with one man shops. The QC standards for a return to go out from my office don't allow me to do that (prep, tech review, final review). But I will compete on service.

BTW any CPA that says they will take a % of the refund has an illegal pricing structure that the state board of accountancy would love to know about.

Also if you aren't sure someone is a CPA, look them up. The state board has a licensee lookup for a reason.